THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION (Presentation copy)

First Edition: six volumes, quarter reddish-brown leather with maroon cloth boards, titled gilt on the spines, top edges dyed dark red, original clear acetate dust jackets, light foxing on the pages edges, lacks the original box and lid, a very good set.

Contains the six-volume "Lensman" series comprising:  Triplanetary, First Lensman, Galactic Patrol, Gray Lensman, Second Stage Lensmen, And Children Of The Lens.

The colophon reads: This edition is limited to seventy-five sets, of the first printing of each volume, numbered, autographed and bound in half-leather. This set in no. 47  

(Each volume has a matching limitation page and signature)

Presentation inscription: To Albert Lastovica, With my best Regards, Edwin E Smith, Ph.D

In the early 1950s, Lloyd Eshbach, owner of Fantasy Press, convinced "Doc" Smith to rewrite and "fix" his various magazine stories so they would form a cohesive, chronological history. The result was this six-volume saga. The "History of Civilization" title was used specifically for this limited "Subscriber's Edition" (1955).

Currey (L.W.) Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors: A Bibliography of Their First Printings of Their Fiction and Selected Nonfiction – Revised Edition, page 370: ‘THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION. Reading: Fantasy Press, Inc., 1955. Cloth with leather shelf back. Six volumes. 75 sets with numbered leaf signed by the author inserted in each volume. Issued with unprinted acetate dust jackets, enclosed in a card-stock box.’