# Is "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Lord of the Flies by William Golding (Faber and Faber, 1954) is identified by: True first: Faber 1954, first-issue dust jacket with its printed price, with the correct blurb and no later-printing statement; 'the printed price' / price point per Connolly. UK Faber 1954 is the true first; US (Coward-McCann, 1955) is a separate, later first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first: Faber 1954, first-issue dust jacket with its printed price, with the correct blurb and no later-printing statement; 'the printed price' / price point per Connolly
- The boards in the correct color and the Faber colophon
- Publisher imprint reads Faber and Faber
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William Golding |
| Publisher | Faber and Faber |
| Year | 1954 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first: Faber 1954, first-issue dust jacket with its printed price, with the correct blurb and no later-printing statement; 'the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
True first: Faber 1954, first-issue dust jacket with its printed price, with the correct blurb and no later-printing statement; 'the printed price' / price point per Connolly. The boards in the correct color and the Faber colophon.

## Is this the true first?
UK Faber 1954 is the true first; US (Coward-McCann, 1955) is a separate, later first. The UK first is scarce and frequently confused with the US.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
US first and book-club editions are not the UK true first; book-club copies are blind-stamped and unpriced.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Lord of the Flies* by William Golding a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/lord-of-the-flies
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.