BACK TO METHUSELAH A METABIOLOGICAL PENTATEUCH

London: Constable and Company, 1921. First Edition. 8vo, publisher's original light olive cloth, lettered in gilt on the spine, in the rare, original dustjacket printed in green. xci, 267 pp. A very fine copy in a near pristine dustjacket, a bit of light foxing to the top and foredge as is typical with the paper used. A FINE COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION. "Methuselah is said to be Shaw's only real engagement with science fiction. Shaw uses science fictioneering in Methuselah to add plausibility to scenarios and to keep readers entertained while he propounds his vision of the human destiny. His prime interest was not scientific, but political, as stated in the Preface where he discusses changes he considers essential before mankind can govern itself successfully. The final play, As Far as the Mind Can Reach, offers no solution to the problem: Humans evolve to the point of becoming free-ranging vortices of energy, able to wander, solitary, through the Universe, thus requiring no government at all...
Shaw had an exalted opinion of Back to Methuselah as both literature and philosophy; in the press release he wrote for its publishers (Constable & Co. London) he said it would "interest biologists, religious leaders, and lovers of the marvellous in fiction as well as lovers of the theatre" and described it as his supreme work in dramatic literature. He considered it a book for reading rather than playing on the stage, and was agreeably surprised when Lawrence Langner in New York and Barry Vincent Jackson in Birmingham insisted on producing it despite expectations of monetary loss..." Michael Holroyd, Bernard Shaw...1997