[Discussion] Collected Short Stories of Somerset Maugham

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Lukas Bystricky

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Oct 13, 2022, 4:21:55 PM10/13/22

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Following a discussion yesterday, I put together a spreadsheet of the short stories of Somerset Maugham. Luckily this information was compiled elsewhere so it was just a matter of putting everything in a spreadsheet. Looks like some of the earlier stories will need transcription, and many of the later stories aren't out of copyright.

He has few themed collections, mostly for stories from the South Pacific. Otherwise his collections are more scattered, for example a collection of stories published in Cosmopolitan Magazine (yes that Cosmo). The exception is the Ashenden spy stories.

So for our purposes, I don't know if there's necessarily a good separation. Possibly "South Pacific", Ashenden, and then everything else.

Lukas Bystricky

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Oct 14, 2022, 1:59:25 PM10/14/22

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Actually thinking about this some more, maybe the following divisions make sense:

1. Tropical Stories

The Trembling of a Leaf (6 stories, 1921)
The Casuarina Tree (6 stories, 1926)
Ah King (6 stories, 1933; stories published between 1927 and 1931)

2. Ashenden (16 stories, 1927 (to be verified))

3. Short Fiction

Orientations (6 stories, 1899)
Cosmopolitans (30 stories, 1936; stories published between 1908 and 1929)
Six Stories in First Person Singular (6 stories, 1931; published between 1924 and 1931)
The Mixture as Before (10 stories, 1940; stories published between 1933 and 1939)
Creatures of Circumstance (15 stories, 1947; stories published between 1934 and 1947)
Assorted Others (16 stories)

Does that sound reasonable?

Alex Cabal

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Oct 18, 2022, 5:25:00 PM10/18/22

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OK, I think that proposal makes sense. South Pacific, Ashenden, and
everything else. It turns out we already have On A Chinese Screen but
since that one also appears to be uniquely themed then we can leave it
as a separate ebook.

On 10/13/22 3:21 PM, Lukas Bystricky wrote:
> Following a discussion yesterday, I put together a spreadsheet

> <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KjbjEY3qz3pluw8cFPaKu-uUkCyb1aGuG6r4Xs_eT_E/edit?usp=sharing> of the short stories of Somerset Maugham. Luckily this information was compiled elsewhere <https://www.mymaughamcollection.com/p/free-ebook-short-stories.html#ss> so it was just a matter of putting everything in a spreadsheet. Looks like some of the earlier stories will need transcription, and many of the later stories aren't out of copyright.

>
> He has few themed collections, mostly for stories from the South
> Pacific. Otherwise his collections are more scattered, for example a
> collection of stories published in Cosmopolitan Magazine (yes

> /that/ Cosmo). The exception is the Ashenden spy stories.

>
> So for our purposes, I don't know if there's necessarily a good
> separation. Possibly "South Pacific", Ashenden, and then everything else.
>

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Lukas Bystricky

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Oct 22, 2022, 2:10:06 AM10/22/22

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Great, I'll try and start with the Ashenden stories then. Just want to verify that these scans are OK for a January release. The copyright lists 1927, but also later dates. Is that still fine for us?

Screen Shot 2022-10-22 at 8.05.57 AM.png

Alex Cabal

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Oct 22, 2022, 12:43:51 PM10/22/22

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Yes, that's fine

On 10/22/22 1:10 AM, Lukas Bystricky wrote:
> Great, I'll try and start with the Ashenden stories then. Just want to
> verify that these scans

> <https://archive.org/details/ashendenorbritis00maug/page/n5/mode/2up>

> are OK for a January release. The copyright lists 1927, but also later
> dates. Is that still fine for us?

> Screen Shot 2022-10-22 at 8.05.57 AM.png
>
> On Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 11:25:00 PM UTC+2 Alex Cabal wrote:
>
> OK, I think that proposal makes sense. South Pacific, Ashenden, and
> everything else. It turns out we already have On A Chinese Screen but
> since that one also appears to be uniquely themed then we can leave it
> as a separate ebook.
>
> On 10/13/22 3:21 PM, Lukas Bystricky wrote:
> > Following a discussion yesterday, I put together a spreadsheet
> >

> <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KjbjEY3qz3pluw8cFPaKu-uUkCyb1aGuG6r4Xs_eT_E/edit?usp=sharing <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KjbjEY3qz3pluw8cFPaKu-uUkCyb1aGuG6r4Xs_eT_E/edit?usp=sharing>> of the short stories of Somerset Maugham. Luckily this information was compiled elsewhere <https://www.mymaughamcollection.com/p/free-ebook-short-stories.html#ss <https://www.mymaughamcollection.com/p/free-ebook-short-stories.html#ss>> so it was just a matter of putting everything in a spreadsheet. Looks like some of the earlier stories will need transcription, and many of the later stories aren't out of copyright.

