My Maugham Collection

Far and Wide. Nine Novels (The Companion Book Club) - W. Somerset Maugham

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Far and Wide, 2 vols. 1955
Far and Wide. Nine Novels by W. Somerset Maugham Selected by the Author. 2 vols. London: The Companion Book Club, 1955. Besides first editions, from time to time I get drawn to some copies that may have nothing special "bibliographically," but just that they are pleasing to the eye. It is an aesthetic pleasure that is hard to explain.Such is what I felt when I lay eyes on these two volumes: Far and Wide published by The Companion Book Club…

Analysis: Bertha's Tragedy: Mrs. Craddock (1902) by W. Somerset Maugham

Mrs Craddock, 1955, New and Revised
W. Somerset Maugham
Mrs. Craddock (London: Heinemann, 1955)
I am very glad that finally I get to Mrs. Craddock. Note that my reference is not to the first edition. I do possess a first edition, which I will talk about and provide photo shortly. The reason why I put the 1955 edition is simply because it is the copy that I just finished reading, and thus the page numbers will be referring to it. It was some time since I bought this edition and hadn't got time…

Two Editions of Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham

Theatre (1937) is one of my favourite novels by W. Somerset Maugham. The most recent film adaption, Being Julia (2004), directed by István Szabó and with Annette Bening as Julia Lambert is, I would say, the most Maugham of Maugham movies. But all this is by the way. When I started to collect Maugham's first editions, my goal was to get all the first editions apparently; it must have been naïve of me not to think that I would probably end up having several copies of many of his books.

I bou…

Analysis: "As Mean As Cat's Meat" and W. Somerset Maugham in OED

After talking about the "blue bag" in my last post on W. Somerset Maugham's Cakes and Ale, I think I better discuss another curious phrase before I forget about it.

As Mean As Cat's Meat - "The Voice of the Turtle"
In the short story "The Voice of the Turtle," first published in 1935 and later incorporated in The Mixture As Before, Maugham tells the story about a young rising writer, Peter Melrose, who goes to stay with the narrator for a few days in the…

Analysis: Artistic Expressions: Theatre (1937) by W. Somerset Maugham

Theatre (London: Heinemann, 1937)
This post is about a not much talked about novel by W. Somerset Maugham. By that time Maugham has already written his last play, Sheppey (1933), and announced his retirement as a playwright.

Thus, maybe, peradventure, Maugham is having his vengeance on the theatrical world, as he is often called a “cynic" by the quarter concerned. Maugham's sense of humour on many occasions requires the readers to have the ability to laugh at themselves.

However, I …