Showing posts with label F. Scott Fitzgerald. Show all posts
Showing posts with label F. Scott Fitzgerald. Show all posts

Thursday

Acquisitions (88): F. Scott Fitzgerald


F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Age Stories. ['Flappers and Philosophers', 1920; 'Tales of the Jazz Age', 1922]. Previously Published as Jazz Age Stories. Ed. Patrick O'Donnell. 1998. London: Penguin, 2008.


David Fincher, dir.: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

The Curious Case of F. Scott Fitzgerald


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - I can't tell you how much I hated that film. The strange regional accent Cate Blanchett chose to affect throughout made her literally incomprehensible most of the time; Brad Pitt looked as if he'd strayed onto the wrong set by mistake. It's no accident that the three Oscars it won were for Art Direction, Makeup, and Visual Effects - it was passed over in all the other, more significant categories.

It was, therefore, with a certain trepidation that I picked up a second-hand copy of the book pictured above. It turned out to be very desirable indeed, however, as it reprints the complete texts of F. Scott Fitzgerald's first two books of short stories, Flappers and Philosophers (1920) and Tales of the Jazz Age (1922).


Baz Luhrmann, dir.: The Great Gatsby (2013)


After all, none of those complaints about the movie can really be laid at Scott Fitzgerald's door, just as he had no way of preventing the miscasting of the wolfish Leonardo di Caprio in the part of dreamy romantic Jay Gatsby - or, for that matter, the plank-like performance of Robert Redford in the same role some forty years earlier. At least the Baz Luhrmann version stuck more or less to the story - little though the director appears to have understood it.


Jack Clayton, dir.: The Great Gatsby (1974)


All in all, Scott Fitzgerald could not be said to have been particularly well treated by Hollywood. His time as a screenwriter was, by all accounts, pretty miserable, and has certainly contributed to the myth of Fitzgerald the eternal loser: a hopeless drunk, tormented by his doomed relationship with Zelda Sayre, increasingly unable - as the years went by - even to put pen to paper.


Michael Grandage, dir.: Genius (2016)


That's certainly how he's portrayed by Guy Pearce in the Thomas Wolfe bio-pic Genius. There's one telling scene where Max Perkins, editor to both of these hapless geniuses, explains to Wolfe how difficult it is for Fitzgerald to write a single word, whereas Wolfe simply turns on a spigot and out they come!


F. Scott Fitzgerald: Flappers and Philosophers (1920)


All I can say about this doomed soul is that he resembles Jay Gatsby far more than he does Fitzgerald himself. Much has been made of the fact that Fitzgerald only published four novels in 20 years of authorship, and that only the first of them could be said to have been a success. And that is indeed so.

What this simple statistic ignores, however, is the detail that during the same period he published roughly 150 short stories - most of them in high-prestige "slick" magazines, which paid very handsomely for his work.


F. Scott Fitzgerald: Tales of the Jazz Age (1922)


No wonder he concentrated on stories rather than novels! They, even more than his screenwriting, were the staple fare which funded his lavish lifestyle. Were some weaker than others? Of course! But among them are several of the most famous stories in American literature - 'The Diamond as Big as the Ritz', 'Winter Dreams', 'The Last of the Belles', 'Babylon Revisited', even (I suppose) 'The Strange Case of Benjamin Button.' Overall, they constitute a dazzling display of inventiveness and wit.


F. Scott Fitzgerald: All the Sad Young Men (1926)


As I've tried to make clear in the listings below, no single book can do justice to the range and extent of Fitzgerald's writing in this medium. A mere 46 of them were included in the four collections he published during his lifetime, to which Malcolm Cowley's posthumous selection The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald (1951) added another ten.

After that the floodgates began, gradually, to open:
  • Afternoon of an Author (1958), edited by Arthur Mizener, collected 13 stories and 7 essays;
  • The Pat Hobby Stories (1962) collected all 17 short stories about the fictional screenwriter;
  • The Apprentice Fiction (1965) collected 16 early stories written at college and university;
  • The Basil and Josephine Stories (1973) collected 14 short stories about Fitzgerald's post-Wall St. Crash hero and heroine Basil Duke Lee and Josephine Perry;
  • Bits of Paradise (1974) collected 21 stories: 11 by Fitzgerald, 9 by Zelda, and 1 by both of them
  • The Price Was High: The Last Uncollected Stories (1979) collected the remaining 50 short stories from his published oeuvre;
  • Then there was The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald (1989), edited by Fitzgerald scholar Matthew J. Bruccoli: a new selection of 43 stories (all available in earlier collections) designed to replace Malcolm Cowley's pioneering collection;
  • & finally I'd Die For You: And Other Lost Stories (2017), includes 18 uncollected (and mostly unpublished) stories, scenarios and fragments.
I calculate that this leaves only 9 uncollected pieces among the 187 published and unpublished Fitzgerald stories listed below.
  1. Shaggy's Morning (May 1935)
  2. The Count of Darkness (June 1935)
  3. The Kingdom in the Dark (Aug 1935)
  4. The Ants at Princeton (June 1, 1936)
  5. Strange Sanctuary [aka 'Make Yourself at Home' (1936)] (Dec 1939)
  6. Gods of Darkness (writ. 1934 / pub. 1941)
  7. The Broadcast We Almost Heard Last September (Fall 1947)
  8. The World’s Fair (Autumn 1948)
  9. A Full Life (Winter 1988)
To that one ought surely to add the 15 or so essays assembled in The Crack-up (1945) and Afternoon of an Author (1958).

