A first edition copy of Lord Of The Flies signed by its Newquay-born author Sir William Golding has sold for £15,000. Moments earlier, at the same sale at Bloomsbury Auctions in London, a first edition copy of Rebecca, signed by its author Dame Daphne du Maurier, which cost eight shillings and sixpence new, sold for £5,500.
The copy of Lord Of The Flies, which cost 12 shillings and sixpence new, had been expected to sell for between £8,000 and £12,000,while the copy of Rebecca was expected to fetch between £3,000 and £4,000. Sir William's book was particularly valuable because not only was it signed by the author, but also by novelist Graham Greene, who once owned the book. Both books were among 400 first editions put up for sale by theatre critic and writer Clive Hirschhorn.