Herbert George Wells (1866 – 1946) was an English writer. Prolific in many genres, he wrote dozens of novels, short stories, and works of social commentary, history, satire, biography and autobiography. His work also included two books on recreational war games. Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels and is often called the “father of science fiction”, along with Jules Verne and the publisher Hugo Gernsback.
During his own lifetime, however, he was most prominent as a forward-looking, even prophetic social critic who devoted his literary talents to the development of a progressive vision on a global scale. A futurist, he wrote a number of utopian works and foresaw the advent of aircraft, tanks, space travel, nuclear weapons, satellite television and something resembling the World Wide Web. His science fiction imagined time travel, alien invasion, invisibility, and biological engineering. Brian Aldiss referred to Wells as the “Shakespeare of science fiction”, while Victorian scholar Charles Fort referred to him as a “wild talent”.
H.G. Wells rendered his works convincing by instilling commonplace detail alongside a single extraordinary assumption – dubbed “Wells’s law” – leading Joseph Conrad to hail him in 1898 as “O Realist of the Fantastic!”. His most notable science fiction works include The Time Machine (1895), which was his first novel, The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898) and the military science fiction The War in the Air (1907). Wells was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times.
Wells was an important influence on British science fiction of the period after the Second World War, with Arthur C. Clarke and Brian Aldiss expressing strong admiration for Wells’s work. Among contemporary British science fiction writers, Stephen Baxter, Christopher Priest and Adam Roberts have all acknowledged Wells’s influence on their writing.
H. G. Wells – First Edition Identification Guide
Note: This list only includes works published prior to 1977.
| Year | Title | Publisher | First edition/printing identification points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 | THE ADVENTURES OF TOMMY | London: The Amalgamated Press, Ltd., [1928] | Wrappers. No [number Inserted]/Limited and Numbered/EDITION-DE-LUXE/ Published//or private circulation only on title page. ALSO: London Bombay Sydney: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., [1929]. Boards with cloth shelf back. First published 1929 on © page. First hardcover edition. |
| 1940 | ALL ABOARD FOR ARARAT | London: Seeker & Warburg, 1940 | First Published 1940 on © page. |
| 1909 | ANN VERONICA | London: T. Fisher Unwin, MCMIX | No statement of printing on © page. |
| 1935 | APROPOS OF DOLORES | London: Jonathan Cape, [1935] | First Published, 1938 on © page. |
| 1930 | THE AUTOCRACY OF MR. PARK AM | London; William Heinemann Ltd, [1930] | First published 1930 on © page. |
| 1940 | BABES IN THE DARKLING WOOD | London: Seeker & Warburg, 1940 | First Published 1940 on © page. |
| 1915 | BEALBY A HOLIDAY | London; Methuen & Co. Ltd., [1915] | Two issues, priority as listed:
|
| 1966 | BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORIES OF H. G. WELLS | New York: Dover Publications, Inc., [1966] | Wrappers. This Dover edition, first published in 1966 ... on © page. All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1960 | BEST STORIES OF H. G. WELLS | New York: Ballantine Books, [1960] | Wrappers. No statement of printing on © page. Ballantine Books S414K (75c). All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1975 | BOON, THE MIND OF THE RACE, THE WILD ASSES OF THE DEVIL, AND THE LAST TRUMP | London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd., [1975] | First published in 1915 on © page. Reginald Bliss, pseudonym. Second edition issued in 1920 acknowledges Wells's authorship. |
| 1938 | THE BROTHERS | London: Chatto & Windus, 1938 | No statement of printing on © page. |
| 1937 | BRYNHILD | London: Methuen and Company Limited, 1937 | First published in 1937 on © page. |
| 1932 | THE BULPINGTON OF BLUP | London: Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers). Ltd. [1932] | Two issues, probable priority as listed:
|
| 1937 | THE CAMFORD VISITATION | London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.. [1937] | First Published in 1937 on © page. |
