Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana

F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner's, 1925 8vo. Publisher's green cloth, a fine copy in a first issue dust-jacket; jacket panel folds, spine, and edges restored with minor loss and some relettering of imprint and recoloring to spine, rear panel separated at fold, edge chipping. Half morocco case. First edition and a prime candidate for the Great American Novel. Gatsby is widely regarded as Fitzgerald's masterpiece, though the original sales were very disappointing in comparison to his earlier bestsellers. The work barely paid back his advance from Scribner's. Fitzgerald himself was clear on his feelings of its merits, "I think my novel is about the best American novel ever written" (Letters p. 166). Certainly few since have disputed Cyril Connolly's estimation of it as "one of the half-dozen best American novels ... it remains a prose poem of delight and sadness which has by now introduced two generations to the romance of America ..." The dust jacket for Gatsby has achieved a near legendary status as well, not only for the image but for the great difficulty in obtaining an unworn or unrestored example. Gatsby's design by Xavier Cugat's brother, Francis, has become inextricably linked to the novel's tone, with a depth that few, if any, other wrapper designs have managed. Fitzgerald's comment to his editor Maxwell Perkins ("For Christ's sake don't give anyone that jacket you're saving for me. I've written it into the book.") has long intrigued readers as a reference to one of the novels most evocative images, that of a "girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs." REFERENCE: Bruccoli A11.I.a; Connolly 48

View 1 of Lot 1119: Fitzgerald, F. Scott | The Great Gatsby; first edition in a first issue dust-jacket

fitzgerald, f. scott | the great gatsby; first edition in a first issue dust-jacket

The Library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko

Fitzgerald, F. Scott The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925 8vo. Publisher's linen-grain dark green cloth, spine lettered in gilt and upper cover in blind; a few light stains to lower cover, lower corners bumped, front hinge a little tender, small abrasion on front pastedown. First state pictorial dust jacket by Francis Cugat, with lower case 'j" in Jay Gatsby corrected by hand in blue ink; an unrestored example with edgewear and fraying at ends of spine and corners, panels lightly scuffed. Housed in a green slipcase with folding cloth chemise.

View 1 of Lot 15: Fitzgerald, F. Scott | The Great Gatsby; first edition, inscribed to Zelda's sister and her husband

fitzgerald, f. scott | the great gatsby; first edition, inscribed to zelda's sister and her husband

Opéra de Paris: Auction for Action, Bid for Creation | Online

Urruty Gustavo The Spring With Gatsby (from the Series New York. « Manhattan 90s ») signed, titled, dated 1994, numbered 1/7, signed with artist’s initials and dated 2022 on the reverse photographic print mounted on aluminum 33 x 50 cm ; 13 x 19 11/16 in. 37,2 x 54,3 cm ; 14 5/8 x 21 3/8 in. Conceived in 1994 and executed in 2022, this work is number 1 from an edition of 7. This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity delivered by the artist. ________________________________________________________ Urruty Gustavo The Spring With Gatsby (from the Series New York. « Manhattan 90s ») ﻿ signé, titré, daté 1994, numéroté 1/7, signé des initiales de l'artiste et daté 2022 au dos tirage photographique monté sur aluminium 33 x 50 cm ; 13 x 19 11/16 in. 37,2 x 54,3 cm ; 14 5/8 x 21 3/8 in. Conçue en 1994 et exécutée en 2022, cette oeuvre est le numéro 1 d'une édition en 7 exemplaires. Cette oeuvre est accompagnée d'un certificat d'authenticité de l'artiste.

View 1 of Lot 116: The Spring With Gatsby (from the Series New York. « Manhattan 90s »)

the spring with gatsby (from the series new york. « manhattan 90s »)

Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including the Olympic Manifesto

The Property of a Gentleman FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925 8vo. Minor toning. Publisher's green cloth, upper cover lettered in blind, spine gilt; minor rubbing, cocked. Facsimile jacket. First edition of a prime candidate for the Great American Novel, with an ownership inscription dated "St. Paul | 1925," the birthplace of the author "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." ﻿ REFERENCE: Bruccoli A11.I.a

fitzgerald, f. scott | the great gatsby. new york: charles scribner's sons, 1925

Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana. Part 1

[Fitzgerald, F. Scott — The Great Gatsby]

[Fitzgerald, F. Scott — The Great Gatsby] An original draft of the cover art (marked "ARTIST PROOF") for The Great Gatsby, dated "NOV 1924" Single sheet (240 x 490 mm). Ink, pencil, and watercolor on artists' paper, with manuscript annotations in ink and pencil; old folds, dampstaining along lower margin not affecting image, remnants of adhesive presumably where once mounted, one or two short splits to folds not affecting image.

View 1 of Lot 1011: [Fitzgerald, F. Scott — The Great Gatsby] | “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

[fitzgerald, f. scott — the great gatsby] | “so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

A Life & Legacy: The Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman Collection

F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925 8vo. Half-title; some spotting and toning. Rebound in full burgundy morocco, spine with raised bands in six compartments, second and fourth gilt-lettered, others with gilt fleur-de-lis device, spectacles embossed on upper cover. In matching clamshell case.

View 1 of Lot 194: F. Scott Fitzgerald | "The Great Gatsby," first edition

f. scott fitzgerald | "the great gatsby," first edition

The Maurice Neville Collection of Modern Literature (Part III)

Small 8vo. Original gilt-stamped flexible blue cloth; spine faded. Publisher's illustrated jacket with reminder stamp; minor wear at spine ends.

the great gatsby. the modern library, 1934

first edition, first printing (six earlier textual variants present on pp.60, 119, 165, 165, 205 and 211), 8vo, original dark green cloth lettered in gilt on spine and in blind on upper cover, dust-jacket designed by francis cugat in first printing (lower-case "j" in "jay Gatsby" corrected by hand), collector's brown cloth folding box, head and foot of spine slightly bumped, extremities of dust-jacket frayed with minor loss

the great gatsby. new york: charles scribner's sons, 1925

first edition, second printing (six textual variants corrected on pp.60, 119, 165, 165, 205 and 211), presentation copy inscribed by the author ("For Walter Bruington | from an unknown admirer | F. Scott Fitzgerald | Autumn 1940") on front free endpaper, 8vo, original dark green cloth lettered in gilt on spine and in blind on upper cover, dust-jacket in second state (upper-case "J" in "Jay Gatsby" but no reviews on flaps and back), collector's blue morocco-backed folding box, foot of spine slightly bumped, dust-jacket worn with adhesive-tape repairs, some loss, tears and minor colour restoration

