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Wells, H. G.
The First Men in the Moon.
Publisher: George Newnes, Limited, London;
Date of Publication: 1901
Stock Code: 15277
First edition, first state. Crown octavo, pp., vii, [1], 342, plus frontispiece and 11 full-page plates by Claude Shepperson; the frontispiece lacks it’s tissue guard, else complete. Publisher’s original dark-blue cloth; titled in gilt to spine and upper board; black end-papers. Bookseller’s label to end. Corners and edges of boards rubbed; spine-tips softened; binding otherwise square and solid, the cloth and gilt bright. Occasional light spotting and toning. An excellent copy. The first book by Wells to be adapted into a film (1919). A satirical scientific romance which describes an adventure to the interior of the moon by two Englishmen who discover a race of insect-like extraterrestrials within the lunar core. Originally published serially in The Strand Magazine in 1900-01, the publisher of this edition, George Newnes, was also the magazine’s publisher. The novel directly influenced C. S. Lewis’s Ransom trilogy of extraterrestrial novels (Lake, 23.) £950.00