Wells (H.G.) The War of the Worlds
£1,250
London, Heinemann, 1898.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. 32pp. advertisements, undated. Original dark grey/sage cloth.
The cylinder unscrewing on Horsell Common, the heat-ray, the tripods wading up the Thames valley, and the invaders felled at last by the smallest of allies…a template for many alien invasion conceived since, and still, a century and a quarter on, the best executed. Its afterlife is a catalogue of cultural detonations in its own right: Orson Welles’ 1938 panic broadcast, the 1953 and 2005 films, Jeff Wayne’s improbable and immortal musical version.
In stock
Some toning, spotting and dust-soiling to pages, inked ‘Rotherhithe Hospital A8’ to head of title-page and first page of main content; cloth slightly rubbed at extremities, but overall very good.
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