English Literature, History, Children&#39;s Books and Illustrations

8vo, first edition, first printing (six earlier textual variants present on pp.60, 119, 205 and 211), Scribner's seal on copyright page, original dark green cloth lettered in gilt on spine and in blind on upper cover

The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925, first edition, first printing (correct issue points present: publisher's seal on imprint page, p.60 "chatter" (line 16),  p.119 "northern" (line 22),  p.205 "sick in tired" (lines 9-10) and p. 211 "Union Street Station" (lines 7-8)), original dark green cloth lettered in gilt on spine and in blind on upper cover, remnants of dust-jacket (comprising most of upper panel and description of book from lower panel), some soiling, library stamps, recased with repairs to foot of spine, new front free endpapers, some soiling to binding; The Great Gatsby. Shelton, Connecticut: The First Edition Library, [undated], facsimile edition, inscribed by the actress karen black, original black cloth, dust-jacket--both 8vo (2 vol.)

two editions of the great gatsby, comprising:

The Library of an English Bibliophile, Part II

8vo (178 x 130 mm.), first French edition, copy 321 of 415 numbered copies, photographic frontispiece, publisher's printed wrappers, edges uncut, blue buckram folding-case with printed spine label, minimal wear

gatsby le magnifique. traduit de l'anglais par victor llona. paris: simon kra, (1926]

English Literature, History, Children’s Books and Illustrations

8vo, FIRST FRENCH EDITION, no.168 of 415 numbered copies, photographic frontispiece, original wrappers printed in black and blue, edges uncut

gatsby le magnifique. trauduit de l'anglais par victor llona. paris: simon kra, 1926

Fine Books and Manuscripts Including Americana

8vo. Original blind and gilt-stamped green cloth in original dust jacket with the "J" on rear panel hand-corrected; a fine copy of the book in a jacket showing restoration to spine, edges and bottom of the front panel, but an attractive copy. Morocco folding case.

the great gatsby. new york: scribner's, 1925

the great gatsby, 1974: a suit worn by robert redford, three-piece, each with western...

Fine Books & Manuscripts, Including Americana

Fitzgerald, F. Scott Tender is the Night. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934 8vo. Publisher's dark blue-green cloth, spine lettered in gilt; boards lightly soiled. Pictorial dust jacket; spine panel lightly faded, light wear and a few short tears to edges, toning along fold of interior black flap, still a particularly bright example. First edition, a very fine association copy, inscribed to Donald Ogden Stewart on the front free endpaper: "Dear Don: This will amuse you I think. Scott." Donald Ogden Stewart (1894-1980) was a prominent American humorist and writer who achieved success in Golden Age Hollywood writing movies such as The Philadelphia Story, which won him the Oscar for best screenplay. He was a lifelong friend of F. Scott Fitzgerald, a relationship that began in the Summer of 1919 when Fitzgerald was reworking his draft of The Romantic Egoist into what would become his debut novel, This Side of Paradise. Stewart had literary aspirations of his own, and was among Fitzgeralds' pre-publication readers: "I got him to lend me [the manuscript of] This Side of Paradise, written in pencil. I approved of it, with my Yale reservations. I didn't know enough to appreciate his style and form, but the content was exciting" (Stewart, p. 86). Fitzgerald encouraged Stewart's literary ambition in turn, and he helped kickstart his career by connecting him with an old Princeton friend at Vanity Fair. Following the success of his H.G. Wells satire, A Parody Outline of History, he earned an invitation to the famous Algonquin Round Table. Throughout the 1920s he was part of a literary community that—in addition to the Fitzgeralds—included Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, John Dos Passos, and Ernest Hemingway. Stewart joined Hemingway on the trip to Pamplona that served as the inspiration for his debut novel, The Sun Also Rises; also serving as a model for the character of Bill Gorton. After returning from Europe, Stewart settled down in California and embarked upon a career in Hollywood. There, his path crossed once more with Fitzgerald, who had returned to Hollywood in dire financial straits when the cost of his opulent lifestyle and Zelda's medical bills finally caught up with him. The pair worked together (unsuccessfully) on screenplays for The Women (George Cukor, 1939), and the never-realized Air Raid (Paramount, 1939), but Fitzgerald privately ridiculed Stewart for his increasingly liberal politics (which would eventually earn Stewart a place on the Hollywood blacklist). It was quite possibly during this final period of collaboration—Fitzgerald died in 1940—that he inscribed this copy of Tender is the Night to Donald Ogden Stewart. Tender in the Night was Fitzgerald's last novel and, in his own opinion, his finest work. In the nineteen years which had passed between the publication of The Great Gatsby and the appearance of Tender is the Night in April 1934, anticipation and expectation had built around what would be Fitzgerald's last novel. However, on publication, it achieved neither the acclaim nor the sales which Fitzgerald hoped for, an outcome which puzzled him for the rest of his life. This was despite a number of overwhelmingly positive reviews, including that of John Chamberlain for The New York Times, who wrote: "Mr. Fitzgerald has not forgotten his craftsmanship... Beyond the story, there is [his] ability to catch the "essence of a continent", the flavor of a period, the fragrance of a night and a snatch of old song, in a phrase." "...a wonderful evocation of the second phase of American expatriates ... described with flashes of genius by an expert in self-destruction... " (Connolly). REFERENCES Bruccoli A15.1.a; Connolly 79; Donald Ogden Stewart, By a Stroke of Luck! An Autobiography, London: 1975 PROVENANCE Donald Ogden Stewart (presentation inscription) — Roger Rechler (Christie's New York, 11 October 2002, lot 91, achieved $119,500)

View 1 of Lot 1059: Fitzgerald, F. Scott | Tender is the Night, first edition, inscribed to Donald Ogden Stewart

fitzgerald, f. scott | tender is the night, first edition, inscribed to donald ogden stewart

Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana. Part 2

Fitzgerald, F. Scott The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925 8vo. Intermittent very light dampstaining to gutter. Publisher's linen-grain dark green cloth, spine lettered in gilt and upper cover in blind; minor bumps to head and foot of spine and corners, short tear to upper hinge repaired with adhesive. Third state pictorial dust jacket by Francis Cugat with eight reviews quoted on rear panel; restoration, including backing of the jacket with resulting minor warping, flaps reattached, recoloring to the front panel, spine and flaps, affecting the author’s name on the lower edge of the front panel and a few other letters, rear panel and upper edges of flaps lightly soiled, some light scuffing to front panel — altogether presents most attractively. Custom clamshell box.

