D.H. Lawrence | Lady Chatterley's Lover, 1928, first edition, number 112 of 1000 copies signed by the author

D.H. Lawrence

Lady Chatterley's Lover. Florence: privately printed by the Tipografia Giuntina, 1928

FIRST EDITION, NUMBER 112 OF 1000 COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, 8vo, original mulberry-coloured paper boards, black Phoenix design on upper cover, white paper label on spine, leaves uncut, bespoke red morocco and marbled clamshell box, professionally restored at extremities

Remarkably, given its subsequent central importance in the history of publishing and censorship, Lady Chatterley's Lover was written in the astonishing time of just five weeks, in "one of Lawrence's last great bursts of creative energy" (John Worthen, ODNB). "With the help of the Florentine bookseller Pino Orioli, the handsome volume was printed in and distributed from Florence, and made Lawrence more money than he had ever imagined" (op. cit.).

LITERATURE:

Connolly 57; Roberts A42a