signed first edition 1 vols. 12mo
1949 · Garden City, N.Y.
by Maugham, William Somerset
Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, 1949. First American edition. 1 vols. 12mo. Black cloth. Upper cover slightly stained, else very good, in soiled and chipped dust jacket. First American edition. 1 vols. 12mo. Inscribed. Inscribed to the wife of New Yor Post columnist, Leonard Lyons, who was for many years one of New York's most prominent journalists. His column in the New York Post, "The Lyons' Den" was widely read and immensely popular during the many years since its commencement in 1934. Unlike many of his colleagues, however, Lyons was highly respected for his fairness and highmindedness. According to Ralph Blumenthal in STORK CLUB (Boston, 2000), "Lyons didn't believe in writing about romances and divorces. Nor, it was said, did he ever violate a confidence ... He corresponded with world leaders and literary giants ... " (p. 131); and he counted among his friends celebrities as diverse as Ernest Hemingway (at whose funeral Lyons was pallbearer), Marilyn Monroe, and Orson Welles.
Maugham has inscribed the flyleaf: "For Sylvia Lyons / W. Somerset Maugham. (Inventory #: 40822)
Maugham has inscribed the flyleaf: "For Sylvia Lyons / W. Somerset Maugham. (Inventory #: 40822)