Provenance ownership, and of evidence left in books that shows how readers interacted with them. Provenance studies may shed light on the books themselves, providing evidence of the role particular titles have played in social, intellectual and literary history. Such studies may also add to our knowledge of particular owners of books. For instance, looking at the books owned by a writer may help to show which works influenced him or her. Many provenance studies are historically focused, and concentrated on books owned by writers, politicians and public figures. The recent ownership of books is studied, however, as is evidence of
Aleriel, or A Voyage to Other Worlds Aleriel, or A Voyage to Other Worlds Aleriel, or A Voyage to Other Worlds is a science fiction novel by Wladislaw Somerville Lach-Szyrma, a Polish-English curate, author, and historian. Published in 1883, "Aleriel" is a Victorian novel, which was previously thought to be the first published work to apply the word "Martian" as a noun (it is now known that the word was first used in 1877): After the protagonist, Aleriel, lands on Mars, he buries his spacecraft in snow, "so that it might not be disturbed by any Martian who might come across it". A new edition was published