Islands in the Stream -
Ernest Hemingway
1970 - Charles Scribner's Sons, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition of the first of Hemingway’s fictional works to be published posthumously.
Islands in the Stream follows the fortunes of Thomas Hudson from his experiences as a painter on the Gulf Stream island of Bimini, where his loneliness is broken by the vacation visit of his three young sons, to his antisubmarine activities off the coast of Cuba during World War II. The greater part of the story takes place in a Havana bar. The manuscript for Islands in the Stream was found by his last wife, Mary, among over 300 different pieces of writing after his death. Early in 1950 Hemingway started work on a ‘sea trilogy’, to consist of three sections: ‘The Sea When Young’ (set in Bimini); ‘The Sea When Absent’ (set in Havana); and ‘The Sea in Being’. The latter was published in 1952 as The Old Man and the Sea. He also wrote an unpublished ‘Sea-Chase’ story which his wife and editor combined with the stories about the islands, renaming them Islands in the Stream, which is split into three parts, ‘Bimini’, ‘Cuba’ and ‘At Sea’.
Correct first edition with ‘A-9.70[V]’ printed on copyright page, in first edition dust jacket with ‘$10.00’ printed in blue to top edge of front flap, and the statement ‘A BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB SELECTION’ printed in blue to the lower edge (see below for full details of differences between first edition and book club edition.
How to spot the Book Club edition - This particular Hemingway has caused a lot of confusion between the true First Edition and the Book of the Month Club edition which was published later the same year, here are the identifying points:-
Book: i - Code ‘A-9.70[V]’ to copyright page (Book Club edition does not have a Scribner’s ID number like this). ii - Book Club edition has a small circular blind stamp to lower right corner of rear cloth board.
Dust Jacket: i - Upper edge of front flap has ‘$10.00’ printed in blue (Book Club edition has ‘$10.00’ printed in black, and ‘BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB* SELECTION’ in green). ii - Lower edge of front flap has ‘A BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB SELECTION’ printed in blue (Book Club edition has ‘*Trademark of Book-of-the-Month Club, Inc.’ ‘Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. and in Canada’ printed in black). iii - Number ‘1-4063’ to tail of spine (Book Club edition edition has ‘1315’).
Provenance: Herman Bekofski of Michigan with his small label to front pastedown.
Reference: Hanneman S-17A.
Large octavo (book size 23.3x16.1cm), pp. [10] 466 [4]. Publisher’s green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, with author’s name in gilt on black background, front panel with Hemingway’s signature in gilt, illustrated endpapers of yellow and green showing maps of Cuba and outlying islands. Dust jacket front flap with price of ‘$10’ printed in blue to upper corner, a list of Hemingway’s books is printed in black and green on the reverse side. Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket with just a hint of rubbing to edges and toning to upper edges of flaps. Ref: 111403 Price: HK$ 3,000
Islands in the Stream follows the fortunes of Thomas Hudson from his experiences as a painter on the Gulf Stream island of Bimini, where his loneliness is broken by the vacation visit of his three young sons, to his antisubmarine activities off the coast of Cuba during World War II. The greater part of the story takes place in a Havana bar. The manuscript for Islands in the Stream was found by his last wife, Mary, among over 300 different pieces of writing after his death. Early in 1950 Hemingway started work on a ‘sea trilogy’, to consist of three sections: ‘The Sea When Young’ (set in Bimini); ‘The Sea When Absent’ (set in Havana); and ‘The Sea in Being’. The latter was published in 1952 as The Old Man and the Sea. He also wrote an unpublished ‘Sea-Chase’ story which his wife and editor combined with the stories about the islands, renaming them Islands in the Stream, which is split into three parts, ‘Bimini’, ‘Cuba’ and ‘At Sea’.
Correct first edition with ‘A-9.70[V]’ printed on copyright page, in first edition dust jacket with ‘$10.00’ printed in blue to top edge of front flap, and the statement ‘A BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB SELECTION’ printed in blue to the lower edge (see below for full details of differences between first edition and book club edition.
How to spot the Book Club edition - This particular Hemingway has caused a lot of confusion between the true First Edition and the Book of the Month Club edition which was published later the same year, here are the identifying points:-
Book: i - Code ‘A-9.70[V]’ to copyright page (Book Club edition does not have a Scribner’s ID number like this). ii - Book Club edition has a small circular blind stamp to lower right corner of rear cloth board.
Dust Jacket: i - Upper edge of front flap has ‘$10.00’ printed in blue (Book Club edition has ‘$10.00’ printed in black, and ‘BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB* SELECTION’ in green). ii - Lower edge of front flap has ‘A BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB SELECTION’ printed in blue (Book Club edition has ‘*Trademark of Book-of-the-Month Club, Inc.’ ‘Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. and in Canada’ printed in black). iii - Number ‘1-4063’ to tail of spine (Book Club edition edition has ‘1315’).
Provenance: Herman Bekofski of Michigan with his small label to front pastedown.
Reference: Hanneman S-17A.
Large octavo (book size 23.3x16.1cm), pp. [10] 466 [4]. Publisher’s green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, with author’s name in gilt on black background, front panel with Hemingway’s signature in gilt, illustrated endpapers of yellow and green showing maps of Cuba and outlying islands. Dust jacket front flap with price of ‘$10’ printed in blue to upper corner, a list of Hemingway’s books is printed in black and green on the reverse side. Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket with just a hint of rubbing to edges and toning to upper edges of flaps. Ref: 111403 Price: HK$ 3,000