Books

London: Viking, 1988. Pages browning, else a fine copy of the Uncorrected Advance Proof in a fine proof dustwrapper. Signed and titled by Rushdie on the title page. Though there seem to be no textual differences to the first trade edition, the proof of The Satanic Verses has some unique features. For instance, there are no ornamental devices separating the sub-chapters, and the "Acknowledgements" page (549) is missing completely. Also, the beginning of the "Ayesha" chapter provides for numerical sub-divisions, which is unnecessary as there are none. This copy had no title on the tile page, so Rushdie kindly supplied it in his own writing. We have never seen any copies with the printed title of the book on the title page. The proof dustwrapper varies from the one of the first UK edition in that it is matt (though we have also had one glossy one), uses a different and bolder typeface for the lettering of the author's name and the title, has a box at the bottom of the inner flap and mentions both the UK and the US publishers at the bottom of the lower flap. This item is part of our Catalogue 4: The Rushdie Collection, which you can download at ygrbooks.

The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie's fourth novel, first published in 1988 and inspired in part by the life of Muhammad. It was met with significant controversy due to its portrayal of Islamic themes which led Rushdie to face death threats and a fatwa calling for his assassination.