One of 300 numbered copies, signed by the artist. Fine in fine slipcase.

A special edition of George Orwell's 1945 allegory, with illustrations by Jonathan Hammer (b. 1960), who worked for a time as a bookbinder at the Arion Press. As the Stanford University historian Peter Stansky writes in his introduction, "Orwell is a writer of extraordinary power and this may be his greatest masterpiece, a perfect text. As a fable about human nature it transcends the political era in which it was written. It is in so many ways a despairing book, but it has such compassion and empathy. In the end, there is still a glimmer that possibly some day we might create a better and more equal society." Composed in Monotype Times New Roman and letterpress printed on ivory Zerkall mouldmade paper. The 24 relief prints are letterpress printed from polymer plates made from films scratched by the artist with an etching needle for the black images, and with photo-polymer plates made from overlay drawings in pencil for the red tints.