HEMINGWAY, Ernest.

The Old Man and the Sea.

New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1952.

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“Let him think that I am more man than I am and I will be so”: First Edition of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea; Finely Bound by The Harcourt Bindery

First edition, first issue of Hemingway’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and one of his most famous works, with the “A” and publisher’s seal printed on the copyright page. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt inner dentelles stamp-signed by the Harcourt Bindery, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Founded over a century ago in 1900, the Harcourt Bindery is the oldest and largest traditional bindery in America exclusively devoted to fine traditional leather bookbinding by hand. Harcourt Bindery uses 22 karat genuine gold leaf, top grades of Nigerian moroccos, and hand marbled papers from craftsmen representing seven countries. In fine condition with a stain to the half-title page. An exceptional presentation.

Upon its publication in 1952 by Charles Scribner’s Sons, ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction the following year and was cited by the Nobel Committee as contributing to the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Hemingway in 1954. The novel reinvigorated Hemingway’s literary reputation. It initiated a reexamination of his entire body of work. The novel was received with such alacrity, that it restored many readers’ confidence in Hemingway’s capability as an author. Indeed, the publisher even wrote on an early dust jacket, calling the novel a “new classic,” and it was compared by many critics to such revered works as William Faulkner’s ‘The Bear’ and Herman Melville’s ‘Moby-Dick.’