"TO GUY WITH MUCH AFFECTION, ERNEST, PARIS, OCT 28, 1933": EXCEEDINGLY RARE PRESENTATION/ASSOCIATION FIRST EDITION OF HEMINGWAY'S WINNER TAKE NOTHING, INSCRIBED AND DATED BY HIM IN PARIS THE DAY AFTER PUBLICATION, TO LONGTIME CLOSE FRIEND, JOURNALIST GUY HICKOK, WITH BOOKSELLER TICKET OF SYLVIA BEACH'S FAMED PARIS BOOK STORE, SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY

HEMINGWAY, Ernest. Winner Take Nothing. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1933. Octavo, original black cloth with gold paper labels, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

First edition of Hemingway's famed collection of short stories, an especially rare presentation/association copy warmly inscribed by Hemingway in Paris the day after publication, to his close friend, Guy Hickok, bureau chief of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, "To Guy with much affection, Ernest, Paris, Oct 28, 1933." Also with the bookseller ticket of Sylvia Beach's famed Paris bookshop, Shakespeare and Company, where Hemingway saw the first copies of Winner Take Nothing, which had just been shipped over from Scribner's.

This extremely rare presentation first edition of Winner Take Nothing possesses an especially memorable association in Hemingway's inscription—dated in Paris the day after publication—to Guy Hickok, "one of Hemingway's closest friends in Paris" (Montgomery Review 25:1, 112). The two first met when Hemingway, new to Paris, attended meetings of the Anglo-American Press Club. Hickok, head of the Paris bureau of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, impressed Hemingway with his knowledge of fine food, sports and French wines. "Hickok's neat black mustache was impressive too, and during a visit to Germany in the summer of 1922 Hemingway more than matched it" (Lynn, 122). The two also shared a keen interest "in boxing, horse racing, human interest stories, and tall tales. Ernest never crossed the Seine without dropping in at the sign of the Eagle in the Boulevard de la Madeleine. Laughter was always skyrocketing through the smoke-filled rooms" (Baker, 87). In 1927 Hemingway and Hickok set off on a tour of Italy. "In late March, in Hickok's battered Ford coupe, the two travelers crossed the border into Italy at Ventimiglia, traveling down the Riviera to Genoa… In a village 20 kilometers above La Spezia, a self-assured young Fascist, disdainful of foreigners, commandeered a ride… Hemingway described the young man in sardonic terms in an article, 'Italy, 1927,' first published as a straight journalistic account in The New Republic (May 18, 1927) and five months later as a short story, retitled 'Che Ti Dice la Patria?' [in Men Without Women]." Hemingway's chilling glimpse into Fascism also highlighted a comic encounter when "a chummy whore assaulted the uncomfortable Guy Hickok with her obvious charms." Hickok and Hemingway were also frequent correspondents, with Hemingway writing Hickok of his pride in A Farewell to Arms [1929]—"It's a swell book—I'm damned if it's not," and describing Death in the Afternoon (1932) as "'my bloody book'… It was a good book, he assured Hickok. 'Really maybe the best one yet'… Hickok, who took pride in Hemingway's later success and admired Hemingway's ambition, furthered Hemingway's legend by writing articles about him and his wartime exploits for the Eagle" (Mellow, 346-7, 377, 414, 174).

This exceptional presentation/association copy also contains the distinct bookseller ticket of Sylvia Beach's famed Paris bookshop, Shakespeare and Company. "For 20 years Hemingway was a prominent player in the history of Shakespeare and Company… To the delight of Sylvia, Hemingway arrived in Paris the evening of 26 October [1933] and came to see her the next morning. 'He and I are good old friends,' she declared in a letter… 'He looks fine and handsome'" (Fitch, 117, 341). Ernest's brother, Leicester, would recall: "At Sylvia Beach's bookshop Ernest had a chance to see the first copies of Winner Take Nothing, which had just been shipped over by Scribner's. He liked the jacket, which he had not seen before since he'd had to correct proofs by cable" (My Brother, 139). Six of this collection's 14 stories made their first appearance here. "Published October 27, 1933" (Hanneman A12). Hanneman A12a. Grissom A.12.1.a. As Ernest Hemingway could be both reclusive and notoriously cold to admirers, this wonderful presentation/association first edition is most rare.

Text fresh and clean, faintest foxing only to preliminaries, slight soiling, mild edge-wear to cloth; light edge-wear to scarce dust jacket. A very rare near-fine presentation first edition with an important association.