Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Delany, Samuel R.. Babel-17. Victor Gollancz, London, 1967.
Price: US$92.04 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Red hard cover with gilt titles on faded spine. There is also fading to the top edges of the boards. Contents are tight with foxing to page edges and prelims. No inscriptions.
Seller: Arty Bees Books, Wellington, New Zealand
Delany, Samuel R.. Babel-17. Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1967.
Price: US$251.21 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: First hardcover and first UK edition. Originally published in the US as a paperback original by Ace books in 1966. The boards are clean and unmarked. The top edges of the pages are browned with scattered spotting. A few light streaky marks to the fore edges and bottom edges of pages. The book had a plastic cover over the jacket which has protected it well but unfortunately the tape used to secure this has left ugly square brown marks on the front and rear free endpapers with this also affecting the half-title and title pages to a reducing degree along with the final page of the text. The endpapers also have some browning and spotting and the pages have a musty smell. Other than these faults the pages are unmarked however. The jacket has a small mark towards the left hand edge of the front panel and some slight marking around the edges but no other faults. First printing.
Seller: Raymond Tait, Beccles, SUFFO, United Kingdom
Delany, Samuel R. (Ray). Babel-17. Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1967.
Price: US$515.31 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First UK edition, first impression. Some edge wear and chipping to top and bottom of classic Gollancz yellow jacket and spine, corners rubbed with small loss, some browning and discolouring to extremities. Not price clipped (21/-), no inscriptions, internally clean tight and almost square, overall a vg+ copy for its age. 192pp. In the far future, after human civilization has spread through the galaxy, communications begin to arrive in an apparently alien language. They appear to threaten invasion, but in order to counter the threat, the messages must first be understood. In 1967 Samuel R. Delany (b.1942), was young, gay, African American, and possibly the hippest person on the planet. He was to write more perfect books than 'Babel-17', but it is perhaps the most delightful, clever and sensual of his works. During an interstellar war one side develops a language 'Babel-17', that can be used as a weapon. Learning it turns one into an unwilling traitor as it alters perception and thought (the Sapir-Worff hypothesis). The change is made more dangerous by the language's seductive enhancement of other abilities. This is discovered by the beautiful starship captain, linguist, poet, and telepath Rydra Wong. She is recruited by her government to discover how the enemy are infiltrating and sabotaging strategic sites. Initially Babel-17 is thought to be a code used by enemy agents. Rydra Wong realizes it is a language in and of itself, and furthermore that during her journey the she has a traitor on the ship. Rydra later finds that she herself is becoming the traitor as she learns more about Babel-17. She is rescued, however, by her dedicated crew, figures out the danger, and neutralizes its effects. The novel deals with several issues related to the peculiarities of language, how conditions of life shape the formation of words and meaning, and how words themselves can shape the actions of people. Joint winner of the Nebula Award for best novel 1966. A very scarce book in this first UK impression.
Seller: The Print Room, Lilley nr Luton, United Kingdom
Delany, Samuel R.. Babel-17. London: Victor Gollancz LTD, 1967, 1967.
Price: US$650.00 + shipping
Description: Hard Cover. Very Good. First Edition. Light wear only to jacket, including light dusting to yellow jacket and one small closed tear at the base of the spine, about 1/8 inch. Red cloth binding and interior in excellent condition. A fine collector's copy. Nebula Award Winner.
Seller: A Book By Its Cover, Louisville, KY, U.S.A.
Delany, Samuel R.. BABEL-17. Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1967.
Price: US$650.00 + shipping
Description: Octavo, boards. Co-winner of the 1966 Nebula award for best novel. "Clever, colorful, and highly original." Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 4-126. A very good copy, offsetting and spotting to end papers, soiling and spotting to top edge and fore edge in a very good dust jacket, shelf wear, mild loss to corners, heel of spine panel, small chip at head of spine panel, mild soiling to yellow background of jacket, some closed tears to rear panel. (8957)
Seller: John W. Knott, Jr, Bookseller, ABAA/ILAB, Laurel, MD, U.S.A.
Delany, Samuel R.. BABEL-17. Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1967.
Price: US$1000.00 + shipping
Description: Octavo, boards. First British (and first hardcover) edition. "An artificial language is being used as an unorthodox weapon of interstellar war, and poet Rydra Wong is the last best hope for the saving of Earth's civilization. A very colorful, inventive space opera." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. [25]. "Language games and ray guns fuse together in what may be the last possible variant on the old space-fiction themes." - J. G. Ballard, Guardian. Co-winner of the 1966 Nebula award for best novel. 1967 Hugo nominee. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-314. Survey of Science Fiction Literature I, pp. 113-19. Mild foxing to top edge of pages, else a fine copy in very good dust jacket with mild general dust soiling, touch of wear at upper spine end, mild tanning to the spine panel, and clipped price. A nice copy of a scarce book. (#149114)
Seller: Currey, L.W. Inc. ABAA/ILAB, Elizabethtown, NY, U.S.A.
Delany, Samuel R.. BABEL-17. Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1967.
Price: US$1250.00 + shipping
Description: Octavo, boards. Co-winner of the 1966 Nebula award for best novel. "Clever, colorful, and highly original." Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 4-126. A just about fine copy, some offsetting and spotting to end papers, top edge shows spotting, in a just about near fine dust jacket, yellow background shows soem mild soiling, (more so to rear panel). (8956) First British and first hardcover edition.
Seller: John W. Knott, Jr, Bookseller, ABAA/ILAB, Laurel, MD, U.S.A.
Delany, Samuel R.. BABEL-17. Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1967.
Price: US$1250.00 + shipping
Description: Octavo, boards. First British (and first hardcover) edition. "An artificial language is being used as an unorthodox weapon of interstellar war, and poet Rydra Wong is the last best hope for the saving of Earth's civilization. A very colorful, inventive space opera." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. [25]. "Language games and ray guns fuse together in what may be the last possible variant on the old space-fiction themes." - J. G. Ballard, Guardian. Co-winner of the 1966 Nebula award for best novel. 1967 Hugo nominee. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-314. Survey of Science Fiction Literature I, pp. 113-19. Faint ghost on the front free endpaper from laid in old bookstore invoice, else a fine copy in fine dust jacket. The publisher's advertising band is present. (#172755)
Seller: Currey, L.W. Inc. ABAA/ILAB, Elizabethtown, NY, U.S.A.