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![]() First US edition | |
Author | A. J. Cronin |
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Cover artist | George Salter |
Language | English |
Publisher | Gollancz (UK) Little, Brown (US) |
Publication date | 1955, 1956 By A.J. Cronin |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
Pages | 440 pp. (US hardback edition) |
ISBN | 0-515-03379-0 (US hardback edition) |
A Thing of Beauty is a novel by author A. J. Cronin, [1] initially published in 1956, with the alternate title of Crusader's Tomb. It tells the story of Stephen Desmonde, an English painter who struggles for recognition in a conventional world, sacrificing everything for his passion for art. The title is a reference to John Keats' 1818 poem, Endymion , which begins with "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever."