395. Wells (H.G.) The Time Machine, first edition, first issue with 16pp. publisher's catalogue, uncut edges and purple lettering, light browning to endpapers, original cloth with sphinx design to upper cover, corners and spine ends bumped, very light browning to spine, but overall an excellent copy, preserved in a custom drop-back box, [Wells 4], 8vo, 1895.
est. £1500 – £2000
Wells’ sci-fi classic, reflecting many of his own socialist leanings and the increasing anxiety at industrialisation and the yearning for a more atavistic lifestyle. Some speculate that several of the characters contained are caricatures or representations of fellow socialists of renown, including William Morris, possibly as ‘the Silent Man’, alongside other Fabians.