LEST DARKNESS FALL. New York: Henry Holt and Company, [1941]. Octavo, pp. [i-vi] vii-ix [x-xii] 1-379 [380: blank], original pictorial black cloth, front and spine panels stamped in white, top edge stained yellow, fore and bottom edges untrimmed. First edition. Signed by de Camp on the title page. The author's first book of fiction. An early classic of modern SF in which the protagonist is thrown back in time to the end of the Roman Empire and makes an unsuccessful attempt to use his modern scientific knowledge to prevent the Dark Ages. "Neat anthropological interpretation of history." - Anatomy of Wonder (1987) 3-135. "... de Camp's finest book." - Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-304. Survey of Science Fiction Literature III, pp. 1198-1203. In 333. Contemporary reviews of the book, one by Isaac Asimov, affixed to the front endpapers and the half title page. A very good or better copy with white enamel stamping intact on front and spine panels, in bright, good dust jacket with rubbing at edges, wear with some shallow loss along upper edges, wear to corner tips, and several short tears at edges. Still an attractive copy overall. (#136475).
Price: $750.00
No statement of printing.