W.Somerset Maugham

Great British novelist and playwright.

Maugham, who qualified as a surgeon at St Thomas’s Hospital, London, published his magnificent autobiographical novel, Of Human Bondage, in 1915. He later visited Tahiti and the Far East, which provided the inspiration for The Moon and Sixpence (1919).

In 1928 Maugham settled in the South of France, where he produced his satirical masterpiece Cakes and Ale (1930).  In America from 1940 to 1946 he wrote The Razor’s Edge (1945).

He is probably best known for his short stories, several of which were filmed, including Quartet (1949).

This is a hardback copy of Heinemann's 1949 Collected Edition of The Razor's Edge, nicely signed and inscribed ("For Joy, W.Somerset Maugham") in dark blue fountain pen ink across the first free end paper. The dustwrapper is still present but is a little beat-up, with edge nibbling and the odd small tear. There is also foxing on the half-title page and the page edges. It is what it is - an excellent signature on a readable copy of perhaps Maugham's best novel.