MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES - INSCRIBED TO FRANK SWINNERTON
London: The Cresset Press, 1936. First Edition. Item #7867
First Impression. Octavo (20.25cm); navy blue cloth, blocked and titled in black and gilt on spine and front cover; dustjacket; [9],10-96pp. Inscribed by the author on the half-title page: "Frank Swinnerton / from H.G. / Bless him." Hint of sunning to spine, some trivial foxing to endpapers, else a clean, Near Fine copy. In the dustjacket designed by E. McKnight Kauffer; unclipped (priced 3/6 net), edgeworn, some sunning to spine and flap folds, with several tiny nicks and tears (two of them tape mended on verso), shallow loss to base of spine, and some chipping to crown, encroaching slightly on the "M" in "Man"; Very Good.
"The script of the excellent film developed from Wells's classic short story, in which a playful immortal gives the luckless Mr. Fotheringay the power to gratify his wishes – a power whose intemperate use inevitably leads him to disaster. An ancient folkloristic theme developed into a first-rate modern parable" (Barron, Fantasy Literature 3-361). Swinnerton (1884-1982) and Wells were close friends and contemporaries. Wells wrote the introduction to Swinnerton's 1917 novel Nocturne, and co-authored the biography Frank Swinnerton: Personal Sketches (1920) with Arnold Bennett and Grant Martin Overton. A warm association between two prominent English author's.
Price: $1,750.00