NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR

London: Secker & Warburg, 1949. FIRST EDITION. 192 x 125 mm. (7 1/2 x 5"). 312 pp.
DRAMATIC BLACK MOROCCO WITH INLAID DESIGN, covers with central panel dominated by the all-seeing eye of Big Brother inlaid in vellum, green, and black on a background mosaic of geometrical compartments in shades of red, the eye radiating gilt rays, four more "eyes" peering at the central eye from each corner, raised bands, spine panels with gilt fleuron at center, two red morocco labels, marbled endpapers, rear pastedown with binder's leather label dated 2022 and with a tree-like design that may include the initials :"J I." ◆Pristine text in a new binding.

Orwell's classic dystopian novel is offered here in a memorable binding that plays homage to one of the story's most infamous motifs. The modern design features two perpetually open eyes, which can be fully appreciated when the binding is completely open and the covers are seen side by side. Alert and unflinching, the eyes look directly at--or perhaps through--the viewer with uncomfortable scrutiny. The large pupils and irises resemble the lenses of cameras, and the blood-red inlays, coupled with black borders, evoke a sense of dread, helping to establish the terrifying tone of the narrative even before the first sentence. Set in a world of totalitarian governments whose citizens endure constant surveillance and where even one's thoughts can be punished, "Nineteen Eighty-Four" revolves around protagonist Winston Smith, an otherwise unremarkable worker at the so-called "Ministry of Truth," who secretly dreams of rebellion against the state and its lies. According to Britannica, "the novel gains much of its power from the comprehensive rigour with which it extends the premises of totalitarianism to their logical end: the love of power and domination over others has acquired its perfected expression in the perpetual surveillance and omnipresent dishonesty of an unassailable and irresistible police state under whose rule every human virtue is slowly being suborned and extinguished. Orwell's warning of the potential dangers of totalitarianism made a deep impression on his contemporaries and upon subsequent readers, and the book's title and many of its coined words and phrases ('Big Brother is watching you,' 'newspeak,' 'doublethink') became bywords for modern political abuses." George Orwell was the pen name of writer Eric Blair (1903-50). Straight out of school (where he studied with Aldous Huxley), Orwell joined the Indian Imperial Police, but became disillusioned with their mission and returned to England to pursue writing. The present novel was Orwell's final work, written while the author was sick with tuberculosis and published just six months before his death..