Books

London: Secker and Warburg. 1949. First edition, first printing. First edition, first printing. Publisher's original green cloth with red titles to the spine, in the maroon Michael Kennard designed dustwrapper. Top edge purple. An excellent near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth bright and fresh with a little fading to the extreme edges. The contents are clean throughout and without inscriptions or stamps. The text block edge is a little toned with a few spots of foxing to the top edge, the purple however remains vivid and without fading. Complete with very good rubbed and nicked dustwrapper, that has a couple of small chips with associated creasing to the upper tip of the habitually faded spine. The present example, in entirely original condition, does retain some of its red colour to the spine panel rendering the white titles still legible and is therefore uncommon thus. Not price-clipped (10s net to the lower front flap). Housed in a bespoke grey and black…

"1984" is a dystopian novel set in a totalitarian society ruled by a party led by the enigmatic figure, Big Brother. The story revolves around Winston Smith, a disillusioned man working for the Party whose job involves altering historical records to align with the Party's propaganda. Winston secretly harbors dissenting thoughts against the oppressive regime and begins a forbidden love affair with Julia, a fellow rebel. As they engage in acts of rebellion and attempt to challenge the Party's control, they are drawn into a web of surveillance, manipulation, and betrayal. The novel explores themes of censorship, surveillance, the nature of truth, the dangers of totalitarianism, and the resilience of the human spirit against oppressive regimes.

The first edition can be identified by the publisher Secker & Warburg and the publication date of 8 June 1949, as well as the absence of a dust jacket that later variation contained. The first edition was published in both RED and GREEN jackets at the same time. It is considered that the red jacket is the more collectible as it was seemingly printed in a smaller quantity than the green jacket.