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TROPIC OF CANCER

TROPIC OF CANCER

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TROPIC OF CANCER

by Miller, Henry

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About This Item

New York: Medvsa/Medusa, 1940. First Paperback Edition, Variant Binding. Softcover. Octavo, 322 pages. In Very Good minus condition. Bound in purple paper wraps with plain spine faded to beige. Wrinkling to spine, uneven sunning to covers. Text block shows moderate age toning to edges and light age toning to pages generally, increasing to moderate age toning at top edge. Shelved in Case 2. "Up to the present, my idea of collaborating with myself has been to get off the gold standard of literature. My idea briefly has been to present a resurrection of the emotions, to depict the conduct of a human being in the stratosphere of ideas, that is, in the grip of delirium." (Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer). Miller's entire body of work may well be characterized by the concept of "self-collaboration" -- breaking out of long-held literary molds to become reacquainted with his own self and experience. He highlighted this autobiographical or confessional shift by the inclusion of a quote from Emerson prefacing the 1961 Grove Press edition of Tropic of Cancer: "These novels will give way, by and by, to diaries or autobiographies-captivating books, if only a man knew how to choose among what he calls his experiences that which is really his experience, and how to record truth truly." Known largely for the charges of obscenity leveled against it, and its nearly three-decade censorship in the United States, Tropic of Cancer is now recognized as something much more: an uncompromising attempt at self-revelation, and the pursuit of a prose style up to the task.



This is the first American edition, privately printed in this pirated version of 1000 copies by Jacob Brussel under the fictitious imprint of 'New York / Medusa.' An overrun of 200 to 500 unbound sheets were printed for later distribution, accounting for the nine variants which followed this first issue. The First Paperback Edition, also the Seventh Medusa Variant. Printed in Mexico, it precedes the authorized (Grove Press, 1961) American edition by more than two decades. References: Shifreen & Jackson A9Q. 1313761. Shelved Dupont Bookstore.

Synopsis

Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer is one of the most notoriously and frequently censored books in the history of American literature. In a combination of autobiography and fiction, the novel centers of Miller’s own life as a struggling writer in Paris in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Tropic of Cancer is written in the first person and lacks linear organization, two of Miller’s most favored techniques. Some chapters are narratives about Miller’s friends and workplaces, and others are stream-of-consciousness-style reflections, but all of the chapters touch on the sexual exploits and general low-life ruthlessness in which the author had engaged at the time. Tropic of Cancer was first published by Obelisk Press, a French publisher of soft pornography, in Paris in 1934. Shortly thereafter, the novel was banned in the US and later tried for charges of obscenity, a trial that challenged American pornography laws at the time. In 1961, the ban of Tropic of Cancer was lifted, and later that year, Grove Press published the first US edition of the novel, but only after the firm’s Barney Rosset offered Miller a sizeable advance and promised to defend the author in any future legal battles regarding the publication. Grove Press’s edition of Tropic of Cancer sold over 1 million copies by the end of 1961… and was the subject of about 60 lawsuits as well, one of which involved the American Civil Liberties Union. All of this hullabaloo makes one wonder what the reactions might have been if Miller had decided to go with the novel’s working title, Crazy Cock — which was, ironically, far more modest than the published version. Regardless, the novel’s 1970 film adaptation, directed by Joseph Strick, received an X rating (meaning no one 17 and under admitted). Today, Tropic of Cancer finds itself ranked 50th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century and 59th on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels.

Read More: Identifying first editions of TROPIC OF CANCER

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Details

Bookseller
Second Story Books, ABAA US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
1313761
Title
TROPIC OF CANCER
Author
Miller, Henry
Format/Binding
Softcover
Book Condition
Used
Quantity Available
1
Edition
First Paperback Edition, Variant Binding
Publisher
Medvsa/Medusa
Place of Publication
New York
Date Published
1940
Keywords
Writing the Self, American Literature

Terms of Sale

Second Story Books, ABAA

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About the Seller

Second Story Books, ABAA

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2010
Rockville, Maryland

About Second Story Books, ABAA

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Glossary

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Edges
The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
Text Block
Most simply the inside pages of a book. More precisely, the block of paper formed by the cut and stacked pages of a book....
Unbound
A book or pamphlet which does not have a covering binding, sometimes by original design, sometimes used to describe a book in...
Octavo
Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
Spine
The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....

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