| 1925 | CHRISTINA ALBERTA'S FATHER | London: Jonathan Cape Ltd. [1925] | First published in MCMXXV on © page. |
| 1965 | THE CONE: ANOTHER COLLECTION OF HORROR STORIES | [London]: Collins, [1965] | Wrappers. This selection first issued in Fontana Books 1965 on © page. Fontana Books 1125 (3/6). All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1977 | THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND AND OTHER STORIES | London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Leeds, and New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons, [1977] | No statement of printing on © page. Five stories first collected in book form. |
| 1915 | COUNTRY OF THE BLIND | New York: Privately Printed Christmas 1915 | Boards, paper label on front panel. No statement of printing on © page. First separate printing of this story. Collected earlier in THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND AND OTHER STORIES. ALSO: THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND 1939. [London]: The Golden Cockerel Press, [1939], 280 copies printed. Two issues, no priority:
|
| N.D. | THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND | Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius Company, n.d | Wrappers. No statement of printing. Little Blue Book no. 161. Three stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1947 | THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND AND OTHER STORIES | London * New York * Toronto: Longmans, Green & Co., [1947] | Wrappers. First published 1947 on © page. All stories collected from earlier books. |
| 1936 | THE CROQUET PLAYER | London: Chatto & Windus, 1936 | No statement of printing on © page. |
| 1999 | A CURE FOR LOVE. A STORY OF THE DAYS TO COME | (ANNO DOMINI 2090.) [New York: Printed by the E. Scott Co., 1899] | Wrappers. No statement of printing. Caption title. Note: Probably prepared to protect U.S. copyright. Text comprises the first of five parts of Wells's novella "A Story of the Days to Come, "collected later the same year in TALES OF SPACE AND TIME. Only recorded copy of this pamphlet is in the Library of Congress and was received by the library's Office of Register of Copyrights on 17 May 1899. |
| 1957 | THE DESERTDAISY | [Urbana, Illinois]: Published by Beta Phi Mu, 1957 | No statement of printing on © page. 4413 copies printed of which 1413 are numbered . |
| 1911 | THE DOOR IN THE WALL AND OTHER STORIES | New York & Landon: Mitchell Kennerley, MCMXI | 600 copies printed. Two issues, priority as listed:
|
| 1924 | THE DREAM | London: Jonathan Cape, [1924] | Two issues, priority as listed:
|
| N.D. | THE EMPIRE OF THE ANTS AND OTHER STORIES | Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius Company, n.d | Wrappers. No statement of printing. Little Blue Book no. 925. All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1937 | THE FAMOUS SHORT STORIES OF H. G. WELLS | Garden City: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1937 | Flexible cloth. No statement of printing on © page. First printing has Doubleday, Doran device on © page. Reissue of THE SHORT STORIES OF H. G. WELLS. An abridgment of this collection was issued as THE FAVORITE SHORT STORIES OF H. G. WELLS. |
| 1937 | THE FAVORITE SHORT STORIES OF H. G. WELLS | Garden City: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1937 | No statement of printing on © page. Abridged reprint. Collects the first thirty-one of sixty-three stories printed in THE FAMOUS SHORT STORIES OF H. G. WELLS. |
| 1946 | THE FINAL MEN | N.p., n.d. [Robert W. Lowndes, March [1946] | Front wrapper only. No statement of printing. Mimeographed, stapled. Cover title. Notes: (1) First separate printing of the episode from THE TIME MACHINE featuring the kangaroo rat men and the giant insects included in the serialization in the New Review, January-May 1895, but omitted from all book editions save the 1960 text printed in THREE PROPHETIC NOVELS OF H. G. WELLS. (2) Bob Pavlat and Bill Evans in Fanzine Index (1965) credit preparation of this booklet to Lowndes and assign an issue date of March 1940. |
