Road to Wigan Pier (63 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. A very good first edition in a complete and slightly restored original and very rare dust jacket. One of only 2,150 copies of the first edition. Housed in a handsome clamshell case with leather spine and corners and gold lettering and decoration.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. 1st Edition. "The Road to Wigan Pier" by George Orwell. Victor Gollancz, London. 1937 first UK edition first printing. Original blue cloth lettered on spine in yellow, some foxing to fore-edges as usual, slightly faded and rubbed at head and tail of spine, original yellow dust-jacket, worn with loss to head of spine, rubbed and slightly frayed at extremities, 8vo. The Road to Wigan Pier is a book by the English writer George Orwell, first published in 1937. The first half of this work documents his sociological investigations of the bleak living conditions among the working class in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the industrial north of England before World War II. The second half is a long essay on his middle-class upbringing, and the development of his political conscience, questioning British attitudes towards socialism. Orwell states plainly that he himself is in favour of socialism, but feels it necessary to point out reasons why many people who would benefit from socialism, and should logically support it, are in practice likely to be strong opponents. According to Orwell biographer Bernard Crick, publisher Victor Gollancz first tried to persuade Orwell's agent to allow the Left Book Club edition to consist solely of the descriptive first half of the book. When this was refused Gollancz wrote an introduction to the book. "Victor could not bear to reject it, even though his suggestion that the 'repugnant' second half should be omitted from the Club edition was turned down. On this occasion Victor, albeit nervously, did overrule Communist Party objections in favour of his publishing instinct. His compromise was to publish the book with [an introduction] full of good criticism, unfair criticism, and half-truths. The first trade UK edition was published in only a small printing of 2150 copies, of which very few with dust jacket are still left. An opportunity to own one of the rarest works by Orwell in original dust jacket.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. First Edition. A first printing of the true first edition published in 1937. Only 2,150 copies of the hardcover issue were printed, with the majority of around 44,000 being issued in the Left Book Club orange limp cloth covers. This appears to be a second issue which includes the 24pp Foreword by Victor Gollancz explaining the nature of the second part of the book to Left Book Club members. This is present in the LBC limp-cloth editions but is usually absent from the Victor Gollancz hardcover trade edition. With 30 pages of very evocative monochrome photographs in the middle of the book. ***A good only copy in the publisher's blue cloth-covered boards with gilt titles to the spine. There is a Boots Library sticker affixed to the front board which explains why the binding has become so worn. The book must have been avidly read in the late 1930s and during the Second World War. The cloth covering the boards has become very worn with age and handling, including creasing to the head and tail of the spine, and rubbing at the corner tips. The fragile thin cloth is also splitting along the edge of the back board and spine, but is still holding. The binding also has a slight reading lean to the casing. The page block edges are a bit grubby, but have none of the usual foxing. There appears to be a remainder mark on the bottom edge. Internally the book is quite clean, with no serious creases or tears. With an attractive bookplate on the front pastedown and 'Oxford, 6th November 1939' on the front endpaper. The paper stock has none of the usual foxing - just some light damp mottling to the back endpaper and a small stain to the fore-edge of the front endpaper. Without the extremely scarce dustwrapper. ***264 pages. 222mm x 140mm. ***George Orwell's famous sociological analysis of working class life in the bleak industrial heartlands of Northern England prior to the Second World War, commissioned by Victor Gollancz in January 1936. Orwell received a £500 advance (two years' income for him at the time), and researched the book by spending the harsh winter of 1936 living in Barnsley, Sheffield and Wigan; three urban areas of heavy industry producing coal, steel and textiles respectively. The book was chosen by Gollancz for his popular Left Book Club, which issued most of the copies printed, making the first Gollancz trade edition of just 2,150 copies very scarce. ***'The first half of this work documents his sociological investigations of the bleak living conditions among the working class in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the industrial north of England before World War II. The second half is a long essay on his middle-class upbringing, and the development of his political conscience, questioning British attitudes towards socialism. Orwell states plainly that he himself is in favour of socialism, but feels it necessary to point out reasons why many people who would benefit from socialism, and should logically support it, are in practice likely to be strong opponents. According to Orwell biographer Bernard Crick, publisher Victor Gollancz first tried to persuade Orwell's agent to allow the Left Book Club edition to consist solely of the descriptive first half of the book. When this was refused Gollancz wrote a foreword to the book."Victor could not bear to reject it, even though his suggestion that the 'repugnant' second half should be omitted from the Club edition was turned down.' [Wiki] ***A first printing, second issue, of the true first edition of this classic work by George Orwell, which is scarce now in any condition in the hardcover trade edition. Whilst the book is in fairly worn condition, it is in the original state with no pages damaged or missing - so could be suitable as a candidate for rebinding. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.

