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Darkness at Noon (SIGNED)

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Darkness at Noon (SIGNED)

by Koestler, Arthur

  • Used
  • near fine
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
Condition
Near Fine
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About This Item

Franklin Center, Pennsylvania: The Franklin Library, 1979. Book. Illus. by Roth, George. Near Fine. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). Limited Edition. 238 pages, 8vo. SIGNED by the author Arthur Koestler. Includes tissue guard on signature page. Illustrated by George Roth. Limited Edition. Bound in full leather boards with gilt lettering along spine, gilt design on front and rear covers. Full gilt page edges, bound ribbon bookmark, silk moire endpapers and inside covers. Minor shelfwear: light rubbing along edges. Tightly bound, no marks. Volume is in Near Fine-minus condition..

Synopsis

Darkness at Noon, by Hungarian-born British writer Arthur Koestler, is the tale of Rubashov, an Old Bolshevik who is arrested, imprisoned, and tried for treason against the government that he had helped to create. The novel is understood as an allegory to the USSR in 1938, the Great Purge, and the Moscow Trials. However, the text never mentions the Soviet Union or Russia (just “Country of the Revolution” and “Over There”) or Joseph Stalin (only “Number One,” a menacing dictator). Perhaps the lack of specific references is Koestler’s way of making the story seem more universal, but it’s clear he has in mind actual places, people, and events. Koestler was actually a proponent of Marxism-Leninism until Stalin’s 1938 Purge and the signing of the Nazi-Soviet pact. Afterwards, he edited an anti-Hitler, anti-Stalin newspaper. Koestler wrote the novel in German while living in Paris, from where he escaped in 1940 just before the Nazi troops arrived. Darkness at Noon owes its publication to the decision of sculptor Daphne Hardy, Koestler’s lover in Paris, to translate the text into English before she herself escaped. Koestler wrote Darkness at Noon as the second part of a trilogy; the first volume is The Gladiators (1939), first published in Hungarian. It is a novel about the subversion of the Spartacus revolt. The third novel is Arrival and Departure (1943), about a refugee during World War II. By then living in London, Koestler wrote the third in English. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Darkness at Noon number eight on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Sidney Kingsley adapted it for Broadway in 1951.    

Read More: Identifying first editions of Darkness at Noon (SIGNED)

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Details

Bookseller
Russian Hill Bookstore US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
059518
Title
Darkness at Noon (SIGNED)
Author
Koestler, Arthur
Illustrator
Roth, George
Format/Binding
Hardcover
Book Condition
Used - Near Fine
Edition
Limited Edition
Publisher
The Franklin Library
Place of Publication
Franklin Center, Pennsylvania
Date Published
1979
Keywords
KOESTLER

Terms of Sale

Russian Hill Bookstore

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About the Seller

Russian Hill Bookstore

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2017
San Francisco, California

About Russian Hill Bookstore

Russian Hill Bookstore, established in 1974, is one of the last family-owned used and new bookstores in San Francisco. We began as Sunset Bookstore in 1974, a small used bookshop servicing the Sunset District west of 19th Avenue, and have been in continual operation for the past 43 years. Over the years Sunset Bookstore has since closed and merged with Russian Hill Bookstore, which has grown to become also the best note card shop in the city, and a favorite place for toys and games for children of all ages.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Edges
The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
Spine
The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
Rubbing
Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
Fine
A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Gilt
The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...

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