The Time Machine

The Time Machine
H. G. Wells

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.“In a moment I was clutched by several hands, and there was no mistaking that they were trying to haul me back . . . You can scarce imagine how nauseatingly inhuman they looked – those pale chinless faces and great, lidless, pinkish-grey eyes!”An English scientist regales his dinner guests with the tale of his travels to the year 802,701, where he discovers that the human race has evolved into two distinct societies. The Eloi, elegant and peaceful, yet lacking spirit, are terrorised by the sinister, light-fearing Morlocks, who live underground, surrounded by industry. And when his time machine mysteriously vanishes, the scientist must descend to the realm of the Morlocks in order to find his only hope of escape . . .H. G. Wells is considered a founding father of modern science fiction, coining the term ‘time machine’ and popularising the idea of time travel in literature.

THE TIME MACHINE

H. G. Wells

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William Collins

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Classic Literature: Words and Phrases adapted from

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Source ISBN: 9780008190033

Ebook Edition © January 2017 ISBN: 9780008190040

Version: 2016-12-20

Contents

Cover (#u0b71da3d-3c5e-5fe9-b7ea-769c824d32fd)

Title Page (#u09e3ce37-9133-57f4-bab3-d839e2420834)

Copyright (#u3fecb8bd-ad35-5624-88cd-cb66b6aed58e)

History of William Collins (#u8105294c-1c99-53b7-8e65-11c41701e082)

Life & Times (#u8a492e06-116a-5336-9610-e4fcba5bca11)

Chapter 1 (#ueb2aeacf-5b4a-5221-b057-979267725f0c)

Chapter 2 (#uc53f3c37-757a-55d9-9af8-e0bd2257fc28)

Chapter 3 (#u7a7c08b4-79e0-5b25-a5f0-24035b6b3831)

Chapter 4 (#u175cf5e9-09a8-5015-b326-865181ed9d4e)

Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Classic Literature: Words and Phrases (#litres_trial_promo)

Footnote (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

History of William Collins (#ulink_275f41cc-5dfb-5bda-a84e-19782f4f94a5)

In 1819, millworker William Collins from Glasgow, Scotland, set up a company for printing and publishing pamphlets, sermons, hymn books, and prayer books. That company was Collins and was to mark the birth of HarperCollins Publishers as we know it today. The long tradition of Collins dictionary publishing can be traced back to the first dictionary William co-published in 1825, Greek and English Lexicon. Indeed, from 1840 onwards, he began to produce illustrated dictionaries and even obtained a licence to print and publish the Bible.

Soon after, William published the first Collins novel; however, it was the time of the Long Depression, where harvests were poor, prices were high, potato crops had failed, and violence was erupting in Europe. As a result, many factories across the country were forced to close down and William chose to retire in 1846, partly due to the hardships he was facing.

Aged 30, William’s son, William II, took over the business. A keen humanitarian with a warm heart and a generous spirit, William II was truly ‘Victorian’ in his outlook. He introduced new, up-to-date steam presses and published affordable editions of Shakespeare’s works and ThePilgrim’s Progress, making them available to the masses for the first time.

A new demand for educational books meant that success came with the publication of travel books, scientific books, encyclopedias, and dictionaries. This demand to be educated led to the later publication of atlases, and Collins also held the monopoly on scripture writing at the time.

In the 1860s Collins began to expand and diversify and the idea of ‘books for the millions’ was developed, although the phrase wasn’t coined until 1907. Affordable editions of classical literature were published, and in 1903 Collins introduced 10 titles in their Collins Handy Illustrated Pocket Novels. These proved so popular that a few years later this had increased to an output of 50 volumes, selling nearly half a million in their year of publication. In the same year, The Everyman’s Library was also instituted, with the idea of publishing an affordable library of the most important classical works, biographies, religious and philosophical treatments, plays, poems, travel, and adventure. This series eclipsed all competition at the time, and the introduction of paperback books in the 1950s helped to open that market and marked a high point in the industry.