In green cloth covers. In very good condition. Spine slightly faded. Back board part faded. Mild foxing to edges and endpapers. Occasional foxing spots throughout. Else a clean and tight copy. 264 pp. With 32 b/w photographs. Rare first issue of the first edition of George Orwell?s classic study of the lives of the working poor in the 1930s.

First edition, first impression, of Orwell's classic study of poverty in the north of England, firmly established among his best known and most powerful non-fiction works. The book was issued to members of Victor Gollancz's Left Book Club as the choice for March 1937, which ensured a large edition. However, its selection was precarious, as the latter half of the book - in which Orwell condemns British socialist intellectuals and their adherence to the Soviet Union - dismayed Gollancz and the Left Book Club committee. Gollancz published the book, but with his own preface taking issue with many of Orwell's claims. Fenwick A5a. Octavo. Original orange limp cloth, spine and front wrapper lettered in black. With 16 photographic plates. Somewhat worn and soiled; a good copy.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. None (illustrator). First edition. A lovely copy of the first edition of George Orwell's study on the working classes of Northern England, illustrated throughout, published by the Left Book Club. The first edition of this work, published by the Left Book Club. This edition preceded the Gollancz first trade edition.Including the yellow 'Club Membership' leaflet.Illustrated with thirty-two plates. Collated, complete.The Left Book Club was founded in 1936 and ran until 1948, pioneered by the noted publisher Victor Gollancz. The monthly books were intended to be anti-war and anti-fascism during World War Two. Gollancz disapproved of the second half of the book, disavowing the middle-class, but Orwell fought to have it included in the book.'The Road to Wigan Pier' is an autobiographical look at the bleak living conditions in the Lancashire and Yorkshire working classes during the Depression. The second half contains an essay of Orwell's middle-class upbringing, and how his political views changed as he grew. In the original publisher's cloth wraps. Externally, smart, with a touch of discolouration to the spine and extremities, with only a few light marks. Very light edge wear. Cloth is lifting a small amount to the tail of the front wrap. A few light spots to the fore edge. Internally, generally firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Very Good. book.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good+. First Edition; First Printing. First American edition. Near fine in very good+ dust jacket. (Top inch of spine on jacket torn and shelf-worn but present. The jacket is overwise only lightly edge-worn. Couple tiny spots of soiling at margin in text. ) 32pp. Photo insert. Scrap of paper with the autograph of noted political scientist Vernon Van Dyke laid-in. Uncommon title. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 264 pages.

Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First edition thus, issued by the Left Book Club. Octavo, pp 264. Bound in orange cloth covered limp covers; illustrated. With the rare four page Left Book Club Membership form laid in. In Near Fine condition, covers are unusually bright and clean, a little spotting to the edges only, clean and unmarked within. Excellent.

Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. Stated Left Book Club Edition. First edition, first impression. Original orange limp cloth with black titles to spine and front panel. A little creasing to the spine, otherwise a Fine copy. With 16 photographic plates. With a special forward by publisher Victor Gollancz. Orwell originally believed The Road to Wigan Pier would not be included in Gollancz's Left Book Club as "it is too fragmentary and, on the surface, not very left-wing" (Fenwick). By 29 December 1936, however, the work was set as a choice for the March 1937 list. A hardcover trade issue of 2,150 copies was also released directly after.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good Indeed. Not Stated (illustrator). The first edition of George Orwell's autobiographical sociological study, discussing attitudes towards socialism in the north of England, published by the Left Book Club. The first edition of this sociological study from George Orwell. The Left Book Club edition, 'not for sale to the public', published prior to the Gollancz first trade edition.'The Road to Wigan Pier' documents Orwell's sociological investigations into working class living conditions in Lancashire and Yorkshire before World War II. It also contains a long essay on Orwell's own middle-class upbringing and the development of his political conscience, in which he questions British attitudes towards socialism.Illustrated with thirty-two photographic plates. Collated, complete.The Left Book Club was founded in 1936 and ran until 1948, pioneered by publisher Victor Gollancz, and issued anti-war and anti-fascist works during World War Two. Gollancz disapproved of the second half this work, disavowing the middle-class, but Orwell fought to have it included. Gollancz included his own introduction as a result. In the publisher's original paper wraps. Externally, wraps exceptionally bright. A touch of discolouration to back strip, with vertical folds to spine. Significant spotting to fore edge of text block. Internally, firmly bound. Pages clean and bright. Very Good Indeed. book.

Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Victor Gollancz Left Book Club, 1937.8vo. Original publishers black lettered limp orange cloth (softback) (spine ends a little scuffed and slight creased at spine - otherwise bright and near-fine. Pp. xxiv + 264, illustrated with B&W plates (no inscriptions). First edition, first impression of Orwell's classic study of poverty in the North of England, firmly established among his best known and most compelling non-fiction works. The book was issued to members of Victor Gollancz's Left Book Club as the choice for March 1937, which ensured a large edition of 44,150 copies in the present limp cloth, and a further 2,150 copies in hardback. spine and front wrapper lettered in black. With 16 photographic plates. Uncommon in this condition.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. with 32 pp. of glossy B&W plates (illustrator). 1st Edition. This is the Gollancz first edition (so identified by the lack of any statement of later edition; this copy has NOT been converted to a "Times Book-Club edition") in original boards covered in dark blue cloth. Titles quite faded to spine through still legible. As the binding is still tight enough to close the book's own text block, this book COULD be called "very good," but we'll downgrade to "good-plus" due to some scattered foxing to preliminary pages as well as to fore-edge, and also since the cloth covering the spine appears fairly fragile. This first printing escaped the addition of publisher Victor Gollancz's critical "Introduction" to Orwell's autobiographical Part Two, which Gollancz reportedly found "repugnant." Since in Part Two, beginning with Chapter Eight, Orwell PROMOTES socialism as a necessary remedy to working-class poverty, and as publisher Gollancz was himself an idealistic supporter of socialism who actually ASSIGNED this project to Orwell, this may require a word of explanation: Though Gollancz offered the text a much wider readership through his "Left Book Club" edition, the publisher evidently felt those book-club readers might be offended by Orwell's analysis of why socialism was not succeeding. Orwell observes that intellectuals who pepper their sentences with "notwithstandings" and "heretofores" and grow excited when discussing dialectical materialism are unlikely to gain much popular support, and then further specifies that leftists who wear beards or sandals, along with vegetarians and nudists, contribute to socialism's negative reputation among the very conventional souls they seek to convert. (That "mollifying" Introduction appears in the second edition -- the "Left Book Club edition," usually found in orange wraps -- unlike this hardcover first edition.) Orwell documents the bleak and cramped living conditions of the working class (including coal miners) in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the industrial north of England before World War Two. This edition contains 32 pp. of glossy B&W plates, primarily photographs of Welsh coal miners and of slums in the East End of London, in the selection of which Orwell probably played no role -- all present here as called for. (The actual "Wigan Pier" was a wooden jetty, demolished around 1929, from which carts of coal were loaded onto waiting barges along what is now the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. As the term "pier" in England is often associated with charming seaside holidays, applying this term to a tumble-down structure along a muddy canal amidst a landscape of slag heaps was a local joke, Orwell later explained, which caught on locally and was then picked up by the music-hall comedians of the era.) PON "Will Rowe" in ink to front pastedown. (A Will Rowe served as Professor of Poetics, Birkbeck College, University of London, circa 2011, but it's a common enough name and we have no evidence this book belonged to THAT Will Rowe. As a matter of fact, as this copy came to us from Northumberland, we doubt it.) Complete at 264 pp., now reduced from $785.

Condition: Used - Very Good. 1937. Paper bound, octavo, 264 pp. plus 32 plates in black & white. Spine is creased per usual. Wraps lightly soiled. Otherwise in excellent condition, text is clean and tight. Very good.

First edition. Octavo. 264 pages. Photographs. Cloth wrappers. Fourteen-page Foreword by Victor Gollancz in which he famously distances himself from some of the views in the book.Small bookplate on front free endpaper. Spotting to edges and prelims. Small marks to rear cover. Very good.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition, Special Edition. 1937 Left Book Club Softcover 1st Edition 1st Impression (not for sale to the public). Very good+ clean tight binding 264 pages with a foreword by Victor Gollancz + 32 photo plates, orange wrapper as shown.

Condition: Very Good. 1937. Paperback. First edition. Left Book Club edition, not available to the public. Orwell was commissioned by Victor Gollancz to write the book for the Left Book Club. However, Gollancz feared the second half of the book would offend Left Book Club readers and inserted a pacifying preface to the book. Distinctive Left Book Club orange linen wrappers with black titles. 264 pp. plus 32 plates in black & white. Covers soiled, scuffed, curling at corners and with tear to bottom spine, lean to spine. Previous owner's details, dated March 1937, on ffep. Pages lightly toned with age, text and b/w photographs clear, light foxing. Remains in very good condition. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Paperback. Condition: Good. Not Stated (illustrator). First edition. The first edition of George Orwell's study on the working classes of Northern England, illustrated throughout. Published by the Left Book Club. The first edition of this work, published by the Left Book Club. This edition preceded the Gollancz first trade edition.Illustrated with thirty-two plates. Collated, complete.The Left Book Club was founded in 1936 and ran until 1948, pioneered by the noted publisher Victor Gollancz. The monthly books were intended to be anti-war and anti-fascism during World War Two. Gollancz disapproved of the second half of the book, disavowing the middle-class, but Orwell fought to have it included in the book.'The Road to Wigan Pier' is an autobiographical look at the bleak living conditions in the Lancashire and Yorkshire working classes during the Depression. The second half contains an essay of Orwell's middle-class upbringing, and how his political views changed as he grew. In the original publisher's cloth paper wraps. Externally, generally smart. Light edge wear to the wraps, heavier to the head and tail of the spine. Some light marks to the wraps. Spine is discoloured. Rear wrap and spine are lightly creased. Good. book.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First Edition. Near Fine hardcover in a Near Fine dj (two tiny 1/8" tears to lower dj spine and some very slight rubbing to an approx. 1/4" section of top edge of dj spine). First Edition, First Printing. Illustrated with 32 pages of photographs. Foreword by Victor Gollancz. A beautiful copy - clean text, tight binding, and a clean and bright dj. First American Edition, First Printing.

With a Foreword by Victor Gollancz. London: Victor Gollancz, 1937. Original orange cloth wrappers. First Edition ("Left Book Club Edition / Not for Sale to the Public"). Part I of this book describes the living conditions of the coal miners in the industrial north of England, illustrated with photographs; Part II describes Orwell's own middle-class upbringing, and the development of his social and political conscience. The publisher Victor Gollancz -- a social reformer himself -- put up the funds for Orwell to live among the miners for some months. Gollancz also issued a 1937 trade edition (hardback with dust jacket), which did not include Gollancz's 14-page Foreword. This book preceded Orwell's postwar ANIMAL FARM and NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR by about a decade. This is a near-fine copy (volume slightly askew, a few stray orange threads at some edges); though not a scarce book, it typically turns up soiled and frayed. NCBEL IV 691.

Condition: Very Good. 1937. Paperback. First edition. Left Book Club edition, not available to the public. Orwell was commissioned by Victor Gollancz to write the book for the Left Book Club. However, Gollancz feared the second half of the book would offend Left Book Club readers and inserted a pacifying preface to the book. Distinctive Left Book Club orange linen wrappers with black titles. 264 pp. plus 32 plates in black & white. Covers soiled, scuffed, curling at corners and with tear to bottom spine, lean to spine. Previous owner's details, dated March 1937, on ffep. Pages lightly toned with age, text and b/w photographs clear, light foxing. Remains in very good condition. . . . .

