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"In memory of that week we went rowing in a bull-fiddle through the lovely lakes of Central Park": Exceptionally Rare Presentation Copy of The Great Gatsby; with a beautiful full-page inscription signed by F. Scott Fitzgerald
FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.
The Great Gatsby.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1925.
First edition, second issue of Fitzgerald’s masterpiece with all six second issue points present, including: “echolalia” on page 60, “southern” on page 119, “sickantired” on page 205, and “Union Station” on page 211. Octavo, original dark green cloth with gilt titles to the spine. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “For Theodore L. Liedemedt in memory of that week we went rowing in a bull-fiddle through the lovely lakes of Central Park, from Stravinski (Alias F. Scott Fitzgerald) May 1885 ‘Stuttgart.'” The recipient, Theodore L. Liedemedt, was a German-born musician and close personal friend of Fitzgerald’s. Kept in Liedemedt’s family for over ninety years, family lore has it that the two first met on board a transatlantic ship crossing in the 1920s (Fitzgerald traveled to Europe in 1921, 1924, 1928, and 1929). Liedemedt was a working musician who performed on some of those crossings. He died in 1929, just making it to 30. Fitzgerald, older only by three years, just outlived his friend, dying in 1940 at 44. A South New Jerseyian in the later part of his short life, Liedemedt arrived on American shores in 1915 during the First World War. He worked first on the crew of a German merchantman, interned in the Delaware River, then from June 1916 at a day job in Philadelphia. When the United States entered the First World War officially on April 6, 1917, Liedemedt was detained by the FBI on April 7. He was released a few days later when they found that he did not hare the political convictions of his home country and was, therefore, not a threat to the United States. Fitzgerald took up residence in New Jersey in in 1911 when he attended the Newman School, a Catholic prep school in Hackensack. After graduating he attending Princeton University, only a few miles from Liedemedt’s stomping grounds, where Fitzgerald abruptly left in 1917 to join the American Army. Having avoided active service in Europe he moved to New York City where he would begin his career as a writer. Fitzgerald and Liedemedt were never more than roughly 80 miles from each other, from Liedemedt’s landing in 1915 to his early death 14 years later. The nature of the inscription—knowing, familiar, full of inside references—points to an intimacy not documented in an other sources in Fitzgerald’s archives. In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. An exceptional inscription from Fitzgerald.
Price: $200,000.00 Item Number: 138936
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First Edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's All the Sad Young Men
FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.
All the Sad Young Men.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1926.
First edition, first issue of Fitzgerald’s third collection of short stories. Octavo, original green cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell case.
Price: $7,800.00 Item Number: 139276
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Facsimile Manuscript of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.
The Great Gatsby Manuscript Facsimile.
Washington, D.C: Microcard Editions Books 1973.
The facsimile manuscript edition of Fitzgerald’s masterpiece. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated. Near fine in a near fine slipcase. Edited and with an introduction by Matthew Bruccoli.
Price: $650.00 Item Number: 140683
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First Edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon
FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.
The Last Tycoon. An Unfinished Novel. Together with The Great Gatsby and Selected Stories.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1941.
First edition with the Scribner’s A and the publisher’s seal on the copyright page. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in very good dust jacket. Foreword by Edmund Wilson. A nice example.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 144171
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FIRST EDITION OF F. SCOTT FITZGERALD'S THE GREAT GATSBY
FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.
The Great Gatsby.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1925.
First edition, first state with “chatter” p.60, “northern” p.119, “sick in tired” p.205, and “Union Street station” p.211. Octavo, original dark green cloth with gilt titles to the spine. In fine condition. Fitzgerald’s editor, Maxwell Perkins, and his friend and author Ring Lardner, both considered The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s most perfectly realized work of art. Housed in a custom full morocco clamshell box. An exceptional example.
Price: $12,000.00 Item Number: 146089
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Rare May 27, 1922 Edition of Collier's Magazine; Featuring the First Appearance of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.
Collier’s The National Weekly [The Curious Case of Benjamin Button].
New York: P.F. Collier & Son Company May 27, 1922.
First edition of volume 69 of this weekly general interest magazine, with the first appearance of Fitzgerald’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Small folio, original wrappers, illustrated with black and white photographs, advertisements, and illustrations by H. M. Stoops, R.F. Schabelitz, Jack Flanagan, and others. Scarce first appearance of Fitzgerald’s ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,’ illustrated by James Montgomery Flagg, beginning at page 5 and continuing from page 22 to page 28. In near fine condition, an antiquarian library label and embossment to the front panel. Rare.
Price: $950.00 Item Number: 145484
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FIRST EDITION OF F. SCOTT FITZGERALD'S THE GREAT GATSBY; with a rare Scribner's 'Compliments of the Publishers' card signed by Fitzgerald's editor Maxwell Perkins
FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.
The Great Gatsby.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1925.