All in all, Fitzgerald seems to have kept on steadily writing and publishing, rain or shine, drunk or sober - surely in itself sufficient refutation of what we might refer to as the 'Lost Decade' myth of his career.


F. Scott Fitzgerald: Taps at Reveille (1935)


I guess, in a sense, that it all comes back to The Great Gatsby. That amazing final passage from the novel where Fitzgerald seems to sum up the true meaning of the American dream - its simple nostalgia for a few humble truths left far behind on 'the dark fields of the republic' - is so eloquent, so complete in itself, that it's very hard to imagine its author having anything further to say:
… as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes – a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.
And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. … And one fine morning ––
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
Its author, however, had fifteen more years to live. The listings below should demonstrate, once and for all, that he didn't waste any of that time.


Hannah Jin: Gatsby's Green Light (2013)





F. Scott Fizgerald (1920s)

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald
(1896-1940)

Books I own are marked in bold:


    F. Scott Fitzgerald: This Side of Paradise (1920)


    Collected Works:

  1. The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. 6 vols. London: The Bodley Head, 1958-63:
    1. The Great Gatsby; The Last Tycoon and Some Shorter Pieces. Introduction by J. B. Priestley (1958)
      1. The Great Gatsby (1925)
      2. The Last Tycoon (1941)
      3. May Day (July 1920)
      4. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (June 1922)
      5. Crazy Sunday (Oct 1932)
      6. The Crack-Up (Feb-April 1936)
      • The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. Vol. I: The Great Gatsby; The Last Tycoon and Some Shorter Pieces. 1925, 1941. Introduction by J. B. Priestley. London: The Bodley Head, 1958.
    2. Tender is the Night; Autobiographical Pieces; Letters to Frances Scott Fitzgerald and Four Short Stories (1959)
      1. Tender is the Night (1934)
      2. Letters to Frances Scott Fitzgerald
      3. Autobiographical Pieces:
      4. Echoes of the Jazz Age (Nov 1931)
      5. My Lost City (July 1932)
      6. Ring (Oct 1933)
      7. Early Success (Oct 1937)
      8. Short Stories:
      9. The Last of the Belles (March 2, 1929)
      10. Pat Hobby Himself: A Patriotic Short (Dec 1, 1940)
      11. Pat Hobby Himself: Two Old-Timers (March 1, 1941)
      12. An Alcoholic Case (Feb 1937)
      13. Financing Finnegan (Jan 1938)
      • The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. Vol. II: Tender is the Night; Autobiographical Pieces; Letters to Frances Scott Fitzgerald and Four Short Stories. 1934. London: The Bodley Head, 1959.
    3. This Side of Paradise; The Rich Boy; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; The Cut-Glass Bowl and Other Short Stories (1960)
      1. This Side of Paradise (1920)
      2. Short Stories:
      3. The Cut-Glass Bowl (May 1920)
      4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (May 27, 1922)
      5. The Lees of Happiness (Dec 12, 1920)
      6. The Rich Boy (Jan/Feb 1926)
      7. The Adjuster (Sep 1925)
      8. Gretchen’s Forty Winks (March 15, 1924)
      • The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. Vol. III: This Side of Paradise; The Rich Boy; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; The Cut-Glass Bowl and Other Short Stories. 1920. London: The Bodley Head, 1960.
    4. The Beautiful and Damned (1979)
      1. The Beautiful and Damned (1922 & 1961 / Rev. ed. 1967)
      • The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. Vol. IV: The Beautiful and Damned. 1922 & 1961. Rev. ed. 1967. London: The Bodley Head, 1979.
    5. Short Stories. Vol. 1 of 2. Ed. Malcolm Cowley. 1951 (1963)
        I. Early Success
      1. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (June 1922)
      2. Bernice Bobs Her Hair (May 1, 1920)
      3. The Ice Palace (May 22, 1920)
      4. May Day (July 1920)
      5. The Jelly-Bean (Oct 1920)
      6. Winter Dreams (Dec 1922)
      7. 'The Sensible Thing' (July 5, 1924)
      8. Absolution (June 1924)
      9. Gretchen’s Forty Winks (March 15, 1924)
      10. II. Glamour and Disillusionment
      11. The Rich Boy (Jan/Feb 1926)
      12. The Baby Party (Feb 1925)
      13. A Short Trip Home (Dec 17, 1927)
      14. The Bowl (Jan 21, 1928)
      15. Magnetism (March 3, 1928)
      16. Outside the Cabinet-Maker’s (Dec 1928)
      17. The Rough Crossing (June 8, 1929)
      18. Majesty (July 13, 1929)
      19. The Last of the Belles (March 2, 1929)
      • The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. Vol. V: Short Stories – I. Early Success; II. Glamour and Disillusionment. Ed. Malcolm Cowley. 1951. London: The Bodley Head, 1963.
    6. Short Stories. Vol. 2 of 2. Ed. Malcolm Cowley. 1951 (1963)
        III. Retrospective: Basil and Josephine
      1. Basil: The Scandal Detectives (April 28, 1928)
      2. Basil: A Night at the Fair (July 21, 1928)
      3. Basil: The Freshest Boy (July 28, 1928)
      4. Basil: He Thinks He's Wonderful (Sep 29, 1928)
      5. Basil: The Captured Shadow (Dec 29, 1928)
      6. Josephine: First Blood (April 5, 1930)
      7. Josephine: A Woman with a Past (Sep 6, 1930)
      8. IV. Last Act and Epilogue
      9. Babylon Revisited (Feb 21, 1931)
      10. Two Wrongs (Jan 18, 1930)
      11. The Bridal Party (Aug 9, 1930)
      12. One Trip Abroad (Oct 11, 1930)
      13. Family in the Wind (June 4, 1932)
      14. Crazy Sunday (Oct 1932)
      15. An Alcoholic Case (Feb 1937)
      16. The Long Way Out (Sep 1937)
      17. Financing Finnegan (Jan 1938)
      18. Design in Plaster (Nov 1939)
      19. Pat Hobby Himself: ‘Boil Some Water - Lots of It’ (March 1940)
      20. Pat Hobby Himself: Teamed with Genius (April 1940)
      21. Pat Hobby Himself: A Patriotic Short (Dec 1, 1940)
      22. Pat Hobby Himself: Two Old-Timers (March 1, 1941)
      23. Three Hours Between Planes (July 1, 1941)
      24. The Lost Decade (Dec 1939)
      • The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. Vol. VI: Short Stories – III. Retrospective: Basil and Josephine; IV. Last Act and Epilogue. Ed. Malcolm Cowley. 1951. London: The Bodley Head, 1963.

