^Lot 536 D. H. Lawrence

Signed book: Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Limited edition of 1000 copies (this being no. 466). Florence: Privately published, 1928. Handsomely rebound leather hardcover, 6.5 x 9, 365 pages. Signed on the limitations page, “D. H. Lawrence.” In very good condition, with aforementioned rebinding, some light toning and staining to signed page and opening pages, pencil notations to first free end page, scattered toning to inside pages, and some mild rippling to opening pages. A rare autograph, and a particularly desirable title.

Bypassing the censors, Lawrence had his book privately printed in Italy by the Tipografia Giuntina after British and American publishers, questioning the novel's subject matter and language, refused to handle it without comprehensive revisions—changes Lawrence rejected. Despite being banned in Britain, and with several illicit consignments seized in police raids, the edition sold out within six months and has continued to fascinate the book-buying public.