Inside the Whale and Other Essays

Lot 93
28.09.2023 13:00UTC +00:00
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£ 10 080
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1016517
Lot 93 | Inside the Whale and Other Essays
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£ 10 000 – 15 000
Inside the Whale and Other Essays

George Orwell

ORWELL, George (1903-1950). Inside the Whale and Other Essays. London: Victor Gollancz, 1940.



Presentation copy of the first edition of an important collection of essays. Written for readers on the brink of war, it was intended as a provocation against the passivity of the masses to the erosion of liberty. Orwell explained his thinking in a letter to his publisher in January 1940: 'What worries me at present is the uncertainty as to whether the ordinary people in countries like England grasp the difference between democracy and despotism well enough to want to defend their liberties. One can't tell until they see themselves menaced in some quite unmistakable manner [...] However, perhaps when the pinch comes the common people will turn out to be more intelligent than the clever ones.' Besides the title essay, the book prints his studies of Charles Dickens and Boy's Weeklies. Fenwick, A.8a.



Octavo. (Lightly browning, some spotting to the endpapers). Original black cloth, titles to spine in yellow (extremities slightly rubbed); original dust-jacket priced at '7/6 net' supplied from another copy (tanned, several small chips and creases). Provenance: presentation inscription from the author to an unknown recipient: 'With all the best Eric Blair'.

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