W Somerset Maugham — Ashenden or the British Agent

London, William Heinemann, 1928. First edition. Cloth. The first edition, first impression of this archetype espionage novel based on the author's own experiences. A collection of interlinked stories by W Somerset Maugham, forming a novel loosely based on the author's experiences as a member of the British Intelligence in Europe during the First World War. The first edition, first impression of this work matching all issue points noted in Stott's A Bibliography of the Works of W. Somerset Maugham A37a. The work was adapted into a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, titled Secret Agent.  From the library at Julian Park, Hertfordshire, belonging to Audrey Pleydell-Bouverie. Audrey was the youngest daughter of an Anglo-American lumber and steel millionaire, sister to Edward James, a key figure in the Surrealist movement, and the illegitimate granddaughter of King Edward VII. She was an English socialite known for her beauty and for charming various wealthy men, she was included in The Book of Beauty by Cecil Beaton. A patron of the arts, she assisted Viscount Carlow financially in the publication of limited editions of numerous works by leading literary figures such as T E Lawrence, James Joyce, Wyndham Lewis, and others. A hedonistic pursuer, she was recognised as one of the 'Bright Young Things&apos.  In the original publisher's full cloth binding. Externally sound with some shelf wear and bumping to the head and tail of the spine, with minor chipping. With a light soiling to the boards. With a blank bookplate to the front pastedown. Internally, firmly bound. With a minor faint spotting scattered throughout, particularly to the first and last few leaves. Good . Ill.: None. Good .