Description
First edition of The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, with inscription to British film studio owner Isidore Ostrer affixed to front endpapers.
Octavo, viii, 303pp, [16pp ads]. Publisher’s original gray cloth, title stamped in black on spine and front cover. Untrimmed edges, faint toning to spine, clean text throughout. Lacking the scarce dust jacket. Advertisements dated “Autumn 1897.” (Currey state A) Newspaper clippings affixed to endpapers, half-title, copyright page and dedication page, most relate to the 1938 panic induced by the War of the Worlds radio broadcast. (Currey, page 526 A) Includes a clipped inscription from the author, which reads: “Oct. 14, 1936 / To Isidore Ostrer. The Experiment in Descriptive Economics (with especial reference to Chapter The Ninth) from H.G. Wells.” An exceptionally bright example, with the newspaper clippings being unwelcome but a relevant addition to this copy.
The inscription in this copy is dedicated to Isidore Ostrer (1889-1975), a British banker, financier, poet and film studio executive. Ostrer acquired the Gaumont-British Film Company from its French owners in 1922, selling it in 1941.
