Tono-Bungay
San Francisco: The Arion Press, 2008. Washburn, Stan. Limited Edition. Hardcover. No. 209 of 300, octavo size, 331 pp., with prospectus and notes. Fine. Item #18082704
Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was an English writer best known for his work in the science fiction genre, with novels such as "The Time Machine" and "The War of the Worlds"; he is considered one of the fathers of science fiction along with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback, and his works were prescient of the invention of aircrafts, nuclear weapons, and space travel. "Tono-Bungay" is a social satire, taking its title from the brand name of a medicine created by Edward Ponderevo, the uncle of the narrator of the novel, George Ponderevo. Serving as both an exposé of the pharmaceutical industry and a satire of the excess of modern life, this novel is often considered Wells's most "artistic book".
Included also are illustrations by Stan Washburn (b. 1943), a painter and printmaker who has collaborated with the Arion Press on its previous publications of "The Lie of the Mind" by Sam Shepard and "The Price" by Arthur Miller; here he scratches film negatives made for letterpress printing to create energetic and fluid line work to illustrate the characters in the novel. Accompanying the prospectus is a separate pamphlet of "Notes" to the text by Edward Mendelson, reprinted from the Penguin Classics edition of "Tono-Bungay", providing explanations of references that might be unfamiliar to the modern reader.
___DESCRIPTION: Full burgundy cloth, title in burgundy inside a white paper label in the shape of a medicine bottle on the front board, white paper spine label with burgundy lettering, light grey endpapers, title page with bottle shape and skull and crossbones with the text "Pick your poison" in purple, twenty fanciful advertisements for Tono-Bungay and other products, written by Roy Folger and Andrew Hoyem and printed on light grey paper, throughout, fourteen black-and-white illustrations by Stan Washburn throughout; Plantin type, Mohawk Via laid paper, octavo size (9.5" by 6.25"), pagination: [1-9] 10-330 [1 colophon], one of 300 copies, this number 209. Loosely laid in is the prospectus describing the book and its contributors, with a reproduction of an illustration by Washburn and a fictional advertisement printed on grey paper. Also loosely laid in is a pamphlet of notes to the book by Mendelson, twenty-four pages with two staples at the spine. In a burgundy cloth slipcase with white paper spine label with burgundy lettering, and white paper with burgundy horizontal decorative borders affixed to the front and back boards.
___CONDITION: A fine copy; the covers clean, the corners straight and unrubbed, the binding tight with solid hinges, the interior clean and bright, and free of prior owner markings; clean, crisp, as new. The slipcase is fine also, strong and sturdy, clean, without wear. The prospectus and notes are fine, clean, without wear.
___CITATION: Arion Press Catalogue no. 82.
___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.
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Price: $550.00