Fairburn -

[FAIRBURN, Edwin].

The Ships of Tarshish: a sequel to Sue's "Wandering Jew." By Mohoao. [with] The Ships of the Future being an epilogue to The Ships of Tarshish ...

(1) London, [printed by] Hall & Co 1867 but published in Auckland in 1884 with an Upton & Co, Auckland label pasted on the title. (2) Auckland, Upton &c [1889]. (1) Octavo original illustrated wrapper (rebacked, chipped and a bit creased); [4], 32pp prologue printed in Auckland in 1884, double page facsimile letter from Admiral Popoff, two plates: plan & profile, 104pp. First few leaves dog eared, still a decent enough copy. Inscribed "J Baber from the author ... 1886" at the top of the title. This must be either father or son James Baber, both surveyors from Auckland like Fairburn.(2) Octavo publisher's printed wrapper (detached and quite chipped); 32pp (last leaf blank) and folding plate. Stained at the bottom edge but pretty much invisible apart from the wrapper; quite good inside. Indistinct 1891 Auckland library stamp and a clear pencil signature, G Grey, at the top of the front wrapper which I'm told is Sir George Grey's and could well be.
¶ First edition of this bit of pioneering New Zealand science fiction, the first novel by a NZ born author. Fairburn's prologues tell us that the book was printed in London in late 1866 but, apart from about 30 copies he received and gave away and 70 copies that vanished, it sat in a warehouse for 16 years.Admiral Popoff's gracious 1880 letter is a reply to Fairburn about the marked similarities between Popoff's experimental ships and Fairburn's radical new ships of Tarshish, something like sinister polished iron citadels and redoubts, that save England in a near future invasion. Our hero is a disdained genius until he inherits the 15 million pounds left in trust for generations as told in Sue's only partly fictional tale. Four million goes on his ships and, after saving the empire and winning the forbidden young lady, he decides to put the rest into education reform and three million toward the new land registration act. Here's a genius with his head screwed on right.From 'The Ships of the Future' we learn that of the some 400 copies of 'Tarshish' maybe 30 were sold, over 300 he gave away, and there were still sheets left. Those sold fetched a shilling each while they cost him 2/9 each. This, I figure, without adding the bookseller's cut, meant a loss of £53/10/- altogether. Undismayed, Fairburn has headed back into the breach - or bottomless pit of self publishing - with details left out of his novel and further thoughts about the mercantile form of his ships. With consideration and research his ships have been scaled up to mammoth size. These multi storey monuments powered by wave motion are, in his elevations, somewhere between a colossal stupa and menacing Star Wars battle ship. As an engineer Fairburn might be dog food but as designer he was half a light year ahead of his time.

Richard Neylon, BooksellerProfessional seller

Book number: 11163

AUD 600.00 [Appr.: EURO 335.5 US$ 393.77 | £UK 293.5 | JP¥ 58240]

Keywords: fiction thrillers science sci-fi New Zealand England technology reform nautical maritime naval architecture