8vo. Original gilt-lettered black cloth; dust jacket priced at "16s" (minor scuff to front panel, a touch of light wear near top of spine); morocco-backed folding case. Provenance: Ronald and Joan McNicoll (book label).

FIRST EDITION, IN THE FIRST ISSUE BLACK CLOTH BINDING. A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian novel that issued a "futuristic warning against both mindless violence and the mechanical reconditioning that is often proposed as society's solution to its ills" (100 Banned Books, pp.368-371). The novel follows the teenage narrator Alex and his gang through acts of extreme brutality, rendered in the invented slang “Nadsat,” which many critics and authorities felt glamorized violence. Public concern intensified after the release of A Clockwork Orange, whose disturbing imagery led to accusations that the story encouraged copycat crimes. As a result, the book was frequently challenged and removed from schools and libraries, and in Britain, the controversy surrounding the film and novel became so intense that Kubrick himself withdrew the film from circulation there for many years. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 36. A VERY BRIGHT COPY.