Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Scott Fitzgerald 'forced sale' book list

Scott Fitzgerald wrote this list (found in a literary journal -
no longer sure which) when he was broke in about 1936. His friend/ lover Sheilah Graham (she described herself as "a woman who loved Scott Fitzgerald for better or worse until he died") wrote in College of One:

He expected to realize $25 from nine autographed Mencken books (some firsts); $5 from Tarkington's Seventeen (autographed); $5 from Dos Passos” Three Soldiers (with autographed card); two books by Charles Norris (autographed), $15; $2 from Jurgen(autographed); $3 from Emperor Jones (first). “400 books,” he wrote, “range 10c to $1.50, average 40c. Probable value of library at forced sale $300.

He seemed better when we were back in Hollywood. The books he loved were still in his apartment...



It appears that Scott in the end did not need to sell them -- although most of the authors he was trying to sell are no longer seriously collected, with his association the 400+ books would probably now fetch a million dollars or more. Who knows?

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