A copy of HG Wells' Tales of Space and Time (1900) inscribed to fellow author Henry James is to cross the block at Heritage Auctions on April 8-9.

It features an original sketch of Ugh-lomi, the caveman protagonist of Wells' A Story of the Stone Age, and carries an estimate in excess of $7,000.

HG Wells is best known for his works of science fiction

Wells and James had an infamous falling out in 1915, after Wells wrote Boon - a novel satirising James' work. It was apparently written in retaliation to James' comment on Wells' style of pulp fiction and led to years of literary sparring over the correct recipe for fiction.

Wells described James' writing thus: "It [any novel by James] is like a church lit but without a congregation to distract you, with every light and line focused on the high altar. And on the altar, very reverently placed, intensely there, is a dead kitten, an egg-shell, a bit of string…"

A first edition copy of The Time Machine is another highlight, with a valuation of $5,000 and over.

It was printed by Henry Holt & Company in New York in 1895 and displays a misprint of the author's name ("HS Wells") on the title page.

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