This is a first edition copy of The Martian Chronicles, which cemented Ray Bradbury’s reputation as a celebrated science fiction author. The set of short stories collectively tells an episodic tale of humans fleeing to Mars from a destroyed Earth and then engaging in conflicts with the native population of Martians. The stories each stand on their own; they are not chapters of one narrative arc. Together, however, they imagine short-lived forays to the red planet, which end with the first permanent human settlement on Mars.

Bradbury was also a screenwriter. His writings about Mars have been cited as powerful influences by many planetary scientists, as well as the general reading public. When Bradbury died in 2012, the New York Times obituary headline called him the man “who brought Mars to Earth with lyrical mastery” (June 6, 2012, Section A, page 1).

The volume was given to the Museum by Lawrence Schiller and Nina Wiener in 2020, in celebration of Ray Bradbury’s centenary (he was born on August 22, 1920).