First hand books?

[LitRev]

Greetings everyone.


I've come to RevLeft seeking some literary advice. I've recently begun an undertaking to read as much original (original, in this case, meaning written by the group/individual not original to the time they were written in) pieces of revolutionary and leftist literature as I can possibly find.


My main focus is on books or pamphlets written directly by the group or person, a commonly known example being the Communist Manifesto. I've gotten ahold of and read several; Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla by Carlos Marighella, The Communist Manifesto by Marx, Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord, the Urban Guerrilla Concept by the Red Army Faction, Mao's Little Red Book, and various writings by the founders of the IRA.


I'm looking for more but I'm finding it somewhat difficult, the texts are a little hard to come by. I would love a list of recommendations both for books and places to get them. As I said, I'm trying to find as many first-hand books and texts as I can.


Thanks in advance.

[Permanent Revolutionary]

I dont know if I'm understanding you correctly, but if you're talking about first-edition books, that may be tough.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

I dont know if I'm understanding you correctly, but if you're talking about first-edition books, that may be tough.

Next to impossible more likely.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

If you are alright with reading from a screen, you can find many books on the ebookcollective (http://ebookcollective.tumblr.com). Lots of scrolling involved but it's a huge list of radical works available for free.

[ComradeOfJoplin]

Book collecting is one of my hobbies. The best way to collect fist copy books is from the source. For example, "The Communist Manifesto" by Marx was first printed in Brussels. So you are more likly to find the copy in a book or vintage store there.

Biblio.com is the best website I have found for first copies. Only problem is they are proud of there books and you'll pay up to 500USD for anything that is not destroyed.

[The Idler]

I'm pretty sure by "first-hand" you mean what historians call "primary sources" as opposed to "secondary sources".
In which case I'd suggest
Value, Price Profit (Marx)
Wage Labor and Capital (Marx)
Principles of Communism (Engels)
Revolution or Reform (De Leon)
News from Nowhere (Morris)

If you mean first editions, forget it.

[LitRev]

I'm pretty sure by "first-hand" you mean what historians call "primary sources" as opposed to "secondary sources".
Yes! Exactly, I dont know why my words failed me in the description earlier.