A GNOME THERE WAS AND OTHER TALES OF SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1950. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 1-276 [277-280: blank], original red boards, front and spine panels stamped in silver. First edition. Presentation copy with inscription on front free endpaper in Kuttner's hand that is signed by both authors: "For Herbert Alexander / With best regards / 'Lewis Padgett' / Catherine Moore Kuttner / Henry Kuttner." Kuttner and Moore's first collection of short fiction. Collects eleven short stories, including several classics: "The Twonky" and "Mimsy Were the Borogroves." All but two stories are reprinted from 1940s issues of ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION and UNKNOWN where Kuttner was a major star of the time under his own name and as "Lewis Padgett," often in collaboration with his wife, C. L. Moore. "Today ... Kuttner's reputation rests primarily on the literate and sophisticated stories he and Moore wrote for John W. Campbell's ASTOUNDING STORIES during the 1940s ..." - Gunn (ed), The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, p. 261. A major collection of 1940s fantastic fiction. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1273. Light wear at head of spine panel, rubbing to boards along portions of bottom edges and outer front hinge, a very good copy in very good dust jacket with shallow chip from head of spine panel and wear to tail of spine panel and corner tips. Books signed or inscribed by both Kuttner and Moore are rare. (#161243).
Price: $2,500.00
No statement of printing.