My Maugham Collection

Jack Straw (1912) by W. Somerset Maugham - First Edition

Jack Straw (London: Heinemann, 1912)
Jack Straw, a play by W. Somerset Maugham, first performed on 26 March 1908 at the Vaudeville Theatre, later revived in 1923, and more recently saw the light of day again at the Elmwood Theatre as a production of the Linden House Theatre Company, was written in 1905, after Lady Frederick was repeatedly turned down by managers and out of frustration Maugham changed his strategy of writing a part to attract a leading lady to a leading man instead.

However, the…

Half A Life by V.S. Naipaul - The Story of Willie Chandran

Naipaul, V. S. Half A Life. New York: Vintage, 2001.
Needless to say, I was drawn to V. S. Naipaul’s novel by its reference to W. Somerset Maugham.
The protagonist’s name is Willie Chandran, with Somerset as his middle name. The story is that by a series of twisted circumstances Willie’s father became a mendicant with a vow of silence when Maugham was visiting India to gather materials, which are later included in The Razor’s Edge.

The circumstances have nothing at all to do with spiritualit…

The Constant Wife (1926) by W. Somerset Maugham

The Constant Wife. A Comedy in Three Acts (New York: George H. Doran, 1926)
The Constant Wife, a play by W. Somerset Maugham, was first produced on 1 November 1926 at the Ohio Theatre, Cleveland. Although the copyright states 1926, Stott registers April 1927 as the publishing date.

Constance the Constant But Unfaithful Wife
Constance Middleton, beautiful and equally tasteful, is married to John Middleton the surgeon. When the play opens, her mother Mrs. Culver and her sister Martha are busily…