In the year 2951..

The Last American

by J.A. Mitchell

How is one of these books not like the others?

Of course, it’s the cover with a different binding than the other two.

Which cover graced the first edition?

Trick question! It’s the first cover – the simplest one.

Of the two similar covers, what accounts for the differences?

Most of you will guess this straight off: the cover in the middle which is of blue cloth elaborately stamped with white, red, yellow, and gold is the earliest of this design. The cover on the right, of yellow cloth stamped in green, was the same basic design but the Seventh Printing of this edition.

Who was “The Last American”? And why was this person the “last American”?

Ah, now we must get into a longer discussion. Pour yourself a cup of tea and let’s pull up to the fireside for a cozy chat.

As any of you who are book collectors know, often there are several different aspects of any one book which may cause it to call out your name.

My first introduction to this rather quirky work of fiction was the cover in the middle, found at a book fair in the booth of my colleagues at Carpe Diem Fine Books (Monterey, California). It is the first printing of the “Edition de Luxe”, with its elaborate cover, the inside fairly stuffed with both colour illustrations and line drawings, floriated initial capitals, and a decorated title page.

In researching the book, I came upon the (rather drab) seventh printing, but still thought to myself, “that would make an interesting counterpoint” and so purchased it. Of course, being a booklover I then wanted a copy of the first edition, hence the cover on the left – which does give one a better sense of the story line, with the Statue of Liberty looming over a dark and ruined city.

Which brings us back to the title, The Last American. Spoiler alert! If you plan to read the book, skip the rest of this article…

The story opens in the year 2951, when a Persian sailing ship lands upon the shore of a desolate and decaying city. A learned scholar on board the ship, versed in history, explains to the rest of the crew what happened, over a thousand years earlier. “The race is supposed to have become extinct before 1990 of their era” (p. 33). When asked the cause of this, the scholar continued: “There were many causes…Between 1925 and 1940, the last census of which any record remains, the population decreased from ninety millions to less than twelve millions. Climatic changes, the like of which no other land ever experienced, began at that period, and finished in less than ten years a work made easy by nervous temperaments and rapid lives. The temperature would skip in a single day from burning heat to winter’s cold. No constitution could withstand it, and this vast continent became once more an empty wilderness” (pp. 33-34).

WOW. The use of the word “climate change” in a fictional story written in 1899, set in the year 2951?

It does make one think. However one feels about what today is called “climate change” (and this is not the place nor time to argue to relative merits of that issue) I found it absolutely fascinating that, over 125 years ago, an author chose to make that the force which ended American society.

Free-thinking a bit more, as we enjoy our cups of tea by the fireside, my mind wanders to J.R.R. Tolkien (I’m currently binge-watching The Rings of Power, so please bear with me). Any Tolkien fan knows well his love of trees, of gardens, of all green things growing. In fact, he said of himself: “I am in fact a hobbit in all but size. I like gardens, trees, and unmechanized farmlands” (n.b., from the web site of The One Ring Forums).

All of these separate thoughts came together when going down the IG rabbit hole over today’s morning coffee. Today is Earth Day! What a perfect time to share these thoughts with the friends of Swan’s Fine Books.

Together we’ve wandered over the pathways of variant bindings, fantasy literature, and J.R.R. Tolkien. Bringing to me, and hopefully to you, the delight that comes from sharing one’s experiences with books with fellow lovers of books.

Thank you, all, for sitting by the fireside with me today.