H.G. Wells

Autograph Letter Signed by renowned science fiction author H.G. Wells to American publisher Ralph Pulitzer. 1pp, undated, London, in fine condition with usual folds and letter-opening slits toward corners. In full:

Dear Mr Ralph Pulitzer Junr.

I never never write “autographs”.
But then it occurs to me that you must
be the Son of Mr. Ralph Pulitzer of
the World for whom I have a very good
affection.  And so I wish to tell you
just how impossible it is for me to break
my rule.

I am your servant,
H.G. Wells

Influential publisher and socialite Ralph Pulitzer (1879-1939) was the son of newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer, and upon his father’s death acquired control of the New York World, an influential American newspaper (which H.G. Wells mentions in this letter, though confusing the name “Ralph” as also being his father’s). For decades, Ralph Pulitzer was one of the most influential men in American journalism. His father Joseph endowed the prestigious Pulitzer Prizes.

HERBERT GEORGE WELLS (1866-1946), better known as H. G. Wells, was an English writer best remembered today for the science fiction novels he published between 1895 and 1901: The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, When the Sleeper Wakes, and The First Men in the Moon. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as “The Father of Science Fiction”.

His early novels, called “scientific romances”, invented a number of themes now classic in science fiction in such works as The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, When the Sleeper Wakes, and The First Men in the Moon (all except When the Sleeper Wakes have been made into films). He also wrote other, non-fantastic novels which have received critical acclaim, including Kipps and the satire on Edwardian advertising, Tono-Bungay. Wells wrote several dozen short stories and novellas as well, the best known of which is The Country of the Blind (1904). His short story The New Accelerator was the inspiration for the Star Trek episode “Wink of an Eye”.

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