ERNEST HEMINGWAY.  Original vintage glossy photograph of Ernest Hemingway’s fishing and hunting friend, Charles “Karl” Thompson, and an African guide with a Kudu antelope head on the Serengeti Plain during a hunt.  The photograph was taken and annotated on the verso by Hemingway: “Karl’s freak kudu head”; in addition, the photograph came with a group of photographs that were filed by Charles Scribner’s Sons.

PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN AND ANNOTATED BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY, SHOWS HEMINGWAY’S FISHING AND HUNTING FRIEND, CHARLES THOMPSON, WITH A KUDU ANTELOPE HEAD ON THE SERENGETI PLAIN DURING A HUNT

Hemingway and Thompson met in April of 1928, when the Hemingways (Ernest and a very pregnant Pauline) were on a five-week vacation in Key West.  Thompson’s family owned a variety of island businesses, including a cigar box factory, a hardware store, and a fishing tackle shop.  Thompson taught Hemingway how to fish for tarpon and red snapper.

This photograph depicts a scene from Hemingway’s 1933 to 1934 three month winter safari with his wife and Thompson in the big-game country of East Africa, during which they camped out on the great Serengeti Plain at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro.  The photograph helped Hemingway form the basis for his second work of nonfiction “Green Hills of Africa” published in 1935, of which Thompson was a major character and the hunt for Kudus were constantly referenced.

THE PHOTOGRAPH HELPED HEMINGWAY FORM THE BASIS FOR HIS SECOND WORK OF NONFICTION “GREEN HILLS OF AFRICA”

The photograph measures 3.5” by 2.5”, was taken in East Africa between December 1933 to February 1934, and is in overall fine condition.  Hemingway’s handwriting has been authenticated and is accompanied with documentation from RR Auction, the leading autograph auction houses in the world.  The only similar items we were able to locate were two photographs taken, annotated, and used by Ernest Hemingway for “Green Hills of Africa” that sold for $4,219 at Heritage Auctions in April of 2011; however, both photographs only showed a landscape and campsite.  In addition, a first edition of “Green Hills of Africa” inscribed by Hemingway to Thompson sold for $59,750 at Christie’s in October of 2002.