8vo. Original grey cloth uncut (light rubbing); decorative morocco case with gilt onlay depicting cartoon caricature in Wells’s hand as found accompanying inscription. Provenance: William Pett Ridge (1857- 1930), English author (bookplate, presentation inscription); Wolffe Nadoolman (gilt stamp on decorative morocco case); previously sold Swann Galleries, April 18, 1991, sale 1558, lot 199.

FIRST EDITION. Currey’s state (A) with 16 pp. publisher’s catalogue at rear.

PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY WELLS TO WILLIAM PETT RIDGE WITH CARICATURES OF BOTH IN WELLS’S HAND.

The War of the Worlds was originally published as a serial in Pearson’s Magazine and is considered to be one of the first stories to detail a conflict between humans and extraterrestrials. Currey p. 526; Bleiller 2331; Hammond B5.