Manhattan Rare Book Company

"On the sixth day of Hate Week, after the processions, the speeches, the shouting, the singing, the banners, the posters, the films, the waxworks, the rolling of drums and squealing of trumpets, the tramp of marching feet, the grinding of the caterpillars of tanks, the roar of massed planes, the booming of guns — after six days of this, when the great orgasm was quivering to its climax and the general hatred of Eurasia had boiled up into such delirium that if the crowd could have got their hands on the 2,000 Eurasian war-criminals who were to be publicly hanged on the last day of the proceedings, they would unquestionably have torn them to pieces — at just this moment it had been announced that Oceania was not after all at war with Eurasia. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Eurasia was an ally."

FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE 20TH CENTURY. A BEAUTIFUL COPY IN EXCEPTIONALLY BRIGHT DUST JACKET.

“The time is 13 o’clock; the date doesn’t matter; the year goes without saying. Winston Smith, a bureaucrat at the Ministry of Truth, toils day and night in the service of Big Brother, the remote, faux-benign ruler of this eerily familiar dystopia. Orwell’s novel is a study of every possible way a nation can be beaten down by its government: spiritually, physically, intellectually, by the media, torture, surveillance, and censorship, to the point where the state can manipulate reality at will. When Smith is tempted by a beautiful resistance fighter into an act of rebellion, 1984 becomes something more: a strange, tragic, deeply sad love story. It is Orwell’s triumph, and the century’s misfortune, that 1984 is as prescient as it is pessimistic” (Lev Grossman, All-Time 100 Novels).

Nineteen Eighty-Four went into production while there were still post-war austerity restrictions on books and paper in the UK and is notoriously one of the most difficult important modern first editions to find in good, collectible condition. (Although the paper restrictions were lifted in March 1949, the book, published in June, was already in production.) The dust jacket in particular is made of very thin stock and is remarkably susceptible to wear and fading. It is nearly impossible to find fine copies, without chipping or serious fading. This copy – with minimal wear and strong bright color – is one of the nicest we've seen.


Note: The UK edition was published with both red and green dust jackets (no priority established).

London: Secker & Warburg, 1949. Octavo, original cloth, original green dust jacket. Book near-fine with only very slight wear (it feels unread). Dust jacket with closed tears on rear panel stabilized with Filmoplast on verso, and very modest edgewear. Color exceptionally bright. An outstanding copy.

Price: $22,000 .