Fahrenheit 451
Price: $27,500.00
Hard Cover. New York: Ballantine Books, 1953. Limited First Edition. Near Fine.
Illustrated by Joe Mugnaini. First edition, limited issue; in Currey's E binding (no priority). One of 200 copies specially bound in Johns-Manville Quinterra, described on the limitation page as "an asbestos material with exceptional resistance to pyrolysis," signed and numbered by Bradbury, this being number 200. Publisher's white binding, with red lettering to front board and spine; issued without dust jacket. Near fine book, with light toning to spine, light soiling and spotting to cloth, spotting to top edge, light wear to foot of spine, and bookplate of Walter K. Robinson to front pastedown. An outstanding copy of this illustrious issue. Housed in a custom red quarter morocco clamshell case. Fahrenheit 451 is a work of dystopian fiction set in a futuristic America where thought is suppressed, and the masses are placated with large TV screens and other distractions. The main character, Montag, is a "fireman" whose job is to burn illegal books (the title refers to the temperature at which paper ignites). After meeting his new neighbor, a free-spirited woman named Clarisse, Montag begins to question the oppressive society he lives in. Written in response to Nazi book burnings and McCarthyism, the book has remained relevant through the decades for its powerful exploration of censorship, mass media, and societal conformity. In 1951, Ray Bradbury published a novella titled The Firemen, which combined elements from two of his earlier short stories, "Bright Phoenix" and "The Pedestrian." At the urging of Ballantine Books editor Stanley Kauffman, Bradbury expanded the novella into a full novel, which became Fahrenheit 451. One of the greatest fantasy and science fiction writers of the 20th century, Bradbury's other notable works include The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), Dandelion Wine (1957), and Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962). Item #RBB019
