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Ashenden
by Maugham, W. Somerset
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Harrogate, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Heinemann, 1928. A first edition, first printing published by Heinemann in 1928. A good book with light staining to the boards and wear to the edges. Two names to the front endpaper. With spotting to the pages and the page edges. In a dust wrapper which has benefitted from some professional restoration to the spine and spine tips. Some chipping and rubbing and light losses to the edges and corners. Ashenden, as Maugham's inscription describes, is a collection of stories based on Maugham's experiences working for the British Intelligence during the First World War. Alfred Hitchcock's 'Secret Agent' (1936) was loosely based on 'Ashenden', starring Madeleine Carroll, Peter Lorre, John Gielgud, and Robert Young. Graham Greene gave the film a poor review, characterizing it as a despoilment of Maugham's Ashenden and dismissing it as "a series of small 'amusing' melodramatic situations". The book is number 78 in the Queen's Quorum and is a Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone. Both of these lists notes how Ashenden was as an important landmark leap forward in spy fiction and an important influence on the writings of Ambler, Deighton, and especially Le Carre.
Synopsis
W. Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874. He began to study medicine in London but quit to focus exclusively on writing. In 1926 he bought a house in Cap Ferrat, France, which was to become a meeting place for a number of writers, artists and politicians. He died in 1965.
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Details
- Bookseller
- John Atkinson Books
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 14922
- Title
- Ashenden
- Author
- Maugham, W. Somerset
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Heinemann
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1928
Terms of Sale
John Atkinson Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
John Atkinson Books
Biblio member since 2008
Harrogate, North Yorkshire
About John Atkinson Books
Offering rare and unique signed books not available elsewhere with constant changes in stock. Our showroom holds 100 rare first editions
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Poor
- A book with significant wear and faults. A poor condition book is still a reading copy with the full text still readable. Any...
- Chipping
- A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
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