Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (First American Ed of Original Trilogy) - Signed - Douglas Adams - Bauman Rare Books

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (First American Ed of Original Trilogy)

Douglas ADAMS |

Item#: 104748 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (First American Ed of Original Trilogy)

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (First American Ed of Original Trilogy)

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (First American Ed of Original Trilogy)

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (First American Ed of Original Trilogy)

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (First American Ed of Original Trilogy)

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (First American Ed of Original Trilogy)

FIRST AMERICAN EDITIONS OF DOUGLAS ADAMS’ ORIGINAL HITCHHIKER’S TRILOGY, SIGNED IN ALL VOLUMES AND INSCRIBED IN ONE BY HIM

ADAMS, Douglas. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. WITH: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. WITH: Life, the Universe and Everything. New York: Harmony Books, (1980-82). Three volumes. 12mo, original half purple and blue cloth (books one and two) and stiff black paper boards (book three), original dust jackets.

First American editions of the first three books in Adams’ pan-galactically popular series (which eventually grew to become a “trilogy in five parts”), each signed on the title page by the author, the first book additionally inscribed by him on the fly title, “To Ward, Best wishes, Douglas Adams.”

Like the high-tech tome in its title, Adams' cosmic comedy is a wholly remarkable book. Inspired by a fleeting thought Adams had while hitchhiking across Europe as a teen, the story began life as a 1978 BBC radio serial. "The series was an overnight success and rescued Adams from the life of a struggling comedy sketch writer. It spawned a television show, five books and other spin-offs," including a major motion picture in 2005 (The Guardian). Hitchhiker's "came at just the right time… Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind had created a willingness among the public to regard science fiction as an acceptable form of entertainment," and "science fiction readers had long been in need of something that was actually funny" (Neil Gaiman, Don't Panic, 58). "Adams' work is now enshrined as part of the global cultural zeitgeist" (Simpson, 351). Hitchhiker's first published as a Pan paperback in London in 1979, followed by the Barker first English hardcover edition in 1980. First American editions of the next two books published in the same years as the first English editions.

Books fine; Hitchhiker's with one small abrasion to front board. Hitchhiker's and Life dust jackets fine; Restaurant jacket lightly rubbed, tape repairs to top edge verso. A bright and attractive set, desirable signed and inscribed by Adams.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
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Japanese Vellum Expensive handmade paper often used in deluxe editions.
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