LAST AND FIRST MEN: A STORY OF THE NEAR AND FAR FUTURE. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., [1930]. Octavo, pp. [i-iv] v-xi [xii] 1-355 [356: printer's imprint] + 8-page publisher's catalogue dated "630" at bottom of page 8 inserted at rear, original dark blue cloth, front panel stamped in blind, spine panel stamped in gold. First edition, first impression. Variant with 8-page publisher's catalogue dated "630" inserted at rear. Published 23 October 1930. 2036 copies printed. The author's first novel, "one of the most remarkable imaginative works in the field of futuristic fiction: an account of human development during the next hundreds of millions of years." - Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 58. "On his own terms, Stapledon is unequaled, and he certainly has been one of the major influences on contemporary science fiction." - Survey of Science Fiction Literature III, pp. 1140-43. "LAST AND FIRST MEN and STAR MAKER soar far beyond the accepted limits of science fiction... Stapledon is the great classical example, the cold pitch of perfection as he turns scientific concepts into vast ontological epic prose poems, the ultimate SF writer." - Aldiss, Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction, p. 198. Stapledon's "influence, both direct and indirect, on the development of many concepts which now permeate genre SF is probably second only to that of H. G. Wells." - Clute and Nicholls (eds), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1993), pp. 1151-53. Aldiss, Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction, p. 198. Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 3-56; (1981) 2-98; (1987) 2-109; (1995) 2-119; and (2004) II-1069. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 2086. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 718. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 58. Clute and Nicholls (eds), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1993), pp. 1151-52. Gerber, Utopian Fantasy (1973), p. 151. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, pp. 204-05. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 190. Stableford, Scientific Romance in Britain 1890-1950, pp. 200-03. Survey of Science Fiction Literature III, pp. 1140-43. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 185. Reginald 13553. Satty and Smith A3.1.1. A fine, bright copy in near fine, bright yellow-orange printed dust jacket with light shelf wear at upper spine end and a circular closed tear at center of spine panel repaired internally with tape which is no longer present but which has left tape stains on the inner surface and mild discoloration on the outer surface. Still a very nice above average copy of an influential book which is quite scarce in jacket. (#134275).
Price: $6,500.00
"First Published in 1930" on copyright page.