Hemingway, Ernest

6 pages on New Stanley Hotel letterhead (7 x 4 1/2 in.; 178 x 114 mm), Nairobi, 19 December [1933]; horizontal folds. With autograph envelope.

Condition as described in catalogue entry.
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.

A fine unpublished letter written as Hemingway prepares to leave Nairobi and go on safari.

"I hope to send you a Tanganyika letter pretty soon. Leave for there tomorrow. Will be out of reach of mail for about 6 weeks probably but can send something to Arusba by a runner. Was dead pooped by altitude when got here from 17 days on sea. O.K. now but no pep to write. Shot good Grant and Thompson gazelle heads Kongoui and Impalla on Kapiti plains.

"We are going after Kudu now then lion buffalo and rhino. Alfred Vanderbilt is going after elephant now and if they locate any big ones we will probably have a crack. Nothing I've ever read has given any idea of what this country is like. It's damned wonderful. This is the hot season and we sleep under blankets at night and in the day it's not as hot as key west in winter. Winston Guest got a 117 lb. Tusker and one of 97 and has your back."

Hemingway goes on to suggest that Gingrich take on Alfred Vanderbilt (Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt II), at Esquire: "This Albert [sic] Vanderbilt is a good young kid. They have a big stable and he is occupied with that 9 mos. a year. He wants to write about racing regularly for Esquire if you want him to. I don't know whether he can write or not but he knows racing and horses and would be the top in insider for you to have writing for you."

As for Hemingway's own relationship with the up and coming magazine, he writes, "I will be glad to do you one a month whenever I get back from this and squared away. But this is getting up at 5 a.m. Hunt like a bastard all day (except noon). Dead pooped — too pooped to hold a pen at night and I couldn't produce. Nor will I write unless it's good. But soon may be in shape again {weigh 204 and that's symbolical of general condition) when in shape don't get tired and can write … Will spend 10 days after swordfish (off Pemba, Zanzibar and Mombasa. when come off safari and will write you a piece on that."

This trip to east Africa furnished the material for Green Hills of Africa, which was serialized in Scribner's Magazine (May–November 1935) and published in book form October 1935.