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Ashenden or The British Agent -
William Somerset Maugham
1928 - William Heinemann, London - First Edition
A fine copy in superb fresh example of the scarce, delicate, and striking dust jacket, without restoration, conservation, or repair.
Somerset Maugham's highly influential collection of espionage thrillers based on his own experiences in British Intelligence during the First World War.
Considered the ‘the archetype of the espionage novel’, inspiring many later writers in the genre including Ian Fleming, John Le Carré, Graham Greene, Eric Ambler, and Len Deighton among others.
A Haycraft-Queen cornerstone book. Two of the stories in Ashenden were used by Alfred Hitchcock as the basis for The Secret Agent.
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Price HK$ 60,000
1928 - William Heinemann, London - First Edition
A fine copy in superb fresh example of the scarce, delicate, and striking dust jacket, without restoration, conservation, or repair.Somerset Maugham's highly influential collection of espionage thrillers based on his own experiences in British Intelligence during the First World War.
Considered the ‘the archetype of the espionage novel’, inspiring many later writers in the genre including Ian Fleming, John Le Carré, Graham Greene, Eric Ambler, and Len Deighton among others.
A Haycraft-Queen cornerstone book. Two of the stories in Ashenden were used by Alfred Hitchcock as the basis for The Secret Agent.
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Price HK$ 60,000
Of Human Bondage -
William Somerset Maugham
1915 - George H. Doran Company, New York - First Edition, First Issue
A superb example, the first edition of Maugham’s masterpiece, and the most autobiographical of his works. The coming-of-age story of Philip Carey, a sensitive young man consumed by an unrequited and self-destructive love.
One of 4,336 copies of the first edition published on 12 August 1915. First issue with misprint ‘help him’ on page 257 line 4.
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Price HK$ 35,000
1915 - George H. Doran Company, New York - First Edition, First Issue
A superb example, the first edition of Maugham’s masterpiece, and the most autobiographical of his works. The coming-of-age story of Philip Carey, a sensitive young man consumed by an unrequited and self-destructive love.One of 4,336 copies of the first edition published on 12 August 1915. First issue with misprint ‘help him’ on page 257 line 4.
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Price HK$ 35,000
On a Chinese Screen -
William Somerset Maugham
1922 - William Heinemann, London - First English Edition
First edition of Maugham’s collection of sketches on China.
Maugham spent the winter months of 1919 travelling fifteen hundred miles up the Yangtze river, with what are clearly long stops in Shanghai and Hong Kong amongst other treaty ports. Always more interested in people than places, he noted down acute and finely crafted sketches of those he met on countless scraps of paper.
In the resulting collection we encounter Western missionaries, army officers and company managers who are culturally out of their depth in the immensity of the Chinese civilisation. Maugham keenly observes, and gently ridicules, their dogged and oblivious persistence with the life they know. In total 58 sketches.
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Price HK$ 15,000
1922 - William Heinemann, London - First English Edition
First edition of Maugham’s collection of sketches on China.Maugham spent the winter months of 1919 travelling fifteen hundred miles up the Yangtze river, with what are clearly long stops in Shanghai and Hong Kong amongst other treaty ports. Always more interested in people than places, he noted down acute and finely crafted sketches of those he met on countless scraps of paper.
In the resulting collection we encounter Western missionaries, army officers and company managers who are culturally out of their depth in the immensity of the Chinese civilisation. Maugham keenly observes, and gently ridicules, their dogged and oblivious persistence with the life they know. In total 58 sketches.
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Price HK$ 15,000
The Casuarina Tree - Six Stories -
William Somerset Maugham
1926 - William Heinemann Ltd., London - First Edition
First edition in the scarce dust jacket designed by Ralph Keene
Maugham’s collection of short stories by set in the Federated Malay States during the 1920s, including one of his most aclaimed ‘The Outsider’.
by W. Somerset Maugham. The stories are loosely based on Maugham's experiences traveling in the region for about a year
With a short introduction entitled ‘The Casuarina Tree’ followed by the stories – ‘Before the Party’, ‘P. & O.’, ‘The Outstation’, ‘The Force of Circumstance’, ‘The Yellow Streak’, and ‘The Letter’.
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Price HK$ 40,000
1926 - William Heinemann Ltd., London - First Edition
First edition in the scarce dust jacket designed by Ralph KeeneMaugham’s collection of short stories by set in the Federated Malay States during the 1920s, including one of his most aclaimed ‘The Outsider’.
by W. Somerset Maugham. The stories are loosely based on Maugham's experiences traveling in the region for about a year
With a short introduction entitled ‘The Casuarina Tree’ followed by the stories – ‘Before the Party’, ‘P. & O.’, ‘The Outstation’, ‘The Force of Circumstance’, ‘The Yellow Streak’, and ‘The Letter’.
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Price HK$ 40,000
Cakes and Ale - or - The Skeleton in the Cupboard -
William Somerset Maugham
1930 - William Heinemann Ltd, London - First Edition
“Enjoy yourself while you have the chance, I say; we shall all be dead in a hundred years and what will anything matter then?”
