“THE ESSENCE OF HEMINGWAY”: FIRST EDITION OF DEATH IN THE AFTERNOON, INSCRIBED BY HEMINGWAY

HEMINGWAY, Ernest. Death in the Afternoon. New York and London: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1932. Octavo, original black cloth, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box. $25,000.

First edition of Hemingway’s masterpiece on bullfighting, inscribed: "To James H. Roden with sincerest best wishes, Ernest Hemingway."

Fellow writer John Dos Passos praised Death in the Afternoon as "an absolute model for how that sort of thing ought to be done," and a contemporary review in The New York Herald Tribune described it as "full of the vigor and forthrightness of the author's personality, his humor, his strong opinions-and language… In short, it is the essence of Hemingway." Illustrated with over 60 full-page photogravures. Hanneman A10. Grissom A.10.1.a. While the identity of James H. Roden remains unverified, the scarcity of copies inscribed by Hemingway signals a personal association.

A bit of wear to cloth, unrestored dust jacket with a few chips, one just affecting the word "Ernest" on the front panel. Scarce and most desirable inscribed.