View 1 of Lot 1038: Fitzgerald, F. Scott | "In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars."

fitzgerald, f. scott | "in his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars."

Fine Books and Manuscripts

Steinbeck, John The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking Press, [1938-39] Folio (317 x 189 mm). 161 sheets, numbered every other page, for total of 324 leaves paginated in pencil in the margin, printed on thin proofing paper on recto only; a few tears and chips, primarily marginal and closed, minor toning, some corners creased, minor dampstaining to lower margin of a few leaves. Publisher's "butcher paper" wrappers, publisher's printed and typed labels to upper wrapper; some soiling, chips to edges, minor loss to two corners. In custom clamshell case, leather label to spine. The rare uncorrected long galleys of a giant of American literature “And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed.” — John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath Apparently hastily produced, the present "halved" version of the galleys was used for in-house proofing, and was almost certainly formatted thus so that this less cumbersome volume could be distributed to an extremely select pool of reviewers. One of the labels affixed to the upper wrapper gives the publication date of "April 21,1939," with a price of $2.75, and further states: "Confidential. Please do not quote for publication until verified with the finished book." Indeed, according to Morrow, "Even a cursory examination...reveals a number of textual differences between this and the final published version, and undoubtably [sic] a meticulous collation of this text against the published text would uncover further variant passages." On leaf 164, the author's own name is incorrectly given as "Steinback." Steinbeck's own copy was the "first issue" of 161 "un-halved" sheets, but only one example of that earliest format has been offered at auction in the last three decades. It is unlikely that more than half a dozen of the second issue galleys were provided for reviewers, and the format is not listed in Goldstone & Payne, or present in the Viking publishers archive at the University of Texas Ransom Center. When one considers the great American novels, The Grapes of Wrath is often ranked alongside the like of The Great Gatsby and Moby-Dick. Steinbeck's now-iconic novel was read widely upon its initial publication, and its influence remains prevalent, inspiring numerous filmmakers and musicians, including John Ford, Steven Spielberg, Woody Guthrie, Pink Floyd, and Bruce Springsteen. When Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962, it was The Grapes of Wrath that the committee cited for evidence of his achievement. The rare "second issue" uncorrected galleys of one of the greatest American novels. REFERENCE Morrow 103; not in Goldstone & Payne

View 1 of Lot 163: Steinbeck, John | The rare uncorrected galleys of one of the great American novels

steinbeck, john | the rare uncorrected galleys of one of the great american novels

Property from the Jean Hart Kislak Collection

Property from the Jean Hart Kislak Collection F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner's, 1925 8vo. Publisher's green cloth. Publisher's cloth, a fine copy in a first issue dust jacket; restoration to folds and extremities of jacket, the spine with relettering to imprint. Half morocco case. First edition and a prime candidate for the Great American Novel. Gatsby is widely regarded as Fitzgerald's masterpiece, though the original sales were very disappointing in comparison to his earlier bestsellers. The work barely paid back his advance from Scribner's. Fitzgerald himself was clear on his feelings of its merits, "I think my novel is about the best American novel ever written" (Letters p. 166). Certainly few since have disputed Cyril Connolly's estimation of it as "one of the half-dozen best American novels ... it remains a prose poem of delight and sadness which has by now introduced two generations to the romance of America ..." The dust jacket for Gatsby has achieved a near legendary status as well, not only for the image but for the great difficulty in obtaining an unworn or unrestored example. Gatsby's design by Xavier Cugat's brother, Francis, has become inextricably linked to the novel's tone, with a depth that few, if any, other wrapper designs have managed. Fitzgerald's comment to his editor Maxwell Perkins ("For Christ's sake don't give anyone that jacket you're saving for me. I've written it into the book.") has long intrigued readers as a reference to one of the novels most evocative images, that of a "girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs." REFERENCE: Bruccoli A11.I.a; Connolly 48

View 1 of Lot 134: Fitzgerald, F. Scott | "So we beat on, boats against the current, ..."

fitzgerald, f. scott | "so we beat on, boats against the current, ..."

