TY - ABST T1 - Death into Life Y1 - 1946 A1 - [William] Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950) KW - English author KW - Male author AB -

Similar to other works by Stapledon in that it projects humanity into both the relatively near and very far future, to a time beyond humanity. This relatively short (159 pp) version follows "the spirit of man" from death during World War II to a period in which humans inhabit eight planets to the development of a "cosmic consciousness" into which humanity is absorbed. On the copyright page there is an author's note saying, "This fantasy is not a novel." 

PB - Methuen CY - London N1 -

Rpt. in his Worlds of Wonder: Three Tales of Fantasy (Los Angeles, CA: Fantasy Publishing Co., 1949), 91-251.

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - Old Man in New World Y1 - 1944 A1 - [William] Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950) KW - English author KW - Male author AB -

Socialist eutopia that encourages diversity and individuality as seen by an old revolutionist who is not entirely comfortable in the world the revolution created. World federation. 

PB - George Allen & Unwin CY - London N1 -

Rpt. in his Worlds of Wonder: Three Tales of Fantasy (Los Angeles, CA: Fantasy Publishing Co., 1949), 253-82; and in An Olaf Stapledon Reader. Ed. Robert Crossley (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997), 42-60. 

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - Darkness and the Light Y1 - 1942 A1 - [William] Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950) KW - English author KW - Male author AB -

Eutopia and dystopia presented as two alternative future histories. The dystopia is extrapolated from the situation as it existed in 1942. In the eutopia that situation is overcome and for a time a eutopia based on villages develops. Following that, the human race goes through periods of decline and advance until a new and higher human type develops. 

PB - Methuen CY - London N1 -

Rpt. Westport, CT: Hyperion Press, 1974. Excerpts rpt. in An Olaf Stapledon Reader. Ed. Robert Crossley (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997), 28-42.

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - Star-Maker Y1 - 1937 A1 - [William] Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950) KW - English author KW - Male author AB -

One of Stapledon's visions of the far, far future where the human race has been replaced by more advanced species.

PB - Methuen CY - London N1 -

Rpt. in his To the End of Time: The Best of Olaf Stapledon. Ed. Basil Davenport (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1953), 221-412; rpt. (Boston, MA: Gregg Press, 221-412; as The Star Maker. New York: Berkley Medallion, 1961; in Last and First Men & Star Maker: Two Science-Fiction Novels (New York: Dover, 1968), 247-438; Bath, Eng.: Lythway Press, 1974; and ed. Patrick McCarthy. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2004 with a “Foreword” by Freeman Dyson (xi-xv) and an “Introduction” by the editor (xix-xxxiii). Excerpts rpt. in An Olaf Stapledon Reader. Ed. Robert Crossley (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997), 22-28. An earlier version was discovered and published as Nebula Maker. Hayes, Middlesex, Eng.: Bran's Head Books, 1976. Rpt. in Nebula Maker & Four Encounters with illustrations by Jim Starlin (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1983), 1-124 with an "Introduction" by Arthur C. Clarke (vii-x).

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - Odd John: A Story Between Jest and Earnest Y1 - 1935 A1 - [William] Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950) KW - English author KW - Male author AB -

Advanced human beings and the society they create. The eutopia is a small part of the work. Stapledon wrote many utopias.

PB - Methuen CY - London N1 -

Rpt. as the Collectors Edition. Norwalk, CT: The Easton Press, 1987 illus. Wendy Snow-Lang and with a brief "Introduction" (unpaged) by Alfred Bester. U.S. ed. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1936. Rpt. as Odd John: THE Masterpiece of the Superhuman Race that May Replace Humanity Sooner than You Think! New York: Galaxy, 1936. Galaxy Science Fiction Novel No. 8. U.S. ed. rpt. with the original title in his To the End of Time: The Best of Olaf Stapledon Ed. Basil Davenport (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1953), 413-569. Rpt. (Boston, MA: Gregg Press, 1975), 413-569; as Odd John: A Story Between Jest and Ernest [sic]. New York: Berkley Medallion, 1965; and in Odd John & Sirius: Two Science Fiction Novels (New York: Dover Publications, 1972), 1-157.

