Item #101 We the Living. Ayn Rand.
We the Living
We the Living
First Random House edition of Ayn Rand’s debut novel about life in post-revolutionary Russia

We the Living

New York: Random House, 1959. First Random House edition. Octavo. Original blue cloth decorated in black with gilt lettering and dust jacket (not price-clipped). Creasing to board edges with some rubbing to cloth; minor edgewear and scuffing to dust jacket. Near-fine. Item #101

Bright first Random House edition of Ayn Rand’s (1905–1982) debut novel about life in post-revolutionary Russia. First published by Random House in 1959 following the commercial success of Rand’s 1957 best-seller Atlas Shrugged, We the Living tells the story of Kira Argounova, a fierce and independent spirit who struggles against the collectivism of Soviet Russia during the early 1920s. The novel was first completed in 1934 but, despite H. L. Mencken’s support, failed to attract a publisher until 1935 when Macmillan agreed to publish the work. Macmillan’s agreement to publish Rand’s novel purportedly sparked debate within the publisher’s editorial ranks, with certain communist-sympathetic editors objecting to its publication. We the Living was ultimately published by Macmillan in 1936 without much commercial success. However, after the success of Atlas Shrugged, first published by Random House in 1957, Random House approached Rand about a revised edition, which Rand prepared by making certain modifications to the text—the philosophical importance of which remains subject to debate among students of Rand’s work. This Random House edition proved much more successful than the initial Macmillan edition, and it is the text of this revised edition that has largely survived in print to this day. We the Living has been adapted for the stage and the screen, and is now in print throughout the world. As with her succeeding novels, We the Living combines philosophy and the storytelling art in order to explore a variety of enduring and contemporary themes, including freedom, individualism, and the tyranny of collectivism—particularly in post-revolutionary Russia. An exceptional and near-fine first edition of the 1959 Random House publication of Rand’s We the Living.

Price: $750.00

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