This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/21/2024
ORWELL, George (pseudonym of BLAIR, Eric Arthur, 1903-1950). The Road to Wigan Pier. London: Victor Gollancz, 1937. 8vo. Illustrated with 16 leaves of 32 photographic illustrations. xxiv, [1]-264 pp. Publisher’s full blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt (binding worn, soiled, remainder mark at lower text block, rear hinge cracked, some occasional soiling in text, 1959 ink datestamp on rp, skewed.) Good. THE TRUE FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING, FIRST ISSUE WITH GOLLANCZ’S FOREWORD, ONE OF AN ESTIMATED 150 COPIES. With facsimile dust jacket. One of only 2,150 copies of the true first hardcover issue, the majority of the printing as part of over 44,000 printed for the Left Book Club in limp orange cloth. “The Road to Wigan Pier enjoyed better sales than all of Orwell’s previous books combined” (Shelden, p. 272). This book was an unflinching look at the lives of the working poor in northern England.