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - Manifesto: Being the Book of The Federation of Progressive Societies and Individuals Y1 - 1934 A1 - C[yril] E[dwin] M[itchinson] Joad (1891-1953) A1 - Allan Young A1 - W[illiam Edward] Arnold-Forster A1 - Francis Meynell A1 - W[illiam] Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950) A1 - Janet Chance A1 - D[ennis] N[owell] Pritt A1 - Clough Williams-Ellis A1 - G[eoffrey] M[axwell] Boumphrey A1 - Archibald Robertson A1 - J[ohn] C[arl] Flugel ED - C[yril] E[dwin] M[itchinson] Joad (1891-1953) KW - English author KW - Female author KW - Male author AB -

Similar to 1912 The Great State in that the essays collectively describe a vision of a future eutopia that is, in essence, a socialist world state. See also Plan for World Order and Progress: A Constructive Review (The Federation of Progressive Societies and Individuals) 1.1 - 1.9 (April - September 1934), which published a review of the Manifesto by Aldous Huxley in 1.4 (July 1934): 7, 15.

PB - George Allen & Unwin CY - London ER - TY - ABST T1 - Last Men in London Y1 - 1932 A1 - W[illiam] Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950) KW - English author KW - Male author AB -

Loosely related to 1930 Stapledon, Last and First Men, but, even though it begins with a message from the last humans of two thousand million years in the future, the book is more restricted in scope. The people of this future have both evolved and re-designed themselves to live on Neptune. Children spend their first thousand years in a children's club, which they run, and which includes basic education. The second thousand years is spent on a separate continent, the Land of the Young. There are 96 sub-sexes. Telepathic. More leisure than work with each person specializing. Most of the book is then concerned with the modern world before, during, and after World War I. It then ends back on Neptune and with an "Epilogue" by Stapledon.

PB - Methuen CY - London N1 -

2nd ed. London: Methuen, 1934. There do not appear to be any differences in the editions. First ed. rpt. Boston, MA: Gregg Press, 1976 with an "Introduction" by Curtis C. Smith and Harvey J. Satty (v-xiv). Excerpts rpt. in An Olaf Stapledon Reader. Ed. Robert Crossley (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997), 11-14.

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ER - TY - ABST T1 - Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future Y1 - 1930 A1 - [William] Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950) KW - English author KW - Male author AB -

One of Stapledon’s visions of the far, far future where the human race has been replaced by more advanced species. It begins with an Introduction by One of the Last Men and then moves initially to World War I and after and the relatively near future. It then traces humanity through millions of years with both eutopian and dystopian periods to the end where a eutopian cosmic consciousness is developing and humans as such will disappear. Loosely related is 1932 Stapledon, Last Men in London.

PB - Methuen CY - London N1 -

U.S. ed. as by W[illiam] Olaf Stapledon. New York: Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, 1931. Rpt. in his To the End of Time: The Best of Olaf Stapledon with editorial cuts and “Foreword to the Original American Edition” (3). Ed. Basil Davenport (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1953), 1-220; rpt. (Boston, MA: Gregg Press, 1975), 1-220; and in Last and First Men & Star Maker: Two Science-Fiction Novels (New York: Dover, 1968), 1-246, which includes “Foreword to the Original American Edition” (3) and “Preface to the English Edition (9). Excerpts rpt. in An Olaf Stapledon Reader. Ed. Robert Crossley (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997), 3-11; and in The Way to the End Times: Classic Tales of the Apocalypse. Ed. Robert Silverberg (New York: Three Rooms Press, 2016), 436-52, with an “Editor’s Introduction” on 434-35. Chapter IX: Earth and Mars in rpt. in The Book of Mars: An Anthology of Fact and Fiction. Ed. Stuart Clark (London: London: Head of Zeus/Apollo/Bloomsbury, 2022), 57-70.

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