Vintage Paperbacks

Last and First Men by Martin Isaac on Flickr.Via Flickr: Last and First Men Olaf Stapledon Penguin Science Fiction First published 1930 Published in Pelican Books 1937 Reprinted in Penguin Books 1963 Cover design by Geoffrey Martin Cover price: 3’6 From the back cover: This ‘history of the next two thousand years’ remains one of the milestones of science fiction, despite some of the early details which will inevitably strike a modern reader as odd.Last and First Men received extraordinary acclaim when it was first published in 1930. J. B. Priestley called it a masterpiece, and Arnold Bennett said: ‘There have been many visions of the future… but none in my experience as strange as Last and First Men. Mr Stapledon possesses a tremendous and beautiful imagination’ The infinite and icy perspectives of a surrealist painting give form to Stapledon’s vision of the future. As cataclysm succeeds cataclysm there is always a new race of men to take up the torch from the last, down to ‘the last syllable of recorded time’ and the destruction of the solar system. It rest with the Last Man to pronounce: ‘It is very good to have been man.’ This, indeed, is one of the great books that have helped to shape the science fiction of today.

Last and First Men by Martin Isaac on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Last and First Men
Olaf Stapledon

Penguin Science Fiction
First published 1930
Published in Pelican Books 1937
Reprinted in Penguin Books 1963
Cover design by Geoffrey Martin
Cover price: 3’6

From the back cover:
This ‘history of the next two thousand years’ remains one of the milestones of science fiction, despite some of the early details which will inevitably strike a modern reader as odd.

Last and First Men received extraordinary acclaim when it was first published in 1930. J. B. Priestley called it a masterpiece, and Arnold Bennett said: ‘There have been many visions of the future… but none in my experience as strange as Last and First Men. Mr Stapledon possesses a tremendous and beautiful imagination’

The infinite and icy perspectives of a surrealist painting give form to Stapledon’s vision of the future. As cataclysm succeeds cataclysm there is always a new race of men to take up the torch from the last, down to ‘the last syllable of recorded time’ and the destruction of the solar system. It rest with the Last Man to pronounce: ‘It is very good to have been man.’

This, indeed, is one of the great books that have helped to shape the science fiction of today.

L Sprague de Camp - Swords and Sorcery (Pyramid R-950) on Flickr.Via Flickr: de Camp, L Sprague (ed) Swords & Sorcery: Stories of Heroic Fantasy 1963 Pyramid R-950 First Cover by Finlay, Virgil

L Sprague de Camp - Swords and Sorcery (Pyramid R-950) on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
de Camp, L Sprague (ed)
Swords & Sorcery: Stories of Heroic Fantasy
1963
Pyramid R-950
First
Cover by Finlay, Virgil

Gordon R Dickson - No Room For Man (MacFadden 50-179) on Flickr.Via Flickr: Dickson, Gordon R. No Room For Man aka Necromancer 1963 Macfadden 50-179 Cover by Powers, Richard

Gordon R Dickson - No Room For Man (MacFadden 50-179) on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Dickson, Gordon R.
No Room For Man
aka Necromancer
1963
Macfadden 50-179
Cover by Powers, Richard

Poul Anderson - Shield (Berkley F-743) on Flickr.Via Flickr: Shield Anderson, Poul Berkley Medallion F743 1963 Cover by Richard Powers

Poul Anderson - Shield (Berkley F-743) on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Shield
Anderson, Poul
Berkley Medallion F743
1963
Cover by Richard Powers

Kate Wilhelm - The Mile-Long Spaceship (Berkley F862) on Flickr.Via Flickr: Wilhelm, Kate The Mile-Long Spaceship 1963 Berkley F862 Cover by Powers, Richard

Kate Wilhelm - The Mile-Long Spaceship (Berkley F862) on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Wilhelm, Kate
The Mile-Long Spaceship
1963
Berkley F862
Cover by Powers, Richard

AE van Vogt - Away And Beyond (Berkley F812) on Flickr.Via Flickr: Away and Beyond Van Vogt, A.E. Berkley Medallion F812  1963 Richard Powers cover art (illustrator)

AE van Vogt - Away And Beyond (Berkley F812) on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Away and Beyond
Van Vogt, A.E.
Berkley Medallion F812 
1963
Richard Powers cover art (illustrator)

MP Shiel - The Purple Cloud (Paperback Library 52-323) on Flickr.Via Flickr: Shiel, M.P. The Purple Cloud 1963 Paperback Library 52-232 Cover by Powers, Richard

MP Shiel - The Purple Cloud (Paperback Library 52-323) on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Shiel, M.P.
The Purple Cloud
1963
Paperback Library 52-232
Cover by Powers, Richard

Clifford Simak - All The Traps Of Earth And Other Stories (Macfadden 50-165) on Flickr.Via Flickr: Simak, Clifford D All The Traps Of Earth 1963 Macfadden 50-165 Cover by Powers, Richard

Clifford Simak - All The Traps Of Earth And Other Stories (Macfadden 50-165) on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Simak, Clifford D
All The Traps Of Earth
1963
Macfadden 50-165
Cover by Powers, Richard

Frederik Pohl - The Abominable Earthman (Ballantine F685) on Flickr.Via Flickr: Frederik Pohl The Abominable Earthman Ballantine F685 1963 Cover by Richard Powers

Frederik Pohl - The Abominable Earthman (Ballantine F685) on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Frederik Pohl
The Abominable Earthman
Ballantine F685
1963
Cover by Richard Powers

Andre Norton - The Stars Are Ours! (Ace F-207) on Flickr.Via Flickr: Andre Norton The Stars Are Ours! 1963 Ace # F-207 Cover by Ed Valigursky

Andre Norton - The Stars Are Ours! (Ace F-207) on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Andre Norton
The Stars Are Ours!
1963
Ace # F-207
Cover by Ed Valigursky