Nineteen Eighty-Four Part III

In my last Orwell post I discussed the US paperback editions of Nineteen Eighty-Four published by New American Library (NAL) from 1950 to current. The UK equivalent is Penguin. Oddly Penguin took five years to first publish the title - in 1954.

The publishing history for the NAL editions is relatively easy to sort out. Not so  Penguin. From 1954 to 1989 Penguin published at least 60 mass market paperback printings. This publishing history is somewhat confusing but starting in 1989 the history is quite muddled when Penguin published a new edition with text from the Complete Works of George Orwell (Secker and Warburg, 1987) including an Introduction and Note on the Text. Since then Penguin has put out many variations of this combination.

Here is a random set of six versions of the 1989 edition, all UK editions. The first four are printings of the same setting of type so technically printings of one edition. The small sample below has at least 68 printings. The last two are printings of a different type setting and therefore a different edition. 

1) trade paperback with Introduction and Note on Text. At least four printings, no date for printing. One of "Twentieth Century Classics".

2) mass market with no Introduction or Note on Text. At least 19 printings, no date.

3) mass market with Note on Text but no Introduction. At least 44 printings of a "2008 edition", no date.

4) trade paperback with no Introduction or Note on Text. First printing, no date. One of "Film Classics" free to buyers of The Times in 2009.

5) mass market with no Introduction or Note on Text. First printing of a "2013 edition". One of "Great Orwell" series.

6) trade paperback with a different Introduction and same Note on Text. Includes notes, further reading and three appendices. First printing of an annotated "2013 edition". One of "Modern Classics".

Nineteen Eighty-Four Penguin Version 1

Nineteen Eighty-Four Penguin Version 2

Nineteen Eighty-Four Penguin Version 3

Nineteen Eighty-Four Penguin Version 4

Nineteen Eighty-Four Version 5

Nineteen Eighty-Four Version 6

Nineteen Eighty-Four Part II

A recent article about the surviving partial manuscript of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four reminded me that last month was the 75th anniversary of the publication of the US paperback edition by New York publisher New American Library (NAL) in their Signet imprint. NAL is now a division of Penguin US.

In 2025 this edition remains in print and is past 170 printings. In a 1983 promotion for the book, NAL said that 10,000,000 copies had sold.

Over the years there have been seven cover designs. The first and best known lasted from the first (July 1950) to the sixteenth (November 1958) printing in four variants. The artist is Alan Harmon. Here is how Louis Menand describes the cover:

"The cover of the 1950 Signet reprint … features a surprisingly toned Winston Smith, in a sleeveless top that shows off his triceps nicely, sneaking a glance at a slinky Julia, in lipstick and mascara, who wears an Anti-Sex League button pinned to a blouse with a neckline that plunges to her tightly sashed midriff. The artist has rendered O’Brien, Winston’s nemesis, as a sort of sadistic swimming instructor—a menacing dude clad in a black skullcap and halter-top outfit cut daringly across the pecs, and clutching what it is hard not to assume is a whip."

Here are the details on this cover:

•   first variant - number 798: printings one (July 1950) to ten (December 1953). Printings nine and ten have 25 cent price.
•   second variant - number S798: printings 11 (August 1954) to 13 (May 1955) price increase to 35 cents; described as a "Signet Giant". The red at the top is now gold and the title has a different font.
•   third variant - number S798: printing 14 (May 1956) tie in to the 1956 movie. All black background. No longer a Signet Giant. Price still 35 cents.
•   fourth variant - number D1640: printings 15 and 16 (August 1958 and November 1958) price increase to 50 cents. Black has been replaced by pink.

The third printing (November 1950) is the first and only Canadian edition. 

Signet 798 1st printing July 1950

Signet 798 back

Signet S798 11th printing August 1954

Signet S798 14th printing May 1956

Signet D1640 16th printing November 1958

Nineteen Eighty-Four Part I

Last Friday was the 65th anniversary of the broadcast of the first film version of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. Eddie Albert is Winston and Canada's Lorne Greene (1915-1987) is O'Brien. 

The first Canadian edition of Nineteen Eight-Four was published in 1949 by S. J. Reginald Saunders of Toronto. I don't know when or if a Canadian paperback edition was published. Here are the first US and UK paperbacks plus a glimpse of a younger Lorne Greene at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.

Penguin 972 - 1954

Penguin 972 back

Signet 798 - July 1950

Signet 798 back