Before Superman: Superhumans of the Radium Age (MIT Press / Radium Age)
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BookPal × TalezoBefore Superman
Financial Times Best Science Fiction Books of 2025
Superhumans—humans who have evolved into creatures stronger, smarter, and more gifted than we have any reason to be—first showed up in science-fictional narratives during the genre’s emergent Radium Age. Originally published between 1902 and 1928, the stories and excerpts anthologized in this volume by Joshua Glenn feature the likes of Marie Corelli’s Young Diana, who, having been rendered super-alluring via a rejuvenation experiment, seeks revenge on a sexist society; Francis Stevens's Thomas Dunbar, one of the first lab-created superhumans; Zoo and Yva, superwomen who contemplate the extermination of us mere mortals, thanks to George Bernard Shaw and H. Rider Haggard; and Alfred Jarry’s André Marcueil, a scientist who develops a super-sexual capacity.
Hugo Gernsback gives us Ralph 124C 41+, a benevolent super-genius inventor who dwells atop a New York skyscraper. M. P. Shiel tells the story of Hannibal Lepsius, a homeschooled prodigy turned amoral tech bro; and Karel Čapek gives us Rudy Marek, an inventor who, having developed superpowers, wonders whether civilization will survive his latest invention. Thea von Harbou’s genius scientist, Rotwang, is even less conscientious in his scheming; as is Arthur Conan Doyle’s ever-irascible Professor Challenger, here in one of his final outings. Finally, Jean de La Hire’s Nyctalope, a popular French superpowered crimefighter character, makes an appearance; and so does Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Tarzan of the Apes . . . though reduced to miniature size.
The book, Before Superman: Superhumans of the Radium Age (MIT Press / Radium Age) [Bulk, Wholesale, Quantity] ISBN#9780262553070 in Paperback by may be ordered in bulk quantities. Minimum starts at 25 copies. Availability based on publisher status and quantity being ordered.
Details
- Publisher
- MIT Press
- Format
- Paperback
- Published
- Aug 19, 2025
- ISBN-13
- 9780262553070
- ISBN-10
- 0262553074
- Pages
- 252
- Carton quantity
- 40 copies
Before Superman in bulk: pricing
Volume pricing applies automatically in your cart. No codes, no account needed.
| Copies | Price per copy | You save |
|---|---|---|
| 25 – 99 | $13.97 | 30% off list |
| 100 – 249 | $13.57 | 32% off list |
| 250 – 499 | $13.17 | 34% off list |
| 500 – 999 | $12.77 | 36% off list |
| 1,000+ | $12.37 | 38% off list |
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Before Superman: Superhumans of the Radium Age (MIT Press / Radium Age)
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