The Cushing Memorial Library collects books, manuscripts, and other items relating to the life and works of the British writer, W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965). The core of the collection was acquired by the Library from Frederick W. Frost in 1979. Frost was educated at Princeton University and worked for the Union Carbide Corporation from his graduation in 1932 until his retirement in 1966, except for four years service as an officer in the United States Navy during World War II. It was during the war that Frost's fascination with Maugham began, first reading Up at the Villa and The Summing Up. Impressed by these two books, Frost decided to read everything Maugham had written, and thus his collection began.

   Built over almost a forty year span, the collection contains the first edition of every book published by Maugham (as well as subsequent printings and editions), many of which are inscribed by the author. The collection also contains manuscript material, photographs, screenplays, theater programmes, periodical contributions, and secondary material. The collection is especially strong in foreign editions of Maugham's novels, with seventeen different languages represented. Also noteworthy within in the collection is a series of letters from Frost to bookdealers and fellow collectors. In the years since its acquisition, the Cushing Memorial Library has continued to add to the collection.

   In 1982, Mary Lee Archer compiled a bibliographic study of the collection as her Ph.D. dissertation, from which much of the above information was drawn.

Guide To W. Somerset Maugham manuscript collection