This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/26/2022
CHESNEY, George Tomkyns (1830-1895). The Battle of Dorking: Reminiscences of a Volunteer. Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1871. 8vo. Contemporary quarter pebbled calf with marbled boards, marbled endpapers (loss to calf at head of rear board, sunning to spine, lacking purple wraps and advertisements, foxing). Provenance: “M. de Montaign” (contemporary insert). FIRST PRINTING OF FULL TEXT, originally published as a serial in Blackwood’s Magazine, Chesney’s novella became so popular that it was later reprinted in full. The Battle of Dorking is widely considered to be one of the first pieces of “invasion literature” and an important precursor to the modern science fiction genre, with the novella reprinted in numerous science fiction anthologies throughout the 20th century.