Unseen version of Lord of the Flies to be displayed for 70th anniversary

A never-before-seen version of Lord of the Fliesis going on display! See the alternate draft and rare manuscripts from Sir William Golding's collection

An alternate version of Lord of the Flies by Sir William Golding is set to go on display to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the famous literary work being published.

Sir William’s manuscripts, notebooks and letters will also be shown in the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum at the University of Exeter later this month.

These include a copy of the original manuscript, which was written in a school exercise book with the cover torn off, of the dark societal tale and a typescript.

This version does not begin with the schoolboys crash landing on the island, like the published work, and instead describes how they had been evacuated out, in the midst of a nuclear war, and their plane shot down in an aerial battle.

The original manuscript will not be on public view, due to its fragility, the university said.

His daughter Judy Carver said: “The Golding family are grateful to the University of Exeter for its care of the manuscripts and typescripts on loan to the university.

“They also welcome this opportunity for these materials to be viewed by a wider audience. They appreciate the careful work that has brought the exhibition contents to public view.” Nobel Prize-winning author Sir William, who died aged 81 at his home in Cornwall in 1993, had difficulties getting the work about boys competing for survival on an island taken up by publishers.

It was spotted by a junior editor at publishers Faber and Faber following a string of rejections, and after some changes became an overnight sensation in 1954.

The exhibit will also contain letters to the editor who helped him make Lord of the Flies a success, along with correspondence from Sir William on his other novels and works.

The exhibition will be on display at the university from September 24 to December 15. Display panels featuring information about Sir William’s papers will be on show across Exeter from September 2 to October 31 and there will be free public events in the city this autumn.