ODD JOHN: A STORY BETWEEN JEST AND EARNEST.
London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., [1935]. Octavo, pp. [i-iv] v [vi] 1-282 + 8-page publisher's catalogue dated "835" at bottom of page 8 inserted at rear, original blue cloth, spine panel stamped in dark blue. First edition, first impression, first issue. 3096 copies printed, this copy with earliest inserted catalogue dated "535" on page 8. Stapledon's third novel. "... the most radically thoughtful of the many fictional extrapolations of ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES and one of the least comfortable in its conclusion. Above all it exposes the flimsiness of thinking that 'Superman' will always be on the side of the police, that evolution has stopped, or that from now on evolution will only take place nicely." - Survey of Science Fiction Literature IV, pp. 1583-87. "Although the narrative voices Stapledon's biases, it remains perhaps the finest early novel in which mankind is unable to accept and live with advanced mutations (supermen)." - Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 720. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 3-58; (1981) 2-99; (1987) 2-110; (1995) 2-120; and (2004) II-1070. Clute and Nicholls (eds), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1993), p. 1152. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 205. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, Additions. Stableford, Scientific Romance in Britain 1890-1950, pp. 206-09. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 185. Reginald 13558. Satty and Smith A6.1.1.1]. Mild foxing to top page edges, foxing along fore edge and some to rear gutter margin, small bookseller label affixed to lower front paste down, a nearly fine copy in a nearly fine first issue dust jacket ("7s. 6d. / NET" printed at bottom of front flap) with slight wear to the spine ends and upper right corner tip. An excellent copy. (33350). Item #33350
Price: $3,750.00