First edition, first state of Fitzgerald’s “most perfectly realized work of art” with “chatter” p.60, “northern” p.119, “sick in tired” p.205, and “Union Street station” p.211. Octavo, original dark green cloth with gilt titles to the spine. With a rare Scribner’s ‘With the Compliments of the Publishers’ card signed by Fitzgerald’s editor, Maxwell Perkins, “Max” laid in. Maxwell Perkins, considered by many the greatest book editor of all time, left a monumental legacy in his thirty-seven years at the publishing house of Charles Scribner’s Sons, helping shape literature by discovering and guiding several highly influential writers including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and James Jones. After working as a reporter for The New York Times, Perkins joined Scribner’s Sons in 1910 as an advertising manager, before becoming an editor. At that time, Scribner’s was known for publishing older authors such as John Galsworthy, Henry James, and Edith Wharton. Perkins, however, wished to publish younger writers. Unlike most editors, he actively sought out promising new authors; he made his first big find in 1919 when he signed F. Scott Fitzgerald. Initially, no one at Scribner’s except Perkins had liked The Romantic Egotist, the working title of Fitzgerald’s first novel, and it was rejected. Even so, Perkins worked with Fitzgerald to revise the manuscript until it was accepted by the publishing house. Its publication as This Side of Paradise (1920) marked the arrival of a new literary generation that would always be associated with Perkins. Fitzgerald’s profligacy and alcoholism strained his relationship with Perkins. Nonetheless, Perkins remained Fitzgerald’s friend to the end of Fitzgerald’s short life, in addition to his editorial relationship with the author, particularly evidenced in The Great Gatsby (1925), which benefited substantially from Perkins’ criticism. It was also through Fitzgerald that Perkins met Ernest Hemingway, publishing his first major novel, The Sun Also Rises, in 1926. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco and folding chemise slipcase. A very nice example, Scribner’s ‘Compliments’ cards signed by Perkins are rare.
Price: $16,000.00 Item Number: 146995
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First Edition of F. Scott's Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise; with a typed letter signed by Fitzgerald’s legendary editor Maxwell Perkins
FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.
This Side of Paradise.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1920.
First edition, first printing of Fitzgerald’s first novel, with an initial print run of only 3,000 copies. Octavo, original dark green cloth with gilt titles to the spine. With a rare typed letter signed by by Fitzgerald’s legendary editor, Maxwell Perkins, laid in. One page, typescript, on Perkins’ Charles Scribner’s Sons Publishers letterhead, the letter reads in full, ‘August 10, 1937 Dear Mr. Kozlenko: I think the idea you outline in your of August 7th for an anthology of on act plays is a good one. I’d like to see you at any time convenient to talk it over. The greatest difficulty would be the compensation of the various authors for the use of their material. Hoping you may find it easy to stop in soon, because in the absence of my secretary on vacation, I am chained to my desk, Ever sincerely yours, “Maxwell Perkins” To Mr. William Kozlenko.’ Maxwell Perkins, considered by many the greatest book editor of all time, left a monumental legacy in his thirty-seven years at the publishing house of Charles Scribner’s Sons, helping shape literature by discovering and guiding several highly influential writers including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and James Jones. After working as a reporter for The New York Times, Perkins joined Scribner’s Sons in 1910 as an advertising manager, before becoming an editor. At that time, Scribner’s was known for publishing older authors such as John Galsworthy, Henry James, and Edith Wharton. Perkins, however, wished to publish younger writers. Unlike most editors, he actively sought out promising new authors; he made his first big find in 1919 when he signed F. Scott Fitzgerald. Initially, no one at Scribner’s except Perkins had liked The Romantic Egotist, the working title of Fitzgerald’s first novel, and it was rejected. Even so, Perkins worked with Fitzgerald to revise the manuscript until it was accepted by the publishing house. Its publication as This Side of Paradise (1920) marked the arrival of a new literary generation that would always be associated with Perkins. Fitzgerald’s profligacy and alcoholism strained his relationship with Perkins. Nonetheless, Perkins remained Fitzgerald’s friend to the end of Fitzgerald’s short life, in addition to his editorial relationship with the author, particularly evidenced in The Great Gatsby (1925), which benefited substantially from Perkins’ criticism. It was also through Fitzgerald that Perkins met Ernest Hemingway, publishing his first major novel, The Sun Also Rises, in 1926. The recipient, William Kozlenko was a playwright, screenwriter, and editor of multiple stage-play compilations and anthologies, as well as being a founding editor of One-Act Play Magazine, which published from 1937–1942, and a co-founder of the One-Act Repertory Theater. His best-known editorial compilations include The Disputed Works of William Shakespeare and the 1938 collection The Best Short Plays of the Social Theater, which included contemporary works such as Clifford Odets’ Waiting for Lefty, Marc Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock, and W.H. Auden’s and Christopher Isherwood’s The Dog Beneath the Skin. The present letter was likely sent in reference to the future publication of his anthology Contemporary one-act plays, which was published by Scribner’s in 1938. In near fine condition. An exceptional example. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box by the Harcourt Bindery.
Price: $6,200.00 Item Number: 147295
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"Of course all life is a process of breaking down": First Edition of The Crack-Up; Inscribed by Edmund Wilson
FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.; EDITED BY EDMUND WILSON.
The Crack-Up.
New York: New Directions 1945.
First edition of this collection of essays by Fitzgerald, published posthumously. Octavo, original half cloth. Inscribed by Edmund Wilson, who served as editor to this posthumous Fitzgerald work, “To Frangeon L. Jones with the best regards of Edmund Wilson Peterborough Aug. 16, 1964.” Laid into the book is the newspaper article from August 17,1964 regarding Edmund Wilson’s presentation of the Edward MacDowell Medal at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. In near fine condition, lacking the dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Uncommon signed and inscribed.
Price: $3,000.00 Item Number: 2212
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“We all have souls of different ages": First Edition of The Beautiful and the Damned
FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.
The Beautiful and the Damned.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1922.
First edition, first state of the author’s second novel. Octavo, original green cloth, titles to the spine in gilt. Near fine in a very good second issue dust jacket with some unnecessary tape repair to the verso, name to the front free endpaper. Uncommon in the original dust jacket.
Price: $2,250.00 Item Number: 119223