7 H. G. Wells first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Time Machine (1895) to The Shape of Things to Come (1933) across 6 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that H. G. Wells title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a H. G. Wells copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Time Machine — 1895 · Henry HoltThe US Henry Holt edition (May 1895) PRECEDES the UK Heinemann (June 1895). The Holt first is bound in tan/buff cloth. The UK Heinemann first: gray-purple cloth, with the winged-sphinx device on the cover; first-issue points include the '16pp catalogue' at rear dated and the absence of later-printing notice. Heinemann first state lacks the 'The End' textual variants debated by bibliographers. Bibliographically the US Holt edition has priority by about a month and is the true first edition, though the UK Heinemann is the more sought-after and is often (incorrectly) called the first. Both are scarce; the Holt is genuinely the earliest book form. Numerous later reprints exist; any edition postdating 1895 or carrying later catalogues/printing notices is not the first. Distinguish Holt (US, tan cloth) from Heinemann (UK, gray-purple, sphinx device).
- The Island of Doctor Moreau — 1896 · William HeinemannFirst published by William Heinemann, London, on 1 January 1896, collating 219 pages, octavo, with a tissue-guarded frontispiece, an integral leaf advertising The Time Machine, and a 32-page publisher's catalogue at the rear opening with The Manxman and closing with Out of Due Season. The true first-issue binding is tan pictorial cloth, the front cover illustrated in red and black with the island scene, the spine…. The Heinemann first edition, published in London on 1 January 1896, precedes the first American edition issued by Stone & Kimball, New York, later the same year under the variant title The Island of Dr. Moreau: A Possibility; the British Heinemann sheets are the true first. The Stone & Kimball American edition is bound in black cloth with gilt lettering and ruling, quite unlike the tan pictorial Heinemann cloth, and is not the true first. Heinemann's own later impressions, including a documented 1905 printing, appear in green cloth ruled on the covers with gilt spine lettering rather than the tan pictorial first-issue cloth.
- The Wheels of Chance — 1896 · J. M. Dent & Co.First published by J. M. Dent & Co., London, in 1896, subtitled 'A Bicycling Idyll' and illustrated with 40 drawings by J. Ayton Symington. The first edition is octavo, collating xiii + 313 + [1] pages plus 10 pages of publisher's advertisements dated October 1896, with an imprint on page 314, the verso of the last text leaf, that marks the first issue. The publisher's binding is red cloth, gilt-stamped with a….
- The Invisible Man — 1897 · C. Arthur Pearson Ltd.First published in book form by C. Arthur Pearson, London, on 12 November 1897, after serialization in Pearson's Weekly (12 June-24 August 1897). The first printing is identified by page '1' being misnumbered '2,' the title page printed in orange and black, no statement of printing on the copyright page, and publisher's advertisements on pages 247-248. The publisher's binding is pictorial red cloth, the front…. The C. Arthur Pearson first edition of 12 November 1897 is the true first book appearance; the American edition issued by Edward Arnold followed later the same year and adds an epilogue involving the character Thomas Marvel that is not present in the British first.
- The War of the Worlds — 1898 · William HeinemannFirst published in book form by William Heinemann in 1898, after serialization in Pearson's Magazine in Britain and Cosmopolitan in the United States during 1897. The true first edition, first state, has 16 pages of publisher's advertisements dated Autumn 1897 following the text; a first-edition second state substitutes a 32-page catalogue that opens with a Joseph Conrad title. Both states are bound in the…. The Heinemann first edition (London, 1898) is the true first book publication, preceding the Harper & Brothers first American edition issued the same year. The Harper & Brothers first American edition, illustrated throughout by Warwick Goble, is bound in green-toned cloth rather than the Heinemann first edition's grey cloth and is not the true first.
- The First Men in the Moon — 1901 · Bowen-Merrill CompanyThe true first is the American Bowen-Merrill edition (Indianapolis, 1901), published in October 1901, illustrated by Emil Hering. First-state binding has "Bowen-Merrill" at the foot of the spine panel and on the title page — the firm was renamed Bobbs-Merrill in 1903, so any copy showing "Bobbs-Merrill" is necessarily later. Bound in decorated/pictorial blue cloth stamped in gilt, with the moon, author and title…. REFUTES the census claim. The census states the UK Newnes precedes the US Bowen-Merrill; the precedence runs the other way. Three independent dealer descriptions agree that the Bowen-Merrill (Indianapolis) edition preceded the George Newnes (London) edition by approximately one month, with the American edition appearing in October 1901: John W. Knott, Jr. (ABAA/ILAB), citing Currey p. 518 and Hammond B7; Arundel…. Grosset & Dunlap issued reprints printed from the original Bowen-Merrill sheets — these carry the G&D imprint at the foot of the spine and on the title page despite retaining the Bowen-Merrill text block, and are the most common trap for the American edition. Any spine or title page reading "Bobbs-Merrill" postdates the firm's 1903 renaming and cannot be the first state. No period book-club edition is documented.
- The Shape of Things to Come — 1933 · Hutchinson & Co.Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers) Ltd, London, 1933, published September 1933. Original blue cloth, the front panel stamped in blind and the spine panel stamped in gold; octavo. Currey collates pp. [i-vi] vii-ix [x-xii] 13-431 [432]. Half-title present. The key first-issue point is the publisher's catalogue dated "Autumn 1933" bound in at the rear — its presence, and specifically its Autumn 1933 dating, is what…. Hutchinson (London) 1933 is the original edition and the census call is sound, though the margin is narrow: both editions appeared in 1933 and the US issue is stated "Published September, 1933" on its copyright page, so no source consulted fixes a priority by date. The finding rests on two independent bibliographic authorities treating the Hutchinson as the original — Sargent's Utopian Literature in English…. No book-club issue is documented for either 1933 edition in the sources consulted. On the UK side the readiest reprint tell is the rear catalogue: absence of the Autumn 1933 publisher's catalogue, or a catalogue dated to a later season, indicates a later Hutchinson impression rather than the first issue. The many modern reissues and the Alexander Korda film tie-in material are reprints or "first thus," not firsts.
More Literary Fiction (US) & Award Winners shelves: Ha Jin, Harlan Ellison, Harper Lee, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harry Crews, Henry Green.
← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.