NEW YORK - s4story -- An exhaustive and curated collection of over 900 works of fiction and non-fiction dedicated to Mars – the mysterious Red Planet – is for sale through Manhattan Rare Book Company. The price is $975,000. The collection traces the history of the centuries-long understanding (and obsession) with Mars, a planet that's tantalizingly just out of our reach.

The collection is titled Mars and the Imagination: A Record of Our Relationship with the Red Planet. It was conceived and assembled by David Wenner, an experienced collector who was able to unearth important and previously unrecognized literary and historical texts, making new connections among them. In doing so, he's revealed as much about us as he has about Mars.

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The list of contributors reads like a who's-who in the fields of science (giants like Johannes Kepler, Christiaan Huygens, Robert Hook, Nikola Tesla, Giovanni Cassini, William Hershel, Percival Lowell, Camille Flammarion and others) and science fiction (authors like H. G. Wells, C. S. Lewis, Isaac Asimov, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury and others).

For hundreds of years, these curious thinkers, and many more like them, have sought answers to the many questions surrounding Mars: What are the conditions on the planet? Is it hospitable to life? Are there, or have there ever been, living beings on Mars? If so, are they like us? Superior to us? Threatening to us? And, of course, when will Earthlings actually be able to travel to Mars?

One of the strengths of the collection is the preservation of essential primary source material that might otherwise have been lost to time. Many of the items were published in ephemeral formats, such as journals, magazines or as pulp fiction. These were not designed to last, and are extremely difficult to find in collectible condition today. Fortunately, David Wenner was up to the task.

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"We are aware of no other Mars collection that contains anywhere near as complete a collection of both Mars science and fiction, and no extensive collection of Mars fiction in both its original 'pulp' and stand-alone printings," said Michael DiRuggiero of Manhattan Rare Book Company.

The Manhattan Rare Book Company is located at 52 Vanderbilt Ave in New York City (visitors by appointment). The firm is always on the hunt for rare and important books. To inquire about purchasing Mars and the Imagination or other rare books, call 212-326-8907; or, email them at info@manhattanrarebooks.com. To learn more, visit www.manhattanrarebooks.com.