Maugham, W. Somerset ~ The Mixture as Before : With the ‘Book Society Choice’ Wraparound Band

FIRST UK PRINTING : William Heinemann Ltd, London : 1940

The First UK printing published by William Heinemann Ltd, London in 1940. 8vo., blue cloth titled in gilt to upper board with publisher's device in black to lower right hand corner; lettered in gilt to backstrip with publisher's name to the foot; blue endpapers; upper edge stained blue; housed in both the original wrapper (8s. net) and the scarce 'Book Society Choice' wraparound Band; The BOOK with mild rubbing and pushing to spine ends and corners; small brown stain to the lower board; else a Very Good++, square copy; the pages evenly toned, as is common for the paper stock; a couple of small spots to the outer edge; Ex Libris book-plate of Daniel Henry Holmes Ingalls to the front paste-down; tiny bookseller sticker of The Grolier Book Shop tipped-in to the lower edge of the front free endpaper; The WRAPPER is in Very Good++ or better condition , evenly faded along the backstrip with some light rubbing at the edges and folds; the lower flap a little toned; with a couple of short closed tears. The wraparound BAND with a couple of short tears, more-so the spine portion. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. A collection of short stories by Maugham, following a previous volume, which had been reviewed by the Times as 'The Mixture as Before'. Maugham brought the comment forward to use as the present title, and intended the collection to be his last: "I have now written between eighty and ninety stories", he writes in his Foreword, "I shall not write any more". It seems, however, that the author simply could not help himself; a further five novels and five short story collections would follow this publication. Stories here include 'A Man with a Conscience', 'The Voice of the Turtle' and 'The Facts of Life', and are set in a variety of locations including the French Riviera, Capri, and Monte Carlo. Daniel Henry Holmes Ingalls (1916 – 1999) was a former Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good++
JACKET: Very Good++