{"product_id":"invisible-man-ralph-ellison-2nd-impression","title":"Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison — 2nd Impression","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublication:\u003c\/b\u003e London, Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1953\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormatting:\u003c\/b\u003e 8vo, pp. 439.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Report:\u003c\/b\u003e Very Good. The publisher's original red cloth boards remain impressively bright and clean, retaining sharp corners and exhibiting only the faintest signs of shelf-wear to the extremities. The binding is notably tight, square, and structurally sound. Internally, the text block is clean, displaying the light, uniform age-toning typical of Gollancz stock from this period, alongside a neat contemporary owner's inscription in ink dated February 1953 on the front free endpaper. The original printed dust jacket has been exceptionally well-preserved; despite the notorious fragility of the publisher's yellow paper stock, it presents with only mild, even sunning to the spine and minor rubbing and edge-wear at the spine ends and corners, remaining completely free from significant chipping or tears. The jacket is now securely housed in a protective Mylar sleeve.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCatalogue Note:\u003c\/b\u003e This is the first United Kingdom edition, second impression, published in January 1953 by Victor Gollancz, remarkably issued within the very same month as the true first UK printing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEllison's seminal and highly acclaimed work, which won the US National Book Award for Fiction in 1953, was introduced to the British public in this format. This Gollancz edition is particularly notable for its striking, purely typographical yellow dust jacket, a standard design for the publisher that contrasts sharply with the pictorial E. McKnight Kauffer jacket of the US first edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe contemporary ownership inscription on the front free endpaper, dated February 1953, underscores the book's early acquisition, coinciding exactly with its initial UK release window. Early impressions of this classic African American novel that retain such a well-preserved original dust jacket are increasingly scarce on the open market.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRalph Ellison's \u003ci\u003eInvisible Man\u003c\/i\u003e is a defining masterpiece of twentieth-century literature and a profoundly influential exploration of race, identity, and individuality in America. The narrative follows an unnamed African American protagonist as he navigates the complex and often surreal socio-political landscapes of the Jim Crow South and mid-century Harlem. Experiencing systemic marginalisation, betrayals, and the ideological blind spots of various political factions, the narrator ultimately embraces his \"invisibility,\" not as a physical condition, but as a metaphor for the refusal of society to see him beyond their own projections and prejudices.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Broadhursts Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54618335838547,"sku":"5115","price":400.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/1469\/6787\/files\/20260811_120848.jpg?v=1787038603","url":"https:\/\/broadhurstsbooks.com\/products\/invisible-man-ralph-ellison-2nd-impression","provider":"Broadhursts Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}