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"The history of mankind is the history of the attainment of external power. Man is the tool-using, fire-making animal...Always down a lengthening record, save for a set-back ever and again, he is doing more": First Edition of H.G. Wells' The World Set Free; inscribed by him to George Bernard Shaw
WELLS, H.G. [GEORGE BERNARD SHAW].
The World Set Free: A Story of Mankind.
London: Macmillan and Co., Limited 1914.
First edition, first issue of Wells’ prophetic novel predicting the arrival of atomic weaponry with the publisher listed as Macmillan and Co. Limited (as opposed to Ltd.), 8 pages of advertisements at rear, and no statement of printing to the copyright page. Octavo, original cloth stamped in blind with gilt titles to the spine and front panel, top edge gilt. Association copy, inscribed by H.G. Wells to George Bernard Shaw, “G.B.S. from H.G.” Like Wells, George Bernard Shaw used writing fiction as a vehicle to disseminate his political, social and religious ideas. Wells and Shaw connected when Wells joined the gradualist Fabian society in 1903. Shaw had, since the mid 1880s, been a dedicated member and advocated its message of moderation in the face of a debate regarding the option to embrace anarchism. In the years following the 1906 election, Shaw felt that the Fabians needed fresh leadership and saw this in the form of Wells. Wells, however, held views at odds with the party’s “Old Gang” led by Shaw, particularly with proposals for closer cooperation with the Independent Labour Party, and soon resigned from the Society. Following Wells’ death in 1946, Shaw wrote his obituary for The New Statesman, stating, “To Fabian socialist doctrine he could add little; for he was born ten years too late to be in at its birth pangs. Finding himself only a fifth wheel in the Fabian coach he cleared out; but not before he had exposed very effectively the obsolescence and absurdity of our old parish and county divisions as boundaries of local government areas.” Shaw spoke highly of Wells and his genius, asserting that Wells “…foresaw the European war, the tank, the plane and the atomic bomb; and he may be said to have created the ideal home and been the father of the prefabricated house.” In near fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. An exceptional association.
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 109903
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Inscribed to H.G. Wells
WEST, GEOFFREY [H.G. WELLS].
The Problem of Arnold Bennett.
London: Joiner and Steele 1932.
First edition of this work, inscribed to H.G. Wells. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author to H. G. Wells by the author on the front endpaper in the year of publication, “H. G. Wells, gratefully from the author, Geoffrey West. November 1932.” West was also the author of H. G. Wells: A Bibliography, H. G. Wells: A Critical Biography. Very good in a very good dust jacket. From the library of H.G. Wells. An exceptional association.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 116936
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Rare first edition of For Britain's Soldiers: A Contribution to the Needs of our Fighting Men and Their Families; with contributions by Rudyard Kipling and H.G. Wells
KIPLING, RUDYARD; SIR WALTER BESANT; MAX PEMBERTON; MORLEY ROBERTS; H.G. WELLS; PERCY WHITE; ET AL.
For Britain’s Soldiers: A Contribution to the Needs of our Fighting Men and Their Families.
London: Methuen & Co 1900.
First edition of this anthology published and sold to benefit the officers and men of the British Army in South Africa during the Boer Wars. Octavo, original publisher’s decorated cloth. In very good condition.
Price: $150.00 Item Number: 122456
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First edition of H.G. Wells' Things to Come; signed by H.G. Wells and actor Derrick de Marnay
WELLS, H.G. [DERRICK DE MARNAY].
Things to Come: A Film Story Based on the Material Contained in His History of the Future “The Shape of Things to Come.”
London: The Cresset Press 1935.
First edition of the novelization of the classic 1936 film H. G. Wells’ Things to Come. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth. Signed by H.G. Wells and actor Derrick de Marnay on front free endpaper. Derrick de Marnay starred as Richard Gordon in the acclaimed 1936 film adaptation, Things to Come, directed by William Cameron Menzies. In near fine condition. A very sharp and unique signed example.
