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A Farewell to Arms
by Hemingway, Ernest
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good/Dust Jacket Included
- Seller
-
New York, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1929 First edition, first printing with no disclaimer on p. [x]; in its first issue dust jacket with "Katherine Barclay" misspelling to front flap. Publisher's black cloth with gold paper labels lettered in black to front board and spine; in the original pictorial dust jacket with a drawing by Cleon. Very good or better, with light rubbing to bottom edges of boards and foot of spine, paper labels bright and fresh, light offsetting to endpapers, mild edgewear to front and rear free endpapers, a touch of soiling to bottom edges of endpapers, a hint of dampstaining to fore edge of rear free endpaper, and some tearing to bottom edges of pp. 105 - 134; unclipped dust jacket with light toning to spine and board edges, some creasing and a small closed tear to top edge of front panel, small closed tear to bottom of front panel, light chipping to spine ends (mostly head of spine), small patch of dampstaining to bottom of rear panel, a few very light scratches to fore edge of rear panel, and lightly nicked corners. Overall, an excellent example in its scarce first issue dust jacket. Set in Italy during World War I, A Farewell to Arms tells the story of a romance between the protagonist Frederic Henry, an American serving as a lieutenant in the Italian ambulance corps, and Catherine Barkley, a British nurse tending to wounded soldiers. Widely considered one of the best novels to come from the war, the novel is, as the first edition dust jacket proclaims, "the very essence of beauty as twisted and made tragic by war" that "expresses the innermost nature of war." Unlike many of the other war novels by contemporary writers, A Farewell to Arms addresses not only the aftermath of WWI but the events of the war itself, specifically the Italian Front around the Battle of Caporetto of Autumn 1917. Accordingly, it stood out amongst the war novels, becoming Hemingway's first bestseller, and establishing him as a premier American writer. Interestingly, in his 1958 interview with The Paris Review, Hemingway famously remarked, "I rewrote the ending to A Farewell to Arms, the last page of it, thirty-nine times before I was satisfied." . First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Dust Jacket Included.
Synopsis
Set during World War 1, Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms is the story of Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American serving as an ambulance driver in the Italian army, and his love affair with an English nurse named Catherine Barkley. The novel is semi-autobiographical, based on Hemingway's own experiences serving in the Italian campaigns during the war. While some assume the title of the work to be taken from a poem by 16th century English dramatist George Peele, others believe it to be a simple pun of the word “arms.” A Farewell to Arms was first serialized in the May-October issues Scribner's Magazine 1929. It was published in book form in September of that year. As the work became available to the public just over ten years after the November 1918 armistice, Hemingway assumed his audience would recognize many of the references. In fact, certain basic information isn't alluded to in the book at all, as it was common knowledge around the time of publication. The result of this immediacy? Arguably one of the best novels written about World War I… ever. A Farewell to Arms was Hemingway's first bestseller, affording him financial independence and cementing his stature as a modern American writer. More specifically, the novel and its content helped to established the author as a key member of the “Lost Generation,” a subset of Modernist artists namely defined by their post-war disillusionment. A Farewell to Arms is ranked 74th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century.
Reviews
On Dec 18 2015, a reader said:
It has a good plot, but its boring.
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Details
- Bookseller
- B & B Rare Books, Ltd., ABAA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- EH271
- Title
- A Farewell to Arms
- Author
- Hemingway, Ernest
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Dust Jacket Included
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- New York: Charles Scribner's Sons
- Date Published
- 1929
- Bookseller catalogs
- 20th Century Literature; Modern Firsts; American Literature; Fiction;
Terms of Sale
B & B Rare Books, Ltd., ABAA
~ All items are guaranteed as described. We recommend requesting pictures prior to purchasing. ~ Any items may be returned within seven days of receipt and in the same condition as originally sent. ~ We ship with FedEx, UPS and USPS. Please let us know if you prefer another shipping. ~ New York State are required to add 8.875% sales tax.
About the Seller
B & B Rare Books, Ltd., ABAA
Biblio member since 2006
New York, New York
About B & B Rare Books, Ltd., ABAA
Selling First Editions and Rare Books from all centuries. Specializing in 19th and 20th century literature, modern first editions, signed and inscribed books, early children's literature, and poetry.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Chipping
- A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
- Fore Edge
- The portion of a book that is opposite the spine. That part of a book which faces the wall when shelved in a traditional...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
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