[Rarebooks] FS: URSULA LE GUIN. Early Editions of the Earthsea Trilogy

[Michael John Thompson]

LE GUIN, Ursula K.

THE EARTHSEA SERIES comprising A WIZARD OF 
EARTHSEA, THE TOMBS OF ATUAN and THE FARTHEST SHORE.

Berkeley & New York: Parnassus Press / Atheneum 1968-1973.

First Editions, Early Printings.

Octavo, original cloth, dust jackets. Three 
volumes. A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA: First edition, 
either the second or third printing. Original 
blue-green cloth, titles on spine panel & 
illustration on front panel printed in black. 204 
pp; decorative maps, chapter headings, title 
page, binding and dust jacket artwork, all by 
Ruth Robbins. Of several noted printings and 
bindings, this one bears the following points: no 
vertical smudge on title page, titles and 
illustration on covers printed without 
embossment. Inner hinges reinforced with a 
visible strip of white linen tape (denoting the 
issue sent to libraries); "11 up" on top front 
dust wrapper flap. One of 16,500 copies which 
made up the second and third printings (Curry 
issue B), although no mention is made of library 
bindings for these printings. A fine copy in a 
fine dust jacket, as new. THE TOMBS OF ATUAN: 
First edition, Third Printing. Original blue 
cloth titled and stamped in silver, red 
endpapers. 163 pp. Decorative maps, chapter 
headings and dust jacket artwork by Gail Garraty. 
A fine copy in a fine dust jacket, price corner 
clipped, Newberry Honour Book Seal on front 
panel, as issued. THE FARTHEST SHORE: First 
edition, second printing. Original black cloth 
titled and decorated in purple gilt, purple 
endpapers. 223 pp. Decorative maps, chapter 
headings and dust jacket artwork by Gail Garraty. 
A fine copy in a near fine dust jacket, price 
corner clipped, slight rubbing to extremities, a 
few tiny closed tears at edges. First and early 
printings of this set did not survive well, most 
copies having been distributed to libraries; it 
is extremely uncommon to find a clean early set 
that does not bear ex-library stigmata. A very 
sharp clean set, with no previous ownership 
markings, foxing, stains or other defects.


¶ Still the finest of fantasies. "With bookshop 
racks tottering under tales of polystyrene 
princesses and battery-powered swordsmen, the 
tough, clear vision of a Le Guin is the sort of 
magic the genre needs" - Cawthorn & Moorcock , 
FANTASY : The 100 Best Books (1988).

$550.00 Cdn

http://www.thompsonrarebooks.com/shop/thompson/309280.html



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