The Satanic Verses.

RUSHDIE, Salman.

$1,500.00

Item Number: 146220

London: Viking Press, 1988.

First British edition, early printing of Rushdie’s classic novel. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author “to Simon and Sheila, best wishes, Salman Rushdie 22nd Nov ’89.” A fascinating Rushdie association item. After the Fatwah against Rushdie for the publication of The Satanic Verses was issued, the writer was forced into hiding in 1990. Within two weeks Rushdie was forced into hiding with the London Metropolitan Police Special Branch protection for a decade. In the first few months of the Protection Detail, due to the high grade and imminent nature of the Intelligence threats received against him, it had been required to relocate the author and his wife once every 3-4 days. A number of safe houses, some friends, but other officially rented premises were utilized for the purpose. The person to whom this book signature is inscribed was the Metropolitan Police Special Branch Detective responsible for the Subject’s Close Protection detail on occasions during the period August to November 1989. The book, signed and inscribed to Simon and his wife Sheila, was presented to Simon in a London safe house that we were occupying on Wednesday, November 22, 1989. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.

One of the most controversial and acclaimed novels ever written, The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie’s best-known and most galvanizing book. Set in a modern world filled with both mayhem and miracles, the story begins with a bang: the terrorist bombing of a London-bound jet in midflight. Two Indian actors of opposing sensibilities fall to earth, transformed into living symbols of what is angelic and evil. This is just the initial act in a magnificent odyssey that seamlessly merges the actual with the imagined. A book whose importance is eclipsed only by its quality, The Satanic Verses is a key work of our times. "A staggering achievement, brilliantly enjoyable" (Nadine Gordimer).