THE BATTLE OF DORKING: REMINISCENCES OF A VOLUNTEER. FROM BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE MAY 1871. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1871. Small octavo, pp. [1-3] 4-64 [1] 2-8: ads, original pictorial purple wrappers. First edition, first printing, first issue. The presumed first issue, with no copyright notice on the title page. The most influential future war story. "Before Chesney there had been little effective method in the few tales of the war-to-come that had appeared. After Chesney there were very few of these tales that did not employ the devices that had alarmed a nation, amazed a continent, and annoyed the Prime Minister." – Clarke, Voices..., p. 34. "The first significant British imaginary war story and also the finest and most influential example of the subgenre." – Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 412. Anatomy of Wonder (1981) 1-41; (1987) 1-21; (1995) 1-21; and (2004) II-237. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 5. Clarke, Voices Prophesying War: Future Wars 1763-3749 (1992), pp. [27]-56. Clareson, Science-Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 155. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 13 (recording the British edition). Survey of Science Fiction Literature I, pp. 130-32. Suvin, Victorian Science Fiction in the UK, pp. 14-15. Bleiler (1978), p. 42. Reginald 02919C. Wrappers faded, most of the spine panel missing, worn at edges with slight loss at corners, minor dog-ears to corners of wrapper and several text leaves, illustration on front wrapper partially hand colored, a good copy. (#167276).
Price: $150.00
The presumed first issue with no copyright notice on the title page