Wright S Ydney Fowler (17 results)

Octavo, pp. [1-4] 5-8 [9-10] 11-288, original red cloth, front panel stamped in black and ruled in blind, spine panel stamped in black. First edition. Novel set in Cumberland, a county in northwest England. Early owner's signature dated 1931 on front free endpaper. Spine panel sunned, a clean, tight, very good copy. (#96104). …

Later edition. Octavo, cloth. Reissue of a novel first published under the pseudonym Anthony Wingrave by Thornton Butterworth in 1935. [Reference: Angenot and Khouri, "An International Bibliography of Prehistoric Fiction," SFS, VIII (March 1981), 48. Bleiler (1978), p. 210. Reginald 15673A]. Lower corners with small bumps, a fine copy in a very good dust jacket with mild wear and tiny chip to head of spine panel, slight fade to title lettering of spine panel, some overall dust soiling. (25538).…

dj. Limited edition. Octavo, cloth. Limited to 1000 copies of which this is one of 500 signed by Wright. New introduction by Everett F. Bleiler. A superior novel in which Wright explores human evolution based on degeneration of the race due primarily to continual destruction of past civilizations through the misuse of scientific discoveries. Comprises "The Amphibians," first published in book form in 1925, and its sequel, "The World Below," first published here. A third book was planned but never written. The story is "set in the far future, when humans are extinct and forgotten. the time traveling protagonist accidentally precipitates a crisis in the affairs of a race of telepathic Amphibians who coexist with the giant humanoid Dwellers. the first part [is] an imaginative tour de force." - Anatomy of Wonder (1981) 2-128. THE AMPHIBIANS is "a work comparable in its scope only to [Wells's ] THE TIME MACHINE and [Hodgson's] THE NIGHT LAND." - Stableford, Scientific Romance in Britain 1890-1950, pp. 183-85. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 3-72; (1981) 2-128; (1987) 2-144; (1995) 2-154; and (2004) II-1293. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 2437. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 833. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 58. Gerber, Utopian Fantasy (1973), p. 150. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 235. Negley, Utopian Literature: A Bibliography 1217. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, pp. 188. Survey of Science Fiction Literature V, pp. 2497-2500. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 213. Reginald 15670]. A nearly fine copy in a very good dust jacket with chips and loss to the upper front panel, closed tears at upper left front corner and lower front panel, light shelf wear to spine ends. (31944). Signed.…

First U.S. edition. Octavo, boards. Published in the U. K. as THE KING AGAINST ANNE BICKERTON. [Reference: Hubin, p. 299]. A good to very good copy, fraying to lower spine, spine age faded, front corner lightly bumped. (8252).

Condition: A fine copy, unread. (32514). First edition. Octavo, stiff pictorial wrappers. Trade paperback size. In addition to the short fiction, this book includes several poems by Wright, the text of a speech by J. E. Clare McFarlane, and a bibliography of Wright's literary works, as well as an 11-page critical "foreword" by Brian Stableford.…

Octavo, pp. [1-8] 1-308 [309-312: blank] [note: first and last two leaves are blanks], original tan cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black and red, top edge stained red, fore-edge untrimmed, bottom edge rough-trimmed. First U.S. edition. Published in Britain as PRELUDE IN PRAGUE: A STORY OF THE WAR OF 1938 (1935). The first book of a future war trilogy, followed by FOUR DAYS WAR (1936) and MEGIDDO'S RIDGE (1937). PRELUDE IN PRAGUE begins prophetically with the proposition that Germany would embark on the road to war by manufacturing an excuse to invade Czechoslovakia in order to reclaim part of her 'traditional territory.' It rapidly develops, though, into a horror story which put the actual events of 1938 (and even those of 1939) in the shade. The final chapters present a clinically horrific catalogue of atrocities, imagining the effects of devastating aerial bombing and the use of a new chemical weapon -- a 'freezing gas.' PRELUDE IN PRAGUE ends with the delivery of a German ultimatum to Britain, and its sequel, FOUR DAYS WAR (1936), takes up the story with its rejection." - Stableford, Scientific Romance in Britain 1890-1950, p. 195. Anatomy of Wonder (1987) 2-143; (1995) 2-153; and (2004) II-1292. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 832. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 69. Clarke, Voices Prophesying War: Future Wars 1763-3749 (1992), p. 240. Gerber, Utopian Fantasy (1973), p. 153. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p.236 (describing the British edition). Bleiler (1978), p. 213. Reginald 1566A. Hint of tanning to spine panel, minor dust soiling to front and rear panels, still a bright, tight, very good copy with no binding wear. An attractive copy. (#90042).…

