H. G. Wells, L'Homme Invisible

Calmann-Levy, Paris 1912. Jacket design by Louis Strimpl

H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man is one of the greatest sci-fi / horror stories of all time. This particular publication is a rare, delicate, French paperback edition by Parisian editor-publishers Calmann-Levy.

The story concerns the arrival of a stranger at the small English town of Ipping, and the problems and conflicts that emerge, as the stranger’s secret is – literally – uncovered. The stranger’s head is almost completely covered in bandages, he wears sunglasses, gloves and so on, and maintains that he is recovering from the effects of an accident. Only his nose is visible. This leads to an interesting situation when the stranger has his trousers savaged by a dog, and one of the onlookers swears that he could see no skin through the torn cloth…

This is an excellent, thought-provoking tale, on a par with Wells’ other classics like The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine.