As I routinely do at auction, I was flipping through a stack of Life magazines when I came across a face that stared pointedly out at me. It was a man whom I recognized for all the wondrous stories he has written in novels, novellas and short stories.
The face on the cover was writer Ernest Hemingway, and printed in black lettering on a bright gold background were these words:
“‘The Old Man and the Sea’ By Hemingway. A Complete New Book. First Publication.”
The publication date of the magazine was Sept. 1, 1952, and it sold for 20 cents.
I could barely contain my excitement. I had in my hand a copy of Life’s publication of that famous of Hemingway’s stories and the one that some considered to be among his best.
I remember writing a paper about this story in college and having my English teacher doubt whether I had actually written it on my own. All of the interpretations of what Hemingway meant were mine – I saw the theme as man’s inhumanity to man – and I had adequate footnotes to back them up. I wasn’t sure if I should’ve been flattered or upset, but I was mostly upset to have her doubt me. I’ve always loved this story for its simplicity of language and its straightforwardness.
The magazine was in remarkably good shape, but the staples had loosened and the Hemingway pages had become detached. But, still, the pages were all there and they were not torn.
Hemingway’s novella was illustrated by Noel Sickles, a Life illustrator who created drawings based on photos shot by Alfred Eisenstaedt. The renowned photographer said the photo shoot was his most difficult one. Hemingway was apparently prickly and uncooperative (nine years later he would commit suicide). Here are some Life photos from the 1952 shoot.
At auction, I flipped through the magazine and came to the page, where the editors proudly noted that this was the first time they’d published a full book by a “great American writer.”
I started to read:
“He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish the boy’s parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky …”
I knew this magazine was going home with me.
Life printed the novella more than a week before it was published in book form, and the magazine is said to have sold 5.3 million copies in two days. Hemingway had written the book in 1951, telling the story of an aging Cuban fisherman named Santiago and his struggle with a huge marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. It came at a good time for Hemingway, who was struggling as a writer and seemingly had lost his way. It catapulted him into a literary star and also made him some money. The book had its share of critics both yea and nay.
“Old Man” won a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. It was made into a movie with Spencer Tracy in 1958.
At the auction, I stood close by, waiting to make sure I did not miss the magazine when it came up for bids. I didn’t bother to single it out of the pack for a separate bid for fear that someone else would outbid me. When it came up, I was stumped for a moment as the auctioneer lingered on $5 for the magazines and I waited for him to drop it to $2. I didn’t realize that a bid had been made for $5 and watched dejectedly as he handed off my magazine to someone else.
I couldn’t believe it. Not one to give up, though, I followed the winning bidder away from the auction area and asked to buy that one magazine. He allowed me to find it among the others, and at first hesitated – obviously trying to figure out how much to charge me for it – but he was kind enough to sell it to me. $5, he said and I paid the man. “You just got back the $5 you paid for the entire lot,” I mentioned to him.
As for me, I was just happy to be taking it home. On eBay, the magazine sold for up to $36. On some book retail sites, it was being offered for $20 to $200. But mine is not for sale. It’s for keeps.
