Dorian Gray - no. 28

Creation Books 2000

Price: £7.95.

History: Even though this is quite recent, I had to grill my entire family before someone remembered that it came from Borders in York.

Look: brilliant - all black, with some black pages inside as well; art deco title in pink, and one of Aubrey Beardsley's drawings on the cover. It gives the whole thing the look of a demonic, banned book - which is perhaps fitting as this contains the original text of the novel published in Lippincots magazine. He then expanded and added to it to create the book you are familiar with - but crucially, he also did some cutting. Specifically, some of Basil's more "romantic-obsessive" passages were toned down; unsuprisingly, these were ultimately dragged out for the trial.

Introduction/Appendices: an introduction by Jeremy Reed, which following the atmosphere of the copy, focuses on the seedier aspects of the book's reception, and discusses the difference between the two versions of the text. They also put the "all art is quite useless" preface in an appendix at the end - too iconic and brilliant, I suppose, for them to cut entirely.