Cain’s Book

• First edition, 1963, Hardback.
• Original red cloth boards, original dust jacket, unclipped.

The 1963 imprint of this work is the edition of all editions to own, and it carries its own story. This was a small run of books distributed under John Calder to only the well established book shops, in light of threat of its censorship. The effort to uphold a certain reputation failed. And in February of 1964 several shops in Sheffield, England were raided and all copies of Cain's book confiscated. The much publicised Obscenity trial began in April 1964, in Sheffield. Trocchi's inscription likely is a direct reference to this, by way of its date and place. The verdict ruled (this imprint of, and) the text too offensive in the lifestyle it advocated, to remain in shops. As regards affordability, the paperback prints were not mentioned in the trial. The case is notable in that the court's judgement was the first in the UK to condemn a book for obscenity not for sexual content but for "the lifestyle it advocated". Trocchi staged a protest against the ruling at the Edinburgh Writers Festival in September of 1964. Copies of the book were burned together with fireworks. Cain's book especially was influential on another Scottish writer, Irvine Welsh. Welsh's own cult classic, Trainspotting, rings in the very first lines of Trocchi's brutality and fading zeal. The book is in near fine condition.

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