THE ROAD TO WIGAN PIER.
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. Item #15312
Price: $295.00