Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Naipaul, V.S.. A HOUSE FOR MR BISWAS.. 1961 First edition, McGraw-Hill, New York., 1961.
Price: US$159.00 + shipping
Description: 531pp. Novel set in Trinidad. Very good indeed in excellent, but price-clipped, dustwrapper. Very small and neat ownership label at the bottom of the front endpaper. Very light spotting to fore-edges. An outstanding copy.
Seller: Verandah Books, Sherborne, United Kingdom
NAIPAUL, V.S.. A House for Mr Biswas. Andre Deutsch, London, 1961.
Price: US$300.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 8vo. First UK edition (Andre Deutsch) in the (American) McGraw Hill DJ, with identical design (Stephen Russ). Jacket clipped at the bottom lower flap and with tape repair to verso at top of front panel, else a bright example.
Seller: Sanctuary Books, A.B.A.A., New York, NY, U.S.A.
V.S. Naipaul. A House for Mr. Biswas. McGraw Hill, New York, 1961.
Price: US$350.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First USA Edition/First Printing. Hardcover. Fine book in a very good priced dust jacket. Book is clean with a touch of rubbing to the spine ends. The jacket has wear and tears to the top edges, including a 1" tear and piece missing from the top of the front panel. Bottom flap clipped, but retains the price on the top of the front flap.
Seller: MDS BOOKS, Mississauga, ON, Canada
V.S. Naipaul. A House for Mr Biswas. Andre Deutsch, McGraw Hill, 1961.
Price: US$400.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: For 2 First editions. First United Kingdom and first United States editions of this classic. The UK is in very good condition indeed, with like jacket. The US is ex-library in good condition - dust jacket is taped at extremities, and with the usual library infelicities.
Seller: Montreal Books, Westmount, QC, Canada
V.S. Naipaul. A House for Mr Biswas. Andre Deutsch, McGraw Hill, 1961.
Price: US$400.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: For 2 First editions. First United Kingdom and first United States editions of this classic. The UK is in very good condition indeed, with like jacket. The US is ex-library in good condition - dust jacket is taped at extremities, and with the usual library infelicities.
Seller: RPBooks, Champlain, NY, U.S.A.
V.S. Naipaul. A House for Mr Biswas. McGraw-Hill, 1961.
Price: US$575.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Printing,
Seller: Brooklyn Rare Books, Brooklyn, NY, U.S.A.
Naipaul, V.S.. A HOUSE FOR MR. BISWAS. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1961.
Price: US$640.00 + shipping
Description: Octavo, 531 pages. In Very Good condition, with Very Good dust jacket. Purple jacket spine with black lettering. Dust jacket shows light shelf wear overall and light age toning. Green cloth boards show light edge wear and toning to book. Textblock is clean. Rare in such condition. Consignment. Shelved in Case 2. 1252855. Shelved Dupont Bookstore.
Seller: Second Story Books, ABAA, Rockville, MD, U.S.A.
Naipaul, V. S.. A House for Mr. Biswas (Reviewer's copy). McGraw-Hill, New York, 1961.
Price: US$1250.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Near Fine book in a bright, unfaded VG+ jacket. Chipping and creasing to jacket's spine ends; dampstaining to verso of jacket not visible on recto. Spine ends of book creased and bumped. Internally clean and unmarked. A reviewer's copy, accompanied by the McGraw-Hill reviewer card requesting two copies of a two-hundred word review; also included is one typed copy of the review composed by recipient David Fidler. "Among the poor a common denominator is the lack of privacy. To Mr. Biswas, a sensitive man, the wonder of living in one' own house could create almost unbearable pleasure. For five years, until his death at 46, Mr. Biswas lived his dream. If he was cheated in buying a house he could not afford, it was infinitely superior to the room or two his family had occupied under sufferance of relatives.This colorful and moving novel of Hindu life in the West Indies deals with the chronically impoverished Mr. Biswas, a high-caste scholar, his family, and the Tulsis, his in-laws.Naipaul has written with skill and understanding of the universal longings and dreams of the poor, wherever they may be" (Fidler). Near Fine in Very Good + dust jacket.
Seller: Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.
Naipaul, V. S.. A House for Mr Biswas. McGraw-Hill, 1961.
Price: US$1272.02 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First American edition, first impression (McGraw-Hill, 1961). Jacket design by Stephen Russ. Original dark green cloth with white lettering to spine. Just a hint of knocking and rubbing to extremities, else fine and internally pristine without names or inscriptions. The original dust jacket is clipped to bottom corner of front flap, but still bears the original '$5.95' price; a few small nicks to spine head with a touch of rubbing here and there. A lovely and bright near fine copy of the author's most iconic work.
Seller: Fine Book Cellar Ltd. ABA ILAB PBFA, Chelmsford, United Kingdom
Naipaul, V.S. A House For Mr. Biswas.. McGraw Hill, New York, 1961.
Price: US$2750.00 + shipping
Description: First American edition of the author's magnum opus. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by V.S. Naipaul on the title page. Very near fine in a near fine dust jacket with just a touch of wear to the extremities.ÂJacket design by Stephen Russ. Housed in a custom slipcase. "For sheer abundance of talent there can hardly be a writer alive who surpasses V.S. Naipaul. Whatever we may want in a novelist is to be found in his books: an almost Conradian gift for tensing a story, a serious involvement with human issues, a supple English prose, a hard-edged wit, a personal vision of things.[He is] the world's writer, a master of language and perception" (The New York Times Book Review). Listed on both Modern Library and Time's 100 great novels of the twentieth century.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.