Animal Farm
First edition first printing of Animal Farm, one of the most influential literary works of the 20th Century.
An attractive copy kept in its original cloth, with dust jacket.
8vo of 92 pages.
Original green cloth, slight fading and rubbing to spine ends, dust jacket (slightly creased at folds, small chips at corners, a little chipped and nicked at extremities), manuscript ex-libris “David Jones” on first blank, green half-morocco case.
185 x 122 mm.
Orwell, George. Animal Farm. A fairy story.
Secker & Warburg, London, 1945.
First edition first printing with the words “First Published May 1945” printed on copyright page.
Fewnick A.10a.
One of the most important literary works of the 20th century, the satirical-political masterpiece that so magnificently reflects the events leading up to the Russian Revolution and brilliantly caricatures Stalinism.
George Orwell considered Animal Farm his breakthrough, the book which brought together his gifts as a novelist with his commitment as a political writer. He deliberately tried "to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole". "Animal Farm" brilliantly portrays not only the corruption of the revolution, but also how traits of human character themselves corrupt society. The greatest flaw of revolution is not the corrupt leadership on its own, but also the greed, indifference, ignorance, shortsightedness, wickedness that govern the individuals that make up the masses. The work was written between late 1943 and early 1944, when the wartime alliance with the Soviet Union was at its height and Stalin was held in highest esteem in Britain, among both the people and intelligentsia. Not surprisingly, it was initially rejected by both British and American publishers, and the publication of it was thus delayed. When it did appear, it became a great commercial success, however, probably not least due to the soon to follow Cold War.
« Écrit entre 1943 et 1944, alors que G. Orwell travaillait à la B.B.C., cette satire, l’une des plus cruelles et des plus terribles, s’insère dans cette tradition anglaise qui cherche dans le royaume d’Utopie, depuis More et Swift, à se venger des désillusions du présent ».
“Animal Farm shows how an initial idealism can turn into exploitation and how ordinary people can lose their freedom in small incremental steps. Animal Farm belongs to a literature of argument, a committed literature that means to make a difference in the world, yet it still resonates long after the system that occasioned it has passed from the scene” (Morris Dickstein).
The work is considered one of the most influential literary productions of the 20th century.
An attractive copy of the first edition, first printing, with dust jacket.