395, [3 (blank) pp. Crown 8vo. "Science fiction disaster story in which much of the world and part of Britain is inundated by a new flood." [Locke]. VG+ (square & tight)/VG (spine panel a bit sunb-tanned/averge wear). Blue cloth binding with pale gree lettering. Blue green patterned paper eps. Pale green topstain. Green & black dust jacket 1st US edition (cf. Bleiler, p. 213; Locke, p. 235; Reginald 15657 for the 1927 UK edition).…

Advance proof copy. Octavo, pp. [1-4] 1-291 [292: blank], stiff printed wrappers. Historical novel set in ancient Britain. Creases to spine, small crease to lower right front corner, a very good copy in a good dust jacket with chipping along the upper spine and into the upper rear rear panel, closed tear and ship to lower left front panel at spine, overall dust soiling and some age tanning. (25520).…

First U. S. edition, expanded. Octavo, cloth. 3062 copies printed. Includes the contents of THE NEW GODS LEAD (1932) plus two stories first collected here and a new 2-page author's "foreword." A fine copy in a fine dust jacket with a touch of wear to the upper right front corner tip and some of the usual tanning to the flap edges. (22703).…

First U.S. edition. Octavo, pp. [1-10] 1-395 [396-398: blank] [note: first and last leaves are blanks], original blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped in light green, top edge stained yellow, decorated endpapers. "Geological upheavals result in widespread flooding, but southern England is elevated to make the Cotswolds a tiny archipelago. The inhabitants' struggle for existence is described with a cold realism not previously seen." - Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 2-149. ".one of the very best catastrophe stories." - Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 2439. A film based on this novel was released in 1933 with the setting changed to New York. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 3-71; (1981) 2-126; (1987) 2-139; (1995) 2-149; and (2004) II-1289. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 829. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 55. Lewis, Utopian Literature, p. 215. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 235. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 213. Reginald 15657]. Fine, previous owners gift inscription to half title, in very good dust jacket with some chipping at extremities and shelfwear along bottom edge. (3402).…

Octavo, cloth. First U.S. edition. 3062 copies printed. Includes the contents of THE NEW GODS LEAD (1932) plus two stories, "The Temperature of Gehenna Sue" and "Original Sin," first collected in Wright's 1945 collection, THE WITCHFINDER, and a new two-page author's foreword. "All Fowler Wright's longer scientific romances from THE AMPHIBIANS (1925) to DREAM; OR THE SIMIAN MAID (1931) deal with worlds remote from our own where, one way or another, the laws of nature (as he saw them) hold more obvious domination. His shorter stories of the same period, by contrast, follow the opposite tack -- they deal with worlds where culture has overwhelmed nature and obliterated its rule. Ten short stories are gathered together in the collection THE NEW GODS LEAD (1932), the first seven of which are grouped together as glimpses of the future where the 'new gods' of twentieth-century man will take him. The best of these stories constitute what is perhaps the most vitriolic vision of the future ever produced; they have an imaginative savagery of tone and content that is quite unparalleled. All of Fowler Wright's anxieties and preoccupations regarding the march of progress are here subjected to bitterly sarcastic extrapolation." - Stableford, Scientific Romance in Britain 1890-1950, pp. 191-2. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-1291. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 2445. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 86. A fine copy in fine dust jacket priced $3.00 on the front flap. (#174080).…

First U. S. edition, expanded. Octavo, cloth. 3062 copies printed. Includes the contents of THE NEW GODS LEAD (1932) plus two stories first collected here and a new 2-page author's "foreword." Former owner's bookplate affixed to front paste down, lower right front corner bumped, a fine copy in a fine dust jacket with no tanning. (25665).…

First U. S. edition, expanded. Octavo, cloth. 3062 copies printed. Includes the contents of THE NEW GODS LEAD (1932) plus two stories first collected here and a new 2-page author's "foreword." Former owner's bookplate affixed to front paste down, a fine copy in a fine dust jacket. (33165).

