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A Farewell to Arms
by Hemingway, Ernest
- Used
- near fine
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Very Good +
- Seller
-
Pasadena, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1929. First edition. Near Fine/Very Good +. A bright, Near Fine copy of the book with minor scratching to the boards and a bookseller's ticket to the rear paste-down. In a Very Good+ dust jacket with a 1.5" tear at the top of the rear panel, and some rubbing and wear at the spine ends. Jacket a bit toned overall. First issue without the legal disclaimer on p. x and with Catherine spelled with a "K" on the front flap.
"Written when Ernest Hemingway was thirty years old, and lauded as the best American novel to emerge from WWI, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front, and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield, this gripping, semi-autobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep. Hemingway famously rewrote the ending to the novel 39 times to get the words right. The result is what the Washington Times called 'a towering ornament of American literature'" (Hemingway Library). Near Fine in Very Good + dust jacket.
"Written when Ernest Hemingway was thirty years old, and lauded as the best American novel to emerge from WWI, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front, and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield, this gripping, semi-autobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep. Hemingway famously rewrote the ending to the novel 39 times to get the words right. The result is what the Washington Times called 'a towering ornament of American literature'" (Hemingway Library). Near Fine in Very Good + dust jacket.
Synopsis
Set during World War 1, Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms is the story of Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American serving as an ambulance driver in the Italian army, and his love affair with an English nurse named Catherine Barkley. The novel is semi-autobiographical, based on Hemingway's own experiences serving in the Italian campaigns during the war. While some assume the title of the work to be taken from a poem by 16th century English dramatist George Peele, others believe it to be a simple pun of the word “arms.” A Farewell to Arms was first serialized in the May-October issues Scribner's Magazine 1929. It was published in book form in September of that year. As the work became available to the public just over ten years after the November 1918 armistice, Hemingway assumed his audience would recognize many of the references. In fact, certain basic information isn't alluded to in the book at all, as it was common knowledge around the time of publication. The result of this immediacy? Arguably one of the best novels written about World War I… ever. A Farewell to Arms was Hemingway's first bestseller, affording him financial independence and cementing his stature as a modern American writer. More specifically, the novel and its content helped to established the author as a key member of the “Lost Generation,” a subset of Modernist artists namely defined by their post-war disillusionment. A Farewell to Arms is ranked 74th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century.
Reviews
On Dec 18 2015, a reader said:
It has a good plot, but its boring.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Whitmore Rare Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 5740
- Title
- A Farewell to Arms
- Author
- Hemingway, Ernest
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good +
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First edition
- Publisher
- Charles Scribner's Sons
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1929
- Keywords
- The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave but one.
Terms of Sale
Whitmore Rare Books
15 day return guarantee, with full refund if an item arrives damaged or not matching the description.
About the Seller
Whitmore Rare Books
Biblio member since 2009
Pasadena, California
About Whitmore Rare Books
We operate a retail shop in "Old Town" Pasadena open normal business hours Tuesday through Saturday.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Paste-down
- The paste-down is the portion of the endpaper that is glued to the inner boards of a hardback book. The paste-down forms an...
- Good+
- A term used to denote a condition a slight grade better than Good.
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