online Maugham resources

Quite a number of WSM's works are available online, for those willing to read them in that format.

Here is the online books page

http://goo.gl/kFmBO

and another invaluable resource that even includes a link to Rogal's WSM encyclopedia

http://goo.gl/24Gnn

Here is the movie "Rain", with Joan Crawford starring. (Based on the short story by that title)

http://www.archive.org/details/rain1932

Audio recordings of Rain, On a Chinese Screen, and the Moon and Sixpence

http://goo.gl/3Yf0m

more amazing resources...

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=maugham

the entire movie The Beachcomber, made from a short story by WSM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al9hZ1ILVh0

Here is an online bibliography of books and articles about Maugham's life and his writing, with an introductory essay that puts the literary criticism in some perspective.

http://users.ipfw.edu/bassettt/docs/bassettmaugham.pdf

Open Library site, with many Maugham books listed

http://openlibrary.org/authors/OL33585A/W._Somerset_Maugham

Discussion of Maugham and The Razor's Edge

http://davidgodman.org/rteach/smaugham.shtml

another discussion of The Razor's Edge (I can't vouch for it however)

http://the-wanderling.com/razors_edge_ring.html

Photos of Saint Jean-Cap-Ferrat (where WSM had his estate)

http://www.provencebeyond.com/villphotos2/stjeancfP01.html

Danielx, just came across this thread...what a great collection of links! Thanks so much!

I have tried to find the estate on Google maps, and while I succeeded, it was a bit difficult. The problem is that there is a hotel that has taken the name of Maugham's estate as its own. That is NOT his, since his is on a different street entirely, and is under private ownership. However, the hotel has fooled a few travel writers into thinking it was Maugham's.

Some interesting interviews:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovEO7GSVj2U&feature=youtube_gdata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an0nVZQH0CU&feature=youtube_gdata

interresting... In response to the interviewer's statement that he found Moby Dick a bit of a bore, Maugham replies that "all novels are a BIT of a bore"

so when it comes to the 10 Greatest Novels, Maugham says he would have put Proust in instead of Henry Fielding, but could not due to copyright...

First chapter of Selina Hastings biography, The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/books/review/excerpt-the-secret-lives-of-somer...

The original typescript of WS Maugham's very first short story, Don Sebastian, is available for free from Google books. This issue of Cosmopolis is rare -- perhaps explaining why Loren Rothschild did not manage to acquire a copy for his collection (although collector Norman Moore did).

http://books.google.com/books?id=GuEjAQAAIAAJ

an admiring essay by Joseph Epstein (1991) entitled "Is it All Right to Read Somerset Maugham?" appears in his book Partial Payments. This part of the book can be accessed for free at Google Books

http://books.google.com/books?id=dG3wvI-DZ_MC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&...

An interesting resource about dustjackets. Resolution's too low, unfortunately, to appreciate many details - unless one's ready to pay $22 per scan:

http://www.google.de/imgres?um=1&hl=de&sa=N&biw=1280&bih=839&amp...

A freelance illustrator compares numerous editions of The Razor's Edge including some rarities such as a magazine publication and an edition in Hebrew:

http://principlesofpsychology.blogspot.de/2010_06_01_archive.html

wow, not bad! I think the 22 dollars gets you an actual (copied) dustjaciket with which to clothe your book.

I suspected I had misunderstood something. That's more reasonable, although these jackets look suspiciously perfect.

I think he retouches them, since he says he often has to work from chipped or torn copies. For us, a good source of information.

the original of Pro Patria in Pall Mall magazine, 1903!

http://archive.org/stream/pallmallmagazin03unkngoog#page/n208/mode/2up/search/ma...

the original of Marriages are Made in Heaven, as published in 1903 in Venture

http://archive.org/stream/ventureannualofa00housuoft#page/208/mode/2up

the original of Cousin Amy, in Pall Mall magazine

http://books.google.com/books?id=7RrnAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA307&dq=%22pall+mall+m...

Original versions of Maugham's second and third published stories, Cupid and the Vicar of Swale, and Lady Habart (Punch 1900). Do searches on each of the titles

http://books.google.com/books?id=P3BMAAAAYAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Preview of

W. Somerset Maugham: The Critical Heritage (Critical Heritage Series) by Anthony Curtis

http://books.google.com/books?id=nzpe2HLCktwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&...

I have uploaded some photos of the first appearance of "Red" in magazine form, Asia, April 1921. It makes for an interesting comparison with the version in book form published some half an year later. There are many subtle - and some not so subtle - differences. See here.

A little comparison between the US and UK editions of Strictly Personal. Included are (hopefully legible) photos of the letter to Eddie Marsh (UK edn. only) and the notorious chapter 15 (US edn. only) that was omitted by Heinemann.

List of errors in Wikipedia's List of Works by W. Somerset Maugham.

YouTube has some rather interesting stuff:

A short address by Maugham
(apparently outtakes from the movie Quartet, 1948).

The same as above, but with additional material from British Pathe.

The complete movie Encore (1951)
(contains "The Ant and the Grasshopper", "Winter Cruise" and "Gigolo and Gigolette", plus several addresses by Maugham; see my comment below the video for cues).

The complete movie Trio (1950)
(contains "Sanatorium", "Mr Know-All" and "The Verger"; see my comment below the video for cues).

The movie Quartet (1948) is also available, but only piece by piece:
"The Facts of Life" - part 1, part 2.
"The Kite" - part 1, part 2, part 3.
"The Colonel's Lady" - part 1, part 2, part 3.
"The Alien Corn" - part 1, part 2.

A tribute to Of Human Bondage on occasion of its centenary.

A short interview with Maugham (1946)

A tribute to Maugham on occasion of his 140th birthday (today is his 141st birthday).

Interview from NBC's The Wisdom Series, September 19, 1965
(starts at 8:50, very short but poignant; probably WSM's last interview, just a little over three months before his death).

The complete text of "Reflections on a Certain Book", Maugham's essay on Kant, aesthetics and everything else.

I need to come here more often; I hadn't seen these additions. Thanks, Waldstein!

An expanded and corrected version of Stott's definitive bibliography.

Selections of quotes:

The Making of a Saint (1898)
The Hero (1901)
Mrs Craddock (1902)
The Merry-go-round (1904)
The Land of the Blessed Virgin (1905)
The Magician (1908)
Of Human Bondage (1915)
The Moon and Sixpence (1919)
The Painted Veil (1925)
Cakes and Ale (1930)
The Gentleman in the Parlour (1930)
The Narrow Corner (1932)
Don Fernando (1935, rev. 1950)
Theatre (1937)
The Summing Up (1938)
Christmas Holiday (1939)
Books and You (1940)
France at War (1940)
Strictly Personal (1941)
The Hour before the Dawn (1942)
The Razor's Edge (1944)
Then and Now (1946)
A Writer's Notebook (1949)
The Vagrant Mood (1952)
Ten Novels and Their Authors (1954)
Points of View (1958)
Purely for my Pleasure (1962)
Looking Back (1962)

Plays (1903-32)
Short stories (1921-47)
Prefaces to his own works (1921-55)
Prefaces to works of others and miscellaneous pieces (1933-56)

>38 Waldstein: thanks for this, Waldstein

YouTube has many videos with Maugham quotes, but they lack sources and usually constitute a mishmash of genuine quotes from Maugham himself, words of his characters that may or may not reflect the author's views, and quite a few as yet unsourced and probably spurious "bon mots". I have tried to supply the sources in two cases (here and here), so you can get an idea what to expect.