N E W A C Q U I S I T I O N S * J U L Y 2 0 2 4 B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 18 "RALPH WEPT FOR THE END OF INNOCENCE, THE DARKNESS OF MAN'S HEART…": VERY RARE FIRST EDITION OF LORD OF THE FLIES 18. GOLDING, William. Lord of the Flies. London, 1954. Octavo, original red cloth, dust jacket, custom box. $17,500 First edition of one of the best-known novels in modern literature, Golding’s “profoundly disturbing reflection on the innate, irrepressible savagery of humanity” (Fantasy and Horror 6-143), especially rare in original dust jacket. Rescued from Faber and Faber’s “slush pile” by a junior editor, Golding’s first and greatest novel reflected many Westerners’ increasingly apocalyptic fears at the height of the Cold War. It captured the public’s imagination by asking hard questions about human nature and whether society is, in fact, worth saving. “The novel constitutes a complex utterance about the darkness of the human condition and the shapes human nature takes when ‘free’ to do so” (Clute & Nicholls, 507). “A collection of modern fiction would never be complete without it” (Connolly, 136). First issue dust jacket, without reviews. Without scarce wrap-around band. Parker & Kermode, 314-15. Nobel Laureates in Literature, 153. Horror 100 Best 53. Book bright and very nearly fine with very thin bands of toning to spine ends only; price-clipped dust jacket with shallow chipping to corners and spine ends, one short closed tear to foot of spine, very slight toning to spine. An exceptionally lovely copy.
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