Queen's Quorum 78 Somerset Maugham Ashenden 1928 1st UK DJ VG

Description: Queen's Quorum 78 Somerset Maugham Ashenden 1928 1st UK DJ VG First edition. first impression with "First published 1928" Somerset Maugham Ashenden or: The British Agent Publisher: London William Heinemann, 1928 Hardcover. Octavo. 7.25'' x 5'' [viii], 1-304 pages. Original full teal cloth, boards and spine lettered and stamped in gilt and black. Publisher's symbol stamped to front and rear covers. In unclipped pictorial dust jacket in black, blue and red. Dust jacket lacks price as was common with colonial editions. One of the most significant books in the history of mystery fiction, generally regarded as the first modern spy novel. Book condition: Very good- Corners lightly bumped. Spine edges bumped. Edgewear. "Colonial Edition" stamped on FEP. First and last few pages foxed with occasional foxing throughout text. Dust Jacket condition: Very Good dust wrapper with chips to top, bottom and edges of spine. some tiny nicks, mostly at the crown. "Colonial Edition" stamped on jacket spine. Toning to spine. Maugham's collection of interrelated stories about a writer employed as a spy in World War I, drawing from the author's personal experience in the British Secret Intelligence Service. Unlike most of the spy literature that was birthed out of 20th-century warfare, Maugham's perspective is influenced by his own experience in intelligence service, emphasizing the everyday tasks - watching, listening - that make up intelligence work, which remains a particularly important insight today. According to his biographer Selina Hastings, Maugham burned fourteen additional stories after Winston Churchill read them and insisted, they would be a breach of the Official Secrets Act. Basis for the Alfred Hitchcock film *The Secret Agent* with Madeleine Carroll, John Gielgud, and Peter Lorre. Scarce in a brilliant 1920s-era dust jacket.

Price: 1500 USD

Location: Arlington, Texas

End Time: 2024-03-01T03:00:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 10.4 USD