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Collection Overview

Creator:
Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott), 1896-1940
Title:
F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers
Repository:
Manuscripts Division
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/sb397826m
Dates:
1897-1944
Size:
32.45 linear feet and (61 containers)
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scahsvm): Boxes 1-52; 60
Language:
English

Abstract

The F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers (C0187) is a comprehensive literary archive containing the original manuscripts, working drafts, corrected galleys, personal and professional correspondence, autobiographical scrapbooks, photographs, and other original materials of F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), Princeton Class of 1917.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of manuscripts of all of the major literary efforts of Fitzgerald (Princeton Class of 1917), as well as related documents and correspondence, thus providing a comprehensive record of America's best-known writer of the "Jazz Age." The collection encompasses novels, short stories, tear sheets, articles, drama scripts, motion picture scripts, radio scripts, and poems; letters sent and received; photographs, drawings, and cartoons; clippings; memorabilia; scrapbooks; tape recordings; family papers; and papers of persons other than Fitzgerald.

Included are the autograph manuscript of The Great Gatsby and autograph and typewritten manuscripts (with the author's corrections) of The Beautiful and Damned, The Last Tycoon, Tender Is the Night, and This Side of Paradise. Among those well-represented in the correspondence are John Pearl Bishop, Arnold Gingrich, Ernest Hemingway, Ring Lardner, Shane Leslie, H. L. Mencken, Harold Ober (the literary agent), Maxwell Perkins, Andrew Turnbull, and Edmund Wilson. Fitzgerald's correspondence with Zelda, his wife, is extensive.

Manuscripts: Researchers should be aware that facsimiles of the manuscripts of Fitzgerald's books and articles were published in the multi-volume series F. Scott Fitzgerald Manuscripts, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli and Alan Margolies (New York: Garland Publishing Company, 1990). Complete sets of the facsimile edition are available at more than fifty research libraries (including Firestone Library). The original manuscript of Fitzgerald's ledger is not at Princeton. One should use F. Scott Fitzgerald's Ledger: A Facsimile, with an introduction by Matthew J. Bruccoli (Washington, D.C.: NCR/Microcard Editions, 1972) or refer to the photostats in Box 60 (C0187). With respect to using Fitzgerald's manuscripts at Princeton, researchers should be aware that the 1950 deed of gift stipulates that Fitzgerald's manuscripts were to be microfilmed to preserve the originals, and that researchers must use the microfilm for most purposes. Researchers who believe that there are compelling reasons why they must have access to the original manuscripts instead of the facsimile edition or microfilm must request permission in advance from the Curator of Manuscripts. Researchers should also be aware of the Cambridge Edition of the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by James L. W. West III (Cambridge, England, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991- ). Based on Fitzgerald's manuscripts and published editions, the Cambridge edition will eventually number 17 volumes.

Correspondence: A large portion of correspondence in the F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers and other collections at Princeton has been published in critical editions. The following editions of correspondence (listed alphabetically by editor) can be found in most research libraries: As Ever Scott Fitz- : Letters between F. Scott Fitzgerald and His Literary Agent Harold Ober, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli with Jennifer Atkinson (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1972); A Life in Letters: F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli with Judith S. Baughman (New York: Scribner's, 1994); Correspondence of F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli and Margaret Duggan with Susan Walker (New York: Random House, 1980); Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda: The Love Letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, edited by Jackson R. Bryer and Cathy Barks (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2002); Dear Scott/Dear Max: The Fitzgerald-Perkins Correspondence, edited by John Kuehl and Jackson R. Bryer (New York: Scribner, 1971); Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Andrew Turnbull (New York: Scribner, 1963); Scott Fitzgerald: Letters to his Daughter, edited by Andrew Turnbull with an introduction by Frances Fitzgerald Lanahan (New York: Scribner, 1965).

