New York: Ballantine Books, Inc., 1953. First edition. Octavo. First hardback edition, signed limited issue, number 11 of 200 copies signed by the author and specially bound in Johns-Manville Quinterra, a textile made from chrysotile asbestos and therefore fire resistant. This is one of approximately fifty copies issued in an original dust jacket. The hardback edition was published in the trade and signed limited issues shortly after the novel’s publication in the less desirable paperback format. Original white Johns-Manville Quinterra asbestos over boards, spine and front cover lettered in red. The fragile asbestos covers have been exquisitely preserved under the jacket. There is one small dampstain at the heel of the jacket (and matching dampstain at the heel of the book), otherwise the book is a Fine copy. The jacket is Very Good with the spine faded as often, a long tear on the front panel, closed with acidic cellotape, and the small dampstain at the foot of the spine. Despite the flaws a very presentable, fresh copy of a book that is very difficult to find in attractive condition.

Bradbury’s most famous work, about a dystopian future where books are banned – and burned. Fahrenheit 451 appears on the New York Public Library’s list of books of the century and won the 1954 American Academy of Letters Award in Arts and Literature. Though the book is thought to be a comment on the political culture and McCarthyism at the time of its publication, the work also grew out of a number of ideas and themes Bradbury had explored in a few of his earlier published short stories. The book would later be adapted into a 1966 film directed by Francois Truffaut, which was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. In a contemporary review in The Chicago Sunday Tribune, writer August Derleth called the book "a savage and shockingly prophetic view of one possible future way of life…compelling.” Fine in Very Good dust jacket. (Item #7478)