SOMERSET MAUGHAM FIRST EDITIONS AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
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UNITED KINGDOM

London : William Heinemann, 1903. First edition : the second issue, with a cancel-title dated 1903. “Worth a thousand of the average books published nowadays” (Westminster Gazette, 19th November 1902). “Mr W. S. Maugham has given us his strongest book. In fact, the novel is in many ways one of the strongest of the year ... In this case he deals with the problem of marriage, and gives all his strength to the delineation of the husband and the wife” (The Sketch, 26th November 1902).
Crown 8vo (184 x 120mm). vi,(374)pp. Bound in an attractive recent half blue morocco, banded and gilt; slight nicks to a handful of early leaves; some spotting, mainly of prelims and edges, but otherwise a good copy, handsomely bound. Neat library stamp of the Harman Church Bungalow Library of Fairlight on final leaf.

£200

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London : William Heinemann, 1919. First edition : with the integral advertisements announcing Heinemann’s new novels for 1919. Renegade stockbroker turned artist in London, Paris and Tahiti – Maugham’s celebrated Gauguinesque tale.
Post 8vo (20cm). [iv],(264),[iv]pp. Bound in a handsome later (second half of the twentieth century) Hatchard’s binding of half tan morocco, banded and gilt; top edge gilt; olive labels; marbled endpapers; text somewhat tanned, as always, but otherwise a very good copy, attractively bound. With the striking bookplate of the late Jack Hodges (1924-2014), writer and book collector.

SOLD

New York : George H. Doran Co., (1925). First edition. Published a month earlier than the London edition and retaining a textual integrity which the British publication did not – two separate libel actions having necessitated changes in the names of characters in the latter, as well as the substitution of the fictional place-names of Tching-Yen, Pleasant Vale, and The Mount, for the real places of Hong Kong, Happy Valley, and The Peak. “Like many other of Mr. Maugham’s stories, the scene of his latest – and best – book is laid ‘East of Suez’. The theme, a loveless marriage and its disastrous aftermath, though old as the hills, is invested with modernity and freshness by means of a photographic realism” (Nottingham Journal, 21st May 1925). Filmed in 1934 (Greta Garbo), and in 2006 (Naomi Watts).
Crown 8vo (192 x 127mm). (290)pp. Bound in an attractive recent half red morocco, banded and gilt; a handful of minor marks and spots, but a very good copy.

£400

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London : William Heinemann, 1928. First edition. Clearly based on Maugham’s own experiences working for British Intelligence during World War I and very much the prototype of the modern espionage novel. It is alleged that Churchill himself urged Maugham to burn a number of further stories originally intended for the book. Turned into a TV series in 1991, with Alex Jennings, Joss Ackland, Ian Bannen, Jason Isaacs, etc.
Crown 8vo (185 x 120mm). [viii],304pp. Bound in a smart recent half blue morocco, banded and gilt; original cloth spine and upper cover preserved at rear; a few internal marks, tiny nicks and small flaws, but a good copy in an elegant binding.

SOLD

London : William Heinemann, (1944). First British edition. An American airman traumatised by the Great War searches for meaning in life in Chicago, Paris and India. “Mr Somerset Maugham’s new novel ... is in some ways the most important he has written ... Do not think from all this that the novel is preachy-preachy, because it is not: it is as full of Maugham sparkle and wit, naughtiness, sex and satire as anyone could wish. My own view is that this is the best non-war novel we have had since 1939. I read it several times with deep appreciation and delight” (Aberdeen Evening Express, 20th July 1944). Filmed in 1946 with Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney and Anne Baxter (who won an Oscar), and again in 1984 with Bill Murray, Theresa Russell, Catherine Hicks, Denholm Elliott, etc. Originally published a few months earlier in the USA.
Crown 8vo (182 x 120mm). [iv],284pp. Bound in a handsome recent full blue morocco, banded and gilt; top edge gilt; a couple of tiny marks; a few internal marks and spots, but otherwise a very good copy.

£250

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