LORD OF THE FLIES by Golding, William - 1955

New York: Coward-McCann, Inc, 1955. First American Edition. Considerably less common that its British counterpart; when Lord of the Flies was first published in the U.S. in 1955, it sold only 2,383 copies before quickly going out of print. By the numbers, fewer copies of the American edition were produced and survived than the British, which was published at 3,040 copies. Golding's best-known and most controversial novel. Lord of Flies is ranked #41 on the Modern Library's list of 100 Best Novels, and is the basis for both the 1963 Peter Brook film (terrific) and the 1990 film directed by Harry Hook (ghastly). Though it remains one of the most challenged books by the American Library Association year after year, it is likely to be required reading in schools for the forseeable future. First Printing. Octavo; 3/4 dark green textured paper over quarter beige cloth, with titles stamped in dark green on spine; dustjacket; 243pp. Contemporary owners name and date to front endpaper, sunning to board edges, with faint trace of foxing to text edges; Very Good+ to Near Fine. Dustjacket is price-clipped, with light wear to spine ends and corner tips, else a bright, Near Fine example. Housed in a custom dark green cloth slipcase.