The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) Signed First Edition Reference

The Left Hand of Darkness won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards upon publication in 1969, and it remains one of the most important science fiction novels ever written. Set on the planet Gethen (Winter), where the inhabitants are ambisexual — neither male nor female except during a monthly period of sexual activity — the novel follows Genly Ai, an envoy from the Ekumen, as he navigates a world where gender as we know it does not exist. The story is simultaneously a political thriller, a travel narrative, an anthropological study, and a meditation on the nature of gender and identity.

The Book

Le Guin’s achievement in The Left Hand of Darkness was to make gender — the most fundamental category through which we perceive other humans — strange. By imagining a world without permanent gender, she exposed the assumptions that structure our own society. The novel’s influence on subsequent science fiction, feminist theory, and gender studies has been incalculable.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Ace Books, New York (hardcover edition published by Walker and Company) Publication date: 1969 Format: The first publication was an Ace Science Fiction Special (paperback). The Walker and Company hardcover appeared simultaneously or shortly after.

The exact priority between the Ace paperback and the Walker hardcover is debated among bibliographers. Most collectors prefer the Walker hardcover as the collectible format.

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed Walker hardcover first, fine/fine: $3,000–$8,000
• Signed Ace paperback first, fine: $500–$1,500
• Unsigned Walker hardcover: $300–$800

The Hainish Cycle trophy. The dual Hugo/Nebula winner status, the novel’s foundational importance to feminist science fiction, and the pre-fame scarcity of signed copies create a powerful collecting proposition.