Fire Down Below – William Golding (1st Edition, Faber and Faber, 1989)

This Faber and Faber first edition (1989) of William Golding's Fire Down Below is of interest to collectors of William Golding, Nobel Prize literature, and 20th century British fiction first editions.

About: A very good copy in a good dust jacket. The jacket carries the Paul Hogarth ship illustration on a predominantly white ground and is complete, with the boards and interior in notably better condition than the jacket. The jacket has significant wear: heavy chipping and loss to the top of the spine, further chipping to the corners, and some toning/yellowing to the spine panel. The boards beneath are clean black cloth, tight and square. The interior is bright and clean throughout, entirely unmarked.

Details:

• Title: Fire Down Below
• Author: William Golding
• Publisher: Faber and Faber Limited, London
• Publication Date: MCMLXXXIX (1989)
• Edition: First Edition
• Jacket illustration: Paul Hogarth
• Binding: Hardcover, black cloth boards
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good (chipping to spine top and corners; spine toned)

Synopsis: Faber and Faber first edition of the concluding volume of Golding's celebrated To the Ends of the Earth sea trilogy, following Rites of Passage (1980, Booker Prize winner) and Close Quarters (1987). The trilogy follows Edmund Talbot's voyage from England to Australia aboard a decrepit man-of-war. A significant work in the Golding canon.

Review: William Golding's To the Ends of the Earth trilogy is one of the great achievements of late 20th century British fiction. Fire Down Below brings Edmund Talbot's extraordinary voyage to its conclusion, completing a work of sustained imaginative power and linguistic brilliance. Golding was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983, and the trilogy stands as a crowning achievement of his later career. The first volume, Rites of Passage, won the Booker Prize in 1980.