> >
> > He has few themed collections, mostly for stories from the South
> > Pacific. Otherwise his collections are more scattered, for example a
> > collection of stories published in Cosmopolitan Magazine (yes
> > /that/ Cosmo). The exception is the Ashenden spy stories.
> >
> > So for our purposes, I don't know if there's necessarily a good
> > separation. Possibly "South Pacific", Ashenden, and then
> everything else.
> >
> > --
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> send
> > an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
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> > To view this discussion on the web visit
> >

>
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Lukas Bystricky

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Nov 2, 2022, 4:30:12 PM11/2/22

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In the scans I'm using Ashenden is split into 16 stories, however in later editions the stories are combined into 6. Is there a preference for how we split them?

Alex Cabal

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Nov 2, 2022, 10:48:33 PM11/2/22

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Well, I don't really know. You're going to have to give a little more
detail - how were they combined? Why? What do you think?

> > >
> > > He has few themed collections, mostly for stories from the South
> > > Pacific. Otherwise his collections are more scattered, for
> example a
> > > collection of stories published in Cosmopolitan Magazine (yes
> > > /that/ Cosmo). The exception is the Ashenden spy stories.
> > >
> > > So for our purposes, I don't know if there's necessarily a good
> > > separation. Possibly "South Pacific", Ashenden, and then
> > everything else.
> > >
> > > --
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > > Groups "Standard Ebooks" group.
> > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
> > send
> > > an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> > > <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
> > > To view this discussion on the web visit
> > >
> >

> >
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Lukas Bystricky

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Nov 3, 2022, 3:07:44 AM11/3/22

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Well it was Maugham's decision to combine them (presumably, since it was re-published during his lifetime in his collected works), but I'm not sure he explained it anywhere. Some of them were first published in periodicals, so I suppose length was more of a consideration originally. What I can say is that I read the six-part division several years ago and it felt quite natural to me, in that each story was a distinct episode (it was much later turned into a BBC miniseries and some of the combined stories were turned into literal episodes). Given that, I'd prefer to go with the later splitting.

Alex Cabal

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Nov 4, 2022, 9:54:51 PM11/4/22

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OK, let's do that then. Thanks!

> > > >
> > > > He has few themed collections, mostly for stories from the South
> > > > Pacific. Otherwise his collections are more scattered, for
> > example a
> > > > collection of stories published in Cosmopolitan Magazine (yes
> > > > /that/ Cosmo). The exception is the Ashenden spy stories.
> > > >
> > > > So for our purposes, I don't know if there's necessarily a good
> > > > separation. Possibly "South Pacific", Ashenden, and then
> > > everything else.
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the
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> it,
> > > send
> > > > an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> > > > <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
> > > > To view this discussion on the web visit
> > > >
> > >
> >

> > >
> > > --
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> > >
> >

Lukas Bystricky

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Nov 11, 2022, 12:19:59 PM11/11/22

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A couple questions:

1. In the Maugham's collected short stories the original 16 Ashenden stories have been combined into 6, with one exception. "The Flip of a Coin" has been dropped entirely, despite it having the same characters and referencing events in "His Excellency". Should I add it to that story, along with a production note?

2. modernize-spelling modernizes Tolstoy and Dostoevsky; should it also modernize Chekhov? Maugham uses two variants Chekov, and Chekoff. The latter might not technically be a sound-alike variant, and Maugham uses it only in dialogue spoken by a native Russian speaker.

Alex Cabal

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Nov 12, 2022, 1:07:36 PM11/12/22

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I thought we had sorted out the Ashenden stories arrangement. Now
there's a new story that wasn't combined?

We would like his entire corpus. If now there's a stray story, then
perhaps we should just keep them all separate as they were originally
published.

Yes, you can modernize those spellings of Chekhov. There were lots of
different ways to transliterate Russian names/words so there's a wide
variety of unique ways to spell them.

