ORWELL (GEORGE) Animal Farm, FIRST EDITION, SECOND PRINTING (with "Reprinted August 1945" on verso of title-page), publisher's green cloth with white lettering on spine, dust-jacket (spine ends frayed, short marginal tear on each cover, slight abrasions) [Fenwick A10b], 8vo, Secker & Warburg, 1945 "I do not wish comment on the work: if it does not speak for itself, it is a failure" wrote Orwell (quoted by his bibliographer Gillian Fenwick). It was however an instant classic, this second printing rushed out in the same month as the first printing of 4000 copies to meet demand. Provenance: Alan Pryce-Jones (1908–2000), bookplate; by descent to the present owner.