‘The Diamond Lens’, O’Brien’s most famous short story, can be regarded as a forerunner of modern science fiction; ‘What Was It?’ is said to have served as a model for H.G. Wells’s The Invisible Man; and ‘The Wondersmith’ is a marvellous tale of Hoffmannesque invention. Taken together, O’Brien’s stories give him an important place in the development of American fiction and remain as fresh today as when they were first written more than a hundred and fifty years ago.

Contents: ‘The Pot of Tulips’, ‘The Dragon Fang Possessed by the Conjuror Piou-lu’, ‘Seeing the World’, ‘The Diamond Lens’, ‘The Lost Room’, ‘The Wondersmith’, ‘What Was It?

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