H. G. Wells Society
Encyclopedia
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
(1866–1946), and encouraging a wider interest in his writings and ideas. The Society has published a comprehensive bibliography
Bibliography
Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
of Wells's published works, and has printed the following other publications, several of which are works by Wells which had been hitherto out of print for many years:
- H. G. Wells, The Last Books of H. G. Wells: The Happy Turning and Mind at the End of its Tether, ed. G. P. WellsG. P. WellsGeorge Philip Wells FRS , son of the British science fiction author H. G. Wells, was a zoologist and author. He co-authored, with his father and Julian Huxley, The Science of Life. A pupil at Oundle School, he was in the first class to learn Russian as a modern language in a British school...
(1982). - H.G. Wells Society, A Comprehensive Bibliography, foreword by Kingsley MartinKingsley MartinBasil Kingsley Martin was a British journalist who edited the left-leaning political magazine the New Statesman from 1930 to 1960....
(1985). - H. G. Wells, The Discovery of the Future with The Commonsense of World Peace and The Human Adventure, ed. Patrick ParrinderPatrick ParrinderPatrick Parrinder is an academic, currently Professor of English at the School of English and American Literature at the University of Reading, having been educated at Leighton Park School before going on to King's College, Cambridge. He has written books of literary criticism on James Joyce and...
(1989). - H. G. Wells, Select Conversations with an Uncle (Now Extinct) with Two Hitherto Unreprinted Conversations, ed. David C. Smith and Patrick Parrinder, foreword by Michael FootMichael FootMichael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
(1992). - John Hammond, The H.G. Wells Society: A Short History (2000).
- H.G. Wells, The Betterave Papers, ed. John Hammond (2001).
- James Dilloway, Human Rights and World Order, 2nd edn (1998).
The Society's objective is "to promote and encourage universally an active interest in, and appreciation of, the life, work and thought of Herbert George Wells".
Its specific aims are:
- To encourage a greater interest in the works of H.G. Wells on the part of publishingPublishingPublishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
, pressMass mediaMass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
and broadcastingBroadcastingBroadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
organisations. - To promote a wider knowledge of the ideaIdeaIn the most narrow sense, an idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. Very often, ideas are construed as representational images; i.e. images of some object. In other contexts, ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not necessarily appear as images...
s and idealsIdeal (ethics)An ideal is a principle or value that one actively pursues as a goal. Ideals are particularly important in ethics, as the order in which one places them tends to determine the degree to which one reveals them as real and sincere. It is the application, in ethics, of a universal...
of H.G. Wells and to assist in promoting their understanding and disseminationDisseminationTo disseminate , in terms of the field of communication, means to broadcast a message to the public without direct feedback from the audience. Dissemination takes on the theory of the traditional view of communication, which involves a sender and receiver...
. - To organise lectureLecturethumb|A lecture on [[linear algebra]] at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history,...
s, meetingMeetingIn a meeting, two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal setting.- Definitions :An act or process of coming together as an assembly for a common purpose....
s and conferences, to issue publicationPublicationTo publish is to make content available to the public. While specific use of the term may vary among countries, it is usually applied to text, images, or other audio-visual content on any medium, including paper or electronic publishing forms such as websites, e-books, Compact Discs and MP3s...
s, and to engage in such other educationEducationEducation in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
al work as will assist towards the realisation of the Society's aims.
Each year the Society organises a September conference where aspects of Wells's life and work are discussed. All members receive a triannual newsletter
Newsletter
A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Additionally, newsletters delivered electronically via email have gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in...
and an annual journal
Literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
, entitled The Wellsian.
Over the years, the Society has accumulated a substantial collection
Collection (museum)
A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc. This differentiates it from an archive or library, where the contents may be more paper-based, replaceable and less exhibition oriented...
of book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s and pamphlet
Pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...
s by Wells, and an archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
of press cuttings relating to Wells. This collection is currently housed in the Learning Centre at the Holloway Road
Holloway Road
Holloway Road is a road in London. It is one of the main shopping streets in North London, and carries the A1 road as it passes through Holloway, in the London Borough of Islington...
campus of the London Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University , located in London, England, was formed on 1 August 2002 by the amalgamation of the University of North London and the London Guildhall University . The University has campuses in the City of London and in the London Borough of Islington.The University operates its...
. The Society is also closely associated with the Wells Collections at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
and Bromley Central Library, South London, the former being the repository of the Wells papers.
The President of the Society is Dr John Hammond, its founder, and it has a number of distinguished Vice-presidents, including Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
, Michael Foot
Michael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
, Brian Aldiss
Brian Aldiss
Brian Wilson Aldiss, OBE is an English author of both general fiction and science fiction. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss. Greatly influenced by science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, Aldiss is a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society...
, Christopher Priest
Christopher Priest (English novelist)
Christopher Priest is an English novelist and science fiction writer. His works include Fugue for a Darkening Island, Inverted World, The Affirmation, The Glamour, The Prestige and The Separation.Priest has been strongly influenced by the science fiction of H. G...
and Stephen Baxter
Stephen Baxter
Stephen Baxter is a prolific British hard science fiction author. He has degrees in mathematics and engineering.- Writing style :...
.
Sources
- Information leaflets & Newsletters published by the H. G. Wells Society
- The Wellsian, official journal, annually published by the H. G. Wells Society
See also
- H. G. WellsH. G. WellsHerbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
- Science fictionScience fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
- Invasion literatureInvasion literatureInvasion literature was a historical literary genre most notable between 1871 and the First World War . The genre first became recognizable starting in Britain in 1871 with The Battle of Dorking, a fictional account of an invasion of England by Germany...
- Fabian SocietyFabian SocietyThe Fabian Society is a British socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up to World...
- List of Socialists
- CosmotheismCosmotheism"Cosmotheism" is a term associated with beliefs adhered to by:* Norman Lowell * Mordekhay Nesiyahu * William Luther Pierce...
- NoosphereNoosphereNoosphere , according to the thought of Vladimir Vernadsky and Teilhard de Chardin, denotes the "sphere of human thought". The word is derived from the Greek νοῦς + σφαῖρα , in lexical analogy to "atmosphere" and "biosphere". Introduced by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 1922 in his Cosmogenesis"...
- Omega PointOmega pointOmega Point is a term coined by the French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin to describe a maximum level of complexity and consciousness towards which he believed the universe was evolving....
External links
- H. G. Wells Society
- The Wellsian, the journal of the H. G. Wells Society
- CFP: The Wellsian (journal) (retrieved 2009-05-28)