WALDO AND MAGIC, INC by Heinlein, Robert A - 1950

Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1950. Octavo, cloth. First edition. A presentation copy with signed inscription by Heinlein to Mrs. Arthur G. [Dirce] Archer on the front free endpaper. Collects two novellas, "Waldo" (ASTOUNDING, 1942) and "Magic, Inc." (UNKNOWN, 1940). "'Waldo' concerns a sick young engineer who is obliged to live in the weightless conditions of an orbiting satellite in order to compensate for his wasted muscles -- but from there he is able to solve several of Earth's problems. (Real-life remote-control manipulation devices have been named 'waldoes' after the hero of this story.) The other piece. 'Magic, Inc.,' is an enjoyable fantasy about a world where magic is taken for granted." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. [407]. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 3-171. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 792. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature II, pp. 942-44. Baird and Greenwood, An Annotated Bibliography of California Fiction 1664-1970 1151. A fine copy in nearly fine dust jacket with light wear at spine ends and corner tips. A very nice copy of a book seldom found signed by Heinlein. (#160712)