Publication: Exeter, University of Exeter, 1979

Formatting: 8vo, pp. 16.

Condition Report: Very Good. The staple-bound wrappers remain firmly attached and relatively bright, with only minor rubbing and fading along the spine fold and extremities. A faint vertical crease is visible towards the right edge of the rear wrapper. Internally, the pages are exceptionally clean, bright, and completely free from foxing, markings, or previous ownership signatures. The binding is tight, with both staples secure and unoxidised. An attractive, well-preserved copy of this fragile publication.

Catalogue Note: First Edition, preceding the expanded full-length book publication by Oxford University Press in 1984. This staple-bound pamphlet contains the original text of the Twelfth Jackson Knight Memorial Lecture, delivered by George Steiner at the University of Exeter on 2 March 1979.

Rare on the open market, this true first printing is a sought-after piece for Steiner collectors, marking the genesis of what would become one of his most significant works on classical reception and literary philosophy.

Before its expansion into a major cultural and literary study, George Steiner’s Antigones originated as this insightful memorial lecture. Here, Steiner begins his exploration into the enduring legacy of the Antigone myth, examining how the tragic conflict between the individual and the state, and divine versus human law, has captivated the Western imagination from Sophocles to the modern era.