The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
BACUP, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
This title first published in the US by Scribners in 1952, the UK edition being published the same year by Jonathan Cape. The illustrated edition published by The Reprint Society in 1953 unusually pre-dated Cape's illustrated version of the same by two years (1955).
Hardback – publisher's cloth with title to spine and decoration to front board, illustrated endpapers, top edge of page-block tinted red, in a dustwrapper. 117pp including b/w illustrations. Size: 8.75 x 6.25 inches approx. (221mm x 157mm).
Dustwrapper lightly rubbed and worn to extremities; a little bruised to spine head and upper corner tips; a short (5mm) edge tear to lower edge of rear panel; a little sunned and toned to spine; a touch dusty and marked in places. Cloth clean and bright; a touch bruised to spine head. Light offsetting to endpapers; pages clean and firm.
Overall, an exceptional copy, clean and fresh – quite lovely.
*International shipping rates are estimated and may incur an extra charge prior to order fulfilment. Books are despatched via Royal Mail International Tracked/Signed; please enquire for an accurate shipping quote to your country.*
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
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
- D. B. Derbyshire Bookseller PBFA (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- DBZ1464
- Title
- The Old Man and the Sea
- Author
- Ernest Hemingway
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st illustrated edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- The Reprint Society
- Date Published
- 1953
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- Literature, Illustrated
Terms of Sale
D. B. Derbyshire Bookseller PBFA
International shipping is by Royal Mail International (Airmail) Tracked/Signed where available. The estimated cost is based on a packaged weight of 1kg; an extra charge may be required for heavier items before order fulfillment. Please enquire for an accurate shipping quote to your country.
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
D. B. Derbyshire Bookseller PBFA
About D. B. Derbyshire Bookseller PBFA
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Dustwrapper
- Also known as book jacket, dust cover, or dust wrapper, a dust jacket is a protective and decorative cover for a book that is...
- Publisher's cloth
- A hardcover book comprised of cloth over hard pasteboard boards. ...
- Reprint
- Any printing of a book which follows the original edition. By definition, a reprint is not a first edition.
- Sunned
- Damage done to a book cover or dust jacket caused by exposure to direct sunlight. Very strong fluorescent light can cause slight...
- 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....