Books

1st Edition, First Impression, First State An excellent example of this title in the FIRST state with the copyright page date 1898, and without the publisher's catalogue. The first state of this title was issued both with a 16-page catalogue AND without the publisher's catalogue; and a second state of the first printing was issued with a 32-page catalogue. The book is in excellent condition for this title being firmly bound, having benefited from being rebacked with all the original cloth laid back down. As such, the book is tight and sound and quite readable without the usual cracked hinges or broken bindings. The original cloth is in beautiful condition with no rubbing or wear but a spot on the rear board. The book has slightly rounded corners with strong black titles on the front and spine. The original endpapers are present, the front endpaper has slight offsetting from what was likely a bookplate. The book has no owner names, and no inscriptions but a faint pencil mark on the first blank page. The pages are remarkably clean with but a few stray faded handling marks, otherwise no stains, no bent pages and no foxing. Overall even toning to the pages. Please see detailed images. No dust jacket as issued. A wonderful example of this title in a sound readable binding! A handsome copy in highly collectible condition, which displays well on the shelf. ADDITIONAL IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. Please see our ABE store for other landmark SciFi titles.

The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by English author H.G. Wells. It first appeared in serialized form in 1897, published by Pearson’s Magazine in the UK and by Cosmopolitan magazine in the US. The novel details the experiences of an unnamed protagonist in London and his brother in Surrey during an invasion of Earth by Martians. It is a pioneering work of the science fiction genre, popularizing the alien invasion trope.