FITZGERALD, F. Scott (1896-1940). The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925.

FITZGERALD, F. Scott (1896-1940). The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925.

An exceptionally bright, unrestored copy of the first edition in Cugat's iconic dust-jacket. Francis Cugat's haunting depiction of hypnotic eyes beaming like headlights through the cobalt sky is thought to have inspired Fitzgerald's description of the billboard for optometrist T.J. Eckleburg. An exceedingly scarce dust-jacket in any state, the present jacket is the third state. The first two included the publisher's blurb on the rear cover, this is the first state to bear excerpts from eight individual reviews and is memorably headed "Perilously Near a Masterpiece." The volume itself is a first printing, with "sick in tired" and other points. Very likely this first issue copy is one which was given an updated jacket in the second part of 1925, after initial sales of the book had proved lackluster, and particularly when compared to those of Fitzgerald's two earlier popular sensations, This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful and Damned. Scribner's evidently hoped the carefully selected review excerpts would increase Gatsby's sales as the holiday season approached. Sell it did, but fortunately for us, that first buyer apparently did not read it. Both volume and jacket are superbly fresh. This book may have had only two owners in its life. The present owner acquired it for $25 in 1961 from a New York rare book dealer and it has now been in that owner's library for most of its existence. A fine copy of the first edition in a beautifully preserved third state dust-jacket. Bruccoli A11.1a.Octavo (130 x 190mm). Publisher's blue-green cloth, gilt-stamped spine; third-state dust-jacket (a little shallow chipping at spine ends, a few minor short closed tears); custom box. Provenance: Charles Henry Barnard (ownership inscription dated 30 November 1926) – acquired by the present owner in 1961.