# Is "Cakes and Ale" by W. Somerset Maugham a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham (William Heinemann, 1930) is identified by: First edition published by Heinemann in September 1930, full title 'Cakes and Ale: or, The Skeleton in the Cupboard'. UK Heinemann is the true first (September 1930).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition published by Heinemann in September 1930, full title 'Cakes and Ale: or, The Skeleton in the Cupboard'
- The recognized first-state point is the missing letter 't' in the word 'won't' on page 147; per Stott's bibliography both the missing-'t' state and the corrected state occur within the first printing and were issued without established precedence, so neither commands priority
- There was no signed limited issue of the 1930 trade edition
- Publisher imprint reads William Heinemann
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | W. Somerset Maugham |
| Publisher | William Heinemann |
| Year | 1930 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition published by Heinemann in September 1930, full title 'Cakes and Ale: or, The Skeleton in the Cupboard' |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition published by Heinemann in September 1930, full title 'Cakes and Ale: or, The Skeleton in the Cupboard'. The recognized first-state point is the missing letter 't' in the word 'won't' on page 147; per Stott's bibliography both the missing-'t' state and the corrected state occur within the first printing and were issued without established precedence, so neither commands priority. There was no signed limited issue of the 1930 trade edition.

## Is this the true first?
UK Heinemann is the true first (September 1930). The US Doubleday, Doran edition followed in 1930 and states 'First Edition' on the copyright page.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The signed limited edition of 1000 copies illustrated by Graham Sutherland is a later 1954 edition, not a point on the 1930 first. The two page-147 text states of the 1930 first carry no precedence per Stott.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Cakes and Ale* by W. Somerset Maugham a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/cakes-and-ale
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.