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  • Rare autograph note signed by F. Scott Fitzgerald; sent by Fitzgerald to childhood friend and "first love" Marie Hersey as a young man during his first Christmas home from boarding school

    FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.

    F. Scott Fitzgerald Autograph Note Signed.

    : .

    Autograph note signed calligraphically (“Scott Fitzgerald“), to Marie Hersey, commemorating his first Christmas home from boarding school. 1 page on cardstock, 5.25 inches by 3.25 inches, adhesive residue to verso where previously pasted down.

    A charming note from a lovesick young Fitzgerald to his childhood friend and “first love.”

    The card contains Fitzgerald‘s printed signature on the upper left “Scott Fitzgerald” and the inscription “Sacred to the memory of Xmas 1911″ in the center; in the lower left Fitzgerald has drawn three small irregular ovals, with the explanation that they are “Tears.” In the right portion, he had evidently mounted a small piece of mistletoe [no longer present] as he has inscribed “The Misletoe” [sic] with arrows. The item is inscribed to Marie Hersey in the lower right above a brief inventory, “Items 1 Picture 5 Letters” indicating this was sent as part of a larger group.

    Fitzgerald met Marie Hersey in his hometown of St. Paul sometime during the spring of 1911, and he at that time experienced “his first faint sex attraction” (Turnbull). Later Hersey appeared as Imogene Bissell in The Scandal Detectives, and in writing to her in 1936, Fitzgerald declared: “I think of you as about my oldest friend, certainly my first love.” The Christmas that occasioned this card presently offered was his first vacation home from boarding school in the East. Turnbull, in his The Letters, publishes no letter to Marie Hersey earlier than 1920, and only on letter known [a note to his mother from camp] written earlier than the present card.

    In near fine condition with adhesive residue to verso where previously pasted down.

     

     

     

    Price: $9,800.00     Item Number: 142895

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  • First Editions of Each of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Works; Finely Bound by The Harcourt Bindery

    FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.

    The Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, Flappers and Philosophers, Tales of the Jazz Age, The Beautiful and Damned, The Vegetable, The Great Gatsby, All the Sad Young Men, Taps at Reveille, Tender is the Night, The Last Tycoon.

    New York: Charles Scribners 1920-1935.

    First edition, first printings of each of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s works. Octavo, 10 volumes, bound by full green morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles to the spine, raised bands, gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, twin rule to turn ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. F. Scott Fitzgerald signature on the front panel of each volume. In fine condition. An exceptional set.

    Price: $22,500.00     Item Number: 139788

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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

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  • “We all have souls of different ages": First Edition of The Beautiful and the Damned; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket

    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 near fine first issue dust jacket with some light restoration to the crown of the spine, contemporary name to the front free endpaper. Jacket illustrated by W.E. Hill. Uncommon in the original dust jacket and in this condition.

    Price: $20,000.00     Item Number: 137601

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  • “We all have souls of different ages": First Edition of The Beautiful and the Damned; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket

    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. Very good in a very good dust jacket with some professional restoration. Jacket illustrated by W.E. Hill. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

    Price: $12,500.00     Item Number: 138104

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  • First Edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Vegetable; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket

    FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.

    The Vegetable: Or, From President To Postman.

    New York : Charles Scribner's Sons 1923.

    First edition of what Fitzgerald called, “undoubtedly the best thing I have ever written.” Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket with light rubbing and wear. Jacket illustration by John Held, Jr. A nice example.

    Price: $6,500.00     Item Number: 123473

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  • First Edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Vegetable

    FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.

    The Vegetable: Or, From President To Postman.

    New York : Charles Scribner's Sons 1923.

    First edition of what Fitzgerald called, “undoubtedly the best thing I have ever written.” Octavo, original cloth. In fine condition.

    Price: $600.00     Item Number: 125443

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  • First Edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Vegetable; Inscribed by Him to Legendary Actor and co-founder of Goldwyn Pictures Edgar Selwyn and in the rare original dust jacket

    FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.

    The Vegetable: Or, From President To Postman.

    New York : Charles Scribner's Sons 1923.

    First edition of what Fitzgerald called, “undoubtedly the best thing I have ever written.” Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “Dear Mr. Swelwynn (sic)- Here’s the new version of the play. Sincerely F. Scott Fitzgerald.” The recipient, prominent figure in American theatre and film in the first half of the 20th century. An actor, playwright, director and producer on Broadway, he founded a theatrical production company with his brother, Archibald Selwyn, and owned a number of Selwyn Theatres in the United States. He transferred his talents from the stage to motion pictures, and directed a film for which Helen Hayes received the Academy Award for Best Actress. Selwyn co-founded Goldwyn Pictures in 1916. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket with light rubbing and wear. Jacket illustration by John Held, Jr. An exceptional association.

    Price: $25,000.00     Item Number: 134567

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  • “With the Pleasant memories of La Paix behind me alas and alack!": Extremely Rare Presentation Copy of THE GREAT GATSBY, Wonderfully inscribed by Fitzgerald

    FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT.

    The Great Gatsby.

    New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1925.

    Octavo, original dark green cloth with gilt titles to the spine. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “With the Pleasant memories of La Paix behind me alas and alack! Souvenir of 1932–1933 for M.T. from her – at least from one who was almost made to feel like – a guest. F. Scott Fitzgerald.” The recipient, Margaret Turnbull, who with her husband Bayard owned La Paix, a 28–acre estate with a large Victorian house near Towson, Maryland. The Fitzgeralds rented La Paix from the Turnbulls in 1932 and 1933 because of its proximity to the Phipps Clinic, the psychiatric branch of Johns Hopkins, where Zelda was being treated. This is also where Fitzgerald finished work on his second masterpiece, Tender is the Night. The Turnbulls lived nearby in another house on the estate; while Bayard Turnbull disapproved of Fitzgerald, his wife Martha shared an interest in literature with him and became a good friend of him. According to her son, at their first dinner together “Fitzgerald grew heated on the subject of Thomas Wolfe and left the table to get his copy of ‘Look Homeward, Angel’, which he insisted my mother take with her and read at once… Out of such treads their friendship was woven. Each time they met here was a carry–over from the previous meeting – something to discuss that seemed of vital importance… He was constantly lending my mother books: Proust, D.H. Lawrence, Hemingway, Rilke, the diary of Otto Braun… My mother became for a brief season a listener to and therefore a sharer of his thoughts” (Turnbull, Scott Fitzgerald, pp. 221–240). It was Margaret Turnbull who introduced Fitzgerald to T.S. Eliot when the poet was staying with her family while lecturing at Johns Hopkins on the Metaphysical Poets. Bruccoli A11.1.b; Connolly, The Modern Movement 48. In near fine condition with the spine gilt exceptionally bright. First edition, second printing with “sickantired” on page 205, most inscribed copies are second printings. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional association, most rare and desirable.

    Price: $250,000.00     Item Number: 135650

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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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