A Thing of Beauty

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A Thing of Beauty
Author A. J. Cronin
Cover artist George Salter
Country Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) Novel
Publisher Gollancz Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Little, Brown Flag of the United States United States
Publication date 1956
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 440 pp (US hardback edition)
ISBN ISBN 0-515-03379-0 (US hardback edition)

A Thing of Beauty is a novel by author A. J. Cronin, 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, "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever."