{"product_id":"george-orwell-nineteen-eighty-four-1949-first-edition-royal-green-morocco-binding","title":"George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1949 - First Edition, First Impression - Bespoke Royal Green Morocco Design Binding","description":"\u003ch3 data-section-id=\"65hmej\" data-start=\"564\" data-end=\"681\"\u003e\u003cspan role=\"text\"\u003eORWELL, GEORGE. \u003cem data-start=\"583\" data-end=\"606\"\u003eNineteen Eighty-Four.\u003c\/em\u003e First Edition, First Impression, 1949. Royal Green Morocco Design Binding.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"683\" data-end=\"787\"\u003eORWELL, George [Eric Arthur Blair]. \u003cem data-start=\"723\" data-end=\"755\"\u003eNineteen Eighty-Four. A Novel.\u003c\/em\u003e London: Secker \u0026amp; Warburg, 1949.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"789\" data-end=\"825\"\u003eFirst edition, first impression. Octavo. Striking full royal green morocco design binding, with dramatic red morocco onlays and geometric gilt tooling to both boards, centred upon a solitary dark figure beneath converging forms suggestive of surveillance, confinement and the oppressive architecture of Orwell's imagined state. Spine with five raised bands, gilt titles and repeated gilt eye devices; hand-sewn silk headbands; green marbled endpapers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1247\" data-end=\"1538\"\u003eA superbly presented first impression of George Orwell's defining novel, published by Secker \u0026amp; Warburg in 1949. The title-page verso states \"First published 1949\", with the original production statement recording printing by The Alcuin Press and binding by Key \u0026amp; Whiting Ltd.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1540\" data-end=\"1975\"\u003eCompleted during Orwell's final illness and published only months before his death, \u003cem data-start=\"1624\" data-end=\"1646\"\u003eNineteen Eighty-Four\u003c\/em\u003e remains one of the most consequential novels of the twentieth century. In the world of Oceania, Winston Smith works at the Ministry of Truth, revising the past to serve the demands of the Party, while privately attempting to preserve memory, individual thought and personal loyalty against the absolute authority of Big Brother.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1977\" data-end=\"2333\"\u003eFew modern novels have entered public language so completely. Orwell's terms \"Big Brother,\" \"Newspeak,\" \"doublethink\" and \"thoughtcrime\" have endured because the political anxieties at the centre of the novel - mass surveillance, manipulated truth, enforced conformity and the corruption of language - continue to resonate with extraordinary force.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2335\" data-end=\"2805\"\u003eThe design binding provides a powerful visual interpretation of the novel. The dark royal green morocco and vivid red onlays form an austere, theatrical composition: the solitary figure on each board stands beneath sharp converging planes, while the repeated gilt eye motifs on the spine evoke the novel's central image of constant observation. The result is a binding that captures the atmosphere of scrutiny, isolation and control that defines Orwell's imagined world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2807\" data-end=\"3104\"\u003eInternally, the original 1949 text block is preserved with light age toning and occasional spotting visible in places, consistent with the paper stock of the first impression. The binding presents in excellent condition, with bright gilt tooling, vivid morocco onlays and richly marbled endpapers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3106\" data-end=\"3395\"\u003eAn arresting collector's copy of the first edition, first impression of \u003cem data-start=\"3178\" data-end=\"3200\"\u003eNineteen Eighty-Four\u003c\/em\u003e, combining Orwell's most influential literary achievement with a highly accomplished design binding conceived around the novel's enduring themes of surveillance, power and individual resistance.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"George Orwell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51215776579851,"sku":null,"price":5250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0794\/7848\/9355\/files\/20250406_132311769_iOS_474a1f1e-2bf5-493e-972c-41ed21d5ab3e.jpg?v=1779783186","url":"https:\/\/www.archbooks.co.uk\/products\/george-orwell-nineteen-eighty-four-1949-first-edition-royal-green-morocco-binding","provider":"Arch Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}