15 10 [WEBB, Jane] (Mrs. John Claudius LOUDON). The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century. London, 1828. Three volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter red calf. $11,500 Rare second edition of this landmark early science fiction novel, published only one year after the similarly elusive first edition and with a substantially altered text, Loudon’s anonymously published classic, authored while still in her teens, widely praised and aligned with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in influence and originality. Jane Webb Loudon’s The Mummy! is heralded as “a pioneering work of science fiction that brought together political commentary, Egyptomania, and interest in technology” (ODNB), and stands as “one of the two most noteworthy English efforts between Frankenstein (1818) and the scientific romances of H.G. Wells” (Alkon, Science Fiction Before 1900, 38). The Mummy! also signals “a milestone in the development of futuristic fiction… surpassed only by Frankenstein in the annals of early science fiction by female authors” (Alkon in Science Fiction Studies, V23, No.1:123). The Mummy! is “the earliest literary work thus far identified as dealing with revived mummies” (MacDonald & Rice, eds., Consuming Ancient Egypt, 24). Inspired by the Creature in Frankenstein, Loudon’s mummy appears threatening, yet “what he actually offers people is help, and he also appears to possess a near-omniscience which allows him unfailingly to diagnose what kind of help is needed.” Loudon introduces devices such as “steam-powered automaton surgeons and lawyers… and at one point she even anticipates space travel” (Hopkins, 11). First published in 1827, an edition exceedingly hard to find. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder II-1218. Foxing to first few and last few leaves, text generally clean. Spines gently toned, a few light rubs, bindings sound and attractive. A very nice copy of this pioneering work. “A Pioneering Work Of Science Fiction”: Rare 1828 Second Edition Of Jane Webb Loudon’s The Mummy!
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