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ERNEST HEMINGWAY A FAREWELL TO ARMS first edition inscribed 1929
$125,000.00
Description
ERNEST HEMINGWAY. A FAREWELL TO ARMS. New York: Scribners, 1929. First edition, first printing, in first state dust jacket.
Inscribed by Ernest Hemingway to Gus Edwards.
Book’s cloth covers and gold labels are in fine condition. Internal pages are lightly toned; no foxing. Book’s dust jacket is near fine plus to fine condition. Book dust jacket shows do wear or damage, although it is lightly toned; “$2.50” original price still present on inner front flap.
Hemingway inscription to Gus Edwards is bright and clean. It does not appear that Ernest Hemingway was a close friend of Gus Edwards simply because the inscription was written with his generic, “all best wishes.” It is presumed this Gus Edwards was the significant vaudeville music composer in the 1920s, whose life served as the basis for the 1939 movie, The Star Maker, with Bing Crosby playing the lead role as Edwards. Edwards’ career evolved from songwriter to theater owner (Gus Edwards Music Hall in New York), music publisher, radio star and film director, His “school days” reviews provided the career starts for Groucho Marx, Eddie Cantor, George Jessel, Ray Bolger, Phil Silvers, Walter Winchell and many others. Some of Edwards’ hit songs include: “By the Light of the Silvery Moon,” “In My Merry Oldsmobile,” “If I Were a Millionaire,” “I’ll Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again,” and many more. He also began his Hollywood Revues in the late 1920s.
According to Andre Hanneman’s ERNEST HEMINGWAY: A Comprehensive Bibliography, Princeton University Press, 1967, the firsdt edition, first printing of A FAREWELL TO ARMS was published September 27, 1929. Thrity-one thousand and fifty copies were printed. (Page 23, #8)
It is not known if Hemingway inscribed this book for Edwards in person or an agent acquired it for Edwards.
A limited, signed edition of 510 numbered copies was also published on September 27, 1929. This publication appears on the collectors’ market more often than an inscribed trade edition.
COLORADO ARTIFACTUAL
