Signed
The World Ends
Inscribed disaster novel, 1937
The World Ends (1937), published under the pseudonym William Lamb, is the second of Storm Jameson’s ventures into speculative fiction, following her anti-fascist dystopia In the Second Year (1936). The novel begins as an intimate act of escape: a weary writer abandons his life one night, only to awaken in a world transformed by a catastrophic flood that has wiped out nearly all of humanity. Seeking refuge in the Yorkshire hills, he finds shelter with a small farming family who have survived the deluge. Their pragmatic resilience serves as a sharp contrast to his own uselessness in the face of physical hardship.
As the remnants of civilization fade, tensions rise within the household, particularly over questions of survival and the future of humankind. The narrative drifts between realism and allegory, tracing the uneasy balance between desire, futility, and the instinct to preserve life. Jameson’s post-catastrophe vision, though less overtly political than her earlier dystopia, offers a stark meditation on isolation, gender, and the moral disorientation that follows the end of the world.
Inscribed by the author. Inscribed by Jameson on the front endpaper as William Lamb. Uncommon and scarce in the original dust jacket, especially signed.
Hardcover. First Edition. Octavo, black cloth boards stamped in gilt on the spine. With three wood engravings by John Farleigh. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1937. #11356.
Near fine in price-clipped (two corners clipped on the front flap, none to the rear) original dust jacket with tanning to the spine and a few minor nicks.
As the remnants of civilization fade, tensions rise within the household, particularly over questions of survival and the future of humankind. The narrative drifts between realism and allegory, tracing the uneasy balance between desire, futility, and the instinct to preserve life. Jameson’s post-catastrophe vision, though less overtly political than her earlier dystopia, offers a stark meditation on isolation, gender, and the moral disorientation that follows the end of the world.
Inscribed by the author. Inscribed by Jameson on the front endpaper as William Lamb. Uncommon and scarce in the original dust jacket, especially signed.
Hardcover. First Edition. Octavo, black cloth boards stamped in gilt on the spine. With three wood engravings by John Farleigh. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1937. #11356.
Near fine in price-clipped (two corners clipped on the front flap, none to the rear) original dust jacket with tanning to the spine and a few minor nicks.