Fitzgerald, F. Scott An archive including an early partial typescript of The Romantic Egotist and an autograph letter signed, among others Typescript, being part of The Romantic Egotist. Three leaves (280 x 214 mm), typed on rectos, annotated in pencil in left margins; the third leaf inexpertly laid down on a leaf of construction paper, each leaf tipped on to each other at head, leaves curled, old creases, one or two tiny edge tears, toned and with stray spot the first leaf. — Autograph letter signed, to Harry Keller, Camp Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky, 18 March 1918. Two pages on one leaf (200 x 126 mm), signed twice ("F Scott Fitz" and "Scott Fitz"), with postmarked envelope addressed in Fitzgerald's hand; old horizontal folds, five short closed tears (three at folds, two at the foot) just affecting a few letters, remnants of adhesive along left margin, envelope inexpertly laid down on a leaf of construction paper. — Typescript of "Embarking at Night." One page (262 x 197 mm), four corrections in black ink, with "F. Scott Fitzgerald" in manuscript below the poem; inexpertly laid down on a leaf of construction paper, old folds and creases, a few spots and minor soiling. [With:] Autograph letter from Harry Keller, 5 March 1918. Four pages on two leaves (277 x 214 mm), with the postmarked envelope; old folds. A remarkable archive, containing an evidently unrecorded portion of Fitzgerald's first novel. The owner of these documents was Harry Keller, a friend of Fitzgerald's from Princeton. In a letter included in the present archive, dated 5 March 1918, and sent by Keller to his parents while he was at college, he writes: Scott Fitzgerald since he came down from Kansas for a short furlough after getting his 1st Lieut's commission has been living here at the club working on a book he's been writing there his three months' training in camp. It's an autobiographical novel — and remarkably good & clear & well-written — so it seems to me, after reading most of it through in manuscript. Yesterday he & I got together & spent the afternoon and evening boiling down the first three rambling chapters into one concise one — I read these three and marked out what I thought could be eliminated and then we went over it together and he decided what to cut out — and we got it down to about half its original volume. The rest I've been reading since — sat up til 3 last night with it. If it is published — as it seems probable of being — for Leslie at Scribners likes it and thinks Scribner will take it — I'll feel a peculiar sense of proprietorship in it. It's called 'the Romantic Egotist' — (Scott all over). He leaves tomorrow and probably will sail for France within a month. Indeed, the present letter sent by Fitzgerald to Keller just over a week later confirms his account: Dear Harry, Your letter received and I'm obliged for the litt — but most of all for your help on the novel — so you've started writing again! Well, you ought to be able to scribble violently in the loneliness of deserted gothic. ... Shane Leslie likes the novel and is waiting for the missing chapters which that damned O'Sullivan wont send—says he's sick. Such are the vicisitudes [sic] — as soon as it comes I'll send you those three or four chapters you haven't read. ... Shane Leslie, referenced in both letters, was an Irish writer and lecturer whom Fitzgerald had first met at the home of Father Fay in Washington in November 1912. Leslie was instrumental in getting This Side of Paradise published: he corrected the typescript of The Romantic Egotist for grammar and spelling, and then forwarded it to Scribner’s with a letter recommending its publication. He would later be one of the three dedicatees of Fitzgerald next novel, The Beautiful and Damned (1922). Notably, Fitzgerald's letter is sent from Camp Taylor, in Louisville, Kentucky, where he was stationed after enlisting in the army at Fort Leavenworth (the latter also being mentioned in Keller's letter, as he writes that Fitzgerald has come to visit from Kansas). The novelist would later set a pivotal moment of The Great Gatsby at Camp Taylor—it is there that Jay Gatsby first meets Daisy Fay. Letters from this period of Fitzgerald's life are rare in the market: we can trace no other letters sent while he was stationed at Camp Taylor in the standard auction records. The present typescript is presumably one of the sections that Keller encouraged Fitzgerald to cut while they edited the manuscript together, and these three pages do not appear in the typescripts of The Romantic Egotist held in the archives at Princeton. As with those, the novel is written in the first person—a change that Fitzgerald would make when he revised the prose that would become part of This Side of Paradise. The protagonist here, as in the other extant typescripts, is Stephen Palms, evidenced on the third page when Mr. Durwent addresses George Lacy (two other characters who appear in known typescripts of the work) and the narrator: "'I want to say,' said Mr. Durwent, that, that this is no way for anyone to act. I don't know who is to blame, but if scenes like this are to take place, you boys wont be allowed to run your own games. As to this meeting which Caspar Wharton asked me to call, I think we'd better have it another time when you're all calmer and Palms and Lacy can behave themselves.' I was so delighted to hear him include Lacy among the misbehaviors that my wrath disappeared, and when he added that no one could leave the room until George and I had shaken hands, I fairly glowed, and only appeared stern and unrelenting by the greatest effort. ..." These pages also include within them an unrecorded poem—both This Side of Paradise and The Romantic Egotist featured Fitzgerald's own early poetry, diffused through the writing of his protagonists—which was clearly still in-progress, as it contains what must be unfinished lines. The poem is titled "The Cavalier in Canada," and it, Stephen Palms says, "made the tour of most of magazines of North America and each came back with a printed form ... it was something, I thought, to have a poem considered enough to be even rejected." The poem reads: Would I were back in the city of light Back in the land of the fair: Back where the balls and the music of night Bask in the there Oh for the clash and the ring of the foils For a midnight sail in the silvery bark Oh for the glass and the mask and the plume France and the night and the lure of the dark The archive contains another typescript of a poem, separate from the pages of The Romantic Egotist: "Embarking at Night," which would appear in This Side of Paradise; it was never published by Fitzgerald in its own right, but is a poem of Amory's in the novel. The present typescript contains several differences from the text that appears in the This Side of Paradise, including being written in the third person, along with several entirely different lines. Further, it is corrected by hand in four instances. Given these features, it is exceedingly unlikely that this is either a fair copy or a transcription of the poem by a reader of the novel. The signature below the typescript, however, is dissimilar to most examples of Fitzgerald's own; it may be that the signature is in another hand, attributing the poem to him. All together, the condition of the documents notwithstanding, this is an exceptional archive of early Fitzgerald material—none of which, to our research, has been previously identified. That the typescript of Fitzgerald's first novel survives at all is remarkable, having been discarded by the author at a pivotal moment in revising his work. A fantastic glimpse into the early career of one of the greatest American novelists. PROVENANCE: Harry Keller, thence by descent

View 1 of Lot 130: Fitzgerald, F. Scott | An archive including an early typescript of The Romantic Egotist

fitzgerald, f. scott | an archive including an early typescript of the romantic egotist

From the Library of Clayre and Jay Michael Haft

From the Library of Clayre and Jay Michael Haft Steinbeck, John The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking Press, 1939 8vo. Original cloth in dustjacket with illustration by Elmer Stanley Hader; spine unfaded, minor rubbing along folds and corner, spot of creasing and a short closed tear to top of front panel, but better than often found. First edition of Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize winning novel. When one considers the great American novels, The Grapes of Wrath is often ranked alongside the like of The Great Gatsby and Moby-Dick. Steinbeck's now-iconic novel was read widely upon its initial publication, and its influence remains prevalent, inspiring numerous filmmakers and musicians, including John Ford, Steven Spielberg, Woody Guthrie, Pink Floyd, and Bruce Springsteen. When Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962, it was The Grapes of Wrath that the committee cited for evidence of his achievement. “And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed.” — John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath REFERENCE: Goldstone & Payne A121

