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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
by Adams, Douglas
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Very Good
- ISBN 10
- 0517542099
- ISBN 13
- 9780517542095
- Seller
-
Eugene, Oregon, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
"First American Edition published 1980 by Harmony Books" with full number line at bottom of copyright page. This is the true first, as described by the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Condition is NF, unread, with binding still tight so that the boards have never been fully opened flat. Boards are square and sharp. Dust jacket also VG, original price of $6.95 intact, minor rubbing, protected by mylar wrap. See photos for details and feel free to inquire further.
A lovely unread copy of this groundbreaking foray into absurdist fiction.
Synopsis
" IRRESISTIBLE! " -- The Boston Globe: Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years. Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don't forget to bring a towel!"[A] WHIMSICAL ODYSSEY...Characters frolic through the galaxy with infectious joy."--Publishers WeeklyFrom the Paperback edition. - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy aired for the first time at 10:30pm on Wednesday, 8th March 1978 on the BBC as a radio comedy. The radio show's popularity spawned books, a televisions series, several stage plays, a computer game and feature films. The novel adaptation of Adam's radio series is a misnamed “Trilogy” of six books, five written by Douglas Adams – that sold more than 15 millions copies in his lifetime - and a sixth by Eoin Colfer. At the release of the fourth book the series was named "trilogy in four parts," and the US edition of the fifth book was originally released with the legend "The fifth book in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy" on the cover. Subsequent re-releases of the other novels bore the legend "The [first, second, third, fourth] book in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy". In addition, the blurb on the fifth book describes it as "the book that gives a whole new meaning to the word 'trilogy'" Before his death from a heart attack on May 11, 2001, Adams was considering writing a sixth novel in the Hitchhiker's series. Eoin Colfer, an Irish writer of Children's Books, most famous for his Artemis Fowl series, wrote the sixth book in the Hitchhiker's series in 2008–09. Books in the Series (Trilogy) are as follows: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy The Restaurant at the End of the Universe Life, the Universe and Everything So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish Mostly Harmless And Another Thing... Two omnibus editions were created by Douglas Adams to combine the Hitchhiker series novels and to "set the record straight". The stories came in so many different formats that Adams stated that every time he told it he would contradict himself. Therefore, he stated in the introduction of The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide that "anything I put down wrong here is, as far as I'm concerned, wrong for good." The two omnibus editions were The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide, Complete and Unabridged (published in 1987) and The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, Complete and Unabridged (published in 1997). Inspired in part by Ken Walsh's Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe published in 1971, which stresses the importance of towels to the travelling hitch-hiker, an important article to the Hitchhiker's in Adam's galaxy as well. When Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster was launched into space on the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket in February 2018, it had the words DON'T PANIC on the dashboard display and carried amongst other items a copy of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and a towel.
Read More: Identifying first editions of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
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Details
- Bookseller
- Intangible Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 4612
- Title
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
- Author
- Adams, Douglas
- Format/Binding
- Cloth
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First American
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 0517542099
- ISBN 13
- 9780517542095
- Publisher
- Harmony Books
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1980
- Pages
- 215
- Size
- 8vo
- Keywords
- Douglas Adams, Monty Python, Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect
Terms of Sale
Intangible Books
Returns accepted up to 14 days. If item is not as described, seller will pay full refund including all shipping costs. If returned for other reasons (such as buyer changing mind), original shipping will not be refunded and buyer will pay return shipping. Any questions or concerns, please ask. I am a reasonable person, and I'm sure we can work things out.
About the Seller
Intangible Books
Biblio member since 2023
Eugene, Oregon
About Intangible Books
Intangible Books is a forty-year collection being slowly redistributed back into the market. The collection is strong in 20th century American literature, labor and proletarian history, western Americana, and rare ephemera. Listings will be added as time allows. Feel free to send inquiries.
Books are described according to ABAA standards (Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair). Pictures will accompany listings as much as possible. More photos always available on request. Questions welcome. The collector was quite picky, and the descriptions will reflect the same discerning eye.
Books are described according to ABAA standards (Fine, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair). Pictures will accompany listings as much as possible. More photos always available on request. Questions welcome. The collector was quite picky, and the descriptions will reflect the same discerning eye.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Number Line
- A series of numbers appearing on the copyright page of a book, where the lowest number generally indicates the printing of that...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Copyright page
- The page in a book that describes the lineage of that book, typically including the book's author, publisher, date of...
- VG
- Very Good condition can describe a used book that does show some small signs of wear - but no tears - on either binding or...
Frequently asked questions
This Book’s Categories
What is a first edition?
Even if you’re only peripherally aware of book collecting, you’ve doubtless heard the term, first edition, bandied about but you may still be in the dark as to what makes them such a big deal. Learn about first editions and why collectors value them here.
Beat Poet Michael McClure
From the fateful reading at Six-Gallery in 1955 to his novels, poetry, and stage productions, Michael McClure was right in the thick of the Beat Generation as it was born. See his books and art and learn more about the works of Michael McClure.
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