Orwell, George

The Road to Wigan Pier. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1937

8vo (220 x 140 mm). 32 photographic plates. Publisher's blue cloth, spine gilt lettered, in original yellow printed dustjacket; dustjacket with some stains, spine panel uniformly sunned, rubbing and a few short closed tears at extremities. Housed in a black quarter morocco clamshell box. [With]: Publisher's slip (257 x 202 mm), printed on verso, date 1 March 19ꦚ37 and signed by the publicity manager; old horizontal and vertical folds. Housed in a black quarter morocco clamshell box.

First edition, first impression, in the original dustjacket, of Orwell's famous account of Northern working class life and coalmining. The publisher was initially unhappy with the second half of the book, where Orwell announced both his adherence to socialism as well as his dislike of sཧocialist intellectuals and their admiration for Soviet power. This fi🔥rst regular edition, published on 8 March 1937, was preceded by Gollancz's Left Book Club edition a few weeks before, issued in limp orange cloth.

Orwell never expected that The Road to Wigan Pier w🦩ould be selected by Goll🦂ancz for his prestigious Left Book Club list, which had been launched in May 1936. Gollancz had commissioned the book a £500 advance in January, and Orwell spent the next two months in the north of England. His friends received numerous letters describing his experience, with Orwell writing to Richard Rees in February "Have you ever been down a mine? I don't think I shall ever feel the quite the same about coal again."

The present copy was sent by the publisher to a prospective reviewer, and includes the publisher's letter😼.

REFERENCE

Fenwick A.5b