The Great Gatsby. by FITZGERALD, F. Scott - 1925

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,, 1925. Presented from Alcatraz to the original Gatsby Octavo. Original dark green linen-grain cloth, titles to spine gilt, to front board in blind. Few minor stains and two short closed tears, cloth a bit rubbed/faded with a few scrapes, hinges weak, a good copy. First edition, first printing. A superb presentation to "the original Gatsby", inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper: "For Harold Goldman, The original 'Gatsby' of this story, with thanks for letting me reveal these secrets of his past. Alcatraz, Cell Block 17 (I'll be out soon, kid. Remember me to the mob. Fitzgerald)." Harold Goldman (1889-1956) was a screenwriter at MGM from about 1935 until 1940. He and Fitzgerald worked together on A Yank at Oxford, 1938, starring Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh. Jay Gatsby, of course, was another "Yank at Oxford," famously claiming to Nick Carraway that "all my ancestors have been educated there." Fitzgerald did not enjoy his brief and unsuccessful time in Hollywood - "Cell Block 17" is a sardonic reference to his office in the writers' building and "Alcatraz" the MGM lot - although of course he used his experiences there in his last, unfinished novel, published in 1941 as The Last Tycoon. According to family history, Fitzgerald and Goldman knew each other prior to their time together at MGM. This seems to be corroborated by the warmth of the present inscription. Both writers attended Ivy League schools (Goldman at Columbia) and both spent a good amount of time in France among the ex-pat community of writers. Inscribed copies of this novel are notably rare. There were no presentation copies inscribed by the author in the book at publication date, as Fitzgerald was in Europe at the time. This copy is of the first printing, the first state of the text with Scribner's seal and all other points. Bruccoli A11.1.a.