L. W. Currey, Inc.

Huxley, Aldous. APE AND ESSENCE. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1948. Octavo, pp. [1-6] 1-205 [206: blank] [207: colophon] [208-210: blank] [note: last leaf is a blank], publisher's blue cloth, Harper's device stamped in light blue on front panel, spine panel stamped in light blue and gold, fore-edge untrimmed. First edition. "After a comprehensive atomic bomb catastrophe, man undergoes biological changes. Love is extinct, only collective seasonal sexual intercourse remains. The place of traditional religion has been taken by a hysterical worship of Belial, the god of evil." - Gerber, Utopian Fantasy (1973), pp. 156-57. "... scalpel-like satirical account of twentieth-century humans' failure to understand their nature. Lesser writers would not handle this scenario and theme intelligently until the 1960's." - Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 3-97. "Bleak and timely." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, p. 17. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-557. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 235. Survey of Science Fiction Literature I, pp. 78-83. Baird and Greenwood, An Annotated Bibliography of California Fiction 1664-1970 1274. Faint, narrow insect tracking along lower edge of front cover and upper and lower edges of rear cover, else a bright near fine copy in very good gold-foil dust jacket with shelf wear along upper edges and at tail of spine panel and lower corner tips, several closed tears at edges, some internal tape reinforcements (mostly along top edges), and clipped price. (#30833).

Price: $45.00