First edition, first printing, first issue jacket, of Hemingway's third and final collection of stories. It contains fourteen short stories, of which six ("The Light of the World", "A Way You'll Never Be", "The Mother of a Queen", "One Reader Writes", "A Day's Wait", and "Fathers and Sons") were printed here for the first time.
The title derives from the epigraph of the book, ostensibly drawn from an antique book of rules for gaming, but actually written by Hemingway himself: "Unlike all other forms of lutte or combat the conditions are that the winner shall take nothing; neither his ease, nor his pleasure, nor any notions of glory; nor, if he win far enough, shall there be any reward within himself".
The first issue jacket quotes Laurence Stallings's review of "Death in the Afternoon" on the rear panel.
Octavo. Original black cloth, gilt title label on spine and front cover, top edge pink, fore edge untrimmed. With dust jacket.
Light rubbing to extremities, corners lightly bumped: unclipped jacket toned, extremities rubbed and nicked, a little loss at spine ends, corners, and head of rear panel, tiny spot of recolouring at head of front panel, couple of marks from removed tape repairs on verso: a near-fine copy in very good jacket.
Hanneman A.12a; Grissom A.12.1.a.