THE DIAMOND LENS AND OTHER STORIES. London: Ward & Downey, 1887. Octavo, pp. [1-2: blank] [i-vii] viii-xx [1-3] 4-337 [338: printer's imprint], publisher's decorated dark green cloth, front and rear panels stamped in blind, spine panel stamped in gold, floral patterned endpapers. First printing of this edition. Follows the text of the 1885 Scribner edition. Collects all O'Brien's fiction printed earlier in the 1881 Osgood edition, as well as William Winter's biographical sketch of O'Brien. 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. BAL notes a Ward & Downey 1889 edition (published in paper wrappers only?) titled WHAT WAS IT? AND OTHER STORIES, which is probably a later edition of this book. Bleiler (1978), p. 149. Reginald 10892. Not in BAL. Cloth chipped at spine ends, corner tips rubbed and turned, inner front hinge cracked, a reading copy. (#172127).
Price: $35.00
No statement of printing.