One Hundred Years of Solitude

Taiwan: Pirated copy, 1970. Hardcover. Pirated Edition (Stated First Edition). 8vo. 422pp. Cloth boards. Soon after its original publication pirated editions of the lauded novel were proliferated throughout Taiwan and China, due both to censor and lack of legal authorization. After being told of the widespread piracy of his works during a visit to China in 1990, Marquez is purported to have angrily stated, 'not even one hundred and fifty years after my death will my books be authorized in China.' Even still, the first legal and authorized Chinese edition was published in 2011, after much publisher bidding, several years before his death in 2014. This particular copy is completely in English, inferring an early issue, and the text itself printed from the First U.S. Edition of Harper & Row. The half-title and title pages are identical save for the removal of all publisher mention and, curiously, the acute accents over the words Garcia and Marquez. The copyright page, also with all publisher mention removed, bears the First Edition statement in identical typeface and orientation, but now off-middle set on the page and above a printing statement in Taiwanese. Of the pertinent information noted in Taiwanese: sold by the Royal Family Book Co., printed by the Guangda Printing Co., and an additional statement of First Edition. The dust jacket, crudely reprinted, retains the original price of $7.95, but lacks the exclamation mark after the first paragraph, inferring use of the second issue. VERY GOOD in Very Good dust jacket protected in a removable mylar cover. The book itself with just a hint of shelf rubbing along the edges, the pages up to the first chapter are slightly waved due to the quality of paper stock, a small book exchange label on the back endpaper, otherwise the binding is strong and tight, the text is clean and unmarked, and the boards remain bright and distinct. The dust jacket shows slight shelf rubbing along the edges with several very small chips, a very short closed tear at the back panel, otherwise remains colorful and distinct. As pictured.