Mother London
London: Secker & Warburg, 1988 (June 20th) hardcover;
sub-titled “A Novel” on title page;
original price: £9·95;
496 pages;
I.S.B.N.: 0-436-28461-8;
cover artist: Krüdd Art.
Considered by many to be Moorcock’s magnum opus, the critically acclaimed and technically brilliant Mother London is a celebration of the virtues and charms of London and Londoners which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize. It has occasional elements of fictionalised autobiography, found in each of its three main protagonists, Mary Gasalee, Josef Kiss, and particularly David Mummery who resembles the younger Moorcock in several childhood reminiscences. A “Revised version” was published in 2016, as part of a companion trio together with King Of The City and London Bone And Other Stories.
First paperback edition: London: Penguin trade-sized paperback, 1989 (June 8th);
sub-titled “A Novel” on title page;
original price: £4·99;
496 pages;
I.S.B.N.: 0-14-011299-5;
cover artist: Liz Pyle.
London: Scribner trade-sized paperback, 2000 (May 8th);
no sub-title;
original price: £7·99;
496 pages;
I.S.B.N.: 0-684-86141-0;
cover artist: blacksheep.
cover artist: David Mann.
First revised edition: London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson trade-sized paperback, 2016 (June 30th);
sub-titled “A Novel” on title page;
edited by John Davey;
original price: £9·99;
x + 531 pages;
I.S.B.N.: 978-1-473-21325-8;
cover artist: Paul Catherall.
Copyright page states “Revised version”, but should be more accurately ‘Version contains [further] minor textual amendments’.
First American edition: New York: Harmony hardcover, 1989 (January);
sub-titled “A Novel” on title page;
original price: $19·95;
496 pages;
I.S.B.N.: 0-517-57183-8;
cover artist: Krüdd Art.
New York: Perennial Library trade-sized paperback, 1990 (January);
sub-titled “A Novel”;
original price: $8·95;
496 pages;
I.S.B.N.: 0-06-097309-9;
cover artist: Greg Ragland.
(Click here for Foreign Editions)
Mother London is also available as an e-book: 9781473213265.
Moorcography.org 