First edition. Octavo, cloth. Mystery novel published later in Britain as THE HAND-PRINT MYSTERY under Wright's "Sydney Fowler" pseudonym. [Reference: Hubin, p. 299]. A very good copy, previous owner stamp to front paste down, in a very good dust jacket, some rubbing-jacket folds, spine ends, corners, mild loss to base of spine panel and corners, spine panel coloring somewhat faded. (8250). …

Octavo, pp. [1-4] 1-291 [292: blank], original red cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black. First edition. Historical novel set in ancient Britain. A fine copy in nearly fine pictorial dust jacket with touch of dust soiling and clipped price. A lovely copy and quite uncommon in this condition. (#96094).…

First edition. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 1-308 [309-312: blank] [note: first and last two leaves are blanks], original tan cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black and red, top edge stained red, fore-edge untrimmed, bottom edge rough-trimmed. Published in Britain as PRELUDE IN PRAGUE: A STORY OF THE WAR OF 1938 (1935). The first book of a future war trilogy, followed by FOUR DAYS WAR (1936) and MEGIDDO'S RIDGE (1937). PRELUDE IN PRAGUE begins prophetically with the proposition that Germany would embark on the road to war by manufacturing an excuse to invade Czechoslovakia in order to reclaim part of her 'traditional territory.' It rapidly develops, though, into a horror story which put the actual events of 1938 (and even those of 1939) in the shade. The final chapters present a clinically horrific catalogue of atrocities, imagining the effects of devastating aerial bombing and the use of a new chemical weapon -- a 'freezing gas.' PRELUDE IN PRAGUE ends with the delivery of a German ultimatum to Britain, and its sequel, FOUR DAYS WAR (1936), takes up the story with its rejection." - Stableford, Scientific Romance in Britain 1890-1950, p. 195. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1987) 2-143; (1995) 2-153; and (2004) II-1292. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 832. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 69. Clarke, Voices Prophesying War: Future Wars 1763-3749 (1992), p. 240. Gerber, Utopian Fantasy (1973), p. 153. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p.236 (describing the British edition). Bleiler (1978), p. 213. Reginald 1566A]. A fine copy in a very good dust jacket with some mild rubs, a tiny chip to the base of the spine panel and small chip at the upper left front corner at the spine fold. An attractive copy. (24988).…

First U.S. edition. Octavo, pp. [i-iv] v-viii 1-344, original gray cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black. The U.S. edition adds a preface by Wright dated "New York, January 15, 1930" that did not appear in the 1929 Collins edition. A superior novel in which Wright explores human evolution based on degeneration of the race due primarily to continual destruction of past civilizations through the misuse of scientific discoveries. Comprises "The Amphibians," first published in book form in 1925, and its sequel, "The World Below," first published here. A third book was planned but never written. The story is "set in the far future, when humans are extinct and forgotten. the time traveling protagonist accidentally precipitates a crisis in the affairs of a race of telepathic Amphibians who coexist with the giant humanoid Dwellers. the first part [is] an imaginative tour de force." - Anatomy of Wonder (1981) 2-128. THE AMPHIBIANS is "a work comparable in its scope only to [Wells's ] THE TIME MACHINE and [Hodgson's] THE NIGHT LAND." - Stableford, Scientific Romance in Britain 1890-1950, pp. 183-85. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 3-72; (1981) 2-128; (1987) 2-144; (1995) 2-154; and (2004) II-1293. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 2437. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 833. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 58. Gerber, Utopian Fantasy (1973), p. 150. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 235. Negley, Utopian Literature: A Bibliography 1217. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, pp. 188. Survey of Science Fiction Literature V, pp. 2497-2500. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 213. Reginald 15670]. A fine copy in very good pictorial dust jacket (designed by Hermann Post) with light wear along top and bottom edges, mainly at head and tail of spine panel and corner tips and small internal tape mend at head of spine panel (no show through), small 12 mm closed tear at the upper front panel. A bright, attractive example of an uncommon jacket. (24975).…