The First edition

NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR was published in 1949 by Secker & Warburg. States “First published 1949”. Binding Green calico, top edge purple. Jacket is red with white lettering and with wraparound band, Evening Standard “Book of the Month”. Front flap has price of 10s. Net. 25,575 printed. There is a less preferred green jacket. The first paperback edition was published by Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, in 1954. Since then it has been reprinted in the Penguin edition twenty-six times (and today is January 07, 2002).

Alfie (one of the owners)

Some book sellers will tell you the red dust jacket is the true First Edition. In truth there is no difference, the real difference is made by the amount of fading which the dust jacket is extremely prone to, the darker the better.