Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays

First edition. Crown 8vo., [vii], 212 pp. Publisher's pale green cloth, lettered in red to spine; top edge stained red. Jacket design by Michael Kennard (priced 10/- net on the front flap). 1/7,530 copies printed.

Previous owner's bookplate to front pastedown, backstrip lightly sunned with lettering exceptionally bright. Wrapper edges gently rubbed with odd nicks to spine crown, tiny closed tear to upper back panel, diagonal crease to lower front panel, red stripe of spine sunned to white, as usual with this title. Still, an exceptionally fresh copy of a fragile post-war book.

Posthumously printed collection of essays never before published in book form, but written over a number of years as contributions to periodicals or reviews, including Horizon, The Adelphi, New, Polemic, Partisan Review and The Tribune.

The titular essay, about the killing of an escaped elephant by the author in front of an expectant crowd 'solely to avoid looking a fool,' was originally published in 1936 in vol. 2 of New Writing, edited by John Lehmann. By turns, masterful storytelling and incisive social commentary, the essay delves into ubiquitous themes such as language, imperialism, and the complexities of the human condition. "George Orwell was the conscience of his generation." –V. S. Pritchett, New York Times Book Review

[Fenwick D.3a]