Price: $2,750.00 Item Number: 143681
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Signed Limited Edition of the Works of H.G. Wells; Additionally inscribed by Him to Lover Elizabeth von Arnim
WELLS, H.G.
The Works of H.G. Wells Including [The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, Etc].
London: T. Fisher Unwin 1924-27.
One of 20 sets for presentation from an overall edition of 620, this is letter e and Wells has written (Little e), signed by H.G. Wells in volume one, and additionally inscribed by Wells in volume one to his lover Elizabeth von Arnim, “To Little e H.G.” With her bookplate to all but two volumes. After her first husband’s death, she had a three-year affair with the writer H. G. Wells, then later married Frank Russell, elder brother of the Nobel prize-winning writer and philosopher Bertrand Russell. She was a cousin of the New Zealand-born writer Katherine Mansfield. Her first marriage made her Countess von Arnim-Schlagenthin and her second Elizabeth Russell, Countess Russell. Though known in early life as May, publication of her first book introduced her to readers as Elizabeth, which she eventually became to her friends and finally even to her family. She is now known invariably as Elizabeth von Arnim. She used the pen name Alice Cholmondeley only for the novel Christine, published in 1917. According to Katy Roiphe’s Uncommon Arrangements: Seven Portraits of Married Life in London Literary Circles 1910-1939, 2008, she “arranged for her married lover (H.G. Wells) to visit her Swiss chalet bedroom by means of a hidden entrance”. The affectionate inscription confirms that, even after their affair had ended, they remained close friends. Octavo, 28 volumes. Bound in original publishers cloth, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, top edge gilt. Frontispiece illustrations including the author portrait in volume one. In near fine condition. An exceptional association.
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 122895
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"An exciting, real book without a trace of unnecessary melodrama" (H.G.Wells): First Edition of Out of the Night; Inscribed by Jan Valtin to boxing Champion Gene Tunney
VALTIN, JAN [AKA RICHARD JULIUS HERMAN KREBS] [GENE TUNNEY].
Out of the Night.
New York: Alliance Book Corporation 1941.
First edition of Valtin’s bestselling autobiographical narrative. Octavo, original blue cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author to the great boxing champion and his wife, “To Polly and Gene Tunney with admiration and cordial fond wishes from Jan Valtin June 1, 1941.” Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket art by George Salter.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 4644
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"An exciting, real book without a trace of unnecessary melodrama" (H.G.Wells): First Edition of Out of the Night; Inscribed by Jan Voltin
VALTIN, JAN (AKA RICHARD JULIUS HERMAN KREBS).
Out of the Night.
New York: Alliance Book Corporation 1940.
First edition of Valtin’s bestselling autobiographical narrative. Octavo, original blue cloth. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper in the year of publication, “For Ben Mandel, who helped. Jan Valtin November 1940.” Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket art by George Salter.
Price: $600.00 Item Number: 75068
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First Edition of H.G. Wells' Washington and the Hope for Peace
WELLS, H.G.
Washington and the Hope of Peace.
London: W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1922.
First edition of this collection of Wells’ essays regarding the Washington Conference to organize the peace. Octavo, original cloth. Very good in a very good dust jacket.
Price: $225.00 Item Number: 109063
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"WORLD REVOLUTION OR WORLD DESTRUCTION": H.G. Wells The Fate of Homo Sapiens in the rare original dust jacket
WELLS, H.G.
The Fate of Homo Sapiens.
London: Secker & Warburg 1939.
Early printing of this work by the author of Invisible Man. Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Uncommon in this condition.
Price: $400.00 Item Number: 118627
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First Edition of H.G. Wells' The Outline of History Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind, Partial Set in Parts
WELLS, H.G.
The Outline of History Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind, Partial Set in Parts.
London: George Newnes Ltd 1919-20.
First edition of the original parts of Wells’ classic work. Quarto, original wrappers, 12 volumes, with full-color covers and many illustrations in color throughout. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom case.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 120473