The Collector by Fowles, John - 1963

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1963 First American edition, uncorrected proof. Publisher's original cream wraps, lettered in brown, image of butterfly on panel. A very good copy with some light wear and soiling, toning and slight lean to spine, label removed from upper cover. The Collector is a chilling psychological thriller that puts the reader into the mind of both abductor and captive. The story follows the abduction of Miranda Gray, a middle-class art student, by Frederick Clegg, a lonely and psychotic young clerk. Believing Miranda will fall in love with him in time, he keeps her captive in his basement, where he keeps his butterfly collection. Aspects of the story can be interpreted as commentary on the changing class structure of 1960s England, as it "dramatizes the clash between a socially entrenched, wealthy middle class and an underprivileged but upwardly mobile working or lower middle class." John Fowles' first book, The Collector was a sensation and was adapted into a film by the same name soon after publication.. First Edition. Very Good. Advanced Reading Copy (ARC).