Back to Methuselah. A Metabiological Pentateuch. Constable plays of Bernard Shaw

E-72: Constable & Co Ltd. Very Good in Good dust jacket. 1921. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. Hardcover. 8vo. Constable and Company Ltd. 1921. 267 pgs. First Edition/First Printing. DJ has shelf-wear, rubbing present to the DJ especially around the extremities (chipping present to the top of DJ). No ownership marks present. Rear endpaper missing. Text is clean and free of marks, binding tight and solid, boards clean with no wear present. Back to Methuselah (A Metabiological Pentateuch) by George Bernard Shaw consists of a preface (An Infidel Half Century) and a series of five plays: In the Beginning: B. C. 4004 (In the Garden of Eden) , The Gospel of the Brothers Barnabas: Present Day, The Thing Happens: A. D. 2170, Tragedy of an Elderly Gentleman: A. D. 3000, and As Far as Thought Can Reach: A. D. 31,920. Michael Holroyd describes the plays as "a masterpiece of wishful thinking" and calls them science fiction. Methuselah is said to be Shaw's only real engagement with science fiction. Shaw uses science fictioneering in Methuselah to add plausibility to scenarios and to keep readers entertained while he propounds his vision of the human destiny. His prime interest was not scientific, but political, as stated in the Preface where he discusses changes he considers essential before mankind can govern itself successfully. The final play, As Far as the Mind Can Reach, offers no solution to the problem: Humans evolve to the point of becoming free-ranging vortices of energy, able to wander, solitary, through the Universe, thus requiring no government at all. Furthermore, one of Shaw's last plays, Farfetched Fables (1950) also classifies as science fiction, and The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles (1934) comes close to qualifying. Shaw had an exalted opinion of Back to Methuselah as both literature and philosophy; in the press release he wrote for its publishers (Constable & Co. London) he said it would "interest biologists, religious leaders, and lovers of the marvellous in fiction as well as lovers of the theatre" and described it as his supreme work in dramatic literature. He considered it a book for reading rather than playing on the stage, and was agreeably surprised when Lawrence Langner in New York and Barry Vincent Jackson in Birmingham insisted on producing it despite expectations of monetary loss, which were promptly justified. Unlike the plays Shaw wrote for staging, which include precise descriptions of the settings, the details of stage settings for Methuselah are sketchy and serve only to direct the imagination of the reader. When, e. G. , the stage director for the Birmingham production asked how the Serpent was to be presented, Shaw responded with a clumsy sketch and suggested an artist be employed to design costume, colouring and lighting. The BBC, in contrast, was able to provide lavish scenery by sheer power of description for its 1958 radio production of the entire play. E-72; 8vo 8" - 9" tall .