The Old Man and the Sea Archive.

HEMINGWAY, Ernest.

Item Number: 79024

New York: Charles Scribner's & Sons, 1952.

An archive of Hemingway’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and one of his most famous works for the first publication of The Old Man and the Sea in Life, Sept 1, 1952. It includes an Advance Galley Proof. 17pp. Long form page proof galleys. Stapled to upper right corner, a few leaves detached, some nicks and closed tears to cover sheet. Also included is a review to be published in The Flint Journal by William Chase. 2 Mimeographed leaves. Author’s pencil corrections with date 20 Aug 1952 and initials at the foot. Mailing folds, fine. A group of press releases, request for review, and thank you for William Chase’s advanced copy of review, all housed in original Life transmittal envelope. The Old Man and the Sea contained in Life September 1, 1952. In near fine condition. An interesting archive illustrating the pre-publication push by Life for their landmark decision to publish Hemingway’s masterpiece in full. This packet of materials was sent to William D. Chase, book editor of The Flint Journal just two weeks before the issue went on sale.

Upon its publication in 1952 by Charles Scribner's Sons, The Old Man and the Sea was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction the following year and was cited by the Nobel Committee as contributing to the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Hemingway in 1954. The novel reinvigorated Hemingway's literary reputation. It initiated a reexamination of his entire body of work. The novel was received with such alacrity, that it restored many readers' confidence in Hemingway's capability as an author. Indeed, the publisher even wrote on an early dust jacket, calling the novel a "new classic," and it was compared by many critics to such revered works as William Faulkner's "The Bear" and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.