| 1901 | THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON | Indianapolis: The Bowen-Merrill Company, [1901] | No statement of printing on © page. PRESS OF/BRAUNWORTH & CO./ BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS/BROOKLYN, N.Y. at base of © page. Title page printed in red and black. Notes: (1) Bowen-Merrill edition published 5 October 1901 preceding Newnes edition published in November 1901. Omits three pages of text (pp. 75-78 of Newnes edition); other minor textual differences. (2) Sheets of the first printing have been observed in a later binding of blue-gray vertically ribbed cloth stamped in gold and blind with GROSSETT/AND/DUNLAP at base of spine. ALSO: London: George Newnes, Limited, 1901. Four bindings, priority as listed:
|
| 1904 | THE FOOD OF THE GODS | London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1904 | Two bindings, priority as listed:
|
| 1975 | H. G. WELLS: EARLY WRITINGS IN SCIENCE AND SCIENCE FICTION | Berkley * Los Angeles * London: University of California Press[1975] | No statement of printing on © page. Edited, with critical commentary and notes, by Robert M. Philmus and David Y. Hughes. |
| 1945 | THE HAPPY TURNING: A DREAM OF LIFE | London * Toronto: William Heinemann Ltd. [1945] | Boards with cloth shelf back. First Published 1945 on © page. |
| 1910 | THE HISTORY OF MR. POLLY | London, Edinburgh, Dublin. . and New York. Leipzig ... Paris Thomas Nelson and Sons, [1910] | First Published 1910 on © page. Pages [375-84] comprise publisher's advertisements with page [375] headed "Notes on Nelson's New Novels. |
| 1939 | THE HOLY TERROR | London: Michael Joseph Ltd:., [1939] | First published in 1939 on © page. |
| 1964 | HOOPDRIVER'S HOLIDAY | West Lafayette, Indiana: Department of English Purdue University, 1964 | Wrappers. First edition so stated on title page. Offset from typewritten copy, stapled. 650 copies printed. Edited, with introduction and notes, by Michael Timko. Note: A dramatized version of THE WHEELS OF CHANCE written in 1904. |
| 1906 | IN THE DAYS OF THE COMET | London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1906 | No statement of printing on © page. Three issues (printings?), priority as follows:
|
| 1965 | THE INEXPERIENCED GHOST AND NINE OTHER STORIES | New York/Toronto/London: Bantam Pathfinder Editions, [1965] | Wrappers. Published February 1965 on © page. A Bantam Pathfinder Edition FB81 (50c). All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1944 | THE INEXPERIENCED GHOST AND THE NEW ACCELERATOR | London: Vallancey Press Limited, [1944] | Wrappers. No statement of printing on © page. Both stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1897 | THE INVISIBLE MAN | London: C. Arthur Pearson Limited, 1897 | No statement of printing on © page. Pages [247-48] comprise publisher's advertisements. ALSO: New York London: Edward Arnold, 1897. No statement of printing on © page. Minor textual variations and first book appearance of The Epilogue. ALSO: London: C. Arthur Pearson Limited, n.d. [ca. 1903-1904?]. Wrappers. Cheap edition. Not seen but Eric Korn, London, reports textual changes incorporating material from the 1897 Pearson and 1897 Arnold editions. |
| 1896 | THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU | London: William Heinemann, MDCCCXCVI | Two bindings, priority as listed:
|
| 1918 | JOAN AND PETER | London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne: Cassell and Company, Ltd, [1918] | First Published 1918 on © page. Printer's code F. 150.818 on page 748. |
| 1929 | THE KING WHO WAS A. KING | London: Ernest Benn Limited, [1929] | Two bindings, priority as listed:
|
| 1905 | KIPPS A MONOGRAPH | New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905 | Wrappers. No statement of printing on © page. J. F. TAPLEY CO. /BOOK MANUFACTURERS/NEW YORK at base of © page. Note: Printed for copyright purposes only. Received by Library of Congress 17 March 1905. ALSO: KIPPS THE STORY OF A SIMPLE SOUL. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905. Published, 1905 on © page. Note: First published edition. Received by Library of Congress 25 September 1905. The Scribner edition was published 7 October 1905 preceding the British edition by Macmillan between 21 and 28 October 1905. Macmillan edition received by British Library 7 November 1905. |
