Robert Merton, in his book, On the Shoulders of Giants, digresses into the origin of NewtonвЂ™s aphorism, вЂњIf I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.вЂќ With playfulness and a large dose of wit, Merton writes that Newton was already standing on the shoulders of George Herbert, who in 1651 wrote, вЂњA dwarf on a giantвЂ™s shoulders sees farther of the two.вЂќ A generation before Herbert, Robert Burton, in 1621 wrote, вЂњA dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than a giant himself.вЂќ Before him, with a similar aphorism, stood Spanish theologian, Diego de Estella, who got it from John of Salisbury in 1159, who copied Bernard of Chartres in 1130: вЂњWe are like dwarfs standing upon the shoulders of giants, and so able to see more and see farther than the ancients.вЂќ 3 One may argue that through a mix of creativity, plagiarism, and transmission of knowledge, works are almost never truly original. Orwell, who died the year after the release of his novel, had only signed a very limited number of copies, which are now extremely rare and highly sought-after. Complete copies carry the original wrap-around band, printed in black and are traded for more than $5,000. Fenwick 2 records two variant states of the first edition dust-jacket, published in London by Secker & Warburg, one printed in green, the other in red. Perhaps вЂњWeвЂќ deserves more recognition than it has had, but collectors are currently more excited about OrwellвЂ™s masterpiece. At that time, Orwell suggested that ZamyatinвЂ™s book was influential to the writing of Aldous HuxleyвЂ™s Brave New World, and recommended it to readers as вЂњin effect a study of the Machine.вЂќ It is also quite clear that Orwell borrowed some key components and characters from ZamyatinвЂ™s earlier book himself. In June 1949, three years before George Orwell published his last novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, he reviewed вЂњWeвЂќ for the London Tribune readers. Another collectible English edition is the 1970, Jonathan Cape London hardcover, which trades for about ВЈ250 in a nice dust-wrapper. E.P Dutton reprinted the Gregory Zilboorg translated edition in paperback format in 1959 (paperback D39). Dutton American edition with a dust jacket are extremely scarce, commanding five figures. Some of the 1927 Russian editions of the book are asking for $500 in on-line marketplaces.Д¬opies of the 1924, E.P. The book was not to be published in Russia until the glasnost era of 1988. One particular edition that appeared in the Russian Г©migrГ© journal вЂњVolia Rossii,вЂќ caused an open political campaign against Zamyatin in the Soviet Union that led to his emigration to France in 1931. It wasnвЂ™t until 1927, that Russian editions began circulating outside Russia in Eastern Europe, having been translated back from the English, suffering severe alterations in the process 1. The first English translation and true first edition of the novel was published in New York by E. In ZamyatinвЂ™s plot, the ruler, the вЂњBenefactorвЂќ with the assistance of the police force, the вЂњGuardiansвЂќ, directs the citizens of вЂњOne StateвЂќ to undergo the вЂњGreat OperationвЂќ, which destroys the part of the brain controlling the imagination and passion.Дespite the fact that the bookвЂ™s content is fictional, it had the potential to be interpreted as having a hostile attitude towards the Marxist-Leninist world view, and therefore distribution was banned in Russia.

It is surrounded by a wall of glass and occupied by humans who live in buildings built of glass, have numeric names and wear identical uniforms.

The book is a satire on life in a collectivist futuristic state, вЂњOne StateвЂќ, located in the middle of a wild jungle. Before Ernest ClineвЂ™s вЂњReady Player OneвЂќ, George OrwellвЂ™s вЂњNinteen Eighty-FourвЂќ and Aldous HuxleyвЂ™s вЂњBrave New WorldвЂќ, there was Yevgeni ZamyatinвЂ™s вЂњWeвЂќ, the first dystopian novel ever written.

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