October 2021 Auction Ends Thursday, October 28th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/28/2021
Rare first edition, first printing of one of the most desired books in the history of literature, F. Scott Fitzgerald's ''The Great Gatsby'', with the nearly impossible to find first printing dust jacket, showing the lowercase ''j'' in ''Jay Gatsby'' on the rear flap hand-corrected in ink, indicative of the first printing. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925. Designed by artist Francis Cugat, the dust jacket echoes the romantic tone of the novel, with hints of loss and opulence at its core, showing a pair of feminine eyes, with two nude figures in her irises, gazing over a Coney Island carnival. Fitzgerald's reaction to the jacket was captured in a 1924 letter to editor Maxwell Perkins, ''For Christ's sake, don't give anyone that dust jacket you're saving for me. I've written it into the book.'' It is perhaps one of the few instances where the jacket design actually influenced the novel, and is one of the scarcest first printing jackets in modern literature.
For the book itself, every first printing point is present: 1925 printed on title page; Charles Scribner's Sons logo appears on the copyright page with no subsequent printing statements; ''chatter'' appears on page 60; ''northern'' appears on page 119; ''it's'' printed on line 16 of page 165; ''sick in tired'' found on page 205; ''Union Street station'' mistyped on line 7-8 of page 211. Bound in teal cloth boards with title and author's name blind-stamped to front board and gilt lettering to spine. Book runs 218pp., and measures 5.5'' x 7.75''. Minor shelf wear and discoloration to half-title page, overall in very good plus condition for book. Light chipping to spine of jacket, and small losses on spine and upper front portion expertly restored, as well as light edgewear. Also in very good plus condition. Housed in custom blue morocco slipcase. A very seldom-encountered true first printing of an enduring classic.
Exceedingly Rare First Printing Dust Jacket of ''The Great Gatsby'' -- Scarce Jacket Houses First Printing of the Classic Novel
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