VINTAGE ADS
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The Sun Also Rises, the first full novel by Ernest Hemingway, was published in 1926 by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, the pioneers of publishing in America. In the second half of the 20th century, Scribner was taken over by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr's Atheneum Books in 1978, merged into Macmillan in 1984, and was finally bought by Simon & Schuster in 1994. The latter has retained the Scribner imprint.
The advertisement is simple but spot on about Hemingway's literary career. It says: "— and with this book Mr. Hemingway's sun also will rise, for this is a novel able to command the sharpest attention even in a season so crowded with good fiction. The publishers advise you to be very much aware of this book from the start."
According to Wikipedia, the dust jacket of the first edition of The Sun Also Rises was illustrated by Cleonike Damianakes who used a Hellenistic design (characteristic of the classical Greek civilisation) intended to tastefully suggest a quasi-sexual theme.
The advertisement is simple but spot on about Hemingway's literary career. It says: "— and with this book Mr. Hemingway's sun also will rise, for this is a novel able to command the sharpest attention even in a season so crowded with good fiction. The publishers advise you to be very much aware of this book from the start."
According to Wikipedia, the dust jacket of the first edition of The Sun Also Rises was illustrated by Cleonike Damianakes who used a Hellenistic design (characteristic of the classical Greek civilisation) intended to tastefully suggest a quasi-sexual theme.
The novel is about a group of American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San FermÃn in Pamplona to watch the bullfights. Hemingway was a keen bullfighter himself and there is a nice black-and-white picture of his fighting one in Pamplona, Spain. The first edition consisted of 5,090 copies and sold at $2.00 per copy.
On Cleonike Damianakes, the illustrator, I have drawn a blank so far. And I haven't read the book yet.
Great cover and thanks for the reprise of Hemingway's introduction to the literary world. A colleague at my university used to enjoy assigning this novel because it raised such a debate in class about its worth. I've read my share of Hemingway, but I don't think I ever got closer to this one than the movie.
ReplyDeleteRon, thank you for the appreciation. I am fascinated by early black-and-white advertisements from the literary and film world. I have read Hemingway too and my personal favourite is FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS on the Spanish Civil War. I haven't read THE SUN ALSO RISES about which I learned much while doing this post.
DeleteI've had the occassional daydream of going back in time and getting a book published by Scribners. :)
ReplyDeleteCharles, I'd like to have a published work at least once in my lifetime. It's more than an occasional dream now.
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