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A Farewell to Arms

A Farewell to Arms

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A Farewell to Arms

by Hemingway, Ernest

  • Used
  • first
Condition
about Fine/about Fine
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Pasadena, California, United States
Item Price
$7,500.00
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About This Item

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1929. First edition. about Fine/about Fine. A clean, about Fine copy of the book, tight and square with bright gold labels. One small dull spot on front board and darkening on end-papers (as usual). In a fresh, about Fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a faint crease down spine. Jacket bright and beautiful, without toning, fading, chips or tears and quite rare in this condition. First issue without the legal disclaimer on p. x and with Catherine spelled with a "K" on the front flap. Housed in a custom clamshell case.

"Written when Ernest Hemingway was thirty years old, and lauded as the best American novel to emerge from WWI, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front, and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield, this gripping, semi-autobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep. Hemingway famously rewrote the ending to the novel 39 times to get the words right. The result is what the Washington Times called 'a towering ornament of American literature'" (Hemingway Library). about Fine in about Fine dust jacket.

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. 

Read More: Identifying first editions of A Farewell to Arms

Reviews

On Dec 18 2015, a reader said:
It has a good plot, but its boring.

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Details

Bookseller
Whitmore Rare Books US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
6111
Title
A Farewell to Arms
Author
Hemingway, Ernest
Book Condition
Used - about Fine
Jacket Condition
about Fine
Quantity Available
1
Edition
First edition
Publisher
Charles Scribner's Sons
Place of Publication
New York
Date Published
1929
Keywords
The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave but one.

Terms of Sale

Whitmore Rare Books

15 day return guarantee, with full refund if an item arrives damaged or not matching the description.

About the Seller

Whitmore Rare Books

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2009
Pasadena, California

About Whitmore Rare Books

We operate a retail shop in "Old Town" Pasadena open normal business hours Tuesday through Saturday.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Tight
Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
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....
Jacket
Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
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...
Fine
A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...

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