Books

Small octavo, pp. [1-2: engraved title leaf] [1] 2-380; Collates [-]2 (engraved title conjugate with frontispiece); A-I8; K-T8; V8; X-Z8; Aa6. four inserted plates, one folded, old calf (a early, perhaps contemporary binding), all panels tooled in blind, recent brown leather title label affixed to spine panel, all edges untrimmed. First edition. Holberg's Niels Klim is the first important fictional use of astronomer Edmond Halley's theory (suggested in a paper to account for magnetic phenomena published by Royal Society in 1692) that the Earth (and the other planets) consisted of concentric, nested spheres surrounding a small central sun, with, possibly, openings at the poles. Holberg's satire was first published in Latin to gain a wide audience, which it did. The book was never banned in Denmark, though it was unpopular among religious powers of the time. "Holberg was one of the leading scholars and playwrights of the eighteenth century, perhaps the chief literary figure in Denmark to date. Niels Klim has been translated into at least thirteen languages and published in more than sixty editions, including at least eight in English. It is in the genre of the imaginary voyage which has been so much a part of utopian writing from its very beginnings. In this case the voyage to the interior of the earth comes about when Niels Klim falls down a shaft and finds himself in a new world. He visits a number of different countries including Potu the ideal state, which expels him for suggesting that women should not hold public office. Other states are modeled on various terrestrial countries; in Martinia (France) he is honored for inventing the periwig. In primitive Quama (Russia) he becomes emperor by leading the inhabitants to victory over neighboring nations, but rebellion against his tyranny forces him to flee. His journey ends when he crawls through another hole and finds himself back in Norway . Scholars have pointed out numerous resemblances to Gulliver's Travels, and there are, indeed, many similarities. Perhaps the chief difference is that Swift was concerned with the behavior of individuals and Holberg with that of society." - Lewis, Utopian Literature, p. 92. "Essentially a satire on European culture and institutions in the guise of an imaginary voyage. It was translated into Danish not long after the Latin publication, and in Denmark its acceptance has paralleled that of Swift's Gulliver's Travels in the English-speaking world . Holberg's work is an obvious imitation of Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and a comparison is called for. Holberg's satire is wider in scope, more penetrating in analysis, and less local than Swift's; the peculiarly British elements in Swift are not paralleled by Scandinavian elements in Holberg, who also lacks Swift's misanthropy. In imagination and literary polish, however, Swift is superior to Holberg." - Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 1114. Aldiss and Wingrove, Trillion Year Spree, pp. 78-9. Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 1-21; (1981) 1-100; (1987) 1-50; 6-346; and 6-390; (1995) 1-50; and (2004) II-536. Clute and Nicholls (eds), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1993), p. 577. Costes and Altairac, Les Terres Creuses 20. Fortunati and Trousson (eds), Dictionary of Literary Utopias, pp. 459-60. Gibson and Patrick, "Utopias and Dystopias, 1500-1750" in Gibson, St. Thomas More: A Preliminary Bibliography (1961) 710. Gove, The Imaginary Voyage in Prose Fiction, pp. 303-5. Howgego, Encyclopedia of Exploration: Invented and Apocryphal Narratives of Travel H26. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy Volume III, pp. 44-5. Negley, Utopian Literature: A Bibliography 575. Nicolson, Voyages to the Moon, pp. 226-30. Several scuffs to leather on front and rear panels, new endpapers (circa the 1930s), tear at upper right corner of leaf X4 repaired (no loss of text), considerable age-darkening and some foxing to most signatures (paper still quite supple), a very good copy. No copy of the first edition this book has app.

Set in the year 1665, the story is narrated by Niels Klim, who returns to his hometown of Bergen after graduating from the University of Copenhagen. During a mountain climb with friends, he falls into a pit and, after fifteen minutes, emerges in the hollow interior of the Earth. This space is a miniature cosmos with planets orbiting a small sun. After drifting for a while, he lands on a planet called Nazar, in the kingdom of Potu (an anagram of "utopia"), where he encounters intelligent tree-like beings. Holberg's work combines satire with a fantastic voyage and embodies the spirit of the eighteenth century. Aside from its Latin language and passages of verse and prose adapted from classical authors, this novel is entirely modern in spirit. Its depiction of travel to exotic lands is reminiscent of Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" (1726), but with more wit and humor. Holberg's idea of a hollow Earth containing other habitable lands foreshadows Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth."