541

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD
F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Auction Date:2015 Feb 11 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
TLS signed “Scott Fitzgerald,” one page, 8 x 10, November 25, 1940. Letter to his secretary, Isabel Owens. In full: “It’s occurred to me that Bill Warren still owes me $475. I’ve no idea whether or not he is in any position to pay it but if you ever felt like constituting yourself a private collection agency it would certainly be worth $100 to me to see some of it. You can tell him the truth—that I’ve been quite sick again, that I’m in debt and need it. Of course, he is quite possibly broke. The storage company have not sent me any amended bill. As I told you my idea is that their right hand doesn’t know what their left hand is doing.” Double-matted with a color image of Fitzgerald to an overall size of 18.75 x 14. Intersecting folds (one vertical fold passing through a the first letter of the signature), and two small but noticeable stains, otherwise fine condition. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope.

Fitzgerald first met Charles ‘Bill’ Warren in Baltimore, where he lived from 1932 to 1936. It was during this period that he finished writing the novel Tender Is the Night—considered one of his best—and partnered with Warren to work on a movie treatment of the story to shop to studios. Warren headed out to California with their pitch but found no luck. Despite the failure of his proposed screen adaptation, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood to pursue screenwriting as a full-time job. However, his continued alcoholism, personal conflicts, and ceaseless financial struggles—as evident in this letter—contributed to his declining mental and physical health, and he passed away on December 21, 1940, less than a month after writing this letter. Fitzgerald is one of the most sought-after figures in American literature, and the intriguing content linking his Tender Is the Night collaborator with his severe financial difficulties makes this an especially desirable example.