Description

FIRST EDITION OF A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, WITH THE ORIGINAL ENDING, SIGNED BY ANTHONY BURGESS

BURGESS, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange. London: Heinemann, (1962). Octavo, original black cloth, original dust jacket.

First edition of this controversial classic, signed by Anthony Burgess on the title page.

Inspired in part by an attack on Burgess’ pregnant wife, Burgess’ most famous novel is a “compelling and often comic vision of the way violence comes to dominate the mind” (Clute & Nicholls, 175). “The most discussed aspect of this book is the slang Burgess created for his teenaged characters. Called ‘nadsat,’ it combines Cockney slang with Russian? A Clockwork Orange serves as a forum for the discussion of the nature of language and the conflicts between free will and determinism” (New York Public Library, Books of the Century, 164). Director Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film adaptation “was based on the incomplete U.S. edition, which omitted the crucial last chapter in which, as Burgess later said, ‘my young thuggish protagonist grows up? and recognizes that human energy is better expended on creation than destruction” (Anatomy of Wonder II-190). This first edition includes Burgess’ original, preferred ending. First issue dust jacket, with price of 16 shillings on front flap. Lewis, 66. Pringle, 100 Best Science Fiction Novels 36.

Book fine. Very minor tape residue to flaps of dust jacket, with lightest scattered foxing. A near-fine copy, very scarce signed.