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First limited edition. One of 750 copies numbered and signed by Maugham, this being number 580. Publisher's red cloth with Maugham's symbol in blind to front board, black label to spine lettered and decorated in gilt, beveled edges, and top edge gilt. Very good or better, with light toning to spine, and some cocking to binding. Overall, a clean copy. The Razor's Edge centers around Larry Darrell, an American pilot in WWI who, after the war, decides that he will not settle into employment but will travel and "loaf." As Larry embarks on a journey of spiritual awakening through Europe and India, his wealthy friends experience devastating reversals of fortune. The Razor's Edge "was one of the first Western novels to propose non-Western solutions to society's ills," and anticipated the Beats' embrace of Eastern culture by nearly a decade (Britannica). The book's title comes from a translated verse from the Katha Upanishad: "The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; / thus the wise say the path to Salvation is hard."

First printing. Limited Edition of 750 of which this is no. 286. Signed by the author on the limitations page. Brick red cloth binding with beveled edges. Top page edges gilt. Very Good. Two small faint spots on front cover. Spine slightly darkened. Internally Fine. Lacks the slipcase.

The true First Edition published on 18 April 1944. The First American Trade Edition was published two days later, and the First English Edition was not published until July 1944. Number 158 of 750 numbered copies SIGNED on the limitation page by the author of this modern classic. Issued without a dustwrapper but with a slipcase, present here. Attractive bookplate on the front pastedown with slight offsetting to the front endpaper which has two small skimmed marks. A tight, clean copy, the spine evenly sunned with the black leather spine label intact with strong gilt lettering. Near Fine, without the glassine but with a Good slipcase, intact with splits

SIGNED limited edition. Precedes British edition. Copy #402 of 750 numbered and signed copies. Very close to fine in un-faded salmon-colored buckram with black leather title plate at spine and gilt top edge. Lacking unprinted glassine overlay and original plain card slipcase, remnants of which are present but in pieces lacking the back-strip. Title label has trifle rubbing at edges but presents nicely. Small vintage book shop sticker at head of rear paste-down. Lovely fresh copy of this perennial classic in supplied clear mylar wrapper. Basis for two film adaptations. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 341 pages

First trade edition, first printing after a limited edition of 750 copies. Signed by W. Somerset Maugham and inscribed to a former owner in the year of publication on the front free endpaper. Bound in publisher's black cloth with spine lettered in gilt. Very Good with wear and soiling to cloth, spine lettering rubbed and spine rolled. Remnants of a formerly adhered postcard to front pastedown, pages toned. In a Very Good unclipped dust jacket with a large chip at the head and some fraying the tail, thin stain visible from the blindside at tail. While copies of the signed limited edition on the market are more than abundant, inscribed first trade editions are rather uncommon.

The true First Edition published on 18 April 1944. The First American Trade Edition was published two days later, and the First English Edition was not published until July 1944. Number 89 of 750 numbered copies SIGNED on the limitation page by the author of this modern classic. Issued without a dustwrapper but with a slipcase, lacking here. Tight, clean copy with virtually none of the sunning and rubbing normally found to the spine. The black leather spine label is intact with strong gilt lettering. Near Fine, without the glassine or slipcase

A beautiful SIGNED LIMTED edition #479/750. The glassine wrapper is intact though it does show some aging and some light wrinkling. The slip case is intact though the rear spine edge paper has parted and there is upside down L shape sun fading to the edges. Shrinkwrapped for protection

First trade edition. 1 vols. 8vo. A prepublication copy sent by Stanford Cobb at Doubleday to Louis Cohn at House of Books, 16 December 1943, with a typed note, reading in part "The novel will not be published until April, but it is a book which we thought you would be particularly anxious to own, and we were fortunate in being able to get the book on press early." Nominally, the signed limited edition was published a couple of days before the trade edition, but this copy demontrates this to be a mere convention. The book was also inscribed by the author on the flyleaf in advance of publication: "For Louis Henry Cohn, W. Somerset Maugham, who knows? perhaps the author's last book. March 25, 1944" Capt. Louis Henry Cohn and Marguerite Cohn were proprietors of the House of Books, one of the first to specialize in modern literature, and in 1944 House of Books published Maugham's The Unconquered (Stott A62). The Razor's Edge was indeed Maugham's last novel. AN OUTSTANDING ASSOCIATION COPY OF A MAJOR WORK. Stott A63b Black cloth. Very good plus copy in worn dust jacket (torn across front panel, old repairs on verso)

Garden City, NY: Doubleday Doran & Company, 1944. Rare W. Somerset Maugham’s original ink sketch showing his dust jacket design concept for his greatest novel, The Razor’s Edge, executed on a blank Western Union telegram form, which was followed by the publisher pretty much to the letter. A striking piece of literary history demonstrating that the author’s intentions for the book were honored from the text to the jacket itself, including his signature Moroccan symbol, used on nearly all his books, including reprints; and an interesting example of a major author’s notion of self-representation. In his autobiographical book, The Summing Up, Maugham wrote of the symbol: “[My father] took it into his head to build a house to live in during the summer… He ordered a great quantity of glass on which he had engraved a sign against the Evil Eye which he had found in Morocco and which the reader may see on the cover of this book." In near fine condition. The entire piece measures 8.25 inches by 6 inches. An exceptional piece of literary history. "Written after much painstaking research into Eastern philosophy and mysticism, The Razor’s Edge is Maugham’s 20th-century manifesto for human fulfillment. In it he mercilessly satirizes American and European materialism, and holds up the figure of the spiritual seeker as a model for those searching for meaning in existence" (Stringer). It was twice adapted into film, first in 1946 starring Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney, and Herbert Marshall as Maugham and Anne Baxter as Sophie, and then a 1984 adaptation starring Bill Murray.

The true First Edition published on 18 April 1944. The First American Trade Edition was published two days later, and the First English Edition was not published until July 1944. Number 89 of 750 numbered copies SIGNED on the limitation page by the author of this modern classic. Issued without a dustwrapper but with a slipcase, lacking here.