ERNEST "PAPA" HEMINGWAY - DOCUMENT SIGNED CIRCA 1933 - HFSID 153564

ERNEST HEMINGWAY
In the summer of 1933, the hard-drinking, adventurous author, en route to Spain to see the bullfights, signs a wine card provided by the ship.
Partly Printed Card signed: "Ernest Hemingway" in pencil, 3½x2½. At sea, circa August 1933. Wine card on which Hemingway's drink order, "1 Bot Vichy", has been written in unknown hand. Hemingway has handwritten: "520", his berth number for the voyage. During the late summer of 1933, Nobel Prize-winning American novelist and journalist Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) signed this wine card while on board the Reina de la Pacifica, en route from Cuba to Spain.The ship had set sail from Havana, Cuba on August 7 and would arrive in Santander, Spain in time for the bullfights. In the fall, Hemingway planned a brief stop in Paris and from there would sail on to Africa to begin a safari. While spending the earlier part of that summer marlin fishing in the waters off San Francisco, the zealous writer overcame his anguish over some unfavorable reviews of Death in the Afternoon (1932), which immortalized his love and passion for bullfighting. In July, Hemingway returned to his home in Key West, Florida, only to leave a month later to begin his trek across the Atlantic. While in Havana, he had listened to the events of Cuba's leftist revolution and supported the overthrow of dictator Geraldo Machado. Upon reaching Spain, the hard-drinking, adventurous author hunted wild boar and swam, but was disappointed with that year's bullfights. In Paris, he learned that his collection of 14 short stories, entitled Winner Take Nothing (1933), was also receiving less than exciting reviews. Hemingway knew that some might not appreciate his raw "pictures of the whole world", yet he still believed that the collection was worthwhile. He was mollified by some critics' praise of two of the book's stories, "Wine of Wyoming" and "After the Storm", and was appeased when 11,000 copies of the book were sold by mid-November. Hemingway set sail from Paris on November 22 and arrived in Mombasa, Kenya on December 8. He shot lions, buffalo and rhino before returning to Europe in March 1934. The safari would provide the details for Hemingway's non-fictional, picturesque novel, The Green Hills of Africa (1935), which he considered his best writing up to that time. Slightly stained, touching "Ernest" and the "Hem" of Hemingway. Pencil notes (unknown hand) at upper right corner. Overall, fine condition. Frame has some discoloration of the wood. Framed to an overall size of 26¼x16½.