Hemingway, Ernest

A Farewell to Arms. New York: Scribner's, 1929



In 8s (7 1/4 x 5 1/2 in; 182 x 132 mm). Original black cloth, printed gold labels on front cover and spine; spine a bit faded, foxing on read cover, binding a little askew from this copy having been read.

See Hanneman A8a; Connolly, The Modern Movement 60; Oliver, Ernest Hemingway A to Z, p. 333

In 8s (7 1/4 x 5 1/2 in; 182 x 132 mm). Original black cloth, printed gold labels on front cover and spine; spine a bit faded, foxing on read cover, binding a little askew from this copy having been read.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

First edition, a later printing (one of three November 1929 printings); first published 27 September 1929 and reprinted twice in September, once in October, and three times in November. Presentation copy to Gene Tunney and his wife, inscribed by the author in ink on the front free endpaper (which is evenly darkened): "To Polly and Gene Tunney wishing them luck all their lives. Ernest Hemingway."

Tunney (1897–1979) won the heavyweight championship by defeating Jack Dempsey on 23 September 1926 in Philadelphia; he defended it against Dempsey, winning the "long count" fight in Chicago a year later. After his second successful title defense, against Tom Heeney in July 1928, Tunney retired from the ring undefeated.  He and Polly Lauder, a Greenwich, Connecticut, heiress to the Carnegie fortune, were married in Rome in October 1928 and the couple traveled in Europe until returning to the United States in January 1930. It is quite possible that Hemingway, who also was in Europe from May 1929 to January 1930, inscribed this copy to the Tunneys in November or December of '29.  It represents a compelling association, considering the role that boxing played in Hemingway's life and work and the friendship that lasted between the writer and the retired prize fighter. In his posthumously published Island in the Stream (1970), Gene Tunney is one of several people that the protagonist Thomas Hudson and his friends drink to at Havana's Florida Bar.