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. 264 pages with a foreword by Victor Gollancz + 32 photo plates, orange limp linen wrappers, some handling and curling at corners, spine a little light fading, minor spotting to edge of title page at bottom, advert for other george Orwell books facing title page, slight lean out-of-true. A good+ to very good+ copy. *First published in this format before the Gollancz hardback. *The author lived alongside these miners and their families and saw their hardships and community himself. The unemployment, the deprivations and the callousness of the owners. The photos say it all.

First edition, 8vo, xxiv, 264 pp. 32 black and white photographic illustrations, handwritten label reading "first edition" pasted to fly leaf. Original limp orange cloth wrappers, spine slightly faded, extremities with mild rubbing. "Left Book Club Edition, not for sale to the public".

Trade Paperback. Condition: Good. First Edition. First edition, preceding the trade edition. Spine toned and lightly creased, spine leans forward, edges rubbed with minor loss from corners, wrappers lightly soiled. 1937 Trade Paperback. xxiv, 264 pp. Includes a foreword by Victor Gollancz. In the 1930s Orwell was sent by a socialist book club to investigate the appalling mass unemployment in the industrial north of England. He went beyond his assignment to investigate the employed as well - 'to see the most typical section of the English working class.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. This is the Left Book Club Edition bound in limp orange canvas covers. Light wear to the covers. No distortion from reading or improper shelving. Pages are tight and clean with no marks. There is foxing on the first and last few pages. A few instances of interior pages showing foxing. No name of previous owner. No odor. A faint tide line of a water stain to the inside of the leading edge of the front cover. No soiling. No sun fading. The book is in a custom-made black cloth clamshell box.

Soft cover. Condition: Good. Left Book Club with preface, Not for Sale to the Public, binding is dirty on rear board (see scan) but book is intact and otherwise quite good Language: eng Language: eng Language: eng.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. This is the Gollancz sheets bound up in Left Bank Book Club wrappers. Includes the 32-page signature of photographs. This copy is very good in the original orange cloth-backed wrappers with light soiling, a spot on the bottom edge that does not extend into the text pages, and light general wear.

Softcover. Condition: g to g+. Book Club editon. Octavo. (xxiv) 264pp. Orange wrappers, with black lettering on front cover and spine. This is the first book club edition of the nonfiction work by George Orwell. The book is divided into 2 parts. The first part examines and exposes the living and working conditions of the working-classes in the north of England, while the second part is an extended essay covering socialism, its benefits, its popular perception in Britain at the time, and also serves as an autobiographical exploration of his own upbringing and the development of his political conscience. Includes 32 plates of b/w photographic reproductions, featuring images of working-class living conditions from around England and Wales. wrappers with some, creases, smudging and scratches to front and back. Spine with vertical creases, smudging as well as bumping to head & tail. Rubbing and creasing to corners and along edges of wrappers. Some spotting, smudging and light water stains along edges of the book. Book block tight. Interior with some creasing, smudges and light water stains to interior front and back covers, endpapers and half title. Wrappers in good-, interior in condition very good condition.

1st Ed. Left Book Club Edition Not for Sale to the Public. xxiv + 264pp. 32 pages of b/w. ills. from photos. Some very light marginal browning and occasional spotting, sl. staining to a couple of gutter margins, first and last few corners sl. curled, binding sl. cockled, in original black lettered limp orange cloth, some light soiling, lower leading corners sl. creased, spine rubbed. With 4pp. membership coupon loosely inserted. US$140.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Left Book Club Edition orange soft cloth. 264pp with b&w photographs and foreword by Gollancz.

Soft cover. Condition: Good. 1st Edition. A decent copy of this sought-after work. The cloth covers are a little creased in places and grubby here and there. Internally there are no real issues except for very slight tanning to some page margins. I am happy to provide images on request.