Sidney Franklin. First edition. NAP. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1952. Price-clipped dust jacket (in a mylar wrapper) is in Very Good+ condition. Hardcover is in Very Good+ condition with no writing or markings found internally, 245 pp.
The true account of Brooklyn's own, Sidney Franklin, who became a great matador in Spain. Featured in Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon.
An unusual and highly collectible autobiography chronicizing the extraordinary career of Sidney Franklin (1903–1976), the Brooklyn-born American who became a successful professional matador in Spain.
Franklin’s story is particularly significant to Ernest Hemingway collectors. Hemingway knew Franklin and wrote about him in Death in the Afternoon, and this volume includes Hemingway’s evaluation of Franklin as a matador. Contemporary reviews likewise highlighted the Hemingway material as an important feature of the book.
Franklin recounts his remarkable journey from Brooklyn to Mexico and ultimately to the bullrings of Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, and Valencia. The result is an entertaining firsthand account of bullfighting, travel, celebrity, and an improbable American career in one of Spain’s most demanding traditions.
This is an especially appealing copy because of its laid-in provenance. Included is a one-page typewritten piece titled “I Remember Sydney” by Bob Mohler, as well as a newspaper article relating to Franklin’s obituary. The Mohler piece adds a personal documentary element to the volume and makes this more than simply a first edition of Franklin’s autobiography.
A compelling copy for collectors of Sidney Franklin, Ernest Hemingway, bullfighting, American sports history, Brooklyn history, and modern first editions.
