"DON'T PANIC": FIRST AMERICAN EDITION OF DOUGLAS ADAMS' ORIGINAL HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE

ADAMS, Douglas. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. New York: Harmony Books, (1980). 12mo, original half purple cloth, original dust jacket. $1400.

First American edition of the first book in Adams' pan-galactically popular series (which eventually grew to become a "trilogy in six parts").

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 (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. Front free endpaper with inked owner's name.

Book in fine condition, in a very nearly fine dust jacket with traces of wear to front upper edge.