  2. The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald. 5 vols. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1962-68:
    1. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz and Other Stories (1962)
      1. The Cut-Glass Bowl (May 1920)
      2. May Day (July 1920)
      3. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (June 1922)
      4. The Rich Boy (Jan/Feb 1926)
      5. Crazy Sunday (Oct 1932)
      6. An Alcoholic Case (Feb 1937)
      7. The Lees of Happiness (Dec 12, 1920)
      • The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Volume 1: The Diamond as Big as the Ritz and Other Stories. 1962. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969.
    2. The Crack-up, with Other Pieces and Stories (1965)
        Autobiographical Pieces:
      1. Echoes of the Jazz Age (Nov 1931)
      2. My Lost City (July 1932)
      3. Ring (Oct 1933)
      4. The Crack-Up (Feb-April 1936)
      5. Early Success (Oct 1937)
      6. Stories:
      7. Gretchen’s Forty Winks (March 15, 1924)
      8. The Last of the Belles (March 2, 1929)
      9. Babylon Revisited (Feb 21, 1931)
      10. Pat Hobby Himself: A Patriotic Short (Dec 1, 1940)
      11. Pat Hobby Himself: Two Old-Timers (March 1, 1941)
      12. Financing Finnegan (Jan 1938)
      • The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Volume 2: The Crack-up, with Other Pieces and Stories. 1965. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974.
    3. The Pat Hobby Stories (1967)
      1. Pat Hobby’s Christmas Wish (Jan 1940)
      2. A Man in the Way (Feb 1940)
      3. ‘Boil Some Water - Lots of It’ (March 1940)
      4. Teamed with Genius (April 1940)
      5. Pat Hobby and Orson Welles (May 1940)
      6. Pat Hobby’s Secret (June 1940)
      7. Pat Hobby, Putative Father (July 1940)
      8. The Homes of the Stars (Aug 1940)
      9. Pat Hobby Does His Bit (Sep 1940)
      10. Pat Hobby’s Preview (Oct 1940)
      11. No Harm Trying (Nov 1940)
      12. The Last of the Belles (March 2, 1929)
      13. A Patriotic Short (Dec 1, 1940)
      14. On the Trail of Pat Hobby (Jan 1, 1941)
      15. Fun in an Artist’s Studio (Feb 1, 1941)
      16. Two Old-Timers (March 1, 1941)
      17. Mightier than the Sword (April 1, 1941)
      18. Pat Hobby’s College Days (May 1, 1941)
      • The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Volume 3: The Pat Hobby Stories. Introduction by Arnold Gingrich. 1962. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974.
    4. Bernice Bobs Her Hair and Other Stories (1968)
      1. Bernice Bobs Her Hair (May 1, 1920)
      2. Winter Dreams (Dec 1922)
      3. 'The Sensible Thing' (July 5, 1924)
      4. Absolution (June 1924)
      5. The Baby Party (Feb 1925)
      6. A Short Trip Home (Dec 17, 1927)
      7. Magnetism (March 3, 1928)
      8. The Rough Crossing (June 8, 1929)
      • The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Volume 4: Bernice Bobs Her Hair and Other Stories. 1963. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974.
    5. The Lost Decade and Other Stories (1968)
      1. Basil: The Freshest Boy (July 28, 1928)
      2. Josephine: A Woman with a Past (Sep 6, 1930)
      3. Two Wrongs (Jan 18, 1930)
      4. The Bridal Party (Aug 9, 1930)
      5. Crazy Sunday (Oct 1932)
      6. Three Hours Between Planes (July 1, 1941)
      7. The Lost Decade (Dec 1939)
      • The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Volume 5: The Lost Decade and Other Stories. 1963. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974.

