THE AMPHIBIAN: A Novel (BEFORE THERE WAS AQUAMAN, THERE WAS ...) by Belayev, Alexander (BEFORE THERE WAS AQUAMAN, THERE WAS ...) - 1950

Moscow (Russia): Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1950. First English Language Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine Collectable/Near Fine. 1st printing in English translation of 1928 Russian novel Small 8vo decorated cloth. 284pp. Beautifully pictorially decorated endpapers of large in water. The cloth cover art is elegant showing on the side of the board a woman standing at bottom corner next to and touching a tropical tree that goes to the top edge. Before a famous comic company with superheros gave rise to a bunch of famous films, there was THIS guy! "Printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This is a science fiction work. Here is what Wiki says, "Argentinean doctor Salvator, a scientist and a maverick surgeon, gives his son, Ichthyander (Russian: ????????, Ikhtiandr) (Greek etymology: "Fish"+ "Man") a life-saving transplant - a set of shark gills. The experiment is a success but it limits the young man's ability to interact with the world outside his ocean environment. He has to spend much of his time in water. Pedro Zurita, a local pearl gatherer, learns about Ichthyander and tries to exploit the boy's superhuman diving abilities. Similar to other works by Beliaev, the book investigates the possibilities of physical survival under extreme conditions, as well as the moral integrity of scientific experiments. It also touches on socialist ideas of improving living conditions for the world's poor. The 1962 film adaptation the Amphibian Man (Russian: ???????-a??????, translit. Chelovek-Amfibiya), was directed by Vladimir Chebotaryov. The movie recorded 65 million ticket sales (the actual ticket revenue is unknown) quickly becoming one of the most admired movies in the USSR. Filmed on the South Coast of the Crimea and in Baku[1] and featuring a cast of beautiful young actors, the film features some popular song and dance numbers and has certain characteristics of a musical. The first song and the musical theme of the movie - "The Sea Devil" became such a hit that it was sung well into the 1990s. The book is near fine with a little bit of loss to the printing on the spine on a couple of letters. The dj is also near fine with thin chip at bottom of backstrip and a couple of other tiny chips and a very short tear. Each corner of the flap has a small clip, which we're confident was the way the publisher designed it. The dj art is also striking showing the "amphibian" swimming with what looks to be a dolphin.This is a splendid copy and rare. GO FOR THE ORIGINAL A-MAN!