New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1889. Second Edition. Small octavo in blue boards; 78 pages: illustrations (b&w); 19 cm Good(+). Boards edges worn; front hinge starting but only affecting andpapers at hinge, of which a smal portion is missing (see photos. Overall a decent copy. Hardcover.
"Mitchell’s 1889 dystopic fantasia follows the Persian explorer Khan-Li as he leads a small expedition into the long-buried ruins of the United States, their journal chronicling a journey up a silted Hudson, through vine-wrapped cities, and ultimately to the mummified “last American” entombed in a skyscraper. The outsiders’ amused misreadings of American customs sharpen the tale’s warning about a civilization undone by excess and complacency, and its blend of satire, ruin-tourism, and archaeological framing marks it as an unusually early and influential ancestor of modern post-apocalyptic fiction" --Publisher