| 1900 | LOVE AND MR. LEWISHAM: THE STORY OF A VERY YOUNG COUPLE | New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers, [1900] | Wrappers. No statement of printing on © page. Title page printed in black. Note: Printed for copyright purposes only. Received by Library of Congress 3 January 1900. ALSO: New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers, [1900]. No statement of printing on © page. Title page printed in orange and black. First published U S. edition. ALSO: London and New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1900. No statement of printing on © page. Pages [325-28] comprise publisher's advertisements. The Harper edition drops the subtitle from the title page. Note: Secondary sources indicate British edition published in June 1900 preceding published U S. edition issued in October 1900. Both are preceded by the U. S. copyright printing. |
| 1931 | THE MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES | Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius Publications, [1931] | Wrappers. No statement of printing on © page. Little Blue Book no. 1661. Reprint. |
| 1943 | THE MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES | London: Todd Publishing Company, [1943] | Wrappers. August 1943 on page 16. Pollybooks (sixpence). All stories collected from earlier books. |
| 1936 | MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES. A FILM BASED ON THE MATERIAL CONTAINED IN HIS SHORT STORY | London: The Cresset Press, 1936 | No statement of printing on © page. |
| 1912 | MARRIAGE | London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1912 | No statement of printing on © page. Pages [553-60] comprise publisher's advertisements. |
| 1927 | MEANWHILE | London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1927 | No statement of printing on © page. |
| 1923 | MEN LIKE GODS | London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne: Cassell and Company. Ltd, [1923] | Two bindings, probable priority as listed:
|
| 1905 | A MODERN UTOPIA | London: Chapman & Hall, Ld., 1905 | No statement of printing on © page. |
| 1928 | MR. BLETTSWORTHY ON RAMPOLE ISLAND | London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1928 | No statement of printing on © page. |
| 1916 | MR. BRITLING SEES IT THROUGH | London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne: Cassell And Company, Ltd, [1916] | First published 1916 on © page. Printer's code F .100,716 on page [434]. |
| 1910 | THE NEW MACHIAVELLI | New York: Duffield & Company, 1910 | Two issues, probable priority as listed:
|
| N.D. | THE OBLITERATED MAN AND OTHER STORIES | Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius Company, n.d | Wrappers. No statement of printing on © page. Little Blue Book no. 926. All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1913 | THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS | London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1913 | No statement of printing on © page. 12 pages of publisher's advertisements inserted at rear. Ads are paged 1-4, 1-[8] with page 1 of the second set dated Autumn 1913. |
| 1897 | THE PLATTNER STORY AND OTHERS | London: Methuen & Co., 1897 | No statement of printing on © page. 40-page publisher's catalogue dated March 1897 inserted at rear. |
| 1928 | A QUARTETTE OF COMEDIES | London: Ernest Benn Limited, M.CM.XXVIII | First published 1928 on © page. Reprint. Collects KIPPS, THE HISTORY OF MR. POLLY, LOVE AND MR. LEWISHAM, and BEALBY. |
| 1986 | THE RED ROOM | Chicago: Stone & Kimball, MDCCCXCVI | Self wrappers, sewn. No statement of printing on © page. Cover title. Notes: (1) 12 copies printed to establish U.S. copyright from type set for publication of the story in The Chapbook, February 15, 1896. None were for sale. (2) Misdated on cover MDCCCVCVI. |
| 1915 | THE RESEARCH MAGNIFICENT | London: Macmillan And Co., Limited, 1915 | No statement of printing on © page. Two numbered pages of advertisements for other books by Wells at rear, followed by inserted eight-page publisher's catalogue New & Recent/Works Of Fiction dated C.15.8.15. |
| 1933 | THE SCIENTIFIC ROMANCES OF H. G. WELLS | London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1933 | No statement of printing on © page. Reprint, save for new preface. Collects THE TIME MACHINE, THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, THE FOOD OF THE GODS, IN THE DAYS OF THE COMET, and MEN LIKE GODS. Issued later in the U.S. as SEVEN FAMOUS NOVELS BY H. G. WELLS with MEN LIKE GODS deleted. |
| 1902 | THE SEA LADY | London: Methuen & Co., 1902 | Two (three?) bindings, priority as listed:
