Lady Chatterley's Lover by LAWRENCE, D. H. [David Herbert, 1885-1930] - 1928

[Florence]: Privately Printed [by the Tipografia Giuntina], 1928. First Edition. First appearance of Lawrence's last novel and "one of the most remarkable books of the twentieth century." (Literary Encyclopedia) First Edition, limited issue, no. 256 of 1000 copies printed, signed by Lawrence in blue ink at the limitation statement. Demy 8vo (225 x 150mm): [4],365,[1]pp. Original mulberry paper-covered boards, Lawrence phoenix in black to front cover, white paper spine label printed in black, top edge rough-trimmed, others untrimmed. Front joint very skillfully (almost imperceptibly) repaired, light soiling to boards, partial erasure of publisher's imprint on verso of title page, light unobtrusive moisture stains and occasional finger-soiling to margins of many pages far from text, otherwise a fresh and bright, very attractive example. Increasingly scarce in collectible condition, more commonly encountered in one of the many pirated editions. Roberts A42a. Not in McDonald. Connolly 57 ("a puritanical tract on the art of love as Lawrence imagined it, devised to rouse the English from their torpor."). In the spring of 1928, Lawrence commissioned the Tipografia Guintina in Florence to print Lady Chatterley's Lover, after it was rejected by numerous English publishers. He planned to sell the one thousand signed and numbered copies at the price of £2 each, with friends acting as agents. By the end of the year, nearly all copies were sold, despite (or perhaps because of) the novel being banned from entering the United States and about to be suppressed in London." Lady Chatterley's Lover "captures a moment in history when the Jazz Age celebrated hedonistic pleasure at the same time that, in Lawrence's native England, the friction of owners and workers erupted as a general strike in 1926. These pressures—of unbridled pleasure caught in a vise of capitalistic conflict—have helped to make Lawrence's portrait of the age remarkably insightful and prescient." (Literary Encyclopedia) N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).