Hemingway's Letters to Antheil

Edited by CAROL Z. ROTHKOPF

Perhaps the most strikingfeature of Hemingway's side of the corre¬
spondence, which follows, is its warmth and friendliness.
Although the letters are written in the now often parodied macho
telegraphese that Hemingway seems almost to have invented, his sus¬
tained concern for Antheil's esteem and, more altruistically, for his wel¬
fare is toucbingly evident throughout. The Hemingway letters and tele¬
gram, which have come to the Rare Book and Manuscript Library as part
of the Antheil Collection, make it clear that the friendship between the two
men lasted at least until Hemingway went off to the Spanish Civil War
in 19} 7. It seems that the two men never met again after they returned to
the United States from Paris and, in the way of such relationships, all
contact finally faded away. The fact that Antheil saved these documents
and referred warmly to Hemingway in his autobiography does make it
clear, however, how much he valued the friend of his youth even when they
were no longer in touch with one another.

The letters have been transcribed as faithfully as possible and dates sug¬
gested where none were given by Hemingway. One can be dated on the
basis of the events outlined in some detail in the preceding article. (Indeed,
the letter as a whole is made clearer by the references in that article.) The
telegram of March SO and the letter of April 16 have been dated to IPS 6
since that was the year the Antheils began their journey to the West with a
long stopover in Santa Fe, which they finally left because Antheil thought
there was no "... duller place in the world than a desert in the rain." In
his autobiography, Antheil mentions missing Hemingway when he and
Boski (whose name Hemingway clearly never learned to spell) traveled
aaoss Florida. Antheil, however, cheerfully dismissed his friend's concern
as misguided since he was at last happily in funds as a writer for Esquire.
Arnold Gingrich, the founder o/Esquire (who had first met
Hemingway at the House of Books, Ltd. in New York City in 19SS [see
Library Columns, November l98Sy eventually became even more
renowned as a publisher of Hemingway's work. Other members of the
rather large cast of characters mentioned in these letters are likely to be
familiar to readers. Nevertheless, these reminders may be useful:
 

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