Match to Flame: The Fictional Paths to Fahrenheit 451 (Signed limited first edition) Bradbury, Ray Gift Ideas,Modern Firsts,Signed Books

One of fifty-two lettered copies (this being copy CC) signed by Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson. A Fine copy in like dust jacket and box. Full publisher's black leather, pictorial dust jacket with collage design, and matching publisher's box with pictorial panel reflecting dust jacket image. Octavo. 571 pp. Match to Flame tracks the creative process behind Fahrenheit 451 (1953) from its earliest drafts to publication. Editor Jonathan Eller delved into Bradbury's archives to unearth typescripts and early published versions of sixteen stories Bradbury wrote throughout the 1940s as he developed the ideas behind his most famous novel: from "Long After Midnight," the earliest version of the story, to "The Fireman," the 25,000-word prototype novella that Bradbury eventually expanded into the full novel; along with early stories like "The Pedestrian" and "Pillar of Fire," in which Bradbury explored similar themes of totalitarianism and censorship. These early stories, along with facsimiles of Bradbury's typescripts (with his manuscript annotations visible) and a new preface by the author, narrate the complex creative vision behind one of the most iconic novels in the dystopian genre. Additional essays by Eller, Richard Matheson, William Touponce, Donn Albright supplement Bradbury's own writing. Fine in Fine dust jacket.