Collecting Science Fiction Books

"Science fiction is the most important fiction that has been written for the last 100 years" J.G. Ballard, Fictions Of Every Kind, Books & Bookmen, Feb. 1971.

Interest in science fiction has been rising steadily for decades, in no small part due to popular movies and TV series, and today collecting first and other important editions of science fiction has become a significant facet of the rare books world. What began as speculative storytelling about the limits of knowledge has grown into a major cultural force. Classical writers such as Lucian offered early visions of imagined worlds but it was the scientific romances of the nineteenth century and the explosion of pulp publishing in the last century that shaped the field as we know it. The remarkable success of recent adaptations of Frank Herberts Dune and the renewed attention to Isaac Asimov through the 'Foundation' series have encouraged many new readers to seek out the original texts.

Isaac Asimov once wrote that science fiction deals with the reaction of human beings to changes in science and technology a definition that remains both elegant and accurate. Ursula K Le Guin offered a complementary view when she remarked that science fiction is not predictive it is descriptive. It tells us less about the future than about the age that dreams it. These perspectives capture much of the appeal of collectable sci fi books for they preserve the shifting hopes and anxieties of their time.

The genre contains a wealth of subgenres that allow collectors to follow their own enthusiasms. Space opera offers high adventure and vast imagined geographies. Social science fiction examines human behaviour through the lens of imagined futures. Dystopian and utopian writing reveals fears and aspirations, while cyberpunk explores the meeting of human life and digital possibility. Scientific romances, and horrors, by writers such as H G Wells continue to speak to collectors who admire the early formulation of speculative ideas.

Collecting science fiction books also allows for a variety of entry points, with first editions ranging from below £100 to the higher end of the market, where prices can easily be in the multiple thousands of pounds.

This article looks at some of the more memorable rare or interesting science fiction books that have alighted on our shelves recently, from elusive first editions to inscribed copies. Together they show why collecting science fiction remains such an engaging, diverse and imaginative corner of the rare book world.

1. Edward Bulwer-Lytton, The Coming Race, London, 1874

   A dystopian account of a superior subterranean master race and the energy-form called ‘Vril’, often attributed with occult meaning. The original British edition was published anonymously in May 1871 by Blackwood & Sons, but the edition here was issued as vol. XV of the Knebworth Edition of 'Lord Lytton's Novels', handsomely rebound in full maroon calf.
   
   

2. George Griffith, Olga Romanoff, or the Syren of the Skies, London, 1894

   First edition in book form of the sequel to Griffith's The Angel of the Revolution (1893), featuring anarchists, airships and armageddon - epic Victorian-era science fiction.
   
   

3. H.G. Wells, The Time Machine. An Invention, London, 1895

   First edition of Wells’ first novel and one of the foundational works of modern science fiction, setting the mould for works that blend speculative ideas with intellectual seriousness, using scientific plausibility as a framework for social critique rather than mere adventure. A cornerstone work for any collector of sci-fi first editions.
   
   

4. 'John Beynon', Planet Plane, London, 1936

   First edition of an early science fiction novel by the author who would become better known subsequently under the name 'John Wyndham'. No walking extraterrestrial plants or sinister children here, just good old-fashioned rockets to mars, stowaways and alien impregnation...
   
   

5. 'John Taine', The Cosmic Geoids and One Other, Los Angeles, 1949

   Two sci-fi tales by the educator & writer Eric Temple Bell, under his pseudoynm John Taine. The title novella is a loose sequel to Taine's novel, The Time Stream, and has been favourably compared to Olaf Stapledon's work - classic Golden Age of Science Fiction stuff. Our copy was double-signed by the author (giving both names). 
   
   

6. 'Hal Clement', Iceworld, New York, 1953

   An interesting anti-nicotine sci-fi novel by Harry Clement Stubbs, an American science fiction writer and a leader of the hard science fiction sub-genre. He also painted astronomically oriented artworks under the name George Richard. Originally published as a three-part serial in Astounding Science. 
   
   

7. Ray Bradbury, The Day it Rained Forever, London, 1959

   First UK edition. A collection of short stories by the author of the Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451. 
   
   

8. Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: a Space Odyssey, London, 1968

   The first UK edition (issued simultaneously with the US) of Clarke's sci-fi classic, published to coincide with the famous film by Stanley Kubrick, with whom Clarke wrote the screenplay. A monolith among collectable science fiction first editions.
   
   

9. 'Hugh Walters', Murder on Mars, London, 1975

   First edition of the seventh in Walter Llewelyn Hughes' series about Chris Godfrey’s adventures, in the original Leslie Wood jacket. In this one, Morrey, Serge and Tony are sent to Mars to investigate the murder of William Baines, an electronics specialist, who has been found dead in a crater.
   
   

10. J.G. Ballard, Concrete Island, London, 1974

    More in the vein of sci-fi as 'cognitive estrangement' than futuristic contemplation, this novel leans heavily on Shakespeare's The Tempest in its tale of a man stranded on a median strip created by multiple intersecting motorways.
    
    

11. Arthur C. Clarke, The Fountains of Paradise, London, 1979

    Excellent science fiction by one of the more thoughtful and tech-literate sci-fi authors, in this case envisaging the construction of a space elevator linking the Earth with a satellite in geostationary orbit. The novel won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel. First edition signed by the author.
    
    

12. William S. Burroughs, Blade Runner (a movie), Berkeley, 1986

    A curious item, a treatment for a film by Beat Generation author Burroughs, based on a novel by Alan E. Nourse, but distinctly nothing to do with the plot or setting of the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner, which of course was based on Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Burrough's novella did however serve as basis for the 1983 film Taking Tiger Mountain.
    

Not a definitive list of the most collectable science fiction books ever by any stretch! But an interesting insight into the variety of sci-fi books that sometimes come our way. Contact us if you would like to receive notifications of any new science fiction books that come in.