"ARGUABLY THE MOST INFLUENTIAL SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL OF THE 1980S": INSCRIBED BY WILLIAM GIBSON

GIBSON, William. Neuromancer. London: Victor Gollancz, 1984. Octavo, original blue paper boards, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom embossed full yellow leather and teal cloth clamshell box. $12,000.

First English and first hardcover edition of William Gibson's landmark first novel, the most influential exemplar of cyberpunk fiction, inscribed on the title page by him: "Wm. Gibson to Robert Ashworth, London/L.A. '88."

While Gibson did not invent cyberpunk, his Neuromancer—winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Philip K. Dick awards—remains one of its most definitive expressions. "In a highly urbanized future dominated by cybernetics and bioengineering, anti-hero Case is rescued from wretchedness and given back the ability to send his persona into the cyberspace of the world's computer networks… An adventure story much enlivened by elaborate technical jargon and sleazy, streetwise characters… [Neuromancer is] arguably the most influential science fiction novel of the 1980s" (Anatomy of Wonder II-439). "Neuromancer proved, not for the first or last time, that science fiction is… a crucial tool by which an age shaped by and obsessed with technology can understand itself" (Grossman, All-Time 100 Novels). First published by Ace in paperback in July 1984; this first English edition, the first hardcover edition, followed in October. No American hardcover edition would appear until Phantasia Press' signed limited edition of 375 copies in 1986. Science Fiction 100 Best 100.

Book and dust jacket clean and bright; very slight toning to board edges, a few minor scratches to jacket. A near-fine signed copy in an eye-catching custom box.