TROWBRIDGE, John “The Electrical Boy” [Little, Brown, and Company, 1902]

TROWBRIDGE, John. The Electrical Boy; or, The Career of Greatman and Greatthings.

Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1902. 7.5" x 5", 390pp, illustrated. Original gray-green cloth, lettered and decorated in gilt to spine with pictorial design. Moderate wear to cloth with rubbing at extremities and some dulling to gilt; spine ends softened. Binding remains firm. Interior shows scattered foxing and staining, most pronounced to the frontispiece and early leaves; text otherwise legible throughout. Good+.

A curious and imaginative early twentieth-century work blending juvenile fiction with popular science, written by Harvard physicist John Trowbridge. The narrative follows a fantastical exploration of electricity and invention, reflecting contemporary fascination with emerging electrical technologies at the turn of the century. The illustrations and episodic structure underscore its dual purpose as both entertainment and informal scientific instruction, situating it within a broader tradition of educational fiction during a period of rapid technological change.