My 1984 stocktake

I'm slightly envious of the guy who collected 1,984 copies of Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and turned them into an art exhibit. It just feels like a really cool idea. As someone prone to collecting, and who had a meaningful number as a collecting target in the past, it's one of those ideas I wish I'd had.

But perhaps it's a good thing I didn't have the idea! I don't have space for 1,984 copies of the same book. But I do have a few different copies. 

This is my favourite cover. I didn't need to buy this when Penguin released it a few years ago, but come on... it's perfect.

You can see how the 'censorship' black-out strip is over an embossed title, so it can be read more clearly if the book is tilted slightly.

The write-up on the back is quite minimalist. Penguin were packaging George Orwell's work as "Great Orwell" at the time. 

Keeping to the minimalist theme, there is no introduction. There is a page of quotes by authors and reviewers though.

Here's an older copy that I acquired from my Grandma's house. I kept a few of her books. This cover feels very cluttered and chaotic, in keeping with the way the Party both demands order but pursues disruption.

The writing on the left continues round onto the spine and then the back of the book.

The back cover features a quote from Andrew Motion, who might have been poet laureate when this copy was published. (It doesn't give an issue date but the existence of an advert for Penguin Books's website implies it was published after 1999 when Motion took up the role.) There is a brief author bio in the front but no intro.

My other Penguin edition is my 'reading copy' and has an issue date of 2008. It also has a 4-page introduction by Peter Davison (the literary professor, not the actor who played Dr Who!)

The cover design by Shepard Fairey is quite striking and they designed covers for Animal Farm as well (as seen on the back).

The two endorsements on the back are from comic Jo Brand and author Margaret Atwood. They feel like an unlikely pairing.

I blogged two years ago that several companies have started printing Nineteen Eighty-Four because the copyright on the book has expired (as has the copyright on all of Orwell's writings) so it's been a bit of a publishing free for all. 

But, despite seeing lots of attractive copies I have resisted the temptation to fill out a shelf with them. However, I did buy this version in TK Maxx recently. It is published by Wordsworth Classics and I bought it because it had an interesting-looking long introduction and several other essays by Orwell included. 

Plus the cover designed by Becky Surridge was very cool. It has real Fritz Lang 'Metropolis' vibes. Given the opening line of the book, the man in the clock in the 8 is striking. It could be Winston. It could be whoever is spying on Winston.

The introduction by Sally Minogue, author and academic, is 30 pages long. And adding even more value to this edition is a selection of essays and other bits, like book reviews.

There are no endorsements on the back. The write-up lists all the words and terms coined by Orwell in this book - something I blogged about way back when in the early years of this blog.

The list of additional content looks intriguing. I'm interested in what he thought of Wells and Huxley, both of whom were authors of speculative fiction too. (I've categorised 'speculative fiction' previously.)

So, those are my copies of Nineteen Eighty-Four. I have two books about the book as well. I reviewed DJ Taylor's book On 1984 back in 2023. I also have a copy of The Ministry of Truth by Dorian Lynskey, which will hopefully make it off the reading pile and onto the blog at some point!

For now, it's sitting in my 1984 collection.