Hemingway, Ernest

Typed letter signed ("Ernest" in ink), 4 pages (10 7/8 x 8 3/8 in; 272 x 213 mm), Finca Vigia, San Francisco de Paula, Cuba, 1 November 1945, to his mother-in-law Edna Gellhorn ("Dear Mother"); single-spaced on four Finca Vigia letterheads (the onion-skin paper a bit thinner than his usual stationery), with about 65 words of corrections and revisions in ink by Hemingway.

"The Property of a Lady," [Martha Gellhorn] (Christie's, 8 November 1996, lot 35)

Not in Letters, ed. C. Baker, and presumably unpublished.

Typed letter signed ("Ernest" in ink), 4 pages (10 7/8 x 8 3/8 in; 272 x 213 mm), Finca Vigia, San Francisco de Paula, Cuba, 1 November 1945, to his mother-in-law Edna Gellhorn ("Dear Mother"); single-spaced on four Finca Vigia letterheads (the onion-skin paper a bit thinner than his usual stationery), with about 65 words of corrections and revisions in ink by Hemingway.
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.

"I think writers are awfully difficult bastards to life with." This long letter — four dense single-spaced pages — mainly deals with Hemingway's divorce from Martha Gellhorn, which would become final on 21 December. It begins with Hemingway giving news of Mary Welsh (who would become his fourth wife in March 1946), of his sons, of repairs made to the finca, and of his writing: "... With the children gone and Mary with her family in Chicago set out to really get in shape to train to write the best I can. Cut out all drinking after dinner nor until work done the next day. No drink in fornoon [sic] even if work finished. Same schedule I was on for the other book [For Whom the Bell Tolls] when you were down only more rigid. Run and swim, every day and got down to 202 ... and all October have written steadily and about as good (as well) as I can (I hope). Takes a while to know but have been going good for me. Mary has been helping me wonderfully and the weather is cool and as invigorating as Indian Summer ..."

Pages two through four of the letter are almost entirely given over to a detailed account of the problems involved in the complicated Cuban divorce proceedings (Hemingway started the process in early September): "... I had insisted in all our conferences [with the Cuban lawyer] that I wanted to protect every interest of Martha and that although she had authorized me to divorce her for desertion I wanted a grounds which would be the most acceptable to her and to you. I love you and respect you very much, Mother, and it is not any particular fun to have to divorce Marty when the ordinary and normal thing, when she wanted her marriage terminated for whatever reason, would have been for her to divorce me. There is no sense to go into old things and all I want to ever be with Martha is friendly, sound and helpful but I never left Martha for anyone or any thing.  For whatever good reasons she may have had she told me in the hospital in London the first day I saw her when she landed exactly what her program was and there is no use repeating it ..." Hemingway was in a London hospital at the end of May 1944,  recuperating from a car accident. "Martha arrives in London, hurries to hospital; finds him surrounded with friends, champagne bottles. By end of visit, has told him she never wants to see him again" (Michael Reynolds, Hemingway: an Annotated Chronology, p. 103).

"It is I who have to make the allegation that Martha willingly separated herself from me and that is, of course, true.  But I would much rather have had Martha charge that I separated myself from her if that was her wish. None of this makes me very happy any more than it does you. I tried to work out a divorce for incompatibility, by mutual consent, or by simple separation. But none of those grounds, according to the digest of Missouri and Illinois divorce laws I was given are legal in those states. [Cuban divorce laws related to the states in which the participants were born.] ... I lay awake most of all last night trying to think what was the best thing to do and how to explain things clearly to you. I did not enter into marriage with Martha lightly. I had no idea it would ever terminate and I am sure that for her to have wished it to terminate I must have grave responsibilities [sic]. I think writers are awfully difficult bastards to live with and much more difficult when you stay away from them. But am trying to learn how to be good and make people happy instead of miserable and weed out my worst traits and still write well giveing [sic] it full and complete importance ...

"... am trying to cover Martha's interests as though I were representing her not me. She wants the divorce and quickly and still it has to be legal or it is worthless ... Am paying all the legal fees ... This business very bad for book writing and knock it higher than a kite but just figure took today off to write to you and will not worry and write good tomorrow. To please you, to please me and to please whatever there is instead of God...Am so sorry this is such a long letter. If it hadn't been for yesterday's law session, it could have been half as long and four times as jolly. Anyhow it has all the dope as good as I can give it ..."

See note at end of previous lot regarding Hemingway letters to the Gellhorns.