  3. The Cambridge Edition of the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (1991-2019)
      The Great Gatsby:
    1. The Great Gatsby (1991)
    2. Trimalchio: An Early Version of The Great Gatsby (2000)
    3. The Great Gatsby: An Edition of the Manuscript (2018)
    4. The Great Gatsby: A Variorum Edition (2019)
    5. Other Books:
    6. The Love of the Last Tycoon: A Western (1993)
      • The Love of the Last Tycoon: A Western. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli. 1941. The Cambridge Edition of the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
    7. This Side of Paradise (1996)
    8. Flappers and Philosophers (1999)
    9. Tales of the Jazz Age (2002)
    10. My Lost City: Personal Essays, 1920–1940 (2005)
    11. All The Sad Young Men (2007)
    12. The Beautiful and Damned (2008)
    13. The Lost Decade: Short Stories from Esquire, 1936–1941 (2008)
    14. The Basil, Josephine, and Gwen Stories (2009)
    15. Spires and Gargoyles: Early Writings, 1909–1919 (2010)
    16. Tender Is the Night (2012)
    17. Taps at Reveille (2014)
    18. A Change of Class (2016)
    19. Last Kiss (2017)


  4. F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Beautiful and Damned (1922)


    Novels:

  5. This Side of Paradise (1920)
    • This Side of Paradise. 1920. Harmondsworth: Penguin / London: The Bodley Head, 1974.
    • Included in: The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. Vol. III: This Side of Paradise; The Rich Boy; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; The Cut-Glass Bowl and Other Short Stories. London: The Bodley Head, 1960.
  6. The Beautiful and Damned (1922)
    • The Beautiful and Damned. 1922. Penguin Book 2414. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972.
    • The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. Vol. IV: The Beautiful and Damned. 1922 & 1961. Rev. ed. 1967. London: The Bodley Head, 1979.
  7. The Great Gatsby (1925)
    • The Great Gatsby. 1925. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974.
    • Included in: The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. Vol. I: The Great Gatsby; The Last Tycoon and Some Shorter Pieces. 1925, 1941. Introduction by J. B. Priestley. London: The Bodley Head, 1958.
  8. Tender is the Night (1934)
    • Included in: The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. Vol. II: Tender is the Night; Autobiographical Pieces; Letters to Frances Scott Fitzgerald and Four Short Stories. 1934. London: The Bodley Head, 1959.
  9. Tender is the Night. Ed. Malcolm Cowley (1951)
    • Tender is the Night: A Romance. With the Author’s Final Revision. 1934. Foreword by Malcolm Cowley. 1948. Penguin Modern Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972.
  10. The Last Tycoon. Ed. Edmund Wilson (1941)
    • The Last Tycoon. Ed. Edmund Wilson. 1941. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1977.
    • Included in: The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. Vol. I: The Great Gatsby; The Last Tycoon and Some Shorter Pieces. 1925, 1941. Introduction by J. B. Priestley. London: The Bodley Head, 1958.
  11. The Love of the Last Tycoon. Ed. Matthew Bruccoli (1993)
    • The Love of the Last Tycoon: A Western. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli. 1941. The Cambridge Edition of the Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.


  12. F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby (1925)


    Story & Essay Collections:

