The Luminaries

Large 8vo., pale cream boards lettered in gilt to spine; in the unclipped pictorial dustwrapper (£18.99 to front flap); black and white endpapers showing a drawing of the town of Hokitika; mustard yellow ribbon marker; pp. [xv], 4-832, [iv]; a couple of dark marks to boards, and one small scratch to the upper panel of the dustwrapper; else fine. 

First edition, with full number line 1-10, this copy boldly signed by the author to the title page. 

Undeniably the author’s magnum opus, weighing in at well over 800 pages, and with a large cast of characters each connected with the signs of the zodiac, Catton spent well over two years researching gold-rush history, fortune telling and star signs before sitting down to write. With the novel itself divided into twelve sections, and twelve main characters tracked over the course of the novel, Catton described the work as "a wheel, a huge cartwheel, creaky at the beginning and spinning faster and faster as it goes." Met with great critical acclaim, she went on to win the Booker Prize in the year of publication. 

A wonderful copy. 

SKU: 1800161