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HEMINGWAY, ERNEST. For Whom the Bell Tolls. Publisher's Advance Proof Copy with author's corrections.
ONLY KNOWN INSCRIBED AND SIGNED PROOF HEMINGWAY, ERNEST. For Whom the Bell Tolls. Publisher's Advance Proof Copy with author's corrections. [i-ii], [1] dedication, [1], [476], [2] pages. Folio, 476 leaves printed on rectos only, thread-bound stiff brown paper wrappers pasted down on the spine and spine edges printed white paper label covering most of the front wrapper, thumb-soiled, scattered creasing, title and author handwritten in pencil on spine; vertical crease along front cover near spine with early repair on verso, faint dampstaining along exposed edges, into outer margins of inscription page through page 5, also affects rear endpaper, and very light and scattered throughout contents; brown hand-sewn leather cover, outer surface in a natural nap finish, inside is polished with title and author burned in cursive on inside rear flap; custom plain cloth clamshell box. New York: Scribner's, 1940
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Notes: publisher''s proof copy inscribed and signed by hemingway to longtime friend and employee toby otto bruce, with manuscript corrections and dedication to the author''s third wife, martha gellhorn. The inscription on the front free endpaper reads: "To Otto with much affection and deep appreciation for all he did to make this book. Ernest Hemingway."
Hemingway met Bruce in Piggott, Arkansas while visiting his in-laws after the birth of his and wife Pauline Pfeiffer''s first son Patrick in the summer of 1928. Bruce, the local furniture maker, was one of Pauline''s classmates and a friend of the Pfeiffer family. At this time Hemingway was in the final phase of writing A Farewell to Arms. For diversion from family and work, he would often go hunting with Bruce and the two developed a fast friendship. Hemingway most often called him "Otto" or "Tobes," and Bruce called Hemingway "Cap" or "Pop," short for his usual letter closing "Poor old Papa."
When the author''s Whitehead Street home was listed in the 1935 Key West Guide to Local attractions, Hemingway asked Bruce to build its privacy wall from old city bricks stored at the Key West Naval Station. A year later Hemingway offered him a job as his driver, shaking hands on a salary of $65 a month, room and board if he wished, and "all the booze and cigarettes [he] could stand" (McLendon, Papa Hemingway in Key West. Key West: Langley Press, 2000, page 145). Toby''s first task was to purchase the dove grey Buick Special convertible Hemingway had his eye on. To the author''s delight, Toby also had a spotlight installed on the car so they could shoot raccoons and rabbits on nighttime excursions. From that point on Toby bought all of the Hemingway cars and, in his own words, became his "driver, secretary, man-Friday, getaway-money-holder, and drinking companion" on salary for the next six years and "for free" thereafter for the rest of Hemingway''s life (McLendon. op cit., p.145). Toby also resurfaced the floor of the author''s poolhouse/office, added an elaborate wall shelf for his manuscripts, and oversaw the installation of the swimming pool Pauline had ordered in a vain attempt to hold their marriage together. He would later serve as the administrator for the Hemingways'' Key West estate and, with his wife Betty, help the author''s last wife, Mary Hemingway, dispose of her husband''s contents in the back room of Sloppy Joe''s Bar, Hemingway''s well-known afternoon watering hole and "second home."
Bruce played an instrumental role by helping to keep the family peace during the turbulent last years of Ernest and Pauline''s marriage. This period saw Hemingway absent for long stretches while serving as war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War, commencing For Whom the Bell Tolls, and strengthening his relationship with journalist Martha Gellhorn, who would become his third wife in 1940. Soon after Hemingway and Martha moved to Cuba in 1939 , he called Toby to their Havana home, La Vigía, to do some repair work and serve as Hemingway''s secretary. This included the supervision of the typewritten copy of the manuscript which he read as the novel was being written.
In appreciation of Bruce''s support, Hemingway dubbed him "The Iron Man" and awarded him the commission to design the dust jacket. Toby roughed out a sketch of a small village nestled at the foot of a mountain, a bell tower, and the woods with an outline of the bridge that was blown up by protagonist Robert Jordan. An artist in New York completed the drawing, but Hemingway proudly declared that it was "the Iron Man''s masterpiece" (McLendon, op cit. page 205). He also presented Bruce with this final galley proof, telling him it was his "insurance policy . . . its value will go up with Hemingstein stock . . . let''s hope the company doesn''t run dry!" (op cit p.205). The book was indeed a great success, making Hemingway rich and achieving universal critical acclaim. And, with Ernest and Pauline''s divorce having become formal on Labor Day, the path was clear for him to declare in print for its October release "This book is for Martha Gellhorn." That dedication is penciled in his hand to the front blank of this proof.
The first edition differs from the proof in several respects. Chapter Three in the proof was divided (page 50, line 12) into Chapters Three and Four in the first edition, creating a total of forty-three chapters from the forty-two in the proof. Several new paragraphs were created from longer ones in the proof. The character Agustín was spelled Augustín throughout the proof.
Most of Hemingway''s pencil corrections made their way into the first printing. The majority are minor spelling or language corrections such as changing La Gloria to La Gloire, parientes to padres, Sardo to Sordo, etc., but one full sentence change in the final chapter appears on page 470, lines 16/17: The proof shows "Augustín wheeled his horse and brought his right fist down with a gesture and rode up the draw." Hemingway crossed out "with a gesture" and penciled in the margin "so it was as though he cried again with the movement of it." The first edition prints an altered combination of the two: "Agustín wheeled his horse and brought his right fist down as though he cursed again with the motion of it and rode up the draw." A printed list of other corrections is available upon request.
The only other recorded (unsigned, uncorrected) copy of an advance proof for this novel is in the Thomas Cooper Library at University of South Carolina. See McLendon, James. Papa Hemingway in Key West. Key West: Langley Press, 2000; Pratt, Steven. Toby Bruce: Hemingway''s Aide-de-camp and an Extraordinary Man. Printed in Key Wester, Volume 2, Issue 9 July 2004. The photograph at left is attributed to Lloyd Arnold and is the property of the Bruce family. The assistance and research of Hemingway scholar and bibliographer Edgar Grissom was invaluable to this description.
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