Half-Price Books was having their usual coupon sale, so I picked up their set of H. G. Wells’ The World of William Clissold. Published by Ernest Benn (UK) 1926, it’s three volumes, one of 198 copies signed by Wells on the title page, green boards and vellum spines, with gold gilt on front board, spine, and top book edge, some leaves still unopened, two of the three volumes in paper slipcases (the slipcase for volume 2, alas, was missing). Originally priced at $500, marked down to $350, minus 50% off with the coupon. It’s not one of the key Wells SF works I really want, but I thought a signed Wells (and in particular, a set for which you know the signature is genuine; see L. W. Currey’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors: A Bibliography of First Printings of Their Fiction, 1978, page 527), was a nice thing to have.
Below are some pics. Click to embiggen.
H. G. Wells: The World of Williams Cissold, three volume set of the first edition, signed by Wells
The limitation page, with H. G. Wells' signature