Ursula K. Le Guin

The Left Hand of Darkness

£65

Illustrated by David Lupton

Introduced By Becky Chambers

The first illustrated edition of Ursula K. Le Guin’s masterpiece, The Left Hand of Darkness. The Folio Society edition also includes an introduction by Becky Chambers and exquisite illustrations by David Lupton.

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Ursula K. Le Guin

The Left Hand of Darkness

£65
Book Details
 
Presentation Box & BindingBound in printed and blocked cloth
Printed slipcase with spot UV varnish
Printed endpapers
Dimensions9½ inches x 6¼ inches
FontSet in Poliphilus
Pages288 pages
AuthorUrsula K. Le Guin
Illustrated byDavid Lupton
IllustrationIntegrated title double-page spread and 14 black & white integrated illustrations
Publication Date16/08/2018
Editor's Notes
 
Described by Margaret Atwood as ‘one of the literary greats’ and by Stephen King as ‘a literary icon’, Ursula K. Le Guin stands as a colossus in the field of speculative fiction. The Left Hand of Darkness won multiple awards, including the Hugo for best novel, making Le Guin the first woman to win it; appropriate indeed, given that her extraordinary novel of betrayal, loyalty, love and survival was to change the conversation about gender for ever. In her introduction, novelist Becky Chambers – herself nominated for both the Clarke Award and the Hugo – calls the book ‘a titan’, one that gave rise to new perspectives on what fiction could be.

About the Illustrator

David Lupton

David Lupton is a London-based illustrator, hand-drawing and painting his work with traditional media. He often finds expression in the melancholy and the macabre. He has created work for many commercial briefs, including editorial illustration, children's picture books, music video design and animation, and record cover artwork. Lupton has illustrated a number of books for Folio, including  The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (2015) and And Then There Were None (2017, Folio 2025). He worked closely with Ursula K. Le Guin to illustrate the Folio edition  A Wizard of Earthsea (2015), and continued to realise the author's vision after Le Guin passed away, illustrating  The Left Hand of Darkness (2018), The Dispossessed (Folio 2019), The Tombs of Atuan (2022), The Farthest Shore (2022), Tehanu (2023), Tales from Earthsea (2023) and The Other Wind (2024).

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About the Illustrator

David Lupton

David Lupton is a London-based illustrator, hand-drawing and painting his work with traditional media. He often finds expression in the melancholy and the macabre. He has created work for many commercial briefs, including editorial illustration, children's picture books, music video design and animation, and record cover artwork. Lupton has illustrated a number of books for Folio, including  The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (2015) and And Then There Were None (2017, Folio 2025). He worked closely with Ursula K. Le Guin to illustrate the Folio edition  A Wizard of Earthsea (2015), and continued to realise the author's vision after Le Guin passed away, illustrating  The Left Hand of Darkness (2018), The Dispossessed (Folio 2019), The Tombs of Atuan (2022), The Farthest Shore (2022), Tehanu (2023), Tales from Earthsea (2023) and The Other Wind (2024).

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About the Illustrator

David Lupton

David Lupton is a London-based illustrator, hand-drawing and painting his work with traditional media. He often finds expression in the melancholy and the macabre. He has created work for many commercial briefs, including editorial illustration, children's picture books, music video design and animation, and record cover artwork. Lupton has illustrated a number of books for Folio, including  The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (2015) and And Then There Were None (2017, Folio 2025). He worked closely with Ursula K. Le Guin to illustrate the Folio edition  A Wizard of Earthsea (2015), and continued to realise the author's vision after Le Guin passed away, illustrating  The Left Hand of Darkness (2018), The Dispossessed (Folio 2019), The Tombs of Atuan (2022), The Farthest Shore (2022), Tehanu (2023), Tales from Earthsea (2023) and The Other Wind (2024).

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About the Illustrator

David Lupton

David Lupton is a London-based illustrator, hand-drawing and painting his work with traditional media. He often finds expression in the melancholy and the macabre. He has created work for many commercial briefs, including editorial illustration, children's picture books, music video design and animation, and record cover artwork. Lupton has illustrated a number of books for Folio, including  The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (2015) and And Then There Were None (2017, Folio 2025). He worked closely with Ursula K. Le Guin to illustrate the Folio edition  A Wizard of Earthsea (2015), and continued to realise the author's vision after Le Guin passed away, illustrating  The Left Hand of Darkness (2018), The Dispossessed (Folio 2019), The Tombs of Atuan (2022), The Farthest Shore (2022), Tehanu (2023), Tales from Earthsea (2023) and The Other Wind (2024).

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About the Illustrator

David Lupton

David Lupton is a London-based illustrator, hand-drawing and painting his work with traditional media. He often finds expression in the melancholy and the macabre. He has created work for many commercial briefs, including editorial illustration, children's picture books, music video design and animation, and record cover artwork. Lupton has illustrated a number of books for Folio, including  The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (2015) and And Then There Were None (2017, Folio 2025). He worked closely with Ursula K. Le Guin to illustrate the Folio edition  A Wizard of Earthsea (2015), and continued to realise the author's vision after Le Guin passed away, illustrating  The Left Hand of Darkness (2018), The Dispossessed (Folio 2019), The Tombs of Atuan (2022), The Farthest Shore (2022), Tehanu (2023), Tales from Earthsea (2023) and The Other Wind (2024).

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Author image

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) was born in Berkeley and lived in Portland, Oregon. She published 21 novels, 11 volumes of short stories, 4 collections of essays, 12 books for children, 6 volumes of poetry and 4 translated works, and received many honours and awards, including the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, a National Book Award and the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. A Wizard of Earthsea (1968; Folio Society 2015, 2022) is her best-known work; it is the first book of Earthsea, which includes The Tombs of Atuan (1971; Folio Society 2022), The Farthest Shore (1972; Folio Society 2022), Tehanu (1990; Folio Society 2023), Tales from Earthsea (2001; Folio Society 2023) and The Other Wind (2001; Folio Society 2024). Her Hugo Award-winning novels, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969; Folio Society 2018) and The Dispossessed (1974; Folio Society 2019) have also been produced as Folio editions.

Becky Chambers is the author of the Wayfarers novels, which include The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (2015), A Closed and Common Orbit (2016) and Record of a Spaceborn Few (2018). Her books have been nominated for the Hugo Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, among others. She also writes essays and short stories, and lives in northern California.