Fahrenheit 451 (Asbestos signed limited edition)

New York: Ballantine Books, Inc, 1953. First edition. Near Fine. First hardback edition, signed limited issue, number 73 of 200 copies signed by the author and specially bound in Johns-Manville Quinterra, a textile made from chrysotile asbestos and therefore fire resistant. The hardback edition was published in the trade and signed limited issues shortly after the novel's publication in the less desirable paperback format. A Near Fine copy. Original white Johns-Manville Quinterra asbestos over boards, spine and front cover lettered in red. Some rubbing to the front board and the spine gently toned. Very clean throughout. A fresh copy of a book that is very difficult to find in attractive condition. Housed in a custom clamshell case.

Often interpreted as a comment on the political climate of McCarthyism, Ray Bradbury's most famous work paints a dystopian future where books are banned - and burned. Bradbury workshopped the novel for years, developing the world of Fahrenheit 451 in earlier incarnations including "Long After Midnight," the earliest version of the story, and "The Fireman," the 25,000-word prototype novella that he eventually expanded into the full novel. In a contemporary review in The Chicago Sunday Tribune, writer August Derleth called the book "a savage and shockingly prophetic view of one possible future way of life...compelling."

Fahrenheit 451 appears on the New York Public Library's list of books of the century and won the 1954 American Academy of Letters Award in Arts and Literature. The book was later adapted into a 1966 film directed by François Truffaut, which was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Near Fine.