View 1 of Lot 54: Steinbeck, John | Tom Joad

steinbeck, john | tom joad

Property from the Estate of Maurice J. Curran III

Property from the Estate of Maurice J. Curran III Fitzgerald, F. Scott Autograph letter in the form of a collage to Marie Hersey, ca. early 1915 8 pages (162 x 130 mm) on two bifolia, n.p., n.d., [probably Princeton, circa 1915], with numerous clippings from printed matter pasted down throughout, and his hand-drawn trademark depicting a blackface caricature; a few short splits along horizontal folds, some offsetting from clippings, moderate staining to edges of pages 4 and 5 where previously taped. A fascinating Fitzgerald letter with collaged pictorial advertisements interspersed with his text and drawings, concerning two of the most enduring women in his literary imagination Fitzgerald had grown up with Marie "Midge" Hersey in St. Paul and it was with her, in 1911, that he "experienced his first faint sex attraction." She became the model for Imogene Bissel in The Scandal Detectives, the autobiographical short story about Basil Duke Lee's first crush. While home for the 1914 Christmas vacation during his sophomore year, Fitzgerald met Ginevra King, Marie Hersey's Westover School classmate who was visiting during the holidays. Miss King was to become Fitzgerald's most important romantic attachment while he was at Princeton and the inspiration for many of his fictional heroines. In this letter Fitzgerald humorously tells the history and fate of Miss Hersey, Miss King and three other girls who were mutual friends. the letter is headed "Letter for Hersey!" next to an image of a mailman. He establishes a cheeky tone from the outset: "I would advise Miss Hersey if she wants to keep her peace of mind and moreover her modesty not to look at middle pages of this sheet..." Upon turning the page he has written: "There – she turned it — well its her own fault!! This is shocking! We must turn the page quickly!" The accompanying collage depicts a nude woman next to a bathtub, while a man in a tux and top hat looks on through a window. The pages that follow feature "a history of some of the private life of the K.I.D.s" Page three describes Marie Hersey as "Description — Speed | Hair — Dark | Heart — Light". While her roommate is teased on the following page ("She will probably say this is all [image of a bull].") Ginevra King is featured on page 5 next to a printed clipping advertising the Lasell Seminary For Young Women: "Poor Ginevra! This is some school she’s going to next year! It’s not a finishing school but it will be her finish! By that time she’ll be well-fitted to [BECOME A NURSE]! Poor Ginevra!" The friendship of Marie and Scott lasted throughout their lives. During his dark "crack-up" period in 1936, Fitzgerald wrote to her: "I think of you as about my oldest real friend, certainly my first love" (Letters, ed. Turnbull, 545), Ginevra King, meanwhile, appeared in This Side of Paradise as Isabelle and in Winter Dreams as Judy Jones, and probably formed part of the character of Daisy in The Great Gatsby [Turnbull, 150]. PROVENANCE: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 20 February 1973, part of lot 207

View 1 of Lot 1192: Fitzgerald, F. Scott | A bawdy letter to his childhood friend Marie Hersey in the form of a collage 

fitzgerald, f. scott | a bawdy letter to his childhood friend marie hersey in the form of a collage

Fitzgerald, F. Scott The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925 8vo (193 x 130 mm). Half-title. Publisher's green cloth, upper cover lettered blind, spine gilt; lacking the dustjacket, lightly bumped at head and foot of spine, upper board's lower right corner just barely exposed, light soiling to top edge. First edition of this prime candidate for the Great American Novel. While widely regarded as Fitzgerald's masterpiece, the original sales were disappointing in comparison to his earlier bestsellers. The work barely paid back his advance from Scribner's. Nonetheless, Fitzgerald himself was clear on his feelings of its merits, stating "I think my novel is about the best American novel ever written" (Letters p. 166). Certainly few since have disputed Cyril Connolly's estimation of it as "one of the half-dozen best American novels ... it remains a prose poem of delight and sadness which has by now introduced two generations to the romance of America ..." While lacking the jacket, this is an excellent example. REFERENCE Bruccoli A11.1.a; Connolly 48

View 1 of Lot 91: Fitzgerald, F. Scott | "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past"

fitzgerald, f. scott | "so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past"

Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern

Richard Adams Watership Down. London: Rex Collings, 1972 FIRST EDITION, INSCRIBED BY RICHARD ADAMS ON TITLE-PAGE ("to Clive Hirschhorn, | with best wishes from | Richard Adams | Whitchurch | Hampshire"), 8vo, coloured folding map at end, original brown cloth lettered in gilt on spine, DUST-JACKET, bespoke red morocco and marbled clamshell box, slight spotting at extremities, extremities of dust-jacket with neat minor tissue repairs PRESENTATION COPY of this classic of English literature. Clive Hirschhorn, the South African born theatre critic and interviewer, amassed one of the most important and comprehensive collections of signed modern first editions in the world. He utilised his impressive network, eventually boasting exceptional copies of nearly every book of note published in the latter half of the twentieth century, including To Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Casino Royale, and this copy of Adams' well loved adventure novel. PROVENANCE: From the Library of Clive Hirschhorn.

View 1 of Lot 87: Richard Adams | Watership Down, 1972, first edition, dust-jacket, inscribed by Adams

richard adams | watership down, 1972, first edition, dust-jacket, inscribed by adams

Property from the Jean Hart Kislak Collection Capote, Truman Autograph manuscript signed ("T. Capote" and "Truman Capote"), being an early, partial draft of his screenplay for The Great Gatsby, [Los Angeles, 1971] 133 pages (266 x 200 mm), recto and verso, written in pencil and pen on lined notebook paper; some pages lightly toned, light handling wear throughout, as expected from use. Housed in spiral notebook with stiff yellow upper cover, blue section dividers throughout; yellow cover detached but present, some wear to foot of spine. "The great house below belongs to my neighbor, a certain Mr. Jay Gatsby. Rich and eligible, so I'm told. I don't know him. I've never met him." F. Scott Fitzgerald's heralded novel has a long and uneven history with Hollywood. When Paramount Studios hired Truman Capote in 1971 to write a screenplay for The Great Gatsby, it had already been adapted twice for the screen. The present manuscript—an early, partial draft of his screenplay that would ultimately be rejected by the studio—encompasses the first act of the film, from the introduction of Nick Carraway, Tom Buchanan, Daisy, and Jordan at their first luncheon, to the introduction of Myrtle and the raucous party at her New York apartment. The present manuscript establishes some of the most enduring settings and themes of the novel. On pages 8-10, for example, Capote introduces audiences to Gatsby's estate and excesses for the first time: "A glittering view of coast line ... along Long Island Sound. The plane begins to circle a large seaside estate: a mansion with ... greenhouses, a swimming-pool, a boathouse, gardens, immaculate lawns ... There is quite a crowd gathered round the pool or stretched on the mansion's private beach ... Nick (O.V.): We flew over my part of Long Island. I must be the poorest guy living there. The great house below belongs to my neighbor, a certain Mr. Jay Gatsby. Rich and eligible, so I'm told. I don't know him. I've never met him. But I'll say one thing — he's not the greatest neighbor a man could have. He plays to a full house. Lunch parties. Cocktails. Orchestras that keep the parties going till dawn. The music, all those champagne voices — sometimes I have a helluva time getting to sleep." The back cover of the journal bears Capote's addresses in both New York and Palm Springs, in addition to the director Jack Clayton's address in England, and "Reward! $500.00" underlined along the top. When Capote delivered his draft of the screenplay, Clayton thought that Capote had adhered too closely to Fitzgerald's novel, and had failed to address some of the structural issues inherent to the source material, noting "It is like a great fish that is all head and no tail." Capote was replaced by Frances Ford Coppola, who was only weeks away from the release his masterpiece The Godfather. Clayton's adaption (starring Mia Farrow and Robert Redford) was released to middling reviews in 1974. Coppola distanced himself from the production in later years, saying "The script that I wrote did not get made." Truman Capote attempts to adapt Fitzgerald's Great American Novel for the screen. REFERENCE: BFI, "The Great Gatsby: files from the making of the glittering 1974 film," 13 May 2013 (https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/great-gatsby-robert-redford-mia-farrow) PROVENANCE: Bonham's, New York, February 18, 2007

