SHAW, George Bernard. An Unsocial Socialist. Swan Sonnenschein, Lowrey & Co, 1887.

Price: US$4800.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: SIGNED/Inscribed by Shaw, affirming this "the first edition in book form." Very rare First Edition Association Copy of Shaw's novel, An Unsocial Socialist. London: Swan Sonnenschein, Lowrey & Co., 1887. Octavo, original scarlet cloth. Housed in custom cloth slipcase by Brentano, famed NYC Fifth Ave bookstore with Brentano's original description laid in.Shaw began his literary career by ghosting music criticism and writing unsuccessful novels, of which this is the fifth written and the first published. "During his first nine years in London Shaw calculated that he earned less than 10 pounds by his pen" (Drabble, 892). An Unsocial Socialist was serialized in To-Day ("Monthly Magazine of Scientific Socialism"), with no payment to Shaw, between March and December, 1884. First state, with "Cashel Byron's Profession etc etc" printed on title page. This copy inscribed by Shaw to his first bibliographer, Maurice Holmes. Inscription in full reads: "4 Whitehall Court, London, SWI 23rd November 1928. Dear Maurice Holmes, This is the first edition in book form. It had appeared as a serial in a magazine called Today. Faithfully, G. Bernard Shaw." 256 pp. 8vo., bound in publisher's red cloth, stamped in gilt on spine and covers, dark green endpapers, preserved in a darker red cloth slipcase. This printing was promptly canceled, and supposedly only samples for booksellers and travelers had been sent out with this title-page. Overall a bright, fresh copy, hinges tender but holding. Housed in a custom clamshell box by NYC's Brentano's. Rare signed Shaw with a powerful association. Book #Pv2133. $4800. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history and science.

Seller: PEN ULTIMATE RARE BOOKS, Pine Plains, NY, U.S.A.