London, Gollancz, 1962. The uncorrected proof copy of Ballard's second book, which he later called his "first novel" after disavowing The Wind From Nowhere as "a piece of hackwork." Signed on the title page by Ballard. In this novel, global warming has rendered most of Earth uninhabitable, making The Drowned World not only one of the great works of dystopian fiction, but one of the earliest works of climate fiction. Tapebound, in unprinted wrappers; spine slant to text block; near fine in a near fine, mildly spine- and edge-tanned proof dust jacket with a "0/0" price on the front flap. Scarce: we have never seen another proof copy of this, nor any earlier Ballard proof (i.e., of The Wind From Nowhere), and can find no indication of institutional holdings in OCLC, nor any auction records for a proof copy. A rare, perhaps at this point, unique, state of a seminal novel in a genre that is only now melding into the field of mainstream literature, outside of the genre of speculative science fiction. [#033324] SOLD