SINE — Massacre

Penguin Books 1966 With an introduction of Malcolm Muggeridge. Penguin Book 2553. First Edition n. p., numerous full-page b/w drawings. Colored front and back cover. SOFTCOVER: (Original pictorial col. boards, some light wear to spine. VERY GOOD ) EXTREMELY RARE and sought after this 1966 Penguin edition. Massacre glories in Sine's obsessions with the Catholic church, nuns and mutilation. The book holds a unique—and somewhat notorious—place in publishing history. Shortly after its publication, the head of Penguin Books, Allen Lane, took deep offense to the book's provocative content and had a bitter disagreement with his board members over it. Lane's subsequent reaction is what makes the book a legend in collector circles' He reportedly went into Penguin warehouses at night and personally destroyed the remaining unsold stock by burning, burying, or composting the copies. Because of this midnight purge, very few copies survived, making first editions of this Penguin paperback a highly sought-after rarity among book collectors.