Books

First edition, limited issue, number 302 of 1000 copies, signed by the author; large 8vo (23 x 17 cm); one or two minor marginal spots, else unmarked internally; publisher's mulberry coloured boards, Lawrence's phoenix device to upper board in black, white paper title label to spine printed in black, untrimmed, slight chipping to corners and foot of spine, spine ends slightly bumped, minor split to lower front joint but sound; preserved in brown cloth chemise within brown morocco gilt slip-case. This novel shines as an example of Lawrence's finite skill in conveying the nature of relationships and his use of characters to communicate his personal philosophy. His depiction of love-making (seen as shocking at the time) and the intimacy and sense of touch derives from his wish to restore an emphasis on the body and balance it with what he perceived to be Western civilisation's over-emphasis on the mind. Lawrence's writing and opinions earned him many enemies, censorship and misrepresentation of his creativity, which was his reflection on the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation, while also exploring issues such as emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. To avoid British censorship and certain prosecution, this edition of Lady Chatterley's Lover was published privately in Florence therefore not only is it the first edition but the first unexpurgated edition, which would not be seen in the U. K. until 1960. Even then, the publisher, Penguin stood trial under the Obscene Publications Act of 1959, in which one of the objections was to the frequent use of the word 'fuck'. The prosecution was ridiculed for being out of touch with changing social opinions, particularly when the Chief Prosecutor, Mervyn Griffith-Jones asked if it were the kind of book 'you would wish your wife or servants to read.' The jury was less prudish and acquitted Penguin on all charges.

Lady Chatterley's Lover is a novel by D. H. Lawrence, first published privately in 1928 in Italy and in 1929 in France. It portrays a young married woman, Constance Reid (Lady Chatterley), whose upper-class barrister husband has been paralyzed and rendered impotent. Her sexual frustration leads her into an affair with the gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. The class difference between the couple highlights a major motif of the novel which is the unfair dominance of intellectuals over the working class. The book is a meditation on the necessity for a balance between the body and the mind and the destructive effects that industrialization and modernization can have on both.