SCARCE LIMITED EDITION EARLY SCIENCE FICTION - The Time Journey of Dr Barton - An Engineering and Sociological Forecast based on Present Possibilities

First edition scarce science fiction novel described as a fictionalised discussion of capitalism, technocrats, and robotics originally circulated privately during 1927, given as the basis of a public lecture in London and serialised in The Star Review in 1929. This limited edition is numbered 229 and signed by the author John Hodgson Xmas 1929. The story follows Dr. Barton as he travels to the year 3927, where he encounters a utopian society of eight billion people who work only one month per year, having eliminated waste from past economic systems. The book explores themes of societal organisation, technological advancement, and the potential for a better future.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION - Original cloth covered boards in good condition only slightly nicked to corners. Endpapers clean. Crisp and clean throughout. Text block entirely sound. Colour full page frontispiece titled Wall of Mist followed by half title page with foreword by Olive Schreiner, full title page, contents page, list of figures, an introduction by John Hodgson and a flyleaf containing limited edition signed and numbered notice. Beautifully illustrated throughout containing 20 b/w illustrations on 15 plates by Sir Edwin Lutyens, Professor AE Richardson, Ethelwyn Baker, Jean Campbell, Albert Daenens, Mervyn Wilson and the editor himself. A couple of pen annotations likely by John Hodgson throughout text and a hand signed and dated 1929 addition to illustration 17, a portrait of Olive Schreiner. Printed by Wadsworth and Co, The Rydal Press, Keighley. 89 pp. collated and complete.