  13. Flappers and Philosophers (1920) [Flappers]
    1. The Offshore Pirate (May 29, 1920)
    2. The Ice Palace (May 22, 1920)
    3. Head and Shoulders (21 Feb 1920)
    4. The Cut-Glass Bowl (May 1920)
    5. Bernice Bobs Her Hair (May 1, 1920)
    6. Benediction (Feb 1920)
    7. Dalyrimple Goes Wrong (Feb 1920)
    8. The Four Fists (June 1920)
    • Included in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Age Stories. ['Flappers and Philosophers', 1920; 'Tales of the Jazz Age', 1922]. Previously Published as Jazz Age Stories. Ed. Patrick O'Donnell. 1998. London: Penguin, 2008.
  14. Tales of the Jazz Age (1922) [Jazz]
    1. The Jelly-Bean (Oct 1920)
    2. The Camel’s Back (April 24, 1920)
    3. May Day (July 1920)
    4. Porcelain and Pink (Jan 1920)
    5. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (June 1922)
    6. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (May 27, 1922)
    7. Tarquin of Cheapside (April 1917)
    8. O Russet Witch! (Feb 1921)
    9. The Lees of Happiness (Dec 12, 1920)
    10. Mister Icky (March 1920)
    11. Jemina (Jan 1921)
    • Included in: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Age Stories. ['Flappers and Philosophers', 1920; 'Tales of the Jazz Age', 1922]. Previously Published as Jazz Age Stories. Ed. Patrick O'Donnell. 1998. London: Penguin, 2008.
  15. All the Sad Young Men (1926) [Sad]
    1. The Rich Boy (Jan/Feb 1926)
    2. Winter Dreams (Dec 1922)
    3. The Baby Party (Feb 1925)
    4. Absolution (June 1924)
    5. Rags Martin-Jones and the Pr-nce of W-les (July 1926)
    6. The Adjuster (Sep 1925)
    7. Hot & Cold Blood (Aug 1923)
    8. The Sensible Thing (July 5, 1924)
    9. Gretchen’s Forty Winks (March 15, 1924)
  16. Taps at Reveille (1935) [Taps]
      Basil Duke Lee Stories:
    1. The Scandal Detectives (April 28, 1928)
    2. The Freshest Boy (July 28, 1928)
    3. He Thinks He's Wonderful (Sep 29, 1928)
    4. The Captured Shadow (Dec 29, 1928)
    5. The Perfect Life (Jan 5, 1929)
    6. Josephine Perry Stories:
    7. First Blood (April 5, 1930)
    8. A Nice Quiet Place (May 31, 1930)
    9. A Woman with a Past (Sep 6, 1930)
    10. Others:
    11. Crazy Sunday (Oct 1932)
    12. Two Wrongs (Jan 18, 1930)
    13. The Night of Chancellorsville (Feb 1935)
    14. The Last of the Belles (March 2, 1929)
    15. Majesty (July 13, 1929)
    16. Family in the Wind (June 4, 1932)
    17. A Short Trip Home (Dec 17, 1927)
    18. One Interne (Nov 5, 1932)
    19. The Fiend (Jan 1935)
    20. Babylon Revisited (Feb 21, 1931)
  17. The Crack-Up. Ed. Edmund Wilson (1945)
    1. Echoes of the Jazz Age (Nov 1931)
    2. My Lost City (July 1932)
    3. Ring (Oct 1933)
    4. 'Show Mr. and Mrs. F, to Number -' (May-June 1934)
    5. Auction - Model 1934 (July 1934)
    6. Sleeping and Waking (Dec 1934)
    7. The Crack-Up (Feb-April 1936)
    8. Early Success (Oct 1937)
    9. The Note-books
    • The Crack-Up: With Other Uncollected Pieces, Note-Books and Unpublished Letters. Together with Letters to Fitzgerald from Gertrude Stein, Edith Wharton, T. S. Eliot, Thomas Wolfe and John Dos Passos, And Essays and Poems by Paul Rosenfeld, Glenway Westcott, John Dos Passos, John Peale Bishop and Edmund Wilson. Ed. Edmund Wilson. New York: New Directions Books, 1945.
  18. The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald (1951) [Cowley]
      I. Early Success
    1. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (June 1922)
    2. Bernice Bobs Her Hair (May 1, 1920)
    3. The Ice Palace (May 22, 1920)
    4. May Day (July 1920)
    5. Winter Dreams (Dec 1922)
    6. 'The Sensible Thing' (July 5, 1924)
    7. Absolution (June 1924)
    8. II. Glamor and Disillusionment
    9. The Rich Boy (Jan/Feb 1926)
    10. The Baby Party (Feb 1925)
    11. Magnetism (March 3, 1928)
    12. The Last of the Belles (March 2, 1929)
    13. The Rough Crossing (June 8, 1929)
    14. The Bridal Party (Aug 9, 1930)
    15. Two Wrongs (Jan 18, 1930)
    16. III. Retrospective: Basil and Josephine
    17. Basil: The Scandal Detectives (April 28, 1928)
    18. Basil: The Freshest Boy (July 28, 1928)
    19. Basil: The Captured Shadow (Dec 29, 1928)
    20. Josephine: A Woman with a Past (Sep 6, 1930)
    21. IV. Last Act and Epilogue
    22. Babylon Revisited (Feb 21, 1931)
    23. Crazy Sunday (Oct 1932)
    24. Family in the Wind (June 4, 1932)
    25. An Alcoholic Case (Feb 1937)
    26. The Long Way Out (Sep 1937)
    27. Financing Finnegan (Jan 1938)
    28. Pat Hobby Himself: A Patriotic Short (Dec 1, 1940)
    29. Pat Hobby Himself: Two Old-Timers (March 1, 1941)
    30. Three Hours Between Planes (July 1, 1941)
    31. The Lost Decade (Dec 1939)
    • The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. Vol. V: Short Stories – I. Early Successes; II. Glamour and Disillusionment. Ed. Malcolm Cowley. 1951. London: The Bodley Head, 1963.
    • The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. Vol. VI: Short Stories – III. Retrospective: Basil and Josephine; IV. Last Act and Epilogue. Ed. Malcolm Cowley. 1951. London: The Bodley Head, 1963.
  19. Afternoon of an Author. Ed. Arthur Mizener (1958) [Afternoon]
      Stories:
    1. A Night at the Fair (July 21, 1928)
    2. Forging Ahead (March 30, 1929)
    3. Basil and Cleopatra (April 27, 1929)
    4. Outside the Cabinet-Maker’s (Dec 1928)
    5. One Trip Abroad (Oct 11, 1930)
    6. 'I Didn't Get Over' (Oct 1936)
    7. Afternoon of an Author (Aug 1936)
    8. Author's House (July 1936)
    9. Design in Plaster (Nov 1939)
    10. Pat Hobby: Boil Some Water - Lots of It (March 1940)
    11. Pat Hobby: Teamed with Genius (April 1940)
    12. Pat Hobby: No Harm Trying (Nov 1940)
    13. News of Paris — Fifteen Years Ago (writ. 1940 / pub. 1947)
    14. Essays:
    15. Princeton (Dec 1927)
    16. Who's Who - and Why (Sept 1920)
    17. How to Live on $36,000 a Year (April 1924)
    18. How to Live on Practically Nothing a Year (Sept 1924)
    19. How to Waste Material: A Note on My Generation (May 1926)
    20. Ten Years in the Advertising Business (Feb 1929)
    21. One Hundred False Starts (March 1933)
    • Afternoon of an Author: A Selection of Uncollected Stories and Essays. Ed. Arthur Mizener. London: The Bodley Head, 1958.