> > > > >
> > > > > He has few themed collections, mostly for stories from the
> South
> > > > > Pacific. Otherwise his collections are more scattered, for
> > > example a
> > > > > collection of stories published in Cosmopolitan Magazine (yes
> > > > > /that/ Cosmo). The exception is the Ashenden spy stories.
> > > > >
> > > > > So for our purposes, I don't know if there's necessarily a
> good
> > > > > separation. Possibly "South Pacific", Ashenden, and then
> > > > everything else.
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the
> > Google
> > > > > Groups "Standard Ebooks" group.
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> > it,
> > > > send
> > > > > an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> > > > > <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
> > > > > To view this discussion on the web visit
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >

> > > >
> > > > --
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> > > >
> > >
> >

Lukas Bystricky

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Nov 12, 2022, 4:41:17 PM11/12/22

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I understand that we want the entire corpus. This story was one of 16 published in the 1927 edition, but for some reason isn't included at all in his later Collected Short Stories. All 15 other Ashenden stories were combined into 6 stories, each featuring consistent plot points and side characters, which as discussed above makes them feel more episodic.

This particular story ("Flip of a Coin") could very naturally fit into the combined story "His Excellency" since it contains the same characters and makes references to the same plot points. It wasn't included elsewhere as a separate story in the Collected Shot Stories, so it seems like Maugham deliberately decided not to include it (at least in the edition I have, it may well have been part of "His Excellency" in other reprints, but Googling has been inconclusive so far). Since we're going to include it anyways I think it makes most sense to combine it with "His Excellency". The alternative is of course to keep all 16 stories separate, but that seems to go against what Maugham later decided, and personally I feel the six story separation feels much more natural.

Lukas Bystricky

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Nov 12, 2022, 4:49:27 PM11/12/22

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Edit: It's difficult to find concrete proof in the way of scans since we're looking for something that isn't PD yet (and reprints might not be for some time), but according to this bibliography, "Flip of a Coin" was later merged into "His Excellency".

Alex Cabal

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Nov 12, 2022, 6:23:11 PM11/12/22

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Later editions are not necessarily up to the authors - it may have been
Maugham wanting to merge his stories, or it may have been his publisher
who did it without his input, or even against his wishes. So it existing
at some point doesn't necessarily mean it was the author's "intent".

I think this is becoming too complicated. Having a stray story doesn't
make sense; combining it randomly is not a good idea; combining it in
some unique way to follow a later edition may not be copyright kosher.
Let's just keep all of these separate as they were printed in PD editions.

> > > > > >
> > > > > > He has few themed collections, mostly for stories from the
> > South
> > > > > > Pacific. Otherwise his collections are more scattered, for
> > > > example a
> > > > > > collection of stories published in Cosmopolitan Magazine
> (yes
> > > > > > /that/ Cosmo). The exception is the Ashenden spy stories.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > So for our purposes, I don't know if there's necessarily a
> > good
> > > > > > separation. Possibly "South Pacific", Ashenden, and then
> > > > > everything else.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > --
> > > > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the
> > > Google
> > > > > > Groups "Standard Ebooks" group.
> > > > > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails
> from
> > > it,
> > > > > send
> > > > > > an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> > > > > > <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
> > > > > > To view this discussion on the web visit
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >

> > > > >
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> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >

Lukas Bystricky

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Nov 13, 2022, 2:09:16 AM11/13/22

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I agree that a stray story would be out of place, but combining it with "His Excellency" is not at all random (it fits exclusively that particular storyline), and this seems to have been done in later editions, just not the edition I have at hand. As I understand it, on PD works we're free to manipulate the text in various ways (which we do, by modernizing the spelling, cutting preferences etc), so I don't see any copyright risk (of course you know more about this than me). As always your call though.

Alex Cabal

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Nov 13, 2022, 12:57:07 PM11/13/22

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Let's stick with the PD ordering for now. We can always revisit this later.

> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > He has few themed collections, mostly for stories from the
> > > South
> > > > > > > Pacific. Otherwise his collections are more scattered, for
> > > > > example a
> > > > > > > collection of stories published in Cosmopolitan Magazine
> > (yes
> > > > > > > /that/ Cosmo). The exception is the Ashenden spy stories.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > So for our purposes, I don't know if there's necessarily a
> > > good
> > > > > > > separation. Possibly "South Pacific", Ashenden, and then
> > > > > > everything else.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > --
> > > > > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to
> the
> > > > Google
> > > > > > > Groups "Standard Ebooks" group.
> > > > > > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails
> > from
> > > > it,
> > > > > > send
> > > > > > > an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> > > > > > > <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
> > > > > > > To view this discussion on the web visit
> > > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >

> > > > > >
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> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >

Lukas Bystricky

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Nov 16, 2022, 4:35:41 PM11/16/22

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How does this work for the cover?

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/27954/terrace-and-observation-deck-at-the-moulin-de-blute-fin-montmartre

Alex Cabal

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Nov 16, 2022, 5:02:02 PM11/16/22

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That works, thanks!

> > > > > > >
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