W. Somerset Maugham

When W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM was asked to select and edit the ten best novels in world literature, he chose three novels from France, two from Russia, one from America, and four from England, and for each book he wrote an introduction. In successive issues the Atlantic has published his appraisals of Flaubert, Fielding, Balzac, Emily Brontë, Dostoevsky, Stendhal, Jane Austen, and Herman Melville. The set of the Ten Best Novels, edited and cut by Mr. Maugham, will be published by the John C. Winston Company this year.

“It is because Herman Melville created him that, notwithstanding the reservations one may make, Moby Dick is a great, a very great book.”

When W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM was asked to select and edit the ten best novels in world literature, he chose three novels from France, two from Russia, one from America, and four from England, and for each book he wrote an introduction. In successive issues of the Atlantic he has appraised Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, Fielding’s Tom Jones, Balzac’s Le Fère Goriot, Emily Bronte’s Wnthering Heights, The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, and Stendhal’s The Red and the Black. The set of the Ten Best Novels, edited and cut by Mr. Maugham, will be published by the John C. Winston Company this year.

When W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM was asked to select and edit the ten best novels in world literature, he chose three novels from France, two from Russia, one from America, and four from England, and for each book he wrote an introduction. His appraisal of Flaubert’s Madame Bovary we printed in November, his essay on Fielding and Tom Jones in December; in January he discussed Balzac and Le Père Goriot, in February the Brontës and Wuthering Heights, and in March Dostoevsky and The Brothers Karamazov. The set of the Ten Best Novels will be published by the John C. Winston Company.

When W. SOMERSET MAUGH AM was asked to select and edit the ten best novels in world literature, he thought at once of Balzac. Dickens, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky; then the choice became difficult. Finally he chose three novels from France, two from Russia, one from America, and four from England, and for each book he wrote an introduction. His appraisal of Flaubert’s Madame Bovary we printed in November, his essay on Fielding and Tom Jones in December; in January he discussed Balzac, and Le Père Goriot, and in February the Brontës and Wuthering Heights. The set of the Ten Best Novels will be published by the John C. Winston Company.

When W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM was asked to select and edit the ten best novels in world literature, he thought at once of Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoi, and Dostoevski; then the choice became difficult. Finally he chose three novels from France, two from Russia, one from America, and four from England, and for each book he wrote an introduction. His appraisal of Flaubert’s Madame Bovary we printed in November; his essay on Fielding and Tom Jones in December; and in the January issue, he discussed Balzac and Le Père Goriot. The set of the Ten Best Novels will be published by the John C. Winston Company.

When W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM was asked to select and edit the ten best novels in world literature, he thought at once of Stendhal, Dickens, Tolstoi, and Dostoevski; then the choice became difficult. Finally he chose three novels from France, two from Russia, one from America, and four from England, and for each book he wrote an introduction. His appraisal of Flaubert’s Madame Bovary we printed in November; his essay on Fielding and Tom Jones in December; his craftsmanlike discussion of the other novels will follow in successive issues. The set of the Ten Best Novels will be published by the John C. Winston Company.

When W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM was asked to select and edit the ten best novels in world literature, he thought at once of Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoi, and Dostoevski; then the choice became difficult. Finally he chose three novels from France, two from Russia, one American, and four from England, and for each book he wrote an introduction. Mr. Maugham spent much of his boyhood in France; he served as an intern in a London hospital; and since Of Human Bondage has scored repeated successes with his books and plays. His set of the Ten Best Novels will be published in 1948 by the John C. Winston Company.

When W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM,England’s foremost novelist, was asked to name the ten best novels in world literature, he thought at once of Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoi, and Dostoevski; then the choice became difficult. For his list he chose three novels from France, two from Russia, one from America, and four from England, and thereupon resolved to write an essay in appraisal of each. Mr. Maugham spent much of his boyhood in France; he served as an intern in a London hospital, and since Of Human Bondage has scored repeated successes with his books and plays. It is with such experience that he makes this appraisal of the master craftsmen in fiction.