Ernest Hemingway Signed Photograph.

HEMINGWAY, Ernest. [A.E. Hotchner].

Item Number: 110606

Rare large format photograph of Ernest Hemingway with one of his kittens at his Key West home. Inscribed by Hemingway to his best friend and biographer A.E. Hotchner, “To Ed, from his pal Honest Ernie.” Hemingway first met Aaron Edward Hotchner in the late 1940s when Hotchner was sent to Cuba by Cosmopolitan to solicit from Hemingway an article on “The Future of Literature.” Hemingway took an immediate liking to Hotchner and they remained close friends; Hotchner edited the manuscript of Across the River and Into the Trees, acted as Hemingway’s agent in several deals concerning screen adaptations of his novels, and edited Hemingway’s last significant original work, The Dangerous Summer. Hotchner played an essential role in trimming the excessive manuscript of 120,000 words (for the assignment which called for a 10,000-word article) down to 50,000 words and The Dangerous Summer proved to be Hemingway’s last significant original work, published in book form posthumously in 1985. In 1966 Hotchner published his profound and intimate biography, Papa Hemingway, which would go on to become a bestseller. From the personal collection of A.E. Hotchner. In fine condition. Double matted and framed. The entire piece measures 19.5 inches by 16.75 inches. Rare and desirable, the largest format photograph of Hemingway we have seen and with exceptional provenance.

American journalist and novelist Ernest Hemingway's legacy to American literature lies in his economical and understated writing style, which he termed the "iceberg theory" and writers who came after him either attempted to emulate or avoid. After his reputation was established with the publication of The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway essentially became the spokesperson for the post–World War I generation. His influence on 20th century fiction is unparalleled and his adventurous lifestyle and public image brought him admiration from later generations. Hemingway published seven novels throughout his career and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in literature in 1954.