Photographs: Photographs of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald are very frequently requested by publishers, newspapers, magazines, and documentary film makers. Researchers should be aware that the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections maintains a large file of copy negatives to facilitate reproduction of these photographs. Most of the photographs in the F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers and other collections at Princeton were reproduced in The Romantic Egoists: A Pictorial Autobiography from the Scrapbooks and Albums of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli, Scottie Fitzgerald Smith, and Joan P. Kerr (New York: Scribner, 1974). Often-requested images can be viewed online by visiting the Library's RBSC Portfolio at http://libweb2.princeton.edu/rbsc2/portfolio/fsf-all-list.html.

Arrangement

The collection has been arranged into 11 series, primarily by type/genre.

Collection History

Acquisition:

The majority of the materials were in F. Scott Fitzgerald's possession at the time of his death in 1940. Frances Scott ("Scottie") Fitzgerald Lanahan (later Smith), the daughter of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, donated the papers to the Princeton University Library in 1950. Some accession numbers associated with this collection are AM 14450, AM 20502, and AM 14786, with additions made to the collection over time until that practice was discontinued.

Processing Information

In May 1999, the Princeton University Library was awarded a federal grant under the "Save America's Treasures" program, administered by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), to deacidify, repair, and rehouse the F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers. Work was completed in August 2001.

In 2021 and 2022, rehousing and metadata enhancement was completed to prepare materials for digitization, with assistance from August Roberts '25 in March 2022. The finding aid was revised by Amy C. Vo in March 2022 and October 2022.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

This collection is currently undergoing conservation review and digitization efforts. Some materials may be temporarily unavailable. Please consult staff if you have questions about the status of any material. Due to the fragility of Fitzgerald's original scrapbooks, researchers must use surrogates of these materials. Digital copies of the manuscript of The Great Gatsby, the Trimalchio galleys, This Side of Paradise, and the scrapbooks are available.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. No further duplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to Special Collections Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/sb397826m
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
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Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scahsvm): Boxes 1-52; 60

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Existence and Location of Copies

Facsimile editions of the The Great Gatsby holograph (Microcard Editions Books, 1973; Editions des Saints Pères, 2017) and of Fitzgerald's other manuscripts (Bruccoli, ed., Garland Books, 1970), as well as microfilm of the manuscripts and scrapbooks are available.

Related Materials

Since 1950, the Princeton University Library has been successful in acquiring additional manuscripts and related materials to complement the F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers. These materials include the F. Scott Fitzgerald Additional Papers (C0188), comprised of Fitzgerald manuscripts, letters, memorabilia, and other materials donated by the author's family, friends, and publishers; the Fitzgerald estate papers retained by his executor John Biggs (C0628); the author's extensive correspondence with his editor Maxwell Perkins, in the Charles Scribner's Sons Records (C0101); posthumous Fitzgerald files in the archives of his literary agency, Harold Ober Associates (C0129); the Craig House Medical Records of Zelda Fitzgerald (C0745); and the Fitzgerald files of his biographer Arthur Mizener (C0634). Fitzgerald letters are found in other Princeton manuscript collections, which can be identified using the MASC (Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections) online database at: http://www.princeton.edu/~rbsc/databases/masc.html. The Rare Books Division holds Fitzgerald first editions and inscribed books, annotated books from Fitzgerald's personal library, and the "College of One Collection," donated by his friend Sheilah Graham. There are selected items in the Visual Materials Collection and in University Archives.

Together with the F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers, these rich holdings have made Princeton the world center for primary research on Fitzgerald for more than a half century. As a result, innumerable monographs, scholarly articles, critical editions, and media adaptations based on the Fitzgerald Papers have been written and published since the papers came to Princeton over 50 years ago. Potential researchers are strongly urged to consult the standard Fitzgerald biographies, critical studies, descriptive bibliographies and other widely available scholarly works before considering a research trip to the Princeton University Library. For a general introduction, see Arthur Mizener, The Far Side of Paradise: A Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1951); Matthew J. Bruccoli, Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981); Matthew J. Bruccoli, F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Descriptive Bibliography (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1972) and Supplement to F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Descriptive Bibliography (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1980 ); The Romantic Egoists: A Pictorial Autobiography from the Scrapbooks and Albums of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli, Scottie Fitzgerald Smith, and Joan P. Kerr (New York: Scribner, 1974).

