Old Man and the Sea, The – Ernest Hemingway
F/NF/NF First Edition Library: Facsimile in Slipcase

For sale: a rare and exceptional facsimile first edition, first printing copy of The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. First edition unstated, 1952 Scribner. First Printing with Scribner letter A and colophon on the copyright page and the facsimile statement below.

The book is in Fine condition with clean, bright boards, strong title ink on a straight spine, clean page blocks, tight binding, no spine tilt, strong spine ends, mild edge wear, and strong corners. The interior of the book is also in Fine condition without any marks, inscriptions, or other signs of ownership. The end papers and the interior pages are clean and bright.

The dust jacket is in Near Fine condition with clean, bright covers, mild edge wear, the $3.00 price on the front flap, and a small  FEL insignia on the rear flap.

 The illustrated slipcover is also in Near Fine condition with a few spots and mild wear to the bottom. 

A near-perfect copy of the 1952 first edition of The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway – at a fraction of the cost of this hard-to-find collectible.

In the late 1980s The First Edition Library (FEL) began publishing high quality facsimiles of unique first editions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries based upon literary importance, historical significance, and author recognition. The degree of accuracy maintained in the duplication of original first editions was nothing less than extraordinary. FEL facsimiles have the same weight, size, typeface, art, dust-jacket, finish and texture as the originals. Even mistakes, known as first edition points, were duplicated as erroneously printed.

The only alteration to the original was to include “FEL” on the rear dust jacket flap, and the book itself contained a block of text appearing on the copyright page identifying the printing as a facsimile reprint of the original. The First Edition Library did, however, make improvements to the originals. Acid free paper was used, together with a slipcase attractively decorated with paste downs of the dust jacket.