Books

[Paris]: (Contact Publishing Co.), 1923. First edition. Fine.. Stunning copy of Hemingway's legendary first published book, and among the rarest of his first editions. The typography and design of Hemingway's first book reflected the new Modernist style for which Hemingway would become known: spare, balanced, striking. In this as in his prose, Hemingway was influenced by Gertrude Stein, who advised a careful pick of typeface for the titles listed on the front wrapper, "good and black, but not squatty like the others" (quoted in Grissom, 26). 3STP was issued by Robert McAlmon's formative Modernist press, Contact, one of the original loci of the burgeoning movement. McAlmon also brought out numerous other classic expatriate texts, including Stein's epic monument THE MAKING OF THE AMERICANS, William Carlos Williams's SPRING AND ALL, Gertrude Beasley's cult feminist memoir MY FIRST THIRTY YEARS, Bryher's pioneering autobiographical lesbian novel TWO SELVES, and H.D.'s PALIMPSEST —…

"Three Stories & Ten Poems" was printed in Dijon by Maurice Darantiere, the same printer of "Ulysses" the year prior, and was published by Robert McAlmon's firm. This book marks the first publication of the stories "Up in Michigan", "Out of Season", and "My Old Man", along with the poems "Oklahoma", "Captives", "Montparnasse", and "Along With Youth". The other six poems were first published in the January 1923 issue of Poetry magazine under the collective title "Wanderings". This edition includes some of Hemingway's earliest surviving works, as his first wife, Hadley Richardson, lost a suitcase filled with his manuscripts in 1922. Hemingway was deeply involved in the production of this first publication, taking as much care as he did with his first child (Mellow, p. 239), and collaborated with Gertrude Stein on the typographical cover design. Edmund Wilson's insightful review of Hemingway's work, following his second book, "in our time" (1924), noted: "His prose is of the first distinction, [demonstrating] a naiveté of language often passing into the colloquialism of the character dealt with, which serves actually to convey profound emotions and complex themes."