# Is "The Magician" by W. Somerset Maugham a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham (William Heinemann, 1908) is identified by: First edition, William Heinemann (London), 1908, the true first. The UK Heinemann edition of 1908 is the true first; the US Duffield & Company edition followed in 1909 (the American issue is in pictorial slate-blue cloth stamped on the front and spine).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, William Heinemann (London), 1908, the true first
- The magician Oliver Haddo is Maugham's caricature of Aleister Crowley, who was so incensed that he reviewed the book in Vanity Fair over the byline 'Oliver Haddo.' The Heinemann issue precedes the first US edition by a full year
- Publisher imprint reads William Heinemann
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | W. Somerset Maugham |
| Publisher | William Heinemann |
| Year | 1908 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, William Heinemann (London), 1908, the true first |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, William Heinemann (London), 1908, the true first. The magician Oliver Haddo is Maugham's caricature of Aleister Crowley, who was so incensed that he reviewed the book in Vanity Fair over the byline 'Oliver Haddo.' The Heinemann issue precedes the first US edition by a full year.

## Is this the true first?
The UK Heinemann edition of 1908 is the true first; the US Duffield & Company edition followed in 1909 (the American issue is in pictorial slate-blue cloth stamped on the front and spine).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue. The principal precedence point is simply US versus UK: the 1909 Duffield American first is a year later than the Heinemann first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Magician* by W. Somerset Maugham a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-magician
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.