Inscribed by the author: “For Michael, with best wishes from Robin 18 April ’61”. The recipient may well have been the journalist Michael Davidson who was a close friend of Maugham since 1947. In his memoir The World the Flesh and Myself he rather immodestly writes “I’ve discussed with Robin most of his books during the gestation and read them in manuscript; I’m a pretty good critic, I think: having an eye for verity and a mind that spots anomalies and solecisms as a mine-detector metal. He’s had a lot of my advice in these 15 years.” The Servant, which has the double target of Britain’s class system (Maugham succeeded to the family Viscountcy) and repressed homosexual desire (not that there was much repression in either Robin or Michael’s cases) has proved to be his most lasting work, not least because of its brilliant film adaptation - script by Harold Pinter, directed by Joseph Losey and starring Dirk Bogarde in his first “out” role. An excellent copy in dust jacket, slightly worn at the edges.