Appius and Virginia

1932, a rare first edition of G E Trevelyan's first novel

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First edition, first printing. Hardback, bound in the original black cloth with gilt titling to spine. 19 × 14cm, 292pp.

Virginia Hutton embarks upon an experiment. She will take an ape and raise it as a human child. She purchases an infant orangutan and names him Appius. She clothes him, feeds him, and puts him to bed in a cot every night. As Appius grows older, she teaches him to dress himself, to speak, to read, to stand and walk up straight, to eat his meals at the dining table with a knife and fork. She teaches him how to be human.

The young orangutan is not always a willing student. His relationship with Virginia becomes fraught and flits between that of mother and child, teacher and student, scientist and experiment. But as Appius gains knowledge he moves ever closer to the one discovery Virginia does not want him to make: that of his true origins. Appius and Virginia explores the ongoing conflict between nature and nurture. It is also a chilling and unforgettable portrait of loneliness.

Condition

A rare first edition. This copy is in good plus condition. It is an ex-Boots Library copy, but the only signs are the shield to the base of the upper board, a small black pen mark to the bottom edge of the pages, remnants of a label to the rear endpaper and a neat pasted in slip for Boots Library at the final page of text. There is light wear to the black cloth and a little splaying to the boards. The main body of text is in good clean order and the book remains in strong readable condition.

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