Aldous Huxley

A first edition, first printing of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley; Sir John Gielgud’s copy, gifted him by Sir Ralph Richardson .

• Aldous Huxley (English, 1894-1963).
• London: Chatto and Windus, 1932.
• With the contemporary ownership inscription of John Gielgud to front free endpaper, “John Gielgud : 7, Upper St. Martin’s Lane, W.C.2”, with a further inscription in Gielgud’s hand to the lower left of the same page, “from [Aldous, inked out] Ralph Richardson / Romeo and Juliet : Oxford 1932 / February 9th”, John Gielgud’s bookplate to front pastedown.
• Original blue cloth, gilt-lettered spine, dust-wrapper not price-clipped, retaining the original 7s. 6d. price.

An exceptional theatrical association copy of Huxley’s dystopian masterpiece, owned by John Gielgud and apparently presented to him in connection with his 1932 Oxford production of Romeo and Juliet.

Gielgud’s production for the Oxford University Dramatic Society was his directorial debut and featured Gielgud himself as Romeo, with the young Peggy Ashcroft as Juliet and Edith Evans as the Nurse. The further inscription, in Gielgud’s hand, records the book as from Ralph Richardson, who would shortly afterwards play Mercutio in the BBC National Program broadcast of Romeo and Juliet produced by Gielgud’s brother Val. Richardson and Gielgud remained lifelong friends and, together with Laurence Olivier, formed the celebrated triumvirate of British stage actors who dominated much of twentieth-century theater.

The association is especially pleasing given the Shakespearean architecture of Brave New World. The title itself is taken from Miranda’s line in The Tempest, while ‘Romeo and Julie’ recurs throughout the novel, most notably in the Savage’s passionate identification with Romeo and his reading of the play in relation to Lenina. A copy linking Huxley’s great novel of the future with two of the central figures of the British stage, at the very moment of Gielgud’s emergence as a director.

A remarkable association copy of one of the defining novels of the twentieth century, in its completely original, unrestored dust-wrapper.