Books

Jonathan Cape, 1963. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First edition, HC w/ Dustjacket. Comes in custom made slipcover. Book: Fine. Interior is tight and clean. Rare black boards with some markings and stains around textblock and fore edge, though the top edge is NOT stained. Very minimal and light markings and stains on pastedown and free endpaper on back. DJ: Fine. Bright and clean with some signs of aging on backcover of DJ.

The Collector is the debut novel of English author John Fowles. It was first published in 1963 by Jonathan Cape and is about a lonely young man, Frederick Clegg, who works as a clerk in a city hall and collects butterflies in his spare time. Clegg is infatuated with Miranda Grey, a middle-class art student at the Slade School of Art. Unable to make any contact with her but obsessed with his unrelenting desire, Clegg decides to add her to his 'collections' by kidnapping her and holding her captive in the cellar of his rural farmhouse. What follows is a chilling exploration of power, art, freedom, and the consequences of human actions.

The first edition of 'The Collector' published by Jonathan Cape in 1963 would have the original dust jacket design and no mention of later printings on the copyright page.