The Old Man and the Sea.

First edition, early printing of Hemingway's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and one of his most famous works. Octavo, original blue cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Karen from her friend Ernest Hemingway." The recipient was the daughter of Waldo Peirce, one of Hemingway's oldest friends. After WWI had come to an end, Peirce befriended Hemingway in Europe and the two traveled together to various continental locations, in particular Spain. In 1937, Peirce painted a portrait of Hemingway which appeared on the cover of the October 18th issue of Time Magazine. Peirce was once called "the Ernest Hemingway of American painters." To that he replied, "They'll never call Ernest Hemingway the Waldo Peirce of American writers." Laid in is a letter of provenance signed by and in Karen Pierce's hand dated Sept. 6, 2007, "When I was 10 years old, Ernest Hemingway came to our house in Tucson, Arizona, to visit my father, Waldo Peirce. He signed a book for everyone in the family, and I got The Old Man and the Sea. Karen Peirce." Near fine in a near fine first-issue dust jacket with light rubbing, newspaper clipping to the half-title page. Photograph of Hemingway by Lee Samuels. An exceptional example. Signed examples of this work are uncommon, presentation copies even more so, particularly with such noted provenance.