E.M. Forster. First U.S. edition. New York: Brace, Harcourt and Company, 1928. Price-clipped dust jacket (in a mylar wrapper) is in Good+ condition. Hardcover is in Very Good+ condition. No writing or markings found inside, 245 pp. Scarce in dust jacket with dedication to T.E. Lawrence.
A particularly desirable Forster first edition, notable for its dedication to T. E. Lawrence, author of Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1935).
The book opens with the memorable dedication:
“To T. E.
In the absence of anything else.”
“T. E.” refers to T. E. Lawrence. Forster and Lawrence developed a literary friendship and maintained an extensive correspondence, discussing their writing and literary interests. The dedication is characteristically Forster: intimate, enigmatic, and deliberately open to interpretation. (https://www.pbfa.org)
The American edition was published by Harcourt, Brace & Company in 1928, with an initial printing of approximately 2,000 copies, followed by another 1,000 copies later that year.
The collection contains six stories, including the celebrated speculative-fiction story “The Machine Stops,” as well as “The Point of It,” “Mr. Andrews,” “Co-ordination,” “The Story of the Siren,” and “The Eternal Moment.” (Project Gutenberg)
A scarce book in its original dust jacket, and especially appealing to collectors of E. M. Forster, modern first editions, speculative fiction, and books associated with T. E. Lawrence.
