Wednesday, November 30, 2016

FABULOUS HEMINGWAY AUCTION


Following the  death of  Fidel Castro of  Cuba, comes  news of a   New York auction of   author  Ernest  Hemingway memorabilia  including  the  blood stained  costume of the world's top Spanish  matador , Antonio Ordonez ,   above,  and  the  first aid  manual for soldiers   the  Nobel prize winning  writer   had  during   WWll.


The offering includes  The Old Man and the  Sea  , written by  Hemingway when he was living in Cuba, engaging in  big game  fishing  . 
 
There is a  six-page type-written manuscript, and a letter  concerning  Hemingway’s piece, Marlin Off the Morro: A Cuban Letter, published in the Autumn edition of Esquire in 1933. It followed the author on a marlin-fishing expedition off the coast of Cuba. The letter is from Hemingway’s editor, asking for him to approve the title and asking after the photos. Pre-auction estimate: $30,000–$50,000.  
 
 Expected to  attract  large bids  are X-rays of Hemingway's   right   foot ,  taken after  he was wounded at  the Italian Front  during  WWl . At the time he was  handing out chocolates to Italian soldiers when a  mortar  buried him in a dugout , shrapnel  tearing through his foot and  knee . He carried a wounded Italian  comrade to a medical centre  and was awarded the Croce  di Guerra .  The  episode  was  reflected  in  his  1919  novel , Farewell to Arms .
 
Other items  for sale ,  from the David Meeker  Collection , a book dealer  and collector ,   are  from  the author's   early life in America , two being letters  when he was  a schoolboy ,  some  of  which  appeared  in  the   book  by Nancy W. Sindelar   about the people   and places which  shaped his life and work  , a  copy   bought in an op shop in the North Queensland    town  of  Ingham, which  has  a  large Italian  community .  Could somebody  in  Ingham  have   been  related to the  man rescued  by  Hemingway  all  those  years  ago ?
 
The auction  will be held  on December  7  by  Bonham's, in Voices  of the  2Oth Century series .  There are  special   signed  first editions ,  a  custom leather  hunting vest , a 1923 collection of best short stories in which   Hemingway's name was  misspelled  in  the  dedication .