By Janice Byrne
Perhaps the most cherished Christmas present for members of the Michigan Historical Society, and indeed for every Hemingway fan and scholar, was the recent acquisition of what may be the most rare of all Hemingway volumes, Three Stories and Ten Poems, by the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University. Published in 1923 by Robert McAlmon in Paris (Contact Publishing Company) it was Hemingway’s first book. Only three hundred copies were originally printed and of those three hundred only a handful are known to survive. Thus when MHS member Dan Rupp informed Clarke Curator Frank Boles that a copy of the book was coming up for sale at a reputable Detroit auction house, Dr. Boles sprang into action. He was able to obtain the book for less than expected and although some additional funding was pledged by the MHS Board, the extra money was not needed. “We were able to buy it for a good deal less than the going price on abebooks.com" Dr. Boles said. “It was a really nice Christmas present for the library,”
Possibly of most interest to Michigan Hemingway Society members is that it contains the “date rape” story “Up in Michigan” which both Grace Hemingway and Gertrude Stein considered unfit to read because of its sexually explicit content. Family letters suggest that Grace and Dr. Edmund Hemingway returned their copy to Ernest for that reason. Today it and the two other stories, “Out of Season” and “My Old Man” are considered classics of American literature. The ten poems remain somewhat obscure, however. Nevertheless for many scholars having the book available in the Clarke collection represents a wish that none had actually expected to be granted.
On a personal note, while on a literary trip to London a number of years ago this reporter visited a rare book shop in Bloomsbury which was said to have a copy of Three Stories and Ten Poems. The proprietor claimed at the time that only five copies were known to exist. His price translated from Euros to dollars was in the range of $25,000 and the copy was in less than fair condition. In contrast, the copy purchased by the Clarke, is in good condition and was purchased for considerably less money. As one MHS member put it, “Whether you like Hemingway or not, on the rare book market this was one heck of a deal.”