Hemingway’s inscribed copy of The Old Man and the Sea donated to Nobel Museum

The Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minn., are donating a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, inscribed to Sister Immaculata in June 1961, to the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm. The inscription, dated June 16, 1961, reads in part, "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." Hemingway was treated at the Mayo Clinic in 1961, where Sister Immaculata, a psychiatric nurse born Helen Hayes who later became a chaplain, cared for him. He had received electroshock therapy and been admitted to the clinic twice that year; he was discharged on June 26, 1961, and died by suicide on July 2, 1961.

The book spent more than 60 years with the Franciscan sisters, largely on a hospital library shelf, until researcher Curtis DeBerg brought it to wider attention. Ulf Larsson, senior curator at the Nobel Prize Museum, which has no other Hemingway artifacts, said the inscription is ‘‘dense with stories’’ and that the museum will put the book on display as soon as possible.

Larsson, who has only seen photographs of the handwriting, said he does not doubt its authenticity and noted the donation involved no money. DeBerg suggested the donation after visiting the museum; the order turned the book over in November and a ceremony in Sweden included DeBerg speaking and an actor reading from the novella.

Key Topics

Culture, Ernest Hemingway, Sister Immaculata, Nobel Prize Museum, Mayo Clinic