Maugham, W. Somerset (1874-1965). Mimeograph typescript for "Looking Back." London: Beaverbrook Newspapers Ltd., 1962.

4to. 131pp. Original wrappers, hand-titled on cover and spine (toning, 1-in. separations at front and back of spine tail); folding case. Provenance: Craig V. Showalter (bookplate).

THE ONLY ASSEMBLED FORM OF MAUGHAM'S LAST MEMOIR.

Work on Looking Back is believed to have begun in early 1959 and was completed the following year. It was first published in serial form in the June-August 1962 issues of Show Magazine, around which time Maugham is thought to have approached his publisher, William Heinemann, about printing it as a book. Upon reading it, however, chairman Alexander Frere was so disgusted by the content, in which Maugham defamed his ex-wife, Syrie and described in detail his sexual encounters with younger women, that he refused to publish it.

Sensing an opportunity, newspaper publisher Lord Beaverbrook persuaded Maugham to allow him to publish it in the Sunday Express; it appeared in two parts in the September and October 1962 issues.

Selections of W. Somerset Maugham from the Collection of Craig V. Showalter

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Maugham, W. Somerset (1874-1965). Mimeograph typescript for "Looking Back." London: Beaverbrook Newspapers Ltd., 1962.

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