V., THOMAS PYNCHON’S FIRST NOVEL

PYNCHON, Thomas. V. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, (1963). Octavo, original lavender cloth, mustard endpapers, original dust jacket. $4500.

First edition, advance review copy, of Pynchon’s first novel, with publisher's review slip laid in, in first-issue jacket.

V.'s far-reaching scope and complexity established Pynchon as one of the most imaginative voices of the postwar era. "Inconclusive, gripping, confusing in outline but convincing in detail, V. is a blackly comic odyssey into the occult corners and bizarre anxieties of 20th-century Europe and America" (Parker, 403). First-issue dust jacket, without reviews on rear panel. Mead A1a. This advance review copy contains a laid-in review slip from J.B. Lippincott, the publisher, on which the publication date has been hand-altered from March 20, 1963 to March, 18, 1963.

Book near-fine, with slightest toning and only a couple tiny spots of foxing to top edges. Dust jacket near-fine, with only minor rubbing. A lovely copy.