Ernest Hemingway, Bestselling Writer
Novelist Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) is among the bestselling US authors of all time. He helped usher in a new style of writing that soared to instant popularity and has since held its own as required reading in numerous secondary schools and colleges.
A Lasting Home for His Writing in South Carolina
The University of South Carolina has a Rare Books and Special Collections section of its library featuring The Speiser and Easterling-Hallman Foundation Collection of Ernest Hemingway material, which is offered for teaching and scholarly use. The collection includes Hemingway books published in Paris in the 1920s, early writings published in his high school magazine, correspondence, manuscript proofs, and more. You can read about it at https://library.sc.edu. A search with the keyword “Hemingway” for the entire Library produces an impressive volume of items numbering nearly 170,000.
The library includes this explanation of the long connection between the writer and the donor and the value of the collection to researchers: “Ernest Hemingway did not have a literary agent, and at times Maurice Speiser performed for him many of the services that an agent would have otherwise handled. Both sides of the correspondence between them—totaling over a hundred letters—are preserved in this collection. Hemingway was one of the most energetic letter-writers in American literature, and even his practical letters to Mr. Speiser frequently include personal, literary or autobiographical observations. Ernest Hemingway’s marked typescripts and proofs have particular value for students, teachers, and researchers, revealing the author in the act of perfecting his words.”
Gaining Access
According to the library’s website: “Researchers not connected with the university, or traveling from a distance, are asked to contact the department ahead of their visit to ensure that the needed items and relevant staff help is available when they arrive. Researchers can request materials from the Irvin Department stacks and/or Irvin Department materials from the Annex in advance…”
For more information about Ernest Hemingway, read his Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana and Michigan pages.
The University of South Carolina is the second stop on our South Carolina Author Adventures Trail.
Patricia Smart
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