Fitzgerald, F. Scott | Inscribed near the end

Property from the Jean Hart Kislak Collection

Fitzgerald, F. Scott

Flappers and Philosophers. New York: Scribner's, 1922

8vo. Original green cloth in dustjacket; faded, some loss to extremities. Folding case.

A melancholy presentation from his Hollywood despond.

Following on the big success of This Side of Paradise, which was published in March 1920 and which made Fitzgerald famous almost overnight, Scribner’s issued Flappers and Philosophers, the author’s first collection of short stories, some six months later. Five thousand copies were published on 10 September 1920, in a dustjacket inspired by “Bernice Bobs Her Hair,” Fitzgerald’s first story to capture national attention. The collection of eight stories, all culled from 1920 magazine appearances, also includes two of Fitzgerald’s best: “The Ice Palace” and “The Offshore Pirate.” Despite mixed reviews, the book sold well: by November 1922 there were six printings totaling 15,325 copies.

By the time Fitzgerald inscribed the present copy, his fortunes were at an ebb, "For Edward Everett Horton from F Scot Fitzgerald / Looking over these stories has made me feel somewhat of an ancient, thoroughly dated, but they go with the nap / Hollywood, 1939"

The actor Everett Horton had a large property in Encino and Fitzgerald rented a cheap house there over the last 18 months of his life.

Presentation copies of this second book are relatively uncommon; in fact it is the scarcest of Fitzgerald’s works to be found inscribed.