The Door in the Wall H. G. Wells

The Door in the Wall and Other Stories by H. G. Wells, Grant Richards Ltd., 1915. Illustrated with photogravures from photographs by Alvin Langdon Coburn. DESCRIPTION: First edition of the U.K. Grant Richards Ltd. issue, one of only sixty copies signed by both Wells and Coburn in the handwritten limitation statement facing the half-title, dated January 1915. A collection of eight short stories by H. G. Wells illustrated with 10 tipped-in photogravures by Alvin Langdon Coburn, hand-pulled by Coburn and printed under his direct personal supervision. Large quarto 14.75 x 11.25 inches, 375 x 285 mm., 153 pages. Original quarter tan cloth and brown paper-covered boards binding, gilt titling on front cover, paper spine label, edges of text block untrimmed. Publisher's device printed in red on the title page. Photogravures protected with full page tissue guards, book is protected with a clear, archival Grafix Dura Lar dust wrapper. CONDITION: Fair/Good. Text block firm and square, no ex-libris or personal inscriptions, external and internal hinges intact. Light soiling and rubbing to paper-covered boards with damp stain at upper right of front cover and larger area of rubbing and paper loss at upper part of rear cover. All binding corners bumped. Wrinkling to cloth at head of binding. All ten photogravures present and intact with several having 1 or 2 corners unglued. Marginal tear 1/4 inch pg. 77 (see close-up photo) resulting from toning to uncut front edge. Usual (normal) offset from the photogravures to opposite pages. Internal text pages and photogravures in fine condition, free of foxing and toning. DISCUSSION: Perhaps the darkest, most pessimistic of H. G. Wells' literature, dealing with the irreconcilable gulf between rational thought and the mysterious forces arising from our imaginations. This is a groundbreaking twentieth century private press book, marking the rare instance of a world-class author and artist/photographer planning and working collaboratively on a book, fully integrating the photogravures with text rather than retrospectively searching for pre-existing photographs as "best fit" for the text. This is one of only 60 copies of the Mitchell Kennerley edition issued in Great Britain in 1915 with Grant Richards' title page, numbered and signed by both Wells and Coburn. Scarce. NOTE: Oversized book with shipping cost to the United Kingdom and Europe of $50.