The misery of boots.

By H. G. Wells. Reprinted with alterations from the Independent Review, December 1905. London : The Fabian Society, 3 Clement’s Inn, Strand, W.C., 1907. Small octavo (170 x 113 mm); original stiff green wrappers with pictorial onlay (upper wrapper nicked at fore-edge; lower wrapper lightly marked); pp. 48; half-title a little foxed, otherwise internally clean and crisp; loosely inserted is the private calling card of Victor Alessandro Mundella (1866-1939), English physicist, author and educationist.

In this politico-satirical tract, in which he argues for a new form of socialism and economic reforms, Wells uses the metaphor of ill-fitting boots to describe levels of poverty and to critique capitalism and utopianism.

Although this copy has no ownership inscription, it came from the library of Cyril E. Kelsey and his wife Enid (Steele) Kelsey. The Kelseys were associated with H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, Edith Nesbit and her husband Hubert Bland, and the Pankhursts, through their membership in the Fabian Society. Their residence was 17 Northway (and later, 12 Wordsworth Walk), Temple Fortune, London, NW11, close to Hampstead, an area well known for its concentration of middle-class intellectuals including Fabians and Socialists. Both Cyril and Enid were silversmiths, and as members of the Guild of Handicraft were prominent in the Arts & Crafts movement. Enid was also a keen amateur thespian, and she and her husband co-wrote a play in the 1930s entitled The Stars.

Provenance: Cyril E. Kelsey and Enid (Steele) Kelsey; thence by descent.