The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway, Ernest - 1952

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952. First edition. Fine/Near Fine. Book Fine with a previous owner's signature and address on the front endpaper, otherwise unread and in excellent condition. In a Near Fine dust jacket with some slight wear to extremities and an additional bookseller's price of $2.35 stamped above the original $3.00. Jacket retains its fresh, bright colors, making this a pleasing copy. The final work of fiction published in the author's lifetime, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and cited by the Nobel Prize Committee, "The Old Man and the Sea" cemented Hemingway's legacy as one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century and would turn him into a household name. The story follows the tribulations of an aging and suddenly unlucky fisherman, Santiago, as he tries to catch a gigantic marlin in the Straits of Florida. Hemingway wanted to show the simple dignity and biblical nature of Santiago's trials - and succeeded mightily. The book was originally published in full in an issue of Life Magazine, which subsequently sold 5 million copies in less than a week. "No outbursts of spite or false theatricalism impede the smooth rush of its narrative. Within the sharp restrictions imposed by the very nature of his story Mr. Hemingway has written with sure skill. Here is the master technician once more at the top of his form, doing superbly what he can do better than anyone else." (Contemporary New York Times Review). Fine in Near Fine dust jacket.