The Invisible Man
London: C. Arthur Pearson Limited, 1897.
First edition, first printing. viii, 245, [3] pp. with two advertising pages at rear. Bound in publisher's red cloth stamped in gilt and black. Very Good+ with lean and sunning to spine, light mottling and moderate wear to covers, and slight bumping to fore edges of boards. Hinges tender, binding starting at p. 145. Moderate toning to contents, light offsetting from printer's glue to endpapers, scattered foxing to endpapers and prelims. Contemporary ownership signature to front free endpaper, stamp to half-title page.
The first edition of H. G. Wells' seminal science fiction novel, written during an incredible burst of productivity that saw The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Invisible Man, and The War of the Worlds published within three years. Wells intended his novel to illustrate "the dangers of power without control, the development of the intelligence at the expense of human sympathy." The book has inspired a dozen film adaptations, the most recent starring Elisabeth Moss.
Price: $1,250