Book with inscription · Welcome to the Nobel Prize Laureate Collection

ID-nummer

2026.001.001

Titel

Book with inscription

Publik beskrivning

In this copy of The Old Man and the Sea, there is an inscription by Ernest Hemingway to a nurse who cared for him for a time shortly before his death.

The Old Man and the Sea was published in 1952 and is mentioned specifically in the Swedish Academy’s prize citation for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Due to poor health, Hemingway was unable to travel to Stockholm to accept the prize. During a trip to the Congo and Uganda earlier that year, he had barely survived two plane crashes and would suffer from the aftereffects of the accidents for the rest of his life. To ease his pain, he increased his already high consumption of alcohol. He also suffered from several other health problems. At times, he was able to continue his writing, but in 1960 he was struck by deep depression. He was treated for his psychological problems on two occasions at Saint Marys Hospital, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Serving there were Franciscan sisters, members of the Catholic congregation Sisters of Saint Francis. One of the nurses who cared for Hemingway was named Helen Hayes and was also known as Sister Immaculata. The inscription in the book is addressed to her:

To Sister Immaculata
this book, hoping
to write another one as good
for her when my writing
luck is running well again,
and it will.
Ernest Hemingway
St. Mary’s
June 16 1961

Hemingway’s writing luck, however, would never return. On June 30 he was discharged and returned to his home in Ketchum, Idaho, where he took his life on July 2. The inscription in the book is probably the last written words by Hemingway that have been preserved.

The book was donated to the Nobel Prize Museum by the Franciscan Sisters of Rochester in 2026. The initiative for the donation was taken by Hemingway expert Curtis DeBerg.

Pristagare

Ernest Hemingway