|
| 1922 | THE SECRET PLACES OF THE HEART | London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne: Cassell and Company, Ltd, [1922] | Three issues, priority as listed:
|
| 1895 | SELECT CONVERSATIONS WITH AN UNCLE | London: John Lane-New York-The Merriam Company, 1895 | No statement of printing on © page. 16 pages of publisher's advertisements dated 1895 inserted at rear. Note: Contains twelve conversations and two short stories. |
| 195S | SELECTED SHORT STORIES | [Harmondsworth, Middlesex]: Penguin Books, [195S] | Wrappers. Published in Penguin Books 1958 on © page. Penguin Books 1310 (3/6). Twenty-one stories reprinted from THE SHORT STORIES OF H. G. WELLS published by Ernest Benn in 1927. |
| 1931 | SELECTIONS FROM THE EARLY PROSE WORKS | London: University of London Press. Ltd., 1931 | No statement of printing on © page. Short stories and extracts from novels reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1934 | SEVEN FAMOUS NOVELS BY H. G. WELLS | New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1934 | First Printing June 1, 1934 on © page. Basically a reprint of THE SCIENTIFIC ROMANCES OF H. G. WELLS with some changes in preface and MEN LIKE GODS deleted. Note: 1950 Dover edition drops preface. |
| 1933 | THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME | (London; Hutchinson & Co). (Publishers), Ltd., MCMXXXIII | No statement of printing on © page. |
| 1940 | SHORT STORIES ... FIRST SERIES | London Edinburgh and New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd., [1940] | First published, September 1940 on © page. All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1927 | THE SHORT STORIES OF H. G. WELLS | London: Ernest Benn Limited, MCMXXVII | No statement of printing on © page. Includes several short stories not previously collected in book form. Issued in the U.S. under this title in 1929 and later as THE FAMOUS SHORT STORIES OF Hl Gi. WELLS). ALSO: London: Odhams Press, n.d. Abridged collection. |
| 1910 | THE SLEEPER AWAKES | [London]: Thomas Nelson and Sons, [1910] | No statement of printing on © page. Revised text (comprising mostly deletion of about 6000 words) and new introduction. Issued earlier as WHEN THE SLEEPER WAKES. |
| 1917 | THE SOUL OF A BISHOP | London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne: Cassell and Company , Ltd, [1917] | First Impression September 1917 on © page. Printer's code FJOO. 717 on page 320. |
| 1937 | STAR BEGOTTEN | London Chatto & Windus, 1937 | No statement of printing on © page. |
| 1895 | THE STOLEN BACILLUS AND OTHER INCIDENTS | London: Methuen & Co., 1895 | No statement of printing on © page. 32-page publisher's catalogue dated SEPTEMBER 1895 inserted at rear. |
| N.D. | THE STOLEN BACILLUS AND OTHER STORIES | Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius Company, n.d | Wrappers. No Statement of printing on © page. Little Blue Book no. 927. All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1931 | THE STOLEN BODY AND OTHER TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED | [London]: Published for Wm. Collins Sons & Co., Ltd., by the London Book Co., Ltd., [1931] | Boards. No statement of printing on © page. All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1935 | STORIES OF MEN AND WOMEN IN LOVE | London: Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers), Ltd., [1935] | No statement of printing on © page. Reprint, save for new preface. Collects LOVE AND MR. LEWISHAM, THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS, THE WIFE OF SIR ISAAC HARMAN, and THE SECRET PLACES OF THE HEART. |
| 1976 | A STORY OF THE DAYS TO COME | [London]; Corgi Books, [1976] | Wrappers. Corgi edition published 1976 on © page. Corgi Science Fiction 552 10185 0 (45p). Reprint. Collected earlier in TALES OF SPACE AND TIME. |
| 1923? | TALES OF LIFE AND ADVENTURE | London: W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., n.d. [ca. 1923?] | Boards. No statement of printing on © page. All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1899 | TALES OF SPACE AND TIME | London and New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1900 [i.e., 1899] | No statement of printing on © page. Note: British Library copy received 21 November 1899. |
