Assignment in Eternity. Four Long Science Fiction Stories.

First edition, signed limited issue, number 11 of 500 copies signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf, as issued; this copy is additionally inscribed "To Joseph Schaller, most sincerely R. A. Heinlein". The total edition comprised 3000 copies. This title contains "Gulf", "Elsewhen", "Lost Legacy", and "Jerry Was a Man", all of which broadly meditate on what it is that makes one human. The collection was almost immediately picked up for paperback publication by New American Library's Signet imprint. Heinlein won four Hugo awards in his lifetime and seven posthumously. His work was amongst the earliest to be scientifically accurate, earning him "instant and unflagging popularity" (ANB), and his place alongside Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke as one of the "Big Three" titans of science fiction. Often called "the dean of science fiction writers", Heinlein developed tropes such as the piloted mech and space marine. Currey, p. 232; M. Keith Booker & Anne-Marie Thomas, The Science Fiction Handbook, 2009. Octavo. Original red cloth, spine lettered and ruled in gilt. With dust jacket. Contemporary bookplate of one Joseph Schaller to front pastedown and with his ownership inscription to front free endpaper. Jacket unclipped, small, faint damp stain to verso: a very good copy in near-fine jacket.…