The Collected Library

Oblong folio. Numerous photogravures after Alfred Eisenstaedt. Original blue morocco-backed linen, spine lettered in gilt; publisher’s folding case (light rubbing, some minor soiling).

LIMITED EDITION, number 137 of 600 copies, SIGNED BY EISENSTAEDT. The Old Man and the Sea saw its initial publication in the pages of Life magazine’s Labor Day 1952 issue, for which Alfred Eisenstaedt was assigned to photograph its author. Upon his arrival in Cuba Eisenstaedt found himself at the receiving end of Hemingway’s constant rages, at many points even going off by himself to photograph other parts of the island in order calming himself down before returning to his assignment. He would later write that Hemingway was “the most difficult man I ever photographed.”