The Well at the World's End Hardcover - 1896

London: Longmans, Green & Co, 1896. First Trade Edition. hardcover. Good. 9 1/4" × 5 1/4" (23.5 × 13.3 cm) . First Printing. Printed by Chiswick Press. Tall 8vos. Bound in publisher's original hardcover quarter Holland-backed blue paper boards, with white linen spine and paper title label. One of 750 copies. Printed on fine, hand-made, Charles Whittingham & Co., watermarked "B A S" paper. Uncut, deckled edges. Pages uncut. [i–iv] v–vii [viii], 1–378 [379: printer's imprint] [380: blank]; & [i–iv] v–vi, [1–2] 3–279 p.p. [280: printer's imprint], double flyleaves at front and rear of each volume. Printed in 1893 but delayed by the Kelmscott Press edition issued the same year (which edition was being set up from this edition). Unlike other authors who wrote of foreign lands or of dream worlds, Morris was the first to describe completely invented or fantasy worlds.H.G. Wells praised the book and compared Morris to Malory, admiring his style, writing: "All the workmanship of the book is stout oaken stuff, that must needs endure and preserve the memory of one of the stoutest, cleanest lives that has been lived in these latter days." It was highly influential on all subsequent fantasy literature, including inspiring latter, fellow Oxford writers C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, and is among the most important proto-fantasy works ever penned. Recognizable influence abound, such as "ancient tables of stone," "Gandolf," a "King Peter," and a marvelous white horse named "Silverfax," namesake (if not exact) of "Shadowfax." [Magill, Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature V, p. 2091, Colbeck 78."It is the lengthiest of [Morris's] fantasy novels, probably the longest in the genre before J.R.R. Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS (1954–1955), and it remains one of the most complex and beautiful fantasy quests ever written." [Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination, by Richard Mathews, p. 44]. [Peterson A39; Magill, Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature V, p. 2091, Colbeck 78]. Volume I label tatty with loss. Volume II label missing (title handwritten onto the spine). Spines creased and offset, along with general spotting and marking. Some spotting to boards. Corners bumped and chipped. Edge toned. Internally, all four hinges split with cords exposed and holding the bindings. Previous owner's initials to ffeps. Periodic marks to the text but overall the pages are in reasonable condition. Condition overall: Good.