First edition, in outstanding example of the dust jacket, of Somerset Maugham's classic satirical novel; a story of literary poseurs, fame, hypocrisy and freedom, narrated by novelist William Ashenden, Maugham's alter-ego who had already appeared in 'Ashenden', the fictional account of his Secret Service work in World War I.
The book I like best is Cakes and Ale. It was an amusing book to write.
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Price HK$ 7,000
1930 - William Heinemann Ltd, London - First Edition
“Enjoy yourself while you have the chance, I say; we shall all be dead in a hundred years and what will anything matter then?” First edition, in outstanding example of the dust jacket, of Somerset Maugham's classic satirical novel; a story of literary poseurs, fame, hypocrisy and freedom, narrated by novelist William Ashenden, Maugham's alter-ego who had already appeared in 'Ashenden', the fictional account of his Secret Service work in World War I.
The book I like best is Cakes and Ale. It was an amusing book to write.
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Price HK$ 7,000
The Razor s Edge - A Novel -
William Somerset Maugham
1944 - William Heinemann Ltd, London - First English Edition
A fine first edition of one of Maugham's most popular works, twice adapted for the big screen, the first of which was Oscar-winning starring Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney and John Payne.
‘The Razor’s Edge’ follows the life of Larry Darrell, a pilot in World War I who longs to discover some transcendent meaning for human life, and for his life in particular.
Maugham himself appears in the novel, and there is some debate as to whether Darrell is a thinly disguised portrait of Christopher Isherwood.
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Price HK$ 8,000
1944 - William Heinemann Ltd, London - First English Edition
A fine first edition of one of Maugham's most popular works, twice adapted for the big screen, the first of which was Oscar-winning starring Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney and John Payne.‘The Razor’s Edge’ follows the life of Larry Darrell, a pilot in World War I who longs to discover some transcendent meaning for human life, and for his life in particular.
Maugham himself appears in the novel, and there is some debate as to whether Darrell is a thinly disguised portrait of Christopher Isherwood.
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Price HK$ 8,000
The Trembling of a Leaf: Little Stories of the South Sea Islands -
William Somerset Maugham
1921 - William Heinemann, London - First English Edition, first issue
A collection of eight short stories inspired by Somerset Maugham’s travels to the Pacific to research his novel ‘The Moon and Sixpence’, based on the life of Paul Gauguin.
Includes one of his most recognised stories, ‘Rain’, which was adapted to the stage by John Colton and Clemence Randolph in 1922.
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Price HK$ 2,500
1921 - William Heinemann, London - First English Edition, first issue
A collection of eight short stories inspired by Somerset Maugham’s travels to the Pacific to research his novel ‘The Moon and Sixpence’, based on the life of Paul Gauguin.Includes one of his most recognised stories, ‘Rain’, which was adapted to the stage by John Colton and Clemence Randolph in 1922.
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Price HK$ 2,500
Black Mischief -
Evelyn Waugh
1932 - Chapman and Hall Ltd., London - First Edition
‘'We, Seth, Emperor of Azania, Chief of the Chiefs of Sakuyu, Lord of Wanda and Tyrant of the Seas, Bachelor of the Arts of Oxford University, being in this the twenty-fourth year of our life, summoned by the wisdom of Almighty God and the unanimous voice of our people to the throne of our ancestors, do hereby proclaim . . .' Seth paused in his dictation and gazed out across the harbour where in the fresh breeze of early morning the last dhow was setting sail for the open sea.
A superb copy, in a lovely example of the dust jacket which is notoriously prone to both toning, and also fading of the red vignettes on the spine and front panel.
First edition of Waugh’s satyrical novel set in Africa. Chronicling the efforts of the English-educated Emperor Seth, assisted by a fellow Oxford graduate, Basil Seal, to modernise his kingdom. Believed to have been a satire on Abyssinia, where Waugh spent time as a reporter, and Haile Selassie, although Waugh denied this.
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Price HK$ 9,000
1932 - Chapman and Hall Ltd., London - First Edition
‘'We, Seth, Emperor of Azania, Chief of the Chiefs of Sakuyu, Lord of Wanda and Tyrant of the Seas, Bachelor of the Arts of Oxford University, being in this the twenty-fourth year of our life, summoned by the wisdom of Almighty God and the unanimous voice of our people to the throne of our ancestors, do hereby proclaim . . .' Seth paused in his dictation and gazed out across the harbour where in the fresh breeze of early morning the last dhow was setting sail for the open sea.A superb copy, in a lovely example of the dust jacket which is notoriously prone to both toning, and also fading of the red vignettes on the spine and front panel.
First edition of Waugh’s satyrical novel set in Africa. Chronicling the efforts of the English-educated Emperor Seth, assisted by a fellow Oxford graduate, Basil Seal, to modernise his kingdom. Believed to have been a satire on Abyssinia, where Waugh spent time as a reporter, and Haile Selassie, although Waugh denied this.
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Price HK$ 9,000