Books

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1950 First American Edition, first printing. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1950. 8vo., 308 pp. Hemingway's first novel published 10 years after "For Whom The Bell Tolls". The majority of the contemporary reviews were negative. Nonetheless it was a bestseller and later literary reviews were much more positive. "Hemingway's novel opens with Colonel Richard Cantwell, a 50-year-old US Army officer, duck hunting near Venice, Italy at the close of World War II. It is revealed that Cantwell has a terminal heart condition, and most of the novel takes the form of a lengthy flashback, detailing his experiences in Italy during World War I through the days leading up to the duck hunt. The bulk of the narrative deals with his star-crossed romance with a Venetian woman named Renata who is over thirty years his junior." (Wikipedia) With 'A' for first printing and Scribner's seal on copyright page. Book jacket style A: Black with an illustration of Venice by…

Across the River and Into the Trees is a novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1950, after first being serialized in Cosmopolitan magazine. The title derives from the last words of U.S. Civil War Confederate General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson: “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.” Hemingway's novel chronicles the experiences of Colonel Richard Cantwell, an aging officer in the U.S. Army, during a weekend duck-hunting trip in Italy. Reflecting on his past and his love affair with a young countess, Cantwell's narrative captures themes of love, war, youth, and age.