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Wells, H. G.
The War of the Worlds.
Publisher: William Heinemann, London;
Date of Publication: 1898
Stock Code: 14947
First edition, first impression. Crown octavo, pp., viii, 303, [1] blank, [24] of publisher’s advertisements: first leaf of advertisements signed ‘A’, first page headed ‘THE LANE THAT HAD NO TURNING’. This later state is not recorded in Currey who describes two states with advertisements, and variant states without, none with this number of ads. Publisher’s grey cloth, titled in black to spine and upper board. Top edge untrimmed. Calligraphic woodblock stamp reads ‘Duo Baisheng’ in Mandarin to front paste-down, offset to front free end-paper. Spine sunned, joints slightly rubbed, corners lightly bumped, spot of soiling to lower board. A few very occasional light spots of toning to contents but generally a clean, solid copy, much better than is usually found. First printed serially in Pearson’s magazine (April-Dec 1897), The War of the Worlds is one of the earliest books on human-extraterrestrial conflict. It was immediately well-received, with one reviewer remarking that Wells had a ‘power of vivid realisation [...] the imagination, the extraordinary power of presentation, the moral significance of the book cannot be contested’ (quoted in Beck 143-144). The novel draws on debates about imperialism, evolution, and social Darwinism. Wells stated that ‘The value of the story to me lies in this, that from first to last there is nothing in it that is impossible’ (quoted in Wells, 14).

£2000.00