Hemingway, Ernest | Autograph letter signed to to his sister Marcelline, one of Hemingway's earliest letters - photo 1
Hemingway, Ernest | Autograph letter signed to to his sister Marcelline, one of Hemingway's earliest letters - photo 2

Hemingway, Ernest | Autograph letter signed to to his sister Marcelline, one of Hemingway's earliest letters

Lot 15
08.12.2023 12:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Starting price
$ 7 000
AuctioneerSotheby´s
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1105462
Lot 15 | Hemingway, Ernest | Autograph letter signed to to his sister Marcelline, one of Hemingway's earliest letters
Estimate value
$ 7 000 – 10 000
Hemingway, Ernest
Autograph letter signed ("Lovingly, Ernest"), to his sister Marcelline Hemingway ("Dear Marc") at Nantucket, Massachusetts

One page (202 x 127 mm) on blue-ruled tablet paper, [Oak Park, Illinois], 9 June [1909], docketed in upper right margin "From Ernest Hemingway—1909—Oak Park Ill" and on the verso "Keep this 1st letter of Ernests to me, which is Marcelline" and "Ernie was almost 10 …," accompanied by an autograph letter signed by Dr. Clarence Hemingway ("Your Papa—Clarence") to Marcelline, 4 pages (163 x 132 mm) on a bifolium of his monogrammed stationery, Oak Park, 18 June 1909, and with the original envelope in the hand of Clarence Hemingway with the later docket "Enclosing letter from Ernest age 10—re School—to Marc—June 9, 1909."

One of the earliest known letters from the future giant of modern literature: nine-year-old Ernest Hemingway to his eleven-year-old sister. The ongoing Cambridge University Press edition of The Letters of Ernest Hemingway prints only three letters and one postcard with an earlier date of composition, all of which were sent to either his father or mother. The present letter was written when Ernest was at home with his father and two younger sisters in Oak Park, while Marcelline was vacationing with their mother in Nantucket: "Wed June 9. Dear Marc, Our room won in the field day against Miss Koontz room. Al Bersham knocked two of Chandlers teeth out in a scrap and your dear gentle Miss hood had Mr. smith hold him while she lickt him with a raw hide strap. Lovingly, Ernest." As the late Hemingway specialist Bart Auerbach observed, "Already the fourth-grader shows an ability to handle irony and a penchant for writing about violent action." Mary L. Hood was the principal of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School in Oak Park; Flora Koontz and Warren R. Smith were teachers at the school

Dr. Hemingway's letter to Marcelline provides family news mostly having to do with Sunday School. He reports that seven-year-old Ursula Hemingway "spoke her piece very nicely" at the Children's Day observance—"a combination church and Sunday School service" during which Ernest was allowed to stay home. He closes by wishing God's blessings for Marcelline and his wife, "Gracie darling," and looking forward to the family soon being together at Windemere, the summer cottage he built on the shore of Michigan's Walloon Lake—and which was to play a large role in Hemingway's development as a man and a writer.

Marcelline Hemingway (1898–1963), the recipient of the letters in this and the following lots, was the oldest of the six Hemingway children. Though eighteen months older than Ernest, she was held back from entering grade school so she and her brother could be together in the same grade; they both graduated from high school in June 1917. Although they moved apart later in life—as demonstrated by Hemingway's July 1937 letter (see lot 33)—the two were inseparable throughout their early years. Marcelline wrote about the Hemingway family and growing up with Ernest in her memoir At the Hemingways: A Family Portrait, first published in 1962, a year after her brother’s death. It covers the period up to their father’s suicide in 1928. An expanded edition, which adds the Ernest-Marcelline correspondence, was issued by the University of Idaho Press in 1999. Displaying a nice way with irony herself, Marcelline described the memoir as "the simple story of what life was like in our happy home when we were children and growing up."
Address of auction Sotheby´s
1334 York Avenue
10021 New York
USA
Preview
01.12.2023 10:00 – 17:00
02.12.2023 10:00 – 17:00
03.12.2023 13:00 – 17:00
04.12.2023 10:00 – 17:00
05.12.2023 10:00 – 17:00
06.12.2023 10:00 – 17:00
07.12.2023 10:00 – 17:00
Phone +1 212 606 7000
Email
4FQ.AE2YUKFA@AYGLGHC3Y@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 10:00 – 17:00   
Tu 10:00 – 17:00   
We 10:00 – 17:00   
Th 10:00 – 17:00   
Fr 10:00 – 17:00   
Sa 10:00 – 17:00   
Su 13:00 – 17:00   

More from Creator

Hemingway, Ernest | Typed letter to Marcelline, announcing the birth of his first son and the publication of his first book
Hemingway, Ernest | Typed letter to Marcelline, announcing the birth of his first son and the publication of his first book
$25 000
Hemingway, Ernest | Autograph letter signed to John Herrmann, giving advice on writing
Hemingway, Ernest | Autograph letter signed to John Herrmann, giving advice on writing
$10 000
Hemingway, Ernest | The autograph manuscript of
Hemingway, Ernest | The autograph manuscript of "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." [Key West, finished April 1936]
$300 000
Hemingway, Ernest | Autograph letter signed to Arnold Gingrich, following their chance first meeting
Hemingway, Ernest | Autograph letter signed to Arnold Gingrich, following their chance first meeting
$4 000
Hemingway, Ernest | The Old Man and the Sea, first edition
Hemingway, Ernest | The Old Man and the Sea, first edition
$2 000
Hemingway, Ernest | Typed letter signed to Robert J. Carino;
Hemingway, Ernest | Typed letter signed to Robert J. Carino; "Every book that I’ve written is as good as I could write at that time "
$3 000
Hemingway, Ernest | in our time, first edition of Hemingway’s second book
Hemingway, Ernest | in our time, first edition of Hemingway’s second book
$30 000
Hemingway, Ernest | Autograph letter signed to Arnold Gingrich; “I’ve written 3 books of stories now and there are 2 unsuccessful ones in the 3 books”
Hemingway, Ernest | Autograph letter signed to Arnold Gingrich; “I’ve written 3 books of stories now and there are 2 unsuccessful ones in the 3 books”
$5 000

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>