HEMINGWAY, Ernest. For Whom the Bell Tolls.

New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1968. First Edition Library. Large post octavo. Beige cloth boards, author’s stamped signature in black on upper cover, black spine titles on crisp red fields. Deckled edges. Previous owner’s signature on front endpaper. A fine copy in fine dust jacket and in fine pictorial slipcase.

Tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to an anti- fascist guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As an expert in the use of explosives, he is assigned to blow up a bridge during an attack on the city of Segovia. Told primarily through the thoughts and experiences of Robert Jordan, a character inspired by Hemingway’s own experiences in the Spanish Civil War. Robert Jordan is an American who travels to Spain to oppose the fascist forces of Generalísimo Francisco Franco. A superior has ordered him to travel behind enemy lines and destroy a bridge, using the aid of a group of guerrillas who have been living in the mountains nearby. Robert Jordan encounters one of those in their camp, María, a young Spanish native whose life has been shattered by the outbreak of the war. His strong sense of duty clashes with both Republican leader Pablo’s unwillingness to commit to a covert operation and his own joie de vivre that is kindled by his newfound love for María. The novel graphically describes the unutterable brutality of civil war. The novel is regarded as one of Hemingway’s best works, along with The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, and The Old Man and the Sea.

[L1 6D]