THE DIAMOND LENS WITH OTHER STORIES ... Collected and Edited, with a Sketch of the Author, by William Winter. A New Edition. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1885. Octavo, pp. [i-vii] viii-xx [1-3] 4-337 [338: blank] [339-340:ads], flyleaves at front and rear, publisher's gray green cloth, spine panel stamped in gold, bottom edge untrimmed. First printing of this edition. This abridged edition of THE POEMS AND STORIES OF FITZ-JAMES O'BRIEN ... (1881), first published in 1885, collects only O'Brien's fiction. O'Brien (1828-1862) was an important contributor to the type of fantasy tale exemplified by Poe and Bierce. His finest and best known story, "The Diamond Lens," is included in this collection. O'Brien's "importance rests on a handful of brilliantly original sf tales, which were influential not only on subsequent sf but also on the development of the short-story genre." – Clute and Nicholls, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, p. 884. Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 1-33, 1-34 and 1-35; (1981) 1-132; (1987) 1-72; and (1995) 1-72. Ashley, Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction, p. 140. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 2-134. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1246. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 1699. Clareson, The Emergence of American Science Fiction: 1880-1915, pp. 39-42. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 304. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature IV, pp. 1657-61. Survey of Science Fiction Literature IV, pp. 1944-47. Suvin, Victorian Science Fiction in the UK, p. 33. Bleiler (1978), p. 149. Reginald 10892. BAL 18189. Owner's bookplate and signature on the front paste-down. Cloth worn and spotted, a sound reading copy. (#171617).
Price: $50.00
"A NEW EDITION" on copyright page.