H. G. Wells' The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance. 1897

WELLS, H. G. The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance. New York: Edward Arnold, 1897.

FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, published in the same year as the London first edition. Small octavo (8vo), 279 pp. Publisher’s original orange cloth, lettered in black and ruled in red to the front board and spine; plain endpapers. This edition contains the first appearance of the four-page Epilogue, not included in the British first edition, depicting Thomas Marvel as proprietor of an inn called The Invisible Man. 

H. G. Wells explained his character’s invisibility by utilizing an actual scientific principle, creating a foundational work of modern science fiction. Contemporary reviewers remarked on his ability to make the impossible seem believable. The Invisible Man became one of Wells’s best-known scientific romances, inspiring generations of writers and numerous adaptations for film, television, radio, and the stage.

Contents are generally clean and unmarked; faint dampstaining to the margins of approximately the final third, occasional staining and creasing, two leaves chipped and several with closed tears. Binding remains sound and square, though the front inner hinge is split. Cloth soiled and rubbed; wear to the spine ends and corners. A Good+ copy of the First American Edition.

References: Hammond B4; Wells Society 11; Currey, p. 520.

[Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover.]