  20. Babylon Revisited and Other Stories (1960)
    1. The Ice Palace (May 22, 1920)
    2. May Day (July 1920)
    3. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (June 1922)
    4. Winter Dreams (Dec 1922)
    5. Absolution (June 1924)
    6. The Rich Boy (Jan/Feb 1926)
    7. The Freshest Boy (July 28, 1928)
    8. Babylon Revisited (Feb 21, 1931)
    9. Crazy Sunday (Oct 1932)
    10. The Long Way Out (Sep 1937)
  21. The Pat Hobby Stories (1962) [Pat]
    1. Pat Hobby’s Christmas Wish (Jan 1940)
    2. A Man in the Way (Feb 1940)
    3. ‘Boil Some Water - Lots of It’ (March 1940)
    4. Teamed with Genius (April 1940)
    5. Pat Hobby and Orson Welles (May 1940)
    6. Pat Hobby’s Secret (June 1940)
    7. Pat Hobby, Putative Father (July 1940)
    8. The Homes of the Stars (Aug 1940)
    9. Pat Hobby Does His Bit (Sep 1940)
    10. Pat Hobby’s Preview (Oct 1940)
    11. No Harm Trying (Nov 1940)
    12. The Last of the Belles (March 2, 1929)
    13. A Patriotic Short (Dec 1, 1940)
    14. On the Trail of Pat Hobby (Jan 1, 1941)
    15. Fun in an Artist’s Studio (Feb 1, 1941)
    16. Two Old-Timers (March 1, 1941)
    17. Mightier than the Sword (April 1, 1941)
    18. Pat Hobby’s College Days (May 1, 1941)
    • The Stories, Volume 3: The Pat Hobby Stories. Introduction by Arnold Gingrich. 1962. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974.
  22. The Apprentice Fiction of F. Scott Fitzgerald (1965) [Apprentice]
    1. The Mystery of the Raymond Mortgage (Oct 1909)
    2. Reade, Substitute Right Half (Feb 1910)
    3. A Debt of Honor (March 1910)
    4. The Room with the Green Blinds (June 1911)
    5. A Luckless Santa Claus (Dec 24, 1912)
    6. Pain and the Scientist (1913)
    7. The Trail of the Duke (June 1913)
    8. Shadow Laurels (April 1915)
    9. The Ordeal (June 1915)
    10. The Débutante (Jan 1917)
    11. The Spire and the Gargoyle (Feb 1917)
    12. Tarquin of Cheapside (April 1917)
    13. The Smart Set (Feb 1921)
    14. Babes in the Woods (May 1917)
    15. Sentiment — And the Use of Rouge (June 1917)
    16. The Pierian Springs and the Last Straw (Oct 1917)
  23. The Basil and Josephine Stories (1973) [B & J]
      Basil Duke Lee Stories:
    1. That Kind of Party (Summer 1951)
    2. The Scandal Detectives (April 28, 1928)
    3. A Night at the Fair (July 21, 1928)
    4. The Freshest Boy (July 28, 1928)
    5. He Thinks He's Wonderful (Sep 29, 1928)
    6. The Captured Shadow (Dec 29, 1928)
    7. The Perfect Life (Jan 5, 1929)
    8. Forging Ahead (March 30, 1929)
    9. Basil and Cleopatra (April 27, 1929)
    10. Josephine Perry Stories:
    11. First Blood (April 5, 1930)
    12. A Nice Quiet Place (May 31, 1930)
    13. A Woman with a Past (Sep 6, 1930)
    14. A Snobbish Story (Nov 29, 1930)
    15. Emotional Bankruptcy (Aug 15, 1931)
  24. Bits of Paradise (1974) [Bits]
      F. Scott Fitzgerald:
    1. The Popular Girl (Feb 11 & 18, 1922)
    2. Love in the Night (March 14, 1925)
    3. A Penny Spent (Oct 10, 1925)
    4. The Dance (June 1926)
    5. Jacob’s Ladder (Aug 20, 1927)
    6. The Swimmers (Oct 19, 1929)
    7. The Hotel Child (Jan 31, 1931)
    8. A New Leaf (July 4, 1931)
    9. What a Handsome Pair! (Aug 27, 1932)
    10. Last Kiss (writ. 1940 / pub. 1949)
    11. Dearly Beloved (Jan 1, 1969)
    12. Zelda Fitzgerald:
    13. The Original Follies Girl (1929)
    14. The Southern Girl (1929)
    15. The Girl the Prince Liked (1930)
    16. The Girl with Talent (1930)
    17. A Millionaire's Girl (1930)
    18. Poor Working Girl (1931)
    19. Miss Ella (1931)
    20. The Continental Angle (1932)
    21. A Couple of Nuts (1932)
    22. Scott and Zelda:
    23. Our Own Movie Queen (1925)
    • Bits of Paradise: Twenty-One Uncollected Stories by F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli & Scottie Fitzgerald Smith. Foreword by Scottie Fitzgerald Smith. 1973. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1976.
  25. The Price Was High: The Last Uncollected Stories (1979) [Price]
    1. The Smilers (June 1920)
    2. Myra Meets His Family (March 20, 1920)
    3. Two for a Cent (April 1922)
    4. Dice, Brassknuckles & Guitar (May 1923)
    5. Diamond Dick and the First Law of Woman (April 1924)
    6. The Third Casket (May 31, 1924)
    7. The Pusher-in-the-Face (Feb 1925)
    8. One of My Oldest Friends (Sep 1925)
    9. The Unspeakable Egg (July 12, 1924)
    10. John Jackson's Arcady (July 26, 1924)
    11. Not in the Guidebook (Nov 1925)
    12. Presumption (Jan 9, 1926)
    13. The Adolescent Marriage (March 6, 1926)
    14. Your Way and Mine (May 1927)
    15. The Love Boat (Oct 8, 1927)
    16. The Bowl (Jan 21, 1928)
    17. At Your Age (Aug 17, 1929)
    18. Indecision (May 16, 1931)
    19. Flight and Pursuit (May 14, 1932)
    20. On Your Own (writ. 1931 / pub. 1979)
    21. Between Three and Four (Sep 5, 1931)
    22. A Change of Class (Sep 26, 1931)
    23. Six of One (Feb 1932)
    24. A Freeze-Out (Dec 19, 1931)
    25. Diagnosis (Feb 20, 1932)
    26. The Rubber Check (Aug 6, 1932)
    27. On Schedule (March 18, 1933)
    28. More Than Just a House (June 24, 1933)
    29. I Got Shoes (Sep 1933)
    30. The Family Bus (Nov 1933)
    31. In the Darkest Hour (Oct 1934)
    32. No Flowers (July 1934)
    33. New Types (Sep 1934)
    34. Her Last Case (Nov 1934)
    35. Lo, the Poor Peacock (writ. 1935 / pub. 1971)
    36. The Intimate Strangers (June 1935)
    37. Zone of Accident (July 1935)
    38. Fate in Her Hands [aka 'What You Don't Know'] (April 1936)
    39. Image on the Heart (April 1936)
    40. Too Cute for Words (April 1936)
    41. Inside the House (June 1936)
    42. Three Acts of Music (May 1936)
    43. 'Trouble' (March 1937)
    44. An Author's Mother (Sep 1936)
    45. The End of Hate (June 22, 1940)
    46. In the Holidays (Dec 1937)
    47. The Guest in Room Nineteen (Oct 1937)
    48. Discard [aka 'Director's Special'] (writ. 1939 / pub. 1948)
    49. [as Paul Elgin] On an Ocean Wave (Feb 1, 1941)
    50. The Woman from Twenty-One (June 1, 1941)
    • The Price was High: The Last Uncollected Stories. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli. 1979. 2 vols. Picador. London: Pan Books Ltd., 1981.
  26. The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald (1989) [Bruccoli]
