Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, Book of The Month Club Edition in Original Dust Jacket, 1949

Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc., 1949. Book of the Month Club Edition. In the original publisher’s blue dust jacket and gray cloth boards. Presented with a new archival ¼ leather and cloth clamshell case. 

This is an early Book of the Month Club edition of George Orwell's famous dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. First published in June of 1949 by London's Secker and Warburg, this Book of the Month Club edition was published in New York by Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc. later that year. It is presented here in the publisher’s original blue colored dust jacket and gray cloth boards, with a new archival ¼ leather and cloth clamshell case. 

Nineteen Eighty-Four is set in a society where most of the world population have become victims of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, and propaganda. "No other dystopian novel has received the critical acclaim or had the wide-ranging influence that 1984 has" (Books of the Century, 161). Written while Orwell suffered severely from tuberculosis and published shortly before the disease claimed his life, the novel is a work "of hectic, devilish, claustrophobic intensity… nightmarish in the telling" (Clute & Nicholls, 896).

Writing of Orwell, Christopher Hitchens said, "'the three great subjects of the 20th century were imperialism, fascism and Stalinism… Orwell got all three right" (New York Times). It was this aptitude for politics that enabled Orwell to create a cautionary tale at once remarkably profound and widely accessible. "It is possible to say that the ghastly future Orwell foretold has not come about simply because he foretold it: we were warned in time" (Burgess, 99 Novels, 46). For its enrichment of the English language- bequeathing such words as "doublethink," "Newspeak," and, of course, "Big Brother"- and its warning about the dire consequences of unchecked power in any hands, Nineteen Eighty-Four remains a literary landmark.

CONDITION:

Very good condition. Octavo. In the publisher's original unclipped blue dust jacket and original gray cloth hardcover boards, with black and red titles to the front and spine. Creases, light repairs to dust jacket. Dust jacket has been wrapped in mylar for protection. Spine and some corners lightly bumped.  Internally, pages are clean and healthy. No marks or tears present.

Book Dimensions: 8 5/16" H x 5 11/16" W x 1 3/16" D.  Clamshell Dimensions: 9 3/8" H x 6 3/4" W x 2" D.

Accompanied by our company's letter of authenticity.