THE ETERNAL MOMENT AND OTHER STORIES. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd., 1928. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 1-187 [188], original red cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold. First edition. Approximately 3720 copies printed. Collects six stories, including the science fiction classic, "The Machine Stops" (1909). "... the first full-scale emergence of the twentieth-century anti-utopia." - Hillegas, The Future as Nightmare, pp. 82-94. "Machinery controls the world, the individuals live underground and are almost completely isolated. The son who wants to see his mother is a freak. Finally the vast machinery breaks down, a new, more natural life begins again on the surface of the earth." - Gerber, Utopian Fantasy (1973), p. 150. "... must be judged the first full-fledged dystopian view of the effects of technology." - Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 1-35. "Forster described this story as 'a counter-blast to one of the heavens of H. G. Wells.' It has been often reprinted." - Lewis, Utopian Literature, p. 65. Four of the remaining five stories have supernatural motifs and are "excellent," according to Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 646. Anatomy of Wonder (1981) 1-74; (1987) 1-35; and (2004) II-414. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 3-139. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 803. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 307. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 56. Negley, Utopian Literature: A Bibliography 378. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 145. Survey of Science Fiction Literature III, pp. 1299-1303. Bleiler (1978), p. 75. Reginald 05525. A fine copy in very good printed dust jacket with mild tanning to spine which as been professionally restored. A very attractive example of this delicate jacket. (#165787).
Price: $450.00
"First Impression of this Collection, March 1928" on copyright page.