View 1 of Lot 121: Capote, Truman | Capote's rejected screenplay adaptation of Fitzgerald's Great American Novel

capote, truman | capote's rejected screenplay adaptation of fitzgerald's great american novel

Fitzgerald, F. Scott Tender is the Night. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934 8vo. Publisher's dark blue-green cloth, spine lettered in gilt; boards lightly soiled. Pictorial dust jacket; spine panel lightly faded, light wear and a few short tears to edges, toning along fold of interior black flap, still a particularly bright example. First edition, a very fine association copy, inscribed to Donald Ogden Stewart on the front free endpaper: "Dear Don: This will amuse you I think. Scott." Donald Ogden Stewart (1894-1980) was a prominent American humorist and writer who achieved success in Golden Age Hollywood writing movies such as The Philadelphia Story, which won him the Oscar for best screenplay. He was a lifelong friend of F. Scott Fitzgerald, a relationship that began in the Summer of 1919 when Fitzgerald was reworking his draft of The Romantic Egoist into what would become his debut novel, This Side of Paradise. Stewart had literary aspirations of his own, and was among Fitzgeralds' pre-publication readers: "I got him to lend me [the manuscript of] This Side of Paradise, written in pencil. I approved of it, with my Yale reservations. I didn't know enough to appreciate his style and form, but the content was exciting" (Stewart, p. 86). Fitzgerald encouraged Stewart's literary ambition in turn, and he helped kickstart his career by connecting him with an old Princeton friend at Vanity Fair. Following the success of his H.G. Wells satire, A Parody Outline of History, he earned an invitation to the famous Algonquin Round Table. Throughout the 1920s he was part of a literary community that—in addition to the Fitzgeralds—included Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, John Dos Passos, and Ernest Hemingway. Stewart joined Hemingway on the trip to Pamplona that served as the inspiration for his debut novel, The Sun Also Rises; also serving as a model for the character of Bill Gorton. After returning from Europe, Stewart settled down in California and embarked upon a career in Hollywood. There, his path crossed once more with Fitzgerald, who had returned to Hollywood in dire financial straits when the cost of his opulent lifestyle and Zelda's medical bills finally caught up with him. The pair worked together (unsuccessfully) on screenplays for The Women (George Cukor, 1939), and the never-realized Air Raid (Paramount, 1939), but Fitzgerald privately ridiculed Stewart for his increasingly liberal politics (which would eventually earn Stewart a place on the Hollywood blacklist). It was quite possibly during this final period of collaboration—Fitzgerald died in 1940—that he inscribed this copy of Tender is the Night to Donald Ogden Stewart. Tender in the Night was Fitzgerald's last novel and, in his own opinion, his finest work. In the nineteen years which had passed between the publication of The Great Gatsby and the appearance of Tender is the Night in April 1934, anticipation and expectation had built around what would be Fitzgerald's last novel. However, on publication, it achieved neither the acclaim nor the sales which Fitzgerald hoped for, an outcome which puzzled him for the rest of his life. This was despite a number of overwhelmingly positive reviews, including that of John Chamberlain for The New York Times, who wrote: "Mr. Fitzgerald has not forgotten his craftsmanship... Beyond the story, there is [his] ability to catch the "essence of a continent", the flavor of a period, the fragrance of a night and a snatch of old song, in a phrase." "...a wonderful evocation of the second phase of American expatriates ... described with flashes of genius by an expert in self-destruction... " (Connolly). REFERENCE: Bruccoli A15.1.a; Connolly 79; Donald Ogden Stewart, By a Stroke of Luck! An Autobiography, London: 1975 PROVENANCE: Donald Ogden Stewart (presentation inscription) — Roger Rechler (his sale, Christie's New York, 11 October 2002, lot 91, achieved $119,500)

View 1 of Lot 16: Fitzgerald, F. Scott | Tender is the Night; first edition, inscribed to Donald Ogden Stewart

fitzgerald, f. scott | tender is the night; first edition, inscribed to donald ogden stewart

Fine Books & Manuscripts Online

Property from a Florida Collector FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT Group of Six First Editions This Side of Paradise. New York; 1920. Author's Apology Edition. Signed by Fitzgerald. Almost imperceptible rubbing to spine ends. Bruccoli A.5.1.c. - Tales of the Jazz Age. New York: 1922. Spine gilt dulled. A.9.1.a. - The Vegetable. New York: 1923. Gilt faded. A.10.1.a. - The Great Gatsby. New York: 1925. First Issue. Hinges weak and just a trace of rubbing to spine ends. A.11.1.a. - All The Sad Young Men. New York: 1926. A.13.1.a. - Tender is the Night. New York: 1934. All 8vo. All Publisher's gilt-stamped green cloth; but for the minor issues mentioned, clean and tight copies, obviously lacking jackets. A.15.1.a. First editions including an attractive Gatsby.

