“THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO THIS WAS A WORLD LIKE OURS”: FIRST EDITION OF H.G. WELLS’ UTOPIAN NOVEL MEN LIKE GODS, INSCRIBED BY WELLS TO HIS FRIEND AND SCIENTIFIC CONSULTANT SIR RICHARD GREGORY

WELLS, H.G. Men Like Gods. London: Cassell, (1923). Octavo, original green cloth, original dust jacket.

First edition of this novel of a "Liberal journalist's encounter with Utopia," inscribed by Wells on the half title, "R A G S as ever from H.G." Presented to and from the collection of Wells’ close friend and frequent scientific adviser, Sir Richard Arman Gregory.

"Concerns a demoralized journalist named Barnstaple who sets off in search of a rest cure. Thanks to a kink in the fabric of space-time, he instead enters another dimension, accompanied by a number of familiar-looking figures: Rupert Catskill (Churchill), Freddy Mush (Edward Marsh), Cecil Burleigh (Balfour), Lord Barralonga (possibly Beaverbrook) and Father Amerton (just possibly Belloc). Finding themselves in a pastoral world… and horrified at the socialistic immorality of it all, the other Earthlings attempt an armed coup. The utopians destroy them, then restore Barnstaple to his native era with his spirit renewed by the vision of paradise he has glimpsed" (Sherborne, 266). "This story was first printed serially in The Westminster Gazette (Dec. 1922-Feb. 1923). It is notable for its caricatures of Arthur Balfour, Winston Churchill and Edward Marsh" (Hammond). Hammond B13. Wells 80. Wells Society Bibliography 85. Inscribed to noted British scientist and Wells' lifelong friend Sir Richard Arman Gregory. In Wells' first work of fiction, he dedicated the work to Gregory as his "dearest friend." The two met while students at the Normal School of Science in South Kensington. They jointly authored a textbook, Honours Physiography, in 1891. Reportedly, Gregory was the one person with whom Wells never quarreled. A professor of astronomy, Gregory also possessed expertise in physics, chemistry and other disciplines; he wrote several textbooks and eventually assumed the editorship of the journal Nature, to which Wells frequently contributed. The author often turned to Gregory, and to the experts Gregory contacted on Wells' behalf, for insight and encouragement when writing his famous "scientific romances." After Wells' death, Gregory worked to establish the H.G. Wells Memorial to preserve public attention to his friend's body of work. Throughout his life Gregory was a passionate advocate for science—"It is necessary to believe in the holiness of scientific work," he once declared—and "an optimist about man's future" (Horrabin, in New Scientist, April 11, 1957).

Interior generally clean; spine sunned, a few minor bumps. Dust jacket with only minor wear, mild toning to spine. A near-fine presentation-association copy.