For University Archives records relating to Fitzgerald and/or Princeton during the period he was an undergraduate, please contact the Mudd Manuscript Library.

Also of interest:

Zelda Fitzgerald Papers (C0183): Box 7 - Family scrapbook (circa 1917-1926), contains clippings, photographs, and memorabilia of Zelda Fitzgerald and her family.

General Manuscripts Bound (C0199) Oversize - 9 scrapbook volumes (1926-1986), containing newspaper clippings, photographs, and theater programs relating to F. Scott Fitzgerald, his family and associates, compiled by Eleanor Hazard.

Books: Fitzgerald's library and his own published works have been one of the chief holdings of the department since 1951. There are 300 volumes by and about Fitzgerald on the shelves in the rare book collections. See the Collections Files (Vertical files) for both the rare book and the manuscript collections under FSF for lists and other details about FSF's books. The Provenance file offers immediate access to some of FSF's books held at Princeton. See listing updated during August 2001 ( http://libweb2.princeton.edu/rbsc2/misc/Fitzgerald.pdf). An important highlight of the Library's Fitzgerald collection is that it holds first editions of all but four of the 34 separate publications of FSF, as identified by Matthew J. Bruccoli. See his F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Bibliography. Section A. (Pittsburgh, 1972.) ((ExB)Z8301.2.B69 and Supp.). The Library also has numerous later printings of these separate publications and these holding have been marked in ExB copy 2 of Bruccoli. Several important novels are in their first edition dust jackets, but the Library lacks those for This Side of Paradise, Flappers and Philosophers, Tales of the Jazz Age, and Tender Is the Night. In the Manuscript Division of the Library is Fitzgerald's own copy of The Great Gatsby and his own copy of Tender Is the Night, both with corrections and annotations in his own hand. Another highlight of the collection is the 119 separate editions of translations of works by Fitzgerald. The collection includes the first translation of a Fitzgerald novel into a foreign language ( Gatsby le magnifique. Paris, 1926), as well as numerous other more recent translations. A listing of the translations appears in the 1980 supplement of Bruccoli's bibliography. An important microfilm held by the Library is a two reel film of books in Sheilah Graham's personal library that were annotated by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Call number for the film is: (Film) MICROFILM 07287. (Film made circa 1961.) Fitzgerald undertook personally to educate his close friend, Sheilah Graham, in a course of study which came to be known as the College of One. Graham documented the story of the College of One in her book of that title. The curriculum which Fitzgerald prepared for her covered a broad spectrum of topics, but was especially strong in contemporary literature. It included: history, poetry, English, American, French, and Russian literature, music, art, and philosophy. In 1968, Graham presented Princeton Library with the books which she used in her College of One education. Some are formally inscribed by Fitzgerald, but others have notes by him in the margins, as well as casual jottings such as grocery lists. There are 246 volumes in the College of One Collection ( http://libweb2.princeton.edu/rbsc2/misc/College_of_One.pdf). The College of One Collection is separately shelved and arranged and has the Departmental location designator of: Coll. of One. See Department location file for details regarding physical whereabouts of the collection. There is a checklist of the collection, which is catalogued with call number: Z1035.xP7.1979 and (Ex) Z1035.xP7.1979.

Subject Terms:
American fiction -- 20th century.
American literature -- 20th century.
Novelists, American -- 20th century -- Correspondence.
Novelists, American -- 20th century -- Manuscripts.
Novelists, American -- 20th century.
Genre Terms:
Fiction -- 20th century.
Motion picture plays.
Photographs.
Radio scripts.
Scrapbooks -- United States -- 20th century
Names:
Fitzgerald, Zelda, 1900-1948