"WHO IS JOHN GALT?": FIRST EDITION OF ATLAS SHRUGGED, 1957

RAND, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged. New York: Random House, 1957. Thick octavo, modern full green morocco gilt, raised bands, marbled endpapers. $2800.

First edition of one of the most popular and influential novels of the last 50 years, handsomely bound in full morocco.

"From 1943 until its publication in 1957, [Rand] worked on the book that many say is her masterpiece, Atlas Shrugged. This novel describes how a genius named John Galt grows weary of supporting a society of ungrateful parasites and one day simply shrugs and walks away. He becomes an inspiration to like-minded men and women, all of whom eventually follow his example, until society, in its agony, calls them back to responsibility and respect. Again [as with Rand's novel The Fountainhead in 1943] reviews were unsympathetic, and again people bought the book" (ANB). By 1984 more than five million copies of Atlas Shrugged had been sold, and in a 1991 Library of Congress survey Americans named it second only to the Bible as the book that had most influenced their lives. "First printing" stated on copyright page. Perinn A4a.

Small stain to text block fore-edge. Beautifully bound.