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TROPIC OF CANCER
by MILLER HENRY
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Leicester, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Paris: Obelisk, 1934. First Edition. (Paris: Obelisk Press 1934). First Edition. Rebound in near contemporary red cloth (with no lettering to indicate the title of the book). Ownership name in ink to both the front and rear end-papers. Original printed front and rear wrappers (featuring a giant crab holding a naked woman in its pincers, designed by Maurice J. Kahan) bound in, wrappers torn and relaid with the inner flaps pasted down. The original spine of the book is missing. Now hailed as an American classic, the author's masterpiece was banned as obscene in the United States for 27 years. One of only a 1,000 copies and genuinely rare. This is the true First Edition of this title with First Published September 1934 on the copyright page
Synopsis
Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer is one of the most notoriously and frequently censored books in the history of American literature. In a combination of autobiography and fiction, the novel centers of Miller’s own life as a struggling writer in Paris in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Tropic of Cancer is written in the first person and lacks linear organization, two of Miller’s most favored techniques. Some chapters are narratives about Miller’s friends and workplaces, and others are stream-of-consciousness-style reflections, but all of the chapters touch on the sexual exploits and general low-life ruthlessness in which the author had engaged at the time. Tropic of Cancer was first published by Obelisk Press, a French publisher of soft pornography, in Paris in 1934. Shortly thereafter, the novel was banned in the US and later tried for charges of obscenity, a trial that challenged American pornography laws at the time. In 1961, the ban of Tropic of Cancer was lifted, and later that year, Grove Press published the first US edition of the novel, but only after the firm’s Barney Rosset offered Miller a sizeable advance and promised to defend the author in any future legal battles regarding the publication. Grove Press’s edition of Tropic of Cancer sold over 1 million copies by the end of 1961… and was the subject of about 60 lawsuits as well, one of which involved the American Civil Liberties Union. All of this hullabaloo makes one wonder what the reactions might have been if Miller had decided to go with the novel’s working title, Crazy Cock — which was, ironically, far more modest than the published version. Regardless, the novel’s 1970 film adaptation, directed by Joseph Strick, received an X rating (meaning no one 17 and under admitted). Today, Tropic of Cancer finds itself ranked 50th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century and 59th on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels.
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Details
- Bookseller
- James M Pickard, ABA, ILAB, PBFA.
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 355490714078
- Title
- TROPIC OF CANCER
- Author
- MILLER HENRY
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Obelisk
- Place of Publication
- Paris
- Date Published
- 1934
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
Terms of Sale
James M Pickard, ABA, ILAB, PBFA.
We can personally take Visa, Mastercard and debit/Maestro cards. All books are are returnable if found not to be as described, please contact us first. James M Pickard (Rare Books) is proud to be a full member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association (ABA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) and The Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association (PBFA).
About the Seller
James M Pickard, ABA, ILAB, PBFA.
Biblio member since 2006
Leicester
About James M Pickard, ABA, ILAB, PBFA.
James M Pickard (Rare Books) is proud to be a full member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association (ABA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) and The Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association (PBFA).
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Rebound
- A book in which the pages have been bound into a covering replacing the original covering issued by the publisher.
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Wrappers
- The paper covering on the outside of a paperback. Also see the entry for pictorial wraps, color illustrated coverings for...
- 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....
- Flap(s)
- The portion of a book cover or cover jacket that folds into the book from front to back. The flap can contain biographical...
- Copyright page
- The page in a book that describes the lineage of that book, typically including the book's author, publisher, date of...
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