The World, The Flesh And The Devil: An Inquiry Into The Future Of The Three Enemies Of The Rational Soul Bernal, J[Ohn] D[Esmond] Tale Of The Future,Utopian Literature

Octavo, pp. [i-iv] v-vii [viii] ix [x] [1-2] 3-81 [82: blank] [83: "a note on the type"] [84-86: blank], two-part cloth. Second edition. A new edition of this "essay in prediction" first published in 1929 by Kegan Paul & Co. "Borderline. The book was originally announced under the title "Possibilities" and published in the "To-Day and To-Morrow" series and is presented as speculative prediction that focuses on space travel, the physical modification of humans, and the psychological changes these will bring about (and the resistance to them based in human psychology), but the section on human modification includes a brief non-fictional eutopia in the Stapledonian mode. After a life of 60 to 120 years of living, people will be surgically modified and provided with mechanical extensions of their senses and reeducated. In addition, people will develop mental connections to others that will ultimately produce a group mind, and this entity will be essentially immortal. Bernal was [a Marxist] born in Ireland." - Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, Additions. Stableford, in Science Fiction & Science Fact, p.401, finds the roots of the idea of "transhumanism" in this book. A fine copy in fine dust jacket priced $4.95 on the front flap. (#173854)