1st stand alone issue with ‘Price Sixpence’ and ‘From Blackwood’s Magazine May 1871 on the front cover. 11.5 x 17 cm, purple pictorial wraps with an illustration by W Patterson to the front, 64 + 8pp ads. Considering its age and the delicate nature of its wraps the book is in excellent condition with some fading to the spine and 1-2mm loss of paper at the head of the spine and a 1 cm split in the paper at the foot. There is a blind stamp from a bookseller in the top corner of the front wrap and a pencil note about the book and author on the title page. The book has the merest hint of a lean and a touch of spotting to the very edge of the text block and the title page. The book is now protected in a clear, rigid plastic, removable cover (not shown) All in all a lovely First Edition of this early, future war story and fore runner of science fiction novels like ‘War of the Worlds’ where an attack from ‘The Other Power’ overwhelms an unprepared home force.