| 1924 | TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED | London: W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., [1924] | Boards. No statement of printing on © page. Publisher's advertisements on page 1 dated SPRING, 1924. All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1923? | TALES OF WONDER | London: W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., n.d. [ca. 1923?] | Boards. No statement of printing on © page. All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1935 | THINGS TO COME... A FILM STORY.. | London: The Cresset Press, 1935 | No statement of printing on © page. |
| 1897 | THIRTY STRANGE STORIES | New York: Edward Arnold, 1897 | No statement of printing on © page. Three stories appear for the first time in book form. |
| 1963 | THREE NOVELS | London Melbourne Toronto: Heinemann, [1963] | Boards. Re-issued in this Edition 1963 on © page. Reprint. Collects THE TIME MACHINE, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, and THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU. |
| 1960 | THREE PROPHETIC NOVELS OF H. G. WELLS | New York: Dover Publications, Inc., [1960] | Wrappers. This new Dover edition, first published in 1960 on © page. Reprint. Collects WHEN THE SLEEPER WAKES, “A Story of the Days to Come, "and THE TIME MACHINE. Note: This edition of THE TIME MACHINE contains the episode featuring the kangaroo-rat men and the giant insects included in the serialization in New Review, January-May 1895 but omitted from all earlier book editions. |
| 1995 | THE TIME MACHINE | New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1895 | No statement of printing on © page. Two printings, priority as listed:
ALSO: London: William Heinemann, MDCCCXCV. No statement of printing on © page. 10,000 copies printed. Published simultaneously in cloth and wrappers. In May 1895, 5000 copies were bound in wrappers and 1000 in cloth; In August 1895, 1000 copies were bound in wrappers and 500 in cloth. The remainder were bound as required, with many of the copies bound earlier in wrappers stripped and rebound in cloth. Rebound copies have all edges trimmed. The following bindings have been noted. Bindings A and B1 probably represent the earliest forms for wrappers and cloth copies, but the order as here presented for the remainder is all but arbitrary:
|
| 1946 | THE TIME MACHINE: AN INVENTION AND OTHER STORIES | Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, [1946] | Wrappers. No statement of printing on © page. Penguin Books 533 (one shilling). All material reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1963 | THE TIME MACHINE AND OTHER STORIES | New York: Scholastic Bookservices, [1963] | Wrappers. 1st printing ... September 1963 on © page. Scholastic Library Edition T530 (45c). All material reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1909 | TONO-BUNGAY | London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1909 | No statement of printing on © page. Two states of publisher's advertisements inserted at rear, priority as listed:
|
| 1936 | THE TREASURE IN THE FOREST | [New York: The Press of the Woolly Whale, June 1936] | Boards. The Treasure in the Forest by H. G. Wells,/here reprinted in an edition of 130 copies by the Press of the Woolly Whale, New York, /finished in June, 1936 ... on page [33]. Reprint. Collected earlier in THE STOLEN BACILLUS AND OTHER INCIDENTS. |
| 1943 | THE TRUTH ABOUT PYECRAFT AND OTHER SHORT STORIES | London: Todd Publishing Company, [1943] | Wrappers. March 1943 on © page. Pollybooks (price sixpence). All stories re-printed from earlier books. |
| 1903 | TWELVE STORIES AND A DREAM | London: Macmillan and Co., Limited New York: The Macmillan Company, 1903 | No statement of printing on © page. Pages [379-84] comprise publisher's advertisements. 16-page publisher's catalogue dated 20.9.O3 inserted at rear. |
| 1952 | 28 SCIENCE FICTION STORIES OF H. G. WELLS | [New York]: Dover Publications, Inc., [1952] | No statement of printing on © page. All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1940 | TWO FILM STORIES THINGS TO COME MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES | London: The Cresset Press, 1940 | No statement of printing on © page. Reprint. Collects THINGS TO COME and MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES. |
| 1919 | THE UNDYING FIRE | London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne: Cassell and Company, Ltd, [1919] | No statement of printing on © page. Printer's code F.200419 on page [254]. |
