February 9th is the date that Ernest Hemingway ended his contract with Boni and Liverwright–one of the most influential publishers of the early part of the 20th century, publishing work by Theodore Dreiser, William Faulkner, Dorothy Parker, John Steinbeck and others. Horace Liverwright also formed the Modern Library in 1917. The company had a sad demise, precipitated by Liverwright’s alcoholism. It has been suggested that Mr. Boni and Mr. Liverwright flipped a coin to decide who would lead the company. Liverwright won control, and the company went down with him.

Hemingway was, all things considered, perhaps lucky to extricate himself, though the way he did it was rather unpleasant. For more details, click on this link from Steve King’s fine Today in Literature website.

TRH