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The War of the Worlds

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£ 20 160
Auction dateClassic
28.09.2023 13:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
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Archive
ID 1016386
Lot 117 | The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds

H. G. Wells

WELLS, H. G. (1866-1946). The War of the Worlds. London: William Heinemann, 1898.



A major landmark of science fiction: first edition in book form, first issue, with a delightful authorial presentation inscription and two caricature sketches in Wells's hand. Written between 1895-1897, The War of the Worlds was serialised in Pearson's Magazine in Britain and in Cosmopolitan magazine in the US in 1897, with Heinemann publishing this edition the following year. Wells’s tale of Martians invading the Earth, using heat rays and poisonous black smoke to cause maximum human casualties, before succumbing to the common cold, was a great commercial success. It has never been out of print, and has been extremely influential, spawning numerous feature films, radio dramas, a record album, comic book adaptations, television series, and sequels or parallel stories by other authors. Most memorably, it was dramatised in a 1938 radio programme, directed by and starring Orson Welles, which reportedly caused panic among listeners who did not know that the events were fictional. Hammond B5; Currey p.526; Locke p.228.



Octavo. 16pp. publishers ads at end dated 'Autumn Announcements mdcccxcvii' [indicating first issue, Currey’s variant A] (text block starting to split at pp.128-9, 192-3 and, 208-9, but the whole solid). Original grey cloth, lettered in black on front cover and spine, small Heinemann logo printed in black on rear cover, uncut (extremities lightly rubbed, slightly heavier to head- and tail of spine and joints with some associated tiny losses, spine and rear cover lightly soiled); custom black morocco-backed cloth box. Provenance: F. Luck (authorial presentation inscription on front free endpaper with 2 accompanying caricature sketches in Wells's hand dated 'March 4') –– sold Bonhams 3 November 2008, lot 418.

Place of origin:Northern Europe, Europe, United Kingdom
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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28.09.2023 – 28.09.2023
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