University of Arizona Exhibit, Mars, A Fictional Perspective, to Close in September

Mars, A Fictional Perspective, a library exhibit at the University of Arizona Science-Engineering Library that opened last May, is scheduled to close on September 12, 2008.

Here’s a description of the exhibit from the library’s website:

“With the Phoenix Mars Lander now safely on Mars in search of scientific fact, take a brief journey yourself to experience its exciting heritage of imagination and wonder!

Enjoy the highlights of Planet Mars in fiction and popular culture in an exhibit featuring novels from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, and many others from the 20th Century Science Fiction Genre Collection at Special Collections. Special appearances by Flash Gordon, Martian Manhunter, and Marvin the Martian!

From the adventurous, to the terrifying, to the absolutely silly - you will never imagine Mars the same way again.”

According to one viewer, books on display in the exhibit include:

• A Princess of Mars (1917), The Warlord of Mars (1919), Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1920), A Fighting Man of Mars (1931), by Edgar Rice Burroughs

• The Sands of Mars (1967), by Arthur C. Clarke

• The Martian Chronicles (1950), by Ray Bradbury

• Men, Martians, and Machines (1965), by Eric Frank Russell

• Great Science Fiction Stories About Mars (1966), by T. E. Dikty

• Mystery Men of Mars (1933), by Carl Claudy

• Mars (1992), by Ben Bova

• The Kid from Mars (1949), by Oscar J. Friend

• Welcome to Mars (1983), by James Blish

• The War of the Worlds (1898), by H. G. Wells

The Phoenix Mars Lander is a joint project of NASA and the University of Arizona.