8vo. Original parchment-backed blue boards [binding variant ii] gilt, spine lettered in gilt, uncut and unopened; DUST JACKET (some splitting along flap fore-edges, faint restoration to spine ends and corners); folding case. Provenance: Gerald Kelly (1879-1972), British painter (author's inscription); sold, Sotheby's, 9 December 1968, lot 492; Craig V. Showalter (bookplate).

FIRST EDITION. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY MAUGHAM TO GERALD KELLY on front free endpaper. Kelly was a British painter best known for his portraits and a close friend of Maugham. Kelly painted Maugham multiple times, including the famous 1911 painting "The Jester" and the 1932-37 portrait "A Glass of Sherry in the Studio." Maugham, in turn, featured Kelly as a character in some of his stories. The Land of the Blessed Virgin was Maugham's first travel book.

IN THE EXCEEDINGLY RARE DUST JACKET: This is the only copy that we could locate with the original dust jacket. Stott A8.