fitzgerald, f. scott | group of six first editions

Whitman, Walt Leaves of Grass. Brooklyn, New York: [for the author by Andrew Rome], 1855 Small folio (280 x 197 mm). Engraved frontispiece portrait of Whitman by Samuel Hollyer after a photograph, printed on thick paper and retaining original tissue-guard; some spotting to frontispiece, occasional very light and typical browning to text, two light creases to title-page, minor loss to lower inside corner of title where adhered to frontispiece. Publisher's dark green coarse-ribbed cloth, the covers with blind-stamped floral decorations and central title gilt-lettered in ornamental "rustic" font, all within a gilt triple-fillet frame, smooth spine gilt with title and floral ornaments, marbled endpapers, gilt edges (Myerson's binding A); faintest bumping to the corners, the text block imperceptibly reset in the binding by James Brockman after the volume was dropped by previous owner William E. Self. Green morocco pull-off case, chemise; case a bit scuffed. A superb copy of the first edition of Leaves of Grass; first issue of the text, before the insertion of eight pages of press notices (largely the work of Whitman's own pen); first issue of the binding, before the deletion of much of the gilt from the covers, spine, and page edges, evidently in an effort to lower production costs; second state of the copyright page (as in all but two recorded copies) and of p. iv, col. 2, l. 4 ("cities adn" corrected to "cities and"). According to the accounts of the binder Charles Jenkins, of the 795 copies comprising the first edition, only 337 were bound in this most ornate style (a further 262 copies were bound in the less decorative cloth with plain endpapers, and the balance of the edition was issued in wrappers or boards). The present binding is undoubtedly among the small number of truly fine examples extant: unusually bright cloth, with crisp, deep impressions of the blind decorations and brilliant gilding, especially to the spine. "Walt Whitman is the only major American poet of the nineteenth century to have an intimate association with the art of bookmaking. … Whitman's first edition of Leaves of Grass was a self-publication. No publisher was interested in producing what seemed an odd and inelegant group of twelve untitled poems. So Whitman did it himself: he designed the cover, chose the binding, and set some of the type himself. He talked a friend, Andrew Rome, who was a job printer with a tiny shop on Fulton and Cranberry Streets in Brooklyn, into printing the book" (Folsom, pp. 3, 8). James Rome, traditionally credited as co-printer of the book, had been dead for some six months before typesetting on Leaves of Grass began, although the youngest Rome brother, Thomas, did evidently work in the shop as a printer's devil during this period. Thirty years after the event, Whitman himself solely credited Andrew Rome with the printing in a letter written to some unidentified correspondents: "The first Leaves of Grass was printed in 1855 in Brooklyn New York—small quarto 9 by 12 inches, 95 pages—in the type called "English"—was not stereotyped—800 copies were struck off on a hand press by Andrew Rome, in whose job office the work was all done—the author himself setting some of the type" (https://whitmanarchive.org/item/loc.04931). "The publication of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass in July 1855 was a landmark event in literary history. Ralph Waldo Emerson judged the book 'The most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed,' saying that it had 'the best merits, namely, of fortifying and encouraging.' … One need not discount his later poetry in order to recognize the specialness of the first edition. This was the original Whitman; this was Whitman at his freshest and, arguably, his most experimental. Nothing like the volume had ever appeared before. Everything about it—the unusual [binding] and title page, the exuberant preface, the twelve free-flowing, untitled poems embracing every ream of experience—was new" (Reynolds, p. 85). REFERENCE: Myerson A2.1.a1; BAL 21395; Printing and the Mind of Man 340; Grolier, American 67; Feinberg/Detroit 269; William White, "The First (1855) 'Leaves of Grass': How Many Copies?," in PBSA (1957) 57:352–54; cf. Ed Folsom, Whitman Making Books, Books Making Whitman (The Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, University of Iowa, 2005); "Afterword," in Leaves of Grass: 150th Anniversary Edition, ed. David S. Reynolds (Oxford University Press, 2005) PROVENANCE: Fred W. Allsopp (Parke-Bernet, 4 February 1946, lot 263) — Clifford Odets, American playwright, screenwriter, and actor (autograph letter signed by his bookseller-agent, Alfred F. Goldsmith, describing the copy and its acquisition at the Allsopp sale laid in, 2 pages on a leaf of Goldsmith's letterhead, with original envelope, New York, 5 February 1946: "Last night was one of the worst I ever saw, bitter wind, sleet and snow and not a taxi or bus to be had. I did not think I could make the sale, but I finally managed to get there and found the room packed with other hardy ones. The Leaves started at $500 and everyone in the room seemed to be bidding in $25.00 jumps up to $1000. Then the advances were $50 and I got it at $1350. As I went out of the room, the last underbidder stopped me and told me his (Charles Retz) bid from his customer was $1200 and he had exceeded it by $100 but feared to go higher. I am glad I got it, for I think it is the finest copy I ever saw and in 28 years I have had more copies than any other dealer, about 17—and I do not think there is a better copy anywhere. It is a perfect copy unrepaired and perfect in every way. It is in a case that would cost $40 to $50. I sent it insured for $1500—by express. I am charging you $80,00 which is the lowest rate I ever made, as it took two days of time, minor expenses and $3.01 for insurance and express, but I want you to be satisfied, so if you think my charge too high, I will take less. I think that you will like the book and will find that you have a fine copy of a great work and a good investment as well.") — William E. Self, Hollywood actor and, later, producer, perhaps best known for his uncredited roles in Decoy (1946, station attendant), Adventure in Baltimore (1949, townsman), The Great Gatsby (1949, collegian), and Plymouth Adventure (1952, sailor) (Christie's New York, 4 December 2009, lot 196)

View 1 of Lot 38: Whitman, Walt | "Unscrew the locks from the doors! Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!"

whitman, walt | "unscrew the locks from the doors! unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!"

Property from the Jean Hart Kislak Collection F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner's, 1925 8vo. Publisher's green cloth, upper cover lettered in blind, spine gilt. Original dust-jacket with Cugat illustration, second state of jacket; wholly unrestored with the front panel a little frayed along top edge and a spot of rubbing along fold, but the iconic image intact, rear panel with a few short, closed tears, the spine with loss at top intruding into "The" and a closed tear leading to a larger spot of loss at bottom, but a not unattractive copy in a rather tight close box. First edition, first issue. A prime candidate for the Great American Novel, Gatsby is widely regarded as Fitzgerald's masterpiece, though the original sales were very disappointing in comparison to his earlier bestsellers. The work barely paid back his advance from Scribner's. Fitzgerald himself was clear on his feelings of its merits, "I think my novel is about the best American novel ever written" (Letters, p. 166). Certainly few since have disputed Cyril Connolly's estimation of it as "one of the half-dozen best American novels ... it remains a prose poem of delight and sadness which has by now introduced two generations to the romance of America ..." The dust jacket for Gatsby has achieved a near legendary status as well, not only for the image but for the great difficulty in obtaining an unworn or unrestored example. Gatsby's design by Xavier Cugat's brother, Francis, has become inextricably linked to the novel's tone, with a depth that few, if any, other wrapper designs have managed. Fitzgerald's comment to his editor Maxwell Perkins ("For Christ's sake don't give anyone that jacket you're saving for me. I've written it into the book.") has long intrigued readers as a reference to one of the novels most evocative images, that of a "girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs." The slightly taller size of the jacket than the book in first edition has led to most surviving jacketed copies having significant chipping and loss and usually at least some (and usually heavy) restoration and while the present may exhibit the former, it does not suffer from the latter. REFERENCE: Bruccoli A11.1.a; Connolly 48

View 1 of Lot 135: Fitzgerald, F. Scott | "... borne back ceaselessly into the past."

fitzgerald, f. scott | "... borne back ceaselessly into the past."

