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Ernest Hemingway. The Torrents of Spring. A Romantic Novel in Honor of the Passing of a Great Race. New York: Charles Sc...
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Description
A fine association copy, inscribed to publisher Edward W. Titus
Ernest Hemingway. The Torrents of Spring. A Romantic
Novel in Honor of the Passing of a Great Race. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926.8vo. Original black cloth, upper cover and spine lettered in red; publisher's pictorial dust jacket.
FIRST EDITION OF HEMINGWAY'S FIRST NOVEL. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY HEMINGWAY TO EDWARD W. TITUS, on the front free endpaper: "To Edward W. Titus / as a souvenir of a very sporting act performed by the said E. W. Titus in the city of Paris. September 17 - 1931 - / from his friend / Ernest Hemingway."
The Torrents of Spring was a satirical treatment of the style of writers of the day, in particular Sherwood Anderson and his recently published novel Dark Laughter (1925). It was begun in mid-November and completed by Thanksgiving, written in only ten days, at an average of 2,000 words a day. Hemingway submitted the manuscript early in December 1925, and it was rejected by the end of the month. In January 1926, Max Perkins at Scribner's, and with encouragement from F. Scott Fitzgerald, agreed to publish it in addition to Hemingway's future work. Torrents was published by Scribner's in May of that year; the first edition had a print run of 1,250 copies. Fitzgerald referred to it as "the best comic book ever written by an American."
Edward W. Titus was a Polish-born American expatriate, collector, publisher, and book dealer based in Paris after the end of World War I. He was married to Helena Rubinstein, and proprietor of the Black Manikin Press, which published Hemingway's Introduction to Kiki of Montparnasse in 1929. Titus collected a very substantial library of which he issued a catalogue in 1932. This copy has a pencil note "2157" on front pastedown, presumably the lot number from when the library was dispersed at auction in 1951.
Condition: Some very slight toning to endpapers; tiny hole along extreme upper edge on title. Dust jacket with spine panel a little toned, with some small chips at ends; a few other tiny nicks or chips along edges; minor toning and soiling.
References: Hanneman A4a.
Provenance: Edward W. Titus (presentation inscription). From the William A. Strutz Library.
View all of [The William A. Strutz Library ]
Auction Info
2024 June 27 Important English and American Literature: The William A. Strutz Library, Part I, Rare Books Signature® Auction #6295 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
June, 2024
27th
Thursday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 2
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