The Sea Lady: A Tissue of Moonshine: A Critical Text of the 1902 London First Edition, with an Introduction and Appendices

by H. G. Wells

Overview

Much attention has been paid to the "scientific romance" novels of H.G. Wells, a founder of modern science fiction and one of the genre's greatest writers. In comparison, little attention has been given by critics to his works of fantasy, which in the opinion of many, are just as artistic and worthy of study. This work, takes a critical look at Wells' little known fantasy The Sea Lady: A Tissue of Moonshine, which is "a parable of dark foreboding that unveils the nothingness of utopian dreams" and foreshadows Franz Kafka's dark fables of the totalitarian age. A lengthy introduction by the editor provides a comprehensive overview of the text and the story of The Sea Lady, and serves to explain the ideas of civil death and every citizen's acting as a public servant, and the concept of totalitarian metaphysics, which deals with a revolt against the limits of the human condition. This work provides a complete, extensively annotated text of the 1902 London first edition of The Sea Lady.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786468751
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	04/26/2012
Series:	The Annotated H.G. Wells , #7
Edition description:	Annotated
Pages:	182
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.37(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The late Leon Stover, professor emeritus at the Illinois Institute of Technology, was the first to bring science fiction to the college curriculum and was the author of numerous landmarks of intellectual history. He lived in Chicago.

Date of Birth:

September 21, 1866

Date of Death:

August 13, 1946

Place of Birth:

Bromley, Kent, England

Place of Death:

London, England

Education:

Normal School of Science, London, England

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface    
Introduction    

1 The Text    
2 The Story    
3 Civil Death    
4 Totalitarian Metaphysics    

The Sea Lady: A Tissue of Moonshine (1902)    
(Annotated text of the First London edition)    

Appendices
I: “A Moonlight Fable,” (1909)    
II: “After a Year of Journalism: An Outbreak of Auto-Obituary,” (1924)    
III: The Great Outside and Plato    

Bibliography    
Index    

Editorial Reviews

Wells’s masterpieces get the red-carpet treatment here in these luxurious editions...academic collections supporting English departments should definitely invest in this volume”—Library Journal; “Stover is to be thanked for his years of Wellsian scholarship”—Public Library Quarterly; “Stover, by presenting the intellectual underpinnings of Wells’ work, has provided a powerful tool for understanding his writings, one sees them more deeply, without losing that earlier sense-of-wonder that originally opened the vistas of the young reader’s mind...a crucial guide to these classics of science fiction”—Fosfax; “two cheers for Stoverism...formidable scholarship...serious students of Wells would be foolish to ignore ‘Stoverism’”—The Wellsian; “Stover should be commended for a painstaking and meticulous editorial commentary”—Utopian Studies; “extensively annotated and analyzed by Stover...annotations are filled with insights into Wells’ writings and philosophy”—C&RL News.

From the Publisher

Stover is to be thanked for his years of Wellsian scholarship

Public Library Quarterly

Stover, by presenting the intellectual underpinnings of Wells' work, has provided a powerful tool for understanding his writings, one sees them more deeply, without losing that earlier sense-of-wonder that originally opened the vistas of the young reader's mind...a crucial guide to these classics of science fiction

Fosfax

Wells's masterpieces get the red-carpet treatment here in these luxurious editions...academic collections supporting English departments should definitely invest in this volume

Library Journal

This volume is subtitled The text examines Wells' fantasy, which did not sell well at publication and has been largely ignored by critics. Stover's (emeritus, Illinois Institute of Technology) introduction provides an overview of the text and the story of and explains the ideas of civil death, every citizen acting as a public servant, and the concept of totalitarian metaphysics. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

most valuable

The Wellsian

very well introduced and annotated...excellent

Utopian Studies

"thorough job"

Interzone