Property from the Jean Hart Kislak Collection Fitzgerald, Zelda Sayre Autograph letter signed ("Zelda Fitzgerald") 2 pages (280 x 150 mm), to Gilbert [Seldes], 322 Sayre St., Montgomery, Ala. Jan 4, 1944; some age-toning, small stain. An entreaty on behalf of a young actress and protégé of F. Scott Fitzgerald's, Miss Eleanor Turnbull. Zelda writes to Seldes ("Dear Gilbert") the renowned critic and modernist tastemaker, two decades after he praised her husband's Gatsby. Indeed it seems some time has passed since the two were in touch at all, "Trusting that these years of dramatic intensities and so-compelling exigencies have not obliterated your contact with the theatre ..." She goes on the recommend Miss Eleanor Turnbull, a protégé of Scott's "endowed with emotional power and spontaneity," who so impressed him when she was a child that he suggested that she study to be an actress. Zelda hopes Seldes can advise Eleanor regarding the vagaries of Broadway. Eleanor Turnbull was 9 when she met Scott. He was then a writer in residence at her parents estate outside of Baltimore, Trimbush, while he lectured under an endowment the Turnbulls had provided to Johns Hopkins. She was frequent playmate of Scottie and her brother Andrew was one of the novelist's earliest biographers. Eleanor did move to New York to try her luck in the theatre, but it was her roommate, Peggy Cass, who went on to a career. In any case, the child had indeed struck a chord with the writer, enough that his wife was willing to provide references so many years after their days in Baltimore, and some four years after Scott died.

View 1 of Lot 139: Fitzgerald, Zelda Sayre | An entreaty on behalf of a young actress

fitzgerald, zelda sayre | an entreaty on behalf of a young actress

Fitzgerald, F. Scott The Beautiful and the Damned. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1922 8vo. Publisher's green cloth; lightly soiled. Variant pictorial dust jacket with the title lettered in solid black; vertical crease to spine, back panel and spine lightly dustsoiled, a few small chips and short tears at top edge. Housed in a black slipcase with folding cloth chemise. First edition, presentation copy, inscribed to Harry Hansen the front free endpaper: "For Harry Hansen | Dean of the Middle-West | from his friend | F. Scott Fitzgerald." Harry Hansen was the literary editor of the Chicago Daily News from 1920-1926, during which time Fitzgerald published his first three novels: This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, and The Great Gatsby. Hansen was a great supporter of Fitzgerald from the start: when Paradise was published, Hansen sent Scribner's a fan letter with the oft-quoted line, "My, how that boy Fitzgerald can write!" (Bruccoli, Some Sort of Epic Grandeur, p. 115). Fitzgerald followed the success of his debut novel with The Beautiful and Damned, the story of the dissolute life and deterioration of a wealthy, glamorous young couple ("The victor belongs to the spoils"). It was published on 4 March 1922 in a first printing of 20,600 copies, with large second and third printings following in April. Despite this, popular and critical response was mixed, and The Beautiful and Damned has long been judged the weakest of Fitzgerald's five novels. Hansen was one of only a handful of critics who published positive reviews. He judged it to be “a whale of a book" and declared that "it shows Fitzgerald well on his way to become one of the major novelists of our own time” (Chicago Daily News, 15 March 1922). REFERENCE: Bruccoli A8.1.b; Bruccoli, Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald, University of South Caroline Press, 2002 PROVENANCE: The Estate of Harry Hansen (presentation inscription; Sotheby's Parke Bernet, 6 December 1977, lot 85) — Jane Engelhard (Cragwood booklabel; her sale, Christie's New York, 27 October 1995, lot 40)

View 1 of Lot 14: Fitzgerald, F. Scott | The Beautiful and Damned; first edition, presentation copy to Harry Hansen

fitzgerald, f. scott | the beautiful and damned; first edition, presentation copy to harry hansen

Fine Books and Manuscripts including Property from the Eric C. Caren Collection

[FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT] — WILLA CATHER My Ántonia. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918 8vo. Illustrations by W.T. Bendan; a few marginal pencil marks. Original brown cloth, cover and spine stamped in taupe, inscribed by Fitzgerald on the front free endpaper; extremities just rubbed, edges toned, upper joint starting. Lacking jacket. First edition, second state with illustrations printed on text paper, inscribed by Fitzgerald: "Dear Aunt A. | This is a rarely | beautiful book, I | think. Hope you'll | like it | Scott" This copy of My Ántonia was presumably given to Fitzgerald's maternal aunt, Annabel McQuillan. It was McQuillan who paid for him to attend the exclusive Newman School near Hackensack, New Jersey. It was during Fitzgerald's tenure at the Newman School that he began to pay more attention to his studies, publishing several stories in the student newspaper, and set his sights on Princeton University. Fitzgerald was greatly influenced by Willa Cather, consciously emulating her style and techniques, and prior to the publication of The Great Gatsby, he wrote to his literary idol, stating: "As one of your greatest admirers—an admirer particularly of My Ántonia, A Lost Lady, Paul's Case and Scandal I want to write and explain an instance of apparent plagiarism..." Fitzgerald had been concerned that a line in Gatsby echoed one of Cather's in A Lost Lady, though he had written his masterpiece before reading the latter. On 28 April 1925, Cather generously replied: "My dear Mr. Fitzgerald: I had read and hugely enjoyed your book before I got your letter, and I honestly had not thought of 'A Lost Lady' when I read that passage to which you now call my attention... I suppose everybody who has ever been swept away by personal charm tries in some way to express his wonder that the effect is so much greater than the cause,—and in the end we all fall back upon an old device and write about the effect and not the lovely creature who produced it. After all, the only thing one can tell about beauty, is just how hard one was hit by it. Isn’t that so?" Fitzgerald was greatly excited by this response, even waking Christian Gausse, a Dean at Princeton, at one o'clock in the morning to tell him of it. It is unclear when the present volume passed back into Fitzgerald's possession, but he gave it to Arthur Musgrave, along with others (see lots XXX) at some point in the 1930s, when the two men became friends. A remarkable association copy, linking two of American literature's most prolific figures PROVENANCE: Arthur Musgrave

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