The Golden Butterfly

(Hardback)

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The Golden Butterfly (1876) is a novel by Walter Besant and James Rice. Their fifth novel perhaps marks the zenith of their collaborative powers, capturing the spirit of adventure that defined the mythology of the American West. Epic and entertaining, The Golden Butterfly is a captivating tale for all audiences. He was a thin man, about five and forty years of age; he wore an irregular and patchy kind of beard, which flourished exceedingly on certain square half-inches of chin and cheek, and was as thin as grass at Aden on the intervening spaces. He had no boots; but a sort of moccasins, the lightness of which enabled him to show his heels to the bear for so long a time. Gilead P. Beck is a fortunate man. Only moments away from losing his life to a voracious grizzly bear, a company of English prospectors happens to spot him running through the brush. With two shots, they drop the beast, rescuing Gilead and earning his undying gratitude. Together, they continue toward the newly established Empire City, where fortune or failure awaits every man at the edge of the American West. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Walter Besant and James Rices The Golden Butterfly is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

Author Bio

Walter Besant (1836-1901) was an English novelist and historian. Born at Portsmouth, Hampshire, Besant was the son of a wine merchant, whose other children included William, a prominent mathematician, and Frank, the husband of renowned theosophist, socialist, and activist Annie Besant. After attending Kings College London, he enrolled at Christs College, Cambridge to study mathematics, graduating with first class honors in 1859. Besant worked for six years as professor of mathematics at Royal College, Mauritius, returning to London in 1867 after a period of ill-health. In 1868, he published his work Studies in French Poetry and was appointed to the Palestine Exploration Fund as Secretary. Three years later, Besant was called to the bar at Lincolns Inn and began his literary collaboration with novelist James Rice. Together, they wrote such successful works of fiction as Ready-money Mortiboy (1872) and The Golden Butterfly (1876). James Rice (1843-1882) was an English novelist. Born in Northampton and educated at Cambridge University, he became a lawyer at Lincolns Inn in 1871. There, he befriended Walter Besant, with whom he would collaborate on over a dozen popular novels and short story collections, included The Golden Butterfly (1876). Their prolific working relationship ended in tragedy in 1882 with Rices untimely death I Redhill, Surrey.