Ernest Hemingway's bullfight tickets owned and used during “The Dangerous Summer” of 1959

Two colorful bullfight tickets, each 2.5” x 5.5”. Plaza de Toros Málaga, August 2, 1959. “Sombra” (“Shade”). Paper tickets, each with one punched cancellation hole. One has light folds. Torn at bottom where detached from ticket stubs when entering the bullring. Fine condition.

In “Sports Illustrated” on August 17, 1959, John Blashill wrote about Spanish bullfighters Luis Miguel Dominguín and Antonio Ordóñez. In part, “Last year both matadors had the finest season of their careers, and Spain was split between ordoñistas and dominguístas. But it seemed improbable that they ever would meet because of an old family feud that persisted even after Ordóñez married Luis Miguel’s sister. In April, however, the feud was resolved, and in June a series of cartels matched the two masters. At Zaragoza, Luis Miguel cut three ears, Ordóñez one. In Barcelona the result was the same, and again at Puerto de Santa María. The luck changed at Tudela – Ordóñez cut four ears, Dominguín none. This brought them to Valencia and Tuesday, July 28. If they fought well on that date, a mano a mano – an admitted and open duel on the sands with each matador taking three bulls – would be scheduled for Thursday, July 30. Ordóñez cut two ears, Dominguín none, but the crowd was wildly enthusiastic and the mano a mano was scheduled…” In the July 30th bullfight, Dominguín was badly gored and thrown while fighting his third bull of the day in a mano-a-mano fight with Ordóñez.

On October 26, 1959, Blashill reported in “Sports Illustrated,” in part, “The Spanish bullfight season begins in Castellón de la Plana at the end of February and ends in Zaragoza in the middle of October. This year, during the prescribed 250 or so afternoons of death, the sands were trod as never before. There were some 360 corridas de toros – about 40 more than in any previous year. More than 2,000 bulls were killed, and 1,130 ears (plus assorted tails and hoofs) were awarded to 63 practicing matadors.

“Impressive as all this may be, it still must be said that this season did not really begin until June 27, and that it ended less than two months later, on Aug. 21. For many aficionados, it consisted of just 10 bullfights, 49 bulls and 47 ears (plus 11 tails and four hoofs). These were fought, killed and cut by two bullfighters who are brothers-in-law, Luis Miguel Dominguín and Antonio Ordóñez.”

In early 1959, Hemingway had contracted with “Life” magazine to do a series of articles on the 1959 bullfighting season in Spain, centering on the rivalry between Ordóñez and Dominguín. In 1960, he worked on the articles, writing 108,746 words. Hemingway had written his close friend A.E. Hotchner that he “had to establish the personality and the art and the basic differences between the two great artists and then show what happened, and you can't do that in 4,000 words…'' Hemingway asked for Hotchner's help in the cutting but, for three days, rejected all suggested cuts with explanations in writing to Hotchner, who was in the same room with him. Finally, on the fourth day, Hemingway yielded, the cutting began, and 54,916 words were excised. The residual manuscript went to “Life” and formed the basis for the three articles published by “Life” magazine. It was not until 25 years later that Hemingway’s manuscript, cut down to 45,000 words, was published.

In the introduction to Hemingway’s “The Dangerous Summer,” published posthumously in 1985, James A. Michener writes, “This is a book about death written by a lusty sixty-year-old man who had reason to fear that his own death was imminent. It is also a loving account of his return to those heroic days when he was young and learning about life in the bull rings of Spain … ‘The Dangerous Summer’ focuses on bullfighting and its participants, both in the ring and in the stands … Temporada, the season. Roughly, from late March through early October. The word embraces all the fights in all the arenas of Spain … This book deals with the exciting Spanish temporadas of 1959…”

Hemingway writes about the bullfights in Málaga’s Plaza de Toros de Málaga in “The Dangerous Summer.”

These bullfight tickets are from the personal property of Roberto Herrera Sotolongo, personal secretary and good friend of Ernest Hemingway. On occasion, Hemingway would buy tickets and bring Roberto to the bullfights. Herrera and Hemingway first met in 1942, when Herrera became a crewmember aboard Hemingway’s boat the “Pilar” at the height of World War II, when Hemingway patrolled the Gulf Stream for German submarines for the US Government.

Herrera and Hemingway became good friends while sharing their mutual interests in hunting, fishing aboard the “Pilar”, and drinking at their favorite bar, La Floridita, in Havana. They also attended bullfights together, and Herrera, an avid photographer, captured many photos and movies of all these activities. Hemingway called Herrera “El Monstruo” (the Monster), and signed much of his correspondence to Herrera “Mr. Papa”. By the mid-1940s, Hemingway was travelling extensively and for long periods of time, leaving his Cuban home, Finca La Vigia (Lookout Farm), in the hands of Herrera.

After Hemingway’s 1961 suicide, Herrera was appointed to represent Hemingway’s affairs in Cuba, including the deeding of the property and contents of “Finca La Vigia” to the Cuban people “as a place of opportunity for wider education and research, to be maintained in his memory.” The property became a museum, and Herrera acted as Conservator until his death in 1970.
until his death in 1970.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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