Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway, owned by Edward Hall

Death in the Afternoon 

Ernest Hemingway 

Charles Scribner's Sons 1932 

Hardcover. No DJ. First edition, early printing. Condition: Very Good-. Black cloth binding with extensive gilt patterning on spine and facsimile of Hemingway's signature on front. On the spine, the gilt design is rubbed a bit but still visible, and the lettering has more advanced wear. The lettering on the front cover is unharmed and quite crisp. Black cloth is faded, especially around the borders of the boards, and the corners have some bumping and very little fraying. Dampstain on the plate guard and much milder dampstain on the first few pages, otherwise the interior is bright and in good shape. The book includes a color frontispiece by Juan gris, 20 or so full-page bullfighting photographs, and an extensive bullfighting glossary at the end of the book. It is a 1932 first edition with Scribner's seal on the bottom of the edition page, though it lacks an 'A' under the copyright, indicating a later printing, though a rare one.

This nonfiction classic is an impassioned study on spanish bullfighting. It is an association copy, once owned by Edward Hall as indicated on the free endpaper. Hall was a famous American anthropologist who studied Diné and Hopi cultures in the midcentury, and is credited with coining the concept of Proxemics, which observes the way one negotiates spatial dynamics as a form of nonverbal communication.