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The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea

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The Old Man and the Sea

by Hemingway, Ernest

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Very Good-/Very Good-
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Palm Springs, California, United States
Item Price
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About This Item

First edition (with seal and "A"). Octavo. Original blue cloth stamped in silver and blind (a few small spots). Dust jacket (unclipped; rear portrait in blue variant tint, first state; short tear to front panel; front free endpaper with four tape stains). Very good. No signatures or bookplates. Hanneman A24a.

Synopsis

This novella, only 140 pages, was first printed in its entirety in Life Magazine on September 1, 1952. It inspired a buying frenzy - selling over five million copies of the magazine in just two days! The story about an aging Cuban fisherman wrangling a large marlin in the gulf stream was written in 1951 in Cuba and published in 1952. In 1953, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and led to Hemingway's nomination for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Man's struggle against nature is the resounding theme throughout the book as Hemingway portrays Santiago's travails as an experienced fisherman facing a dry-spell of 85 days before finally wrangling a prized marlin. Hemingway also highlights the indomitable spirit of man while illustrating his ideal of manliness and character in the strong and determined fisherman facing danger and discomfort without complaint and with resolution, both in the days it takes Santiago to kill the marlin, and as he fights off the sharks that end up destroying his prized catch before he reaches the coast. Some say that Hemingway's tale is a reflection of his own determination to prove his writing career was not over, and the portrayal of the sharks may echo the critics who had been claiming for the ten years that his writing career, after the successful release of For Whom the Bell Tolls in 1940, was over. The book is dedicated "To Charlie Scribner And To Max Perkins," friends of Hemingway's that had passed away before the book came out. Max Perkins, who also edited F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe, died in 1947 and Scribner, who was president of the publisher Charles Scribner's Sons, died in 1952.

Read More: Identifying first editions of The Old Man and the Sea

Reviews

On Mar 6 2014, a reader said:
The Old Man and The Sea is an excellent novella for someone to read looking to get away from the troubles of life only to find that some troubles lead to the greatest reward of even though the reward is only a small amount.

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Details

Bookseller
Houle Rare Books & Autographs US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
301876
Title
The Old Man and the Sea
Author
Hemingway, Ernest
Book Condition
Used - Very Good-
Jacket Condition
Very Good-
Quantity Available
1
Edition
First
Binding
Hardcover
Publisher
Charles Scribner's Sons
Place of Publication
New York
Date Published
1952
Pages
140
Size
Octavo
Weight
0.00 lbs
Bookseller catalogs
LITERATURE;

Terms of Sale

Houle Rare Books & Autographs

30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.

About the Seller

Houle Rare Books & Autographs

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2009
Palm Springs, California

About Houle Rare Books & Autographs

2699 North Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262By appointment only.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Octavo
Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
Cloth
"Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
Jacket
Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...

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