    1. Head and Shoulders (21 Feb 1920)
    2. Bernice Bobs Her Hair (May 1, 1920)
    3. The Ice Palace (May 22, 1920)
    4. The Offshore Pirate (May 29, 1920)
    5. May Day (July 1920)
    6. The Jelly-Bean (Oct 1920)
    7. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (May 27, 1922)
    8. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (June 1922)
    9. Winter Dreams (Dec 1922)
    10. Dice, Brassknuckles & Guitar (May 1923)
    11. Absolution (June 1924)
    12. Rags Martin-Jones and the Pr-nce of W-les (July 1926)
    13. 'The Sensible Thing' (July 5, 1924)
    14. Love in the Night (March 14, 1925)
    15. The Rich Boy (Jan/Feb 1926)
    16. Jacob’s Ladder (Aug 20, 1927)
    17. A Short Trip Home (Dec 17, 1927)
    18. The Bowl (Jan 21, 1928)
    19. The Captured Shadow (Dec 29, 1928)
    20. Basil and Cleopatra (April 27, 1929)
    21. The Last of the Belles (March 2, 1929)
    22. Majesty (July 13, 1929)
    23. At Your Age (Aug 17, 1929)
    24. The Swimmers (Oct 19, 1929)
    25. Two Wrongs (Jan 18, 1930)
    26. First Blood (April 5, 1930)
    27. Emotional Bankruptcy (Aug 15, 1931)
    28. The Bridal Party (Aug 9, 1930)
    29. One Trip Abroad (Oct 11, 1930)
    30. The Hotel Child (Jan 31, 1931)
    31. Babylon Revisited (Feb 21, 1931)
    32. A New Leaf (July 4, 1931)
    33. A Freeze-Out (Dec 19, 1931)
    34. Six of One (Feb 1932)
    35. What a Handsome Pair! (Aug 27, 1932)
    36. Crazy Sunday (Oct 1932)
    37. More Than Just a House (June 24, 1933)
    38. Afternoon of an Author (Aug 1936)
    39. Financing Finnegan (Jan 1938)
    40. The Lost Decade (Dec 1939)
    41. ‘Boil Some Water - Lots of It’ (March 1940)
    42. Last Kiss (writ. 1940 / pub. 1949)
    43. Dearly Beloved (Jan 1, 1969)
    • The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald: A New Collection. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli. Foreword by Charles Scribner III. 1989. Scribner Paperback Fiction. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1995.
  27. Jazz Age Stories. Ed. Patrick O'Donnell (1998)
    • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Age Stories. ['Flappers and Philosophers', 1920; 'Tales of the Jazz Age', 1922]. Previously Published as Jazz Age Stories. Ed. Patrick O'Donnell. 1998. London: Penguin, 2008.
  28. Novels and Stories 1920–1922. Ed. Jackson Bryer. Library of America, 117 (2000)
    1. This Side of Paradise (1920)
    2. Flappers and Philosophers (1920)
    3. The Beautiful and Damned (1922)
    4. Tales of the Jazz Age (1922)
  29. Before Gatsby: The First Twenty-Six Stories. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli, with the assistance of Judith S. Baughman (2001)
    1. Jemina, the Mountain Girl (Jan 1921)
    2. Babes in the Woods (May 1917)
    3. Tarquin of Cheapside (April 1917)
    4. The Debutante (A One-Act Play) (Jan 1917)
    5. The Four Fists (June 1920)
    6. Dalyrimple Goes Wrong (Feb 1920)
    7. The Smilers (June 1920)
    8. Porcelain and Pink (A One-Act Play) (Jan 1920)
    9. Benediction (Feb 1920)
    10. The Cut-Glass Bowl (May 1920)
    11. Head and Shoulders (21 Feb 1920)
    12. Mister Icky: The Quintessence of Quaintness in One Act (March 1920)
    13. Myra Meets His Family (March 20, 1920)
    14. The Ice Palace (May 22, 1920)
    15. The Camel’s Back (April 24, 1920)
    16. Bernice Bobs Her Hair (May 1, 1920)
    17. The Offshore Pirate (May 29, 1920)
    18. May Day (July 1920)
    19. The Jelly-Bean (Oct 1920)
    20. The Lees of Happiness (Dec 12, 1920)
    21. His Russet Witch (Feb 1921)
    22. Two for a Cent (April 1922)
    23. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (June 1922)
    24. The Popular Girl (Feb 11 & 18, 1922)
    25. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (May 27, 1922)
    26. Winter Dreams (Dec 1922)
  30. I'd Die For You: And Other Lost Stories (2017) [Lost]
    1. The I.O.U. (writ. 1920)
    2. Nightmare [aka 'Fantasy in Black'] (writ. 1932)
    3. What to Do About It (writ. 1933)
    4. [with Robert Spafford] Gracie at Sea (writ. 1934)
    5. Travel Together (writ. 1934)
    6. I'd Die for You [aka 'The Legend of Lake Lure'] (writ. 1935)
    7. Day off from Love (writ. 1935-1936)
    8. Cyclone in Silent Land (writ. 1936)
    9. The Pearl and the Fur (writ. 1935)
    10. Thumbs Up [aka 'The End of Hate' (1940)] (writ. 1936)
    11. Dentist Appointment [aka 'The End of Hate' (1940)] (writ. 1937)
    12. Offside Play [aka 'Athletic Interval'] (writ. 1937)
    13. The Women in the House [aka 'Temperature'] (writ. 1936 / pub. 2015)
    14. Salute to Lucy and Elsie (writ. 1939)
    15. Love is a Pain (writ. 1939/40)
    16. The Couple (writ. Apr 1920-Oct 1922)
    17. Ballet Shoes [aka 'Ballet Slippers'] (writ. 1936 / pub. 1976)
    18. Thank You for the Light (writ. 1936 / pub. 2012)
    • I'd Die for You and Other Lost Stories. Ed. Anne Margaret Daniel. Scribner. London: Simon & Schuster UK Ltd., 2017.
  31. The Great Gatsby, All the Sad Young Men & Other Writings 1920–1926. Ed. James L. W. West III. Library of America, 353 (2022)
    1. The Great Gatsby (1925)
    2. All the Sad Young Men (1926)
    3. Uncollected Stories 1920–1926:
    4. Myra Meets His Family (March 20, 1920)
    5. The Smilers (June 1920)
    6. The Popular Girl (Feb 11 & 18, 1922)
    7. Dice, Brassknuckles & Guitar (May 1923)
    8. Diamond Dick and the First Law of Woman (April 1924)
    9. The Third Casket (May 31, 1924)
    10. The Unspeakable Egg (July 12, 1924)
    11. John Jackson's Arcady (July 26, 1924)
    12. The Pusher-in-the-Face (Feb 1925)
    13. Love in the Night (March 14, 1925)
    14. One of My Oldest Friends (Sep 1925)
    15. A Penny Spent (Oct 10, 1925)
    16. 'Not in the Guidebook' (Nov 1925)
    17. Presumption (Jan 9, 1926)
    18. The Adolescent Marriage (March 6, 1926)
    19. The Dance (June 1926)
    20. Nonfiction 1920–1926:
    21. The Author’s Apology
    22. An Interview with Mr. Fitzgerald
    23. Who's Who - and Why (Sept 1920)
    24. The Credo of F. Scott Fitzgerald
    25. Three Cities
    26. What I Think and Feel at 25
    27. How to Live on $36,000 a Year (April 1924)
    28. How to Live on Practically Nothing a Year (Sept 1924)
    29. How to Waste Material (May 1926)


