Bisland, Elizabeth

Bisland, Elizabeth. THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF LAFCADIO HEARN. With Illustrations. In Two Volumes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin and Co. 1906. 2 vols. 8vo. viii,(4),475,(1);(6),554,(1)pp. Index. Illustrated with 16 plates. The special edition limited to 200 sets, containing a leaf of Hearn’s manuscript inserted. Orig. dark green cloth, paper spine labels, a bit darkened, and labels with a few very minor chips. Added labels at back of each volume. The original leaf in this set is from THE ROMANCE OF THE MILKY WAY, 1905, the chapter titled “Ultimate Questions,” found on pp. 122-123 of the book. There are 17 lines of manuscript on the inserted leaf, pertaining to Hearn’s comments about Percival Lowell’s 1895 book MARS and his speculation about inhabitant of an older and a wiser world, and possible contact with them. He states: “Might it not even result in the extinction of the human species.” An excellent leaf of manuscript. The original leaves of manuscript found with set vary considerably, some with just 5 or 6 lines of text.