Star Maker (First Edition)
by Stapledon, Olaf
- Used
- fair
- Paperback
- first
- Condition
- Fair
- Seller
-
Saint Louis, Missouri, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1937. FIRST EDITION, first printing. This is the rare original trade paperback issued in the same year as the hard cover. This book is much rarer than the hardcover in dust jacket ($4000 - $12000). Front cover is worn with splitting at the front cover and spine, no previous owner's names, not exlibrary. pp.[i-iv] v-ix [x] xi-xii 1-339 [340: the printer's imprint]. Overall in FAIR condition only. Still a very desirable and a rarely seen first edition. Photos available upon request. Star Maker is an influential science fiction novel by Olaf Stapledon, written in 1937. Star Maker is a cornerstone work of science fiction. Stapledon undertakes the immense task of describing the entire history of life in the universe. It dwarfs in scale even his 1930 book Last and First Men, which is a history of the human species over two billion years. It tackles philosophical themes such as the essence of life, of birth, decay and death, and the relationship between creation and creator, and it succeeds in evoking a sense of the sheer scale and complexity of the cosmos. The narrator starts with a concern at the clash of ideas on Earth and finds analogies to both communism and fascism among the aliens he visits. A pervading theme is that of progressive unity within and between different civilizations. Some of the elements and themes briefly discussed prefigure later fiction concerning genetic engineering and alien life forms. It has long been considered to be one of the finest works of science fiction ever written. . First Edition. Soft Cover. Fair. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Paperback.
Synopsis
Star Maker is an influential science fiction novel by Olaf Stapledon, written in 1937.
Reviews
On Dec 6 2021, a reader said:
How does a man describe the surfaces of moons, and interstellar travel as if he had actually done it? The sheer intellect of Mr. Stapledon is daunting, his writing style effusive, and compelling. If you love science fiction, you cannot overlook Olaf Stapledon. A man whom influenced some of our Golden Age Giants. Starmaker is a psychedelic, Transcendant voyage of discovery through the cosmos that will whisk you away as if you were born to it.
The way that Shakespeare understood the human condition as if connected to several older minds, Mr. Stapledon describes things he could not possibly know, let alone imagine, and leads me to believe that he was similarly attuned to reality, and truth. Get the book, and read it as soon as possible!
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Details
- Bookseller
- Ziern-Hanon Galleries (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 016727
- Title
- Star Maker (First Edition)
- Author
- Stapledon, Olaf
- Format/Binding
- Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used - Fair
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- Methuen & Co. Ltd.
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1937
- Size
- 8vo - over 7¾" - 9&f
Terms of Sale
Ziern-Hanon Galleries
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Ziern-Hanon Galleries
Biblio member since 2010
Saint Louis, Missouri
About Ziern-Hanon Galleries
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Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Trade Paperback
- Used to indicate any paperback book that is larger than a mass-market paperback and is often more similar in size to a hardcover...
- Fair
- is a worn book that has complete text pages (including those with maps or plates) but may lack endpapers, half-title, etc....
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...