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Goldsboro Books

The Brass Butterfly

The Brass Butterfly

by William Golding

Publisher Faber & Faber

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  • UK First Edition
  • First Printing
  • Hardcover


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  • Professionally Packed

    All of our books that have a dust wrapper are covered in clear protective, removable film and are packed professionally in bubble wrap and a box for shipping so that they reach you in perfect condition.

  • Book Condition & Notes

    Very good first edition, with some light push-in to spine. In a good clipped dust jacket with chipping and small tear to spine.

    This book is located in our Brighton shop and may take longer for delivery.

About the book


Commissioned by the leading actor Alastair Sim (1900-1976) The Brass Butterfly was Goldings only original stage play. Starring Sim himself, and also the popular actor George Cole, it opened for a provincial pre-West End run in Oxford in early 1958 and premiered at the Strand Theatre in London in April. In his biography of Golding, John Carey describes it as a comic scherzo dealing with the conflict between science and religion, transposed to the Greco-Roman world of antiquity.

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About the Author

William Golding

Born in Cornwall, England, William Golding started writing at the age of seven. Though he studied natural sciences at Oxford to please his parents, he also studied English and published his first book, a collection of poems, before finishing college. He served in the Royal Navy during World War II, participating in the Normandy invasion. Golding's other novels include Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors, The Free Fall, Pincher Martin, The Double Tongue, and Rites of Passage, which won the Booker Prize.

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GPSR EU Safety Information

1. Manufacturer Contact Information

Goldsboro Books Ltd - 23-27 Cecil Court, London, WC2N4EZ, enquiries@goldsborobooks.com, 02074979230

2. EU Authorised Representative Information

Easy Access System Europe - Mustamäe tee 50, 10621 Tallinn, Estonia, gpsr.requests@easproject.com

3. Safety Warnings

Not applicable

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