WOMEN IN LOVE

LAWRENCE, D. H.

Edité par Privately printed for subscribers only 1920 [but issued in London: Martin Secker, 1922], New York, 1920

A propos de cet article

238 x 160 mm. (9 1/4 x 6 1/4"). [iv], 536 pp. VERY ATTRACTIVE NEW POLISHED CALF, EXTENSIVELY GILT, covers bordered with a gilt foliate roll, raised bands, spine gilt in compartments with floral sprig centerpieces surrounding by leafy volutes, red and black morocco labels, top edge stained black, other edges untrimmed. Housed in a new brown half-morocco box, yellow linen boards, raised bands, three compartments densely gilt with repeating heart shapes, others with gilt titling. Roberts A15b. Eight leaves with small expert repairs to corners, light foxing to limitations page, title a little puckered (from a removed ownership marking), very occasional trivial spot or marginal stain elsewhere, but the contents in excellent condition with nothing approaching a fatal flaw, and very clean throughout, in quite a handsome new binding. This is a copy--in a fine decorative calf binding--of the signed, strictly limited version of one of the best-known and most popular works of D. H. Lawrence. A novel that overcame scandal, rejection, and prejudice to reach publication, "Women in Love" follows the lives and relationships of Ursula Brangwen and her younger sister Gudren, characters who first appeared in Lawrence's novel "The Rainbow," published in 1915. In the present work, Ursula is now a teacher in love with a school inspector with progressive ideas, and Gudrun has become an artist who engages in a stormy romance with an industrialist. Complicating the plot is the mutual attraction that develops between the two main male characters, and it is through these relationships that Lawrence explores different manifestations of love and self-fulfillment. The author had largely completed the manuscript in 1916, but could not find a publisher to take it on, due to the scandal involving "The Rainbow" just the year before--the earlier novel was banned almost immediately upon its release, and most copies were destroyed in response to sexual content that was deemed too explicit. As a result, "Women in Love" languished for four years before New York publisher Thomas Seltzer agreed to have it printed privately in an edition of 1,250 copies, distributed only to subscribers; of the present printing, 50 copies (in sheets) were purchased by Martin Secker in London, which were then signed by Lawrence and issued as a strictly limited autograph edition (but retaining the original publisher's imprint) in 1922. David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) grew up in the coal mining area of Nottinghamshire, the setting of his semi-autobiographical novels, "The White Peacock" and "Sons and Lovers." In 1912 the author eloped to Italy with Frieda, the wife of one of his professors; they later married and travelled extensively, often to be found in Italy or Mexico. Lawrence had suffered from bouts of ill health for much of his life, and died of tuberculosis in France in 1930. Though his writing was often misunderstood and even considered pornographic by many contemporary critics, in Day's words, "Lawrence belies all the usual generalizations about Englishmen. No other of the world's writers lived and wrote with such passionate intensity." Our special limited, signed edition is difficult to find in original cloth in attractive condition; the last copy we could trace at auction sold in 2023 at Bonhams for £12,112.50 (something more than about $16,000). FIRST EDITION. No. 35 OF 50 COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR (from a total edition of 1,250).

N° de réf. du vendeur ST15007

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: WOMEN IN LOVE
• Éditeur: Privately printed for subscribers only 1920 [but issued in London: Martin Secker, 1922], New York
• Date de parution: 1920
• Édition: Edition originale
• Signé: Signed
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Literature
  • Modern First Editions