WELLS, H. G. (1866-1946). The Invisible Man, London, 1897, 8vo, half title, original red pictorial cloth gilt (inner hinges weak, stained). FIRST EDITION, first issue. RARE.

WELLS, H. G. (1866-1946).   The Invisible Man. A Grotesque Romance. London: C. Arthur Pearson Limited, 1897. 8vo (185 x 125mm). Half title, title printed in orange and black, 2-pages of publisher's advertisements at the end (lightly browned mainly at margins throughout, some light spotting and staining). Original red pictorial cloth lettered in gilt (spine faded, some staining, head and foot of spine frayed, inner hinges weak). Provenance: Alan Johnston (modern signature on front free endpaper); A. Cynthia Pearce, Feb. 13th 1904 (signature, scored through, on half title). FIRST EDITION, first issue, with the first page of Chapter I numbered "2". The story was originally serialised in Pearson's Weekly. Currey p.520; Hammond B4; The Oxford Companion to English Literature (ed. Drabble, 1985): "... As a novelist, [Wells] is perhaps best remembered for his scientific romances, among the earliest products of the new genre of science fiction ..."; Wells Society 11. RARE.