| 1899 | THE VACANT COUNTRY | [New York: A. E. Kent], n.d. [but 1899] | Page proofs, printed on rectos only and mounted on 18 leaves, plus title leaf not mounted. Probably prepared for U.S. copyright. Pulled from standing type prepared for U.S. magazine appearance? No copy located. Description from microfilm of the deposit copy discarded by the Library of Congress after filming. This copy was marked "second copy, 1899" and was received by the library's Office of Register of Copyrights on 10 June 1899. Text comprises the second of five parts of Wells's novella "A Story of the Days to Come,” collected later the same year in TALES OF SPACE AND TIME. |
| 1964 | THE VALLEY OF SPIDERS: A NEW COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES | [London]: Fontana Books, [1964] | Wrappers. This selection first issued in Fontana Books 1964 on © page. An Original Fontana 1035 (3'6). All stories reprinted from earlier books. |
| 1908 | THE WAR IN THE AIR | London: George Bell and Sons, 1908 | No statement of printing on © page. Five bindings, first and last as listed, sequence of others not established:
|
| 1898 | THE WAR OF THE WORLDS | London: William Heinemann, 1898 | No statement of printing on © page. Occurs with and without an inserted publisher's catalogue. Two states of inserted publisher's catalogue at rear, priority as listed:
ALSO: London:: Toronto: William Heinemann Ltd, [1951], Boards. Revised Edition 1951 on © page. Note: Bowdlerized rather than revised text. See David Y. Hughes, "McConnell's Critical Edition of TM and WW, " Science-Fiction Studies 4, no. 2 (July 1977), pp. 196-97. |
| 1956 | THE WAR OF THE WORLDS AND THE TIME MACHINE | New York: Globe Book Company, [1956] | No statement of printing on © page. Reprint. Collects THE WAR OF THE WORLDS and THE TIME MACHINE. Text adapted and edited by Lou P. Bunce. |
| 1963 | THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE TIME MACHINE, AND SELECTED SHORT STORIES | New York: Platt & Munk, Publishers, [1963] | Boards. No statement of printing on © page. Reprint. Collects THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE TIME MACHINE, and seven short stories from earlier collections. |
| 1969 | THE WEALTH OF MR. WADDY | Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois Univ. Press. London and Amsterdam: Feffer & Simons, Inc., [1969] | Crosscurrents/Modern Fiction edition, November, 1969 on © page. Note: Earliest surviving draft of KIPPS. |
| 1896 | THE WHEELS OF CHANCE | London: J. M. Dent and Co. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1896 | Two issues, priority as listed:
|
| 1899 | WHEN THE SLEEPER WAKES | London and New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1899 | No statement of printing on © page. Later abridged as THE SLEEPER AWAKES. ALSO: London: W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., [1921], Boards. No statement of printing on © page. New preface. |
| 1914 | THE WIFE OF SIR ISAAC HARMAN | London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1914 | No statement of printing on © page. Code 2 H at base of page 465. 10 integral numbered pages of publisher's advertisements at rear. |
| 1895 | THE WONDERFUL VISIT | London: J. M. Dent &Co., New York: Macmillan & Co., 1895 | Two bindings, probable priority as listed:
|
| 1926 | THE WORLD OF WILLIAM CLISSOLD | London: Ernest Benn Ltd., 1926 | Three volumes. Two issues, no priority:
|
| 1914 | THE WORLD SET FREE | London: Macmillan And Co., Limited, 1914 | No statement of printing on © page. 10 pages of publisher's advertisements at rear of which eight comprise an inserted catalogue with page 1 headed Macmillan's/New Fiction. ALSO: London: W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.,[1921]. Boards. No statement of printing on © page. New preface. |
| 1941 | YOU CAN'T BE TOO CAREFUL | London: Seeker & Warburg, 1941 | First Published... November 1941 on © page. |
H. G. Wells – First Printing Dust Jacket Identification Points
Gallery of First state Dust Jackets of works. Only includes the first appearance in book form. Either the UK or US edition and does not include later printings.
Reference:
- Wikipedia
- L. W. Currey, Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors: A Bibliography of First Printings of Their Fiction and Selected Nonfiction.
