Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller - Old and Rare Books

Frau im Mond. Roman [INSCRIBED BY HARBOU]

Harbou, Thea von

Berlin: August Scherl, 1928. First edition. Hardcover. Octavo. 210 [6]pp. Original grass green cloth with gilt lettering and ruling on cover, gilt lettering on red label of spine, and gilt tooling and ruling. In original color-illustrated dustjacket, variant from description in Rössler's "Filmfieber." Yellow top edge. Ribbon marker. Publisher's device on title page. Inscribed to Betty by von Harbou at Christmas 1928 and signed Thea von Harbou Lang.

Original novel and basis for Fritz Lang's film classic with the same name. The screenplay was adapted from her novel with the same title by von Harbou herself. It premiered on October 15, 1929, at the UFA Palast in Berlin. Released in the US in 1929 under the title "Woman in the Moon" in the US, and "Girl in the Moon" in the UK in 1930.

Preceded only by George Melies' 1902 silent movie "La voyage dans la lune," taking a comic approach, "Die Frau im Mond" is considered one of the first serious SciFi films dealing with space travel. It's use of the "countdown to zero" was adapted by professional rocket scientists and is still in use today. Technical advice for the movie was provided by rocket scientists Willy Ley and Hermann Oberth. The film was shot in the UFA studios in Neubabelsberg between October 1928 and June 1929.

A note by von Harbou at rear credits the publications "Mit Raketenkraft ins Weltall" by Otto Willi Gail, "Die Möglichkeit der Weltenraumfahrt" by Willy Ley, and "Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen" by Hermann Oberth for material helpful for scientific and technical information. Contains four pages of publisher's advertisements at rear.

Text in German, Gothic script. Dustjacket with wear along edges, small chips at lower front foredge, chipping at head and tail of sunned spine, more pronounced at head, with a 3/4" closed tear at top edge of back cover near foredge. Back cover of dustjacket and endpapers sunned. Pages 24-31 with light coffee stains, mostly in margins. Block lightly age-toned. Ribbon marker lightly frayed at end. Good to very good condition. Item #55680

Price: $7,500.00