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In his autobiography The Summing Up (1938), W(illiam) Somerset Maugham (1874 – 1965) wrote that he stood ‘in the very first row of the second-raters’, however his prolific output has largely stood the test of time and in the world of short-form fiction, he is still regarded as one of the masters.
Following the death of both his parents when he was still a boy, Maugham was sent to live with a childless aunt and clergyman uncle in Whitstable, Kent. Following private school and Heidelberg university, he trained as a doctor at St Thomas’s hospital in London and brought out his first novel Liza of Lambeth in 1897. Success was not instant, but he achieved fame in 1907 with the theatre production of Lady Frederick, a comedy of marriage and money. By 1908 he had four plays running simultaneously in London, and considerable notoriety.
Maugham married in 1917, however his marriage was unorthodox, and he and his wife spent most of their time apart. In 1914, Maugham met his lifelong male companion Gerald Haxton and from 1926 lived with him at Cap Ferrat on the French Riviera. The house became a meeting place for a wide variety of writers, personalities and politicians including Winston Churchill and Lord Beaverbrook. Maugham and Haxton lived in Cap Ferrat until Maugham’s death, although they travelled the world widely with Maugham harvesting material for his many stories.
In 1947 Maugham instituted the ‘Somerset Maugham Award’, awarded to the best British writer or writers under the age of 35 for a work of fiction published in the past year. Notable winners include V. S. Naipaul, Kingsley Amis, Martin Amis and Doris Lessing.
“Life isn't long enough for love and art.” ― W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence
Considered to be one of Maugham’s best novels, The Moon and Sixpence (1919) uses his first-hand experience of Tahiti and recounts the life of London stockbroker Charles Strickland, (a troubled and misunderstood artist, much in the style of Gaugin), who neglects his duty for art. This 1945 publication from Penguin, under the orange coloured heading grid (colour-coded for fiction) is an inexpensive vintage issue for the home library collection.
Titled as a novel, but in fact Don Fernando is one of Maugham’s ‘travel’ books, although the term ‘travel’ is rather loose in the context of this work. A critic writing in the New York Times newspaper described the book as ‘a strange mixture of summaries of books; discourses on art, aesthetics, drama, theatre, mysticism, picaresque fiction and everyday life of the times; and shrewd studies of eminent Spaniards of the time...’ Published in 1935, with an eye-catching black and gold cover, this is a collector’s piece for any Maugham afficionado.
Maugham wrote a total of thirteen plays and this 1952 publication by Pan Books comprises of three; (in chronological order), The Letter (9th – 1927), The Bread-winner (11th – 1930), and Sheppey (13th – 1933). After ‘Sheppey’ he never again wrote for the theatre. Maugham often displayed an ambivalent attitude towards drama generally and once said that the object (of drama) was ‘nothing more than pleasure and delight’, although some critics have assumed he was deliberately ‘under-selling’ his work as he felt it fell short of his own high standards.
“There's always one who loves and one who lets himself be loved.” ― W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage
Considered to be his ‘masterpiece’, Of Human Bondage (1915) is a thinly disguised autobiography which describes Philip Carey’s lonely boyhood in Whitstable (which becomes Blackstable) and his subsequent adventures. Carey is handicapped by a club foot as Maugham was handicapped by a severe stammer. The literary term for this biographical blend of fact and fiction is a ‘roman à clef’.
Cakes and Ale (1930) is considered to be Maugham’s most genial book – a comedy about the good-natured Rosie Driffield, the wife of a Grand Old Man of Letters whom most took to be based on Thomas Hardy; Alroy Kear, a self-promoting writer, was recognised as Hugh Walpole.
This first edition from Publishers Evergreen, would be a wonderful addition to any collection of first editions, and of this important 20th century writer.
As a resident of France, and faultlessly bilingual, Maugham was able to write this fascinating, first-hand account of an occupied country at war. With a degree of British ‘propaganda’ interwoven into the text, this is a collectable book for anyone who loves Maugham clean style of writing, and for any student of the war years on mainland Europe.
At less than £5 per book, this bundle offer of four vintage volumes of Maugham’s collected short stories, is remarkably good value. Nowadays, Maugham is probably best remembered for his prowess with short-form fiction. In the 1950’s, Hollywood made two anthologised films of his short stories, where Maugham himself makes a cinematic appearance introducing each story.
The short story is currently enjoying a huge revival of interest, particularly among the many thousands of creative writing students graduating from university courses on the subject. Anything by Maugham would make essential textbook material.
For the avid collector, a comprehensive collection of eighteen of Maugham’s best works including Of Human Bondage, Ashenden, Liza of Lambeth, Up At The Villa, The Moon and Sixpence, Creatures of Circumstance, Cosmopolitans, Christmas Holiday, Mrs. Craddock, Theatre, The Razor's Edge, Orientations, Ah King, First Person Singular, The Narrow Corner, The Trembling of a Leaf, and The Painted Veil, among others. Published by Heron Books in the 1960’s, this is also a visually attractive addition to the home library in distinctive red and gold livery.
Prominent contemporary writers of Maugham’s, such as Anthony Burgess, Ian Fleming and George Orwell all praised his writing craftmanship.
"(Maugham’s) the modern writer who has influenced me the most, whom I admire immensely for his power of telling a story straightforwardly and without frills". - George Orwell
No vintage collection of 20th century literature should be without representation from this highly esteemed gentleman of English letters.
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