Nineteen Eighty-Four. A Novel.

by ORWELL, George.

$7,770 · Offered by Biblio

First edition

London: Secker & Warburg,, 1949. It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words First edition of the author's final book, a warning against totalitarianism in any guise. Its effect on the English language has been remarkable, introducing into common parlance terms such as "doublethink", "newspeak", and "Big Brother". "No novel of the past century has had more influence than George Orwell's 1984. The title, the adjectival form of the author's last name, the vocabulary of the all-powerful party... It's almost impossible to talk about propaganda, surveillance, authoritarian politics, or pervasions of truth without dropping a reference to 1984" (Packer). Octavo (178 x 119 mm). Finely bound by the Chelsea Bindery in red morocco, black morocco label lettered in white between two bands, design depicting the "eye of providence" with 1984 blocked centrally in white to the front board, twin rule to turn-ins in white, black endpapers, gilt edges. A fine copy. Fenwick A12a. George Packer, "Doublethink is Stronger than Orwell Imagined", The Atlantic, July 2019, available online.

• Year: 1949
• Edition: First Edition
• Binding: unknown

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