The sacred flame. A play in three acts

Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1928. FIRST EDITION. Original black publisher’s cloth, paper labels to top cover and spine; uncut. First edition. This play was written after Maugham had made the decision to give up writing plays. He apparently had a few ideas left; this is the first of his last four, the others being The breadwinner, For services rendered and Sheppey. An experiment, Maugham chose to use formal literary dialogue rather than colloquial speech. When the play opened in New York it was not well received; however it enjoyed success when it was later produced in London. Rothschild & Whiteman, V, 155; Stott, A38a; NCBEL, 4, 664.