Lord of the Flies

London: Faber and Faber, 1954. First Edition. Near Fine/Very Good. First edition, first printing. An advance presentation copy inscribed by William Golding to his next-door neighbors and dated ten days before publication, reading "To Mr and Mrs Nelles with the author's regards 7/9/54" with his name not signed. Bound in original red cloth with titles in white on spine. Near Fine with slight fading to cloth, bleeding to edges of front paste down and several tiny spots to textblock edge. In a Very Good or better unclipped dust jacket with light bleeding from cloth to blindside, light waviness to front panel, light edge wear, short tear at bottom of front (truncated) spine joint and two short splits to rear spine joint. An allegorical tale of children stranded on a coral island and their disastrous attempt to govern themselves. It was Golding's first novel, who was a middle-aged school teacher when he wrote it. After reading an unrealistic story of stranded youth, he commented to his wife he could do better. He drew upon on his experience as a school teacher, and at one point even divided the children into two groups and told them to fight each other and observed. The manuscript was rejected by many publishers, and even the book's publisher Faber and Faber initially rejected it as well. A lovely association copy from a then-unknown British school teacher on the cusp of becoming a major novelist, inscribing a copy of his soon-to-be published book to his next-door neighbors. The novel would become a titan of twentieth-century literature and would be named as one of the Modern Library 100 Best Novels, ranked number 41 on the editor's list and 25 by readers. In 1983, Golding was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world of today. (Inventory #: 140942608)