This essay will conduct a comparative analysis of the editing practices of Tom Jenks during his work on Ernest Hemingway’s posthumously novel The Garden of Eden, and Hemingway and Maxwell Perkins editorial work on A Farwell to Arms. Considering the severity of Tom Jenks’ alterations to the novel and the seemingly intentional scarcity of information related to Jenks engagement with the text, a consideration for how Hemingway’s style of editing compares to Jenks’ is necessary in order to determine the accuracy of the published version of The Garden of Eden in relation to Hemingway’s larger body of work. In order to accomplish this, I will analyze the existing material available related to Hemingway’s editorial practices to evaluate the changes made by Jenks to The Garden of Eden manuscript. What this research shows is that while Hemingway performed revisions throughout the process of publication, most of his editorial work occurred during the initial writing stage. By evaluating Garden through a comparison in the editing process performed on both texts, it is clear that while Jenks attests to an adherence to what he describes as the “law of an ancient god,” his version of the text is ultimately insufficient in presenting The Garden of Eden as Hemingway intended. Following a number of other scholars opinions, such as John Leonard, K.J. Peters, and even Tom Jenks, I propose the text be restored to its manuscript form to provide readers with an authentic draft of the novel, expanding upon the new avenues The Garden of Eden provides for Hemingway scholarship
