323

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

The Fifth Column and First Forty-Nine Stories, Inscribed First Edition.

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1938.
First edition, second state (lacking the Scribner's "A" on the copyright), octavo; signed and inscribed by Hemingway, "Dear Kit Bryan: Fortunately I never saw it, But wish we could have had the evening together," in black ink on the front free flyleaf below another inscription in a different hand but likely to the same recipient, "To get the taste out of your mouth. C.S. Ce Avril 1940"; bound in red publisher's cloth, spine blocked in black and lettered in gilt; in the unclipped cream dust jacket printed in red and gold (jacket spine faded, creasing, small nicks at top edge; sporadic corner creases; spine sunned, front hinge starting, lightly bumped); housed in a lovely suede-lined custom clamshell box; 8 1/2 x 5 5/8 in. 

Hemingway's only full-length play, The Fifth Column, is a semi-autobiographical work written during his war correspondent days in the Spanish Civil War. It was produced for the stage by the Theater Guild in 1940. Producers heavily revised the original dialogue, angering Hemingway, who tried to distance himself from the production. He refused to attend any performances (as mentioned in the above inscription) which ran from March until mid-May. The production received mostly negative reviews, but, as "C.S." writes, Hemingway's original version as it appears here may have been better appreciated.

Hanneman 16.

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