NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR: A NOVEL      GEORGE ORWELL

HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY     NEW YORK     1949

Stated "first American edition" at copyright page and "Printed in the United States of America."  True first edition without mention of Haddon Craftsmen at copyright.  Tan full cloth boards, bold red cover and spine titles, moderate shelf wear, rub, bump.  Pages near fine, clean.  Small antiquarian stamp inside cover, half-title, and back pastedown: "Carl J. Bokmuller."  Bind fine, square; hinges intact.  Original first state dust wrapper in red, moderate edge wear, rub, toning; unclipped 3.00, protected in new clear sleeve.  Flap corners clipped.  Classic mid-twentieth century wrapper in bright red with bold black titles.  Caricature of Orwell at back panel by George Holland.  Rare near very good first edition in same first state wrapper.

Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 - 21 January 1950) utilizing his pseudonym, George Orwell, composed this narrative message in 1948 and juxtaposed the numbers to 1984 as its time and place.   The novel was first published in 1949 and he would pass the following January of 1950 at the age of 46.

1984 is the year in which it happened!  The world is divided into three great powers, Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia, each perpetually at war.  Britain is part of Oceania and is known as Airstrip 1.  Throughout Oceania, The Party rules through four ministries, whose power is absolute.  The Ministry of Peace deals with war, the Ministry of Love, seat of the dreaded Thought Police, handles 'law and order,' the Ministry of Plenty deals in scarcities, and the Ministry of Truth doles out the propaganda.  

'New-speak' is the 'modern' perversion of language ordained by the Party.  It has installed such remarkable words as double-think (duplicitousness), thought-crime, and sex-crime or 'love' in standard English.  In every room, a tele-screen is installed, which can never be switched off, and where 'authorities' spy on every action, word, gesture, and thought.  On every hoarding a huge face is displayed - the face of Big Brother!  Set within this nightmare is the drama of Winston Smith, possibly the last man alive to rebel against the Party's rule and doctrine, clinging to the belief in the individual and in those precious human feelings and values.   

With flawless craftsmanship, ingenuity and narrative power Mr. Orwell lays out a terrifying potential future.   The love of Winston for the amorous and independent Julia, and the fate that befalls them, stirs the reader's emotions as the cautionary tale paces to a tremendous climax.  When Mr. Orwell's 'Animal Farm' was published three years prior, critics hailed him as a new Jonathan Swift.  The satirical passages in '1984' justify the critics' verdict.  But, presented here is much more than satire.

Bertrand Russell writes in summary: "...1984 depicts with great power the horrors of a totalitarian regime.  It is important the western world is aware of these dangers, and not only in the narrow form of (Communist) Russia.  Mr. Orwell contributes to this important purpose with skill and a force of imagination.  I hope it will be widely read."   314 pages.  Insured post.