Hothouse (1962) Signed First Edition Reference

Hothouse is Aldiss’s most famous novel — a vision of Earth in the far future when the sun has expanded, the planet has stopped rotating, and the daylight hemisphere has been consumed by a single enormous banyan tree. The world is populated by evolved, often terrifying plant species, and the diminished remnants of humanity are tiny, barely intelligent creatures struggling to survive in the canopy. Published by Faber and Faber in 1962.

First Edition Identification

UK first: Faber and Faber, London, 1962. Hardcover in dust jacket. This is the true first edition. US first: Published as The Long Afternoon of Earth by Signet (paperback, 1962) in truncated form, and by Gregg Press (hardcover, 1976) in the complete version.

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed UK first (Faber), fine/fine: $300–$700
• Unsigned UK first: $75–$200
• Signed US Gregg Press: $50–$100

The Faber first edition is the collectible format. The dust jacket is vulnerable to condition issues — Faber jackets from this era often show foxing, edge wear, or spine fading. A fine/fine copy is genuinely scarce.