The Rainbow.
London: Methuen, 1915.
Price: $3,250.00
About the item
First edition. [viii], 463, [1], [4, ads] pp. 8vo. Publisher's blue cloth, spine stamped in gilt. Touch of wear to tips, else a fine copy in a custom blue morocco slipcase and chemise. Bookplate on front pastedown, Gotham Book Mart ticket on rear pastedown. Roberts A7.
Item #310104
A spectacular copy of the first edition. "Methuen published The Rainbow in September 1915, but it got savage reviews, most of which attacked what was understood as the book's overt sexuality, and it was withdrawn from sale. At Bow Street magistrates' court on 13 November it was banned as obscene (Lawrence having no opportunity to defend it). Its religious language, emotional and sexual explorations of experience, and sheer length had given its readers problems, but it was Ursula's lesbian encounter with a schoolteacher in the chapter ‘Shame’ which had finally condemned it in the eyes of the law and of a country now focused on conflict" (ODNB).
