(#130780) THE PURPLE CLOUD. Shiel.
THE PURPLE CLOUD ...

THE PURPLE CLOUD. London: Chatto & Windus, 1901. Octavo, pp. [1-4] [1] 2-463 [464: blank] [1] 2-4: ads + 32-page publisher's catalogue dated "May, 1901" inserted at rear, title page printed in red and black, original pictorial green cloth, front panel stamped in purple, black and white, spine panel stamped in purple, black and gold, t.e.g., bottom edge untrimmed. First edition, first printing. Presentation copy with brief inscription in Shiel's hand to fellow writer and Shiel acolyte Terence Ian Fytton Armstrong (a.k.a. John Gawsworth) on the title page: "F. A. / from M. P. Shiel." "THE PURPLE CLOUD is generally -- and rightly -- considered to be Shiel's finest work." - Stableford, Scientific Romance in Britain 1890-1950, pp. 78-80. "THE PURPLE CLOUD remains Shiel's masterpiece, still the best last man novel. It is finely imagined and displays Shiel's stylistic brilliance at its best." - Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 2027. Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 2-138; (1981) 1-152; and (2004) II-1004. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 692. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 28. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 196. Negley, Utopian Literature: A Bibliography 1029. Survey of Science Fiction Literature IV, pp. 1735-38. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 179. Reginald 13027. Morse, The Works of M. P. Shiel Updated (1980), p. 116-17. Neat early owner's signature dated 1901 on front free endpaper. Some foxing and tanning to endpapers, some mild foxing to text block, mostly page edges, just a bit of tanning to spine panel. Overall, a quite superior copy of a very scarce book seldom found in nice condition. The best copy with have seen and a very fine association copy. (#130780).

Price: $10,000.00

Printing identification statement for this book:
No statement of printing. Note: the second printing is marked "SECOND EDITION" on the title page.