Mrs. Craddock (1955)

Mrs. Craddock (1955)

Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965

William Heinemann

1955

From the front flap of the dust jacket:

"Mr Somerset Maugham has written a Preface to this new edition of his second novel, Mrs. Craddock, which has not been in print for many years.

"He wrote it in 1900, he explains, and because it was thought 'extremely daring', it was refused by several publishers, among them William Heinemann.

"At long last, however, Mr. Robertson Nicoll, himself on the staff of a publisher, prevailed upon Mr. Heinemann to give the manuscript more careful and personal attention, with the result that the latter reconsidered the decision, provided that passages described as 'shocking' were deleted.

"Thus Mrs. Craddock appeared in 1902, to be reissued in the following year and again in 1908.

"Another edition, this time printed from the original manuscript, was published in 1938. 'I had not the patience to compare the manuscript with the printed copy', Mr Maugham recalls. 'I made, however, certain corrections.'

"Mrs Craddock was soon lost sight of in the chaos of the war years, and this final and definitive edition now takes its place.

"Mr Maugham explains that he has not made many changes in the manuscript because he wishes to preserve the flavour of an early work, 'a faithful picture of life in a corner of England during the last years of the nineteenth century', when life and behaviour were judged by very different standards.

"He ends his preface on a personal note. As he contemplates this novel, he remembers the young man who wrote it half a century ago, and he does not approve of him. 'If I met him now, I should take an immediate dislike to him.' Nevertheless, Mrs Craddock has been selected by an eminent German critic for special and significant study in a survey of Mr Maugham's fiction, and we can therefore be grateful for the author's co-operation now in making it available to generations to whom it will be a new novel."

Unfortunately I can't seem to read the signature on the pictorial dust jacket; the different options I came up with didn't render any result of known persons. When I have more information, I will update accordingly.

As for the edition itself, this would appear to be the final definitive version. Maugham wrote a special preface.

Collation:
p. [i] half-title, p. [ii] Books by W. Somerset Maugham, p. [iii] title, p. [iv] copyright, p. v–xi PREFACE, 339 pages

19 x 12.5 cm, hardback

Marriage -- Fiction.

Stott A5e

MMC_N_MC1955WH

Text

Public domain in countries with copyright law life plus 50

en

Revised and reset, most probably from the 1938 edition

Collected edition revised and reset

London

Print book

Novel

#9C0A37 (Shiraz)

Pictorial dust jacket, signed

2013

15s. in 1955