• Introduction
• Biographical Sketch
• Collection Description
• Series Descriptions
• Box/Folder Listing:
•     I. Writings
•         Novels
•         Short Stories
•         Tear sheets
•         Articles
•         Drama Scripts
•         Moving Picture Scripts
•         Poems
•         Radio Scripts
•         Television
•         Ballet
•         Book Reviews (See: FSF Additional Papers, C0188)
•         Burlesque (See: FSF Additional Papers, C0188)
•         Biographical Material (See also: Scrapbooks)
•         Notes
•         Lists
•         Pictures File (See: Correspondence, Box 51b, "Pictures" folder)
•     II. Correspondence
•         Letters sent by F. Scott Fitzgerald
•         Letters received by F. Scott Fitzgerald
•     III. Documents
•     IV. F. Scott Fitzgerald as Subject
•     V. Photographs, Drawings and Cartoons
•     VI. Clippings
•     VII. Memorabilia
•     VIII. Family Papers
•     IX. Papers of Persons Other Than F. Scott Fitzgerald
•     X. Scrapbooks
•     XI. Miscellaneous Oversize Material
•     Appendices:
•         List of formerly restricted material
•         Fitzgerald's Princeton (archival records)

Introduction

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 Archives of Charles Scribner's Sons (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://libnt6000/masc2/mascintro.htm.

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).

Range of Collection Dates: 1897-1944

Size: 44 linear ft. (89 archival boxes, 11 oversize containers)

Provenance: The F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers were donated to Princeton University in 1950 by Frances Scott ("Scottie") Fitzgerald Lanahan.

Restrictions: There are no closed or sealed materials in the F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers. However, for legal or preservation reasons, only microfilm, preservation photocopies, or digital surrogates are generally available for Fitzgerald manuscripts, scrapbooks, and photographs. The F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers have been heavily used since 1950, and a substantial portion of papers has been published and is widely available in research libraries. Accordingly, potential researchers should understand the relationship of the papers themselves to information available in print, as here described:

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/portfolio.html

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. 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 ca. 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. 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.

Conservation Note: 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. As a result of the preservation project, a number of the original boxes expanded in size to two or three boxes (e.g., Box 22 became 3 boxes, which were subsequently relabeled 22a, 22b and 22c).

Microfilm Note: Due to additional microfilming in the summer of 2001, as well as the rehousing of the collection, some of the microfilm box numbers may not correspond to the manuscript box numbers listed in "A Guide to Microfilm for F. Scott Fitzgerald Papers" (see Appendices). The "Guide" will be revised and updated as soon as possible.

Biographical Sketch

Fitzgerald went on to publish three more novels in his lifetime: The Beautiful and Damned (1922), The Great Gatsby (1925), and Tender Is the Night: A Romance (1934). His last, and unfinished, novel, The Last Tycoon, was published posthumously in 1941. Besides his novels, Fitzgerald also wrote numerous articles and short stories, which were published in such magazines as The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire. He also worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood, first with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (he had a hand in writing the script for Gone with the Wind), then as a freelancer for other studios. In Hollywood, he met Sheilah Graham, a film columnist. They had a relationship which was, at times, stormy, due to Fitzgerald's alcohol-abuse problem. He died at her apartment in Hollywood of a sudden heart attack on December 21, 1940.

Collection Description

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 Peale 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.

Arrangement

The collection has been organized into the following series: I. Writings (arranged by genre, then alphabetically by title); II. Correspondence (letters received and sent by Fitzgerald are alphabetically interfiled; see Series Descriptions for more information); III. Documents; IV. F. Scott Fitzgerald as Subject; V. Photographs, Drawings, and Cartoons; VI. Clippings; VII. Memorabilia; VIII. Family Papers; IX. Papers of Persons Other Than F. Scott Fitzgerald; X. Scrapbooks; XI. Miscellaneous Oversize Material.

Added Entries

The following added entries have been assigned to this collection to highlight significant sources (other than the main entry), subjects, and forms of the collection's materials. Where possible Library of Congress Subject Headings have been used, and the forms of names reflect international cataloging standards. As a result, all of these entries may be searched in the Department's database (MASC), and in the Library's online catalog to find other related material.

    People: Fitzgerald, Zelda, 1900-1948

    Subject Headings (in uppercase) / Form Headings (in upper and lower case):

    American fiction--20th century
    Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott), 1896-1940--Photographs
    Fitzgerald, Zelda, 1900-1948--Photographs
    Great Gatsby / F. Scott Fitzgerald
    Last tycoon / F. Scott Fitzgerald
    Motion picture plays--United States
    Novelists, American--20th century--Correspondence
    Novelists, American--20th century--Manuscripts
    Novelists, American--20th century--Scrapbooks
    Phonotapes
    Princeton University--Alumni (Class of 1917)--Correspondence
    Princeton University--Alumni (Class of1917)--Manuscripts
    Radio scripts --United States
    Romantic egotist / F. Scott Fitzgerald
    Scrapbooks, American --20th century
    Short stories, American --20th century
    Tender is the night / F. Scott Fitzgerald

Series Descriptions