A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway - 1929

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1929. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Near Fine/Near Fine. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Included. 1st Edition. A much better than very good indeed First Edition, First State copy in its visually pleasing original dust jacket of one of the celebrated author s most acclaimed novels, called by literary critics everywhere one of the greatest novels of that generation. A most presentable example of the title with the three points of issue: publisher s seal on the copyright page, Catherine Barkley misspelled Katherine Barclay on the dust jacket front flap, and no disclaimer on page. A Farewell to Arms is the basis for two film adaptations. (Actually three, since it was remade by director Michael Curtiz in 1951 as Force of Arms with the time period updated. An unsuccessful attempt starring William Holden and Nancy Olson). The first film adaptation was the Frank Borzage-directed 1932 version starring Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes; this won the Oscar for Charles Lang s superb cinematography. The second was the 1957 Charles Vidor-directed version starring Rock Hudson, Jennifer Jones and Vittorio De Sica. Our First Edition, First state copy is a superb addition to a collector s library.First edition of this early Hemingway classic, which established him among the American masters. Octavo, original black cloth and bronze title labels to the spine and front panel. With the legal disclaimer on the verso of the dedication page. In very good condition with the front panel of a facsimile dust jacket adhered to the front pastedown and newspaper clippings regarding the work and its author adhered to the front a rear endleaves. Written when Ernest Hemingway was thirty years old and lauded as the best American novel to emerge from World War I, 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--weary, demoralized men marching in the rain during the German attack on Caporetto; the profound struggle between loyalty and desertion--this gripping, semiautobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep. Ernest Hemingway famously said that he rewrote the ending to A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times to get the words right.