  32. F. Scott Fitzgerald: Tender is the Night (1934)


    Short stories:

    1. The Mystery of the Raymond Mortgage (Oct 1909) [Apprentice]
    2. Reade, Substitute Right Half (Feb 1910) [Apprentice]
    3. A Debt of Honor (March 1910) [Apprentice]
    4. The Room with the Green Blinds (June 1911) [Apprentice]
    5. A Luckless Santa Claus (Dec 24, 1912) [Apprentice]
    6. Pain and the Scientist (1913) [Apprentice]
    7. The Trail of the Duke (June 1913) [Apprentice]
    8. Shadow Laurels (April 1915) [Apprentice]
    9. The Ordeal (June 1915) [Apprentice]
    10. The Débutante (Jan 1917) [Apprentice]
    11. The Spire and the Gargoyle (Feb 1917) [Apprentice]
    12. Tarquin of Cheapside (April 1917) [Jazz] [Apprentice]
    13. The Smart Set (Feb 1921) [Apprentice]
    14. Babes in the Woods (May 1917) [Apprentice]
    15. Sentiment — And the Use of Rouge (June 1917) [Apprentice]
    16. The Pierian Springs and the Last Straw (Oct 1917) [Apprentice]
    17. Porcelain and Pink (Jan 1920) [Jazz]
    18. Head and Shoulders (21 Feb 1920) [Flappers]
    19. Benediction (Feb 1920) [Flappers]
    20. Dalyrimple Goes Wrong (Feb 1920) [Flappers]
    21. Myra Meets His Family (March 20, 1920) [Price]
    22. Mister Icky (March 1920) [Jazz]
    23. The Camel’s Back (April 24, 1920) [Jazz]
    24. Bernice Bobs Her Hair (May 1, 1920) [Flappers] [Cowley]
    25. The Ice Palace (May 22, 1920) [Flappers] [Cowley]
    26. The Offshore Pirate (May 29, 1920) [Flappers]
    27. The Cut-Glass Bowl (May 1920) [Flappers]
    28. The Four Fists (June 1920) [Flappers]
    29. The Smilers (June 1920) [Price]
    30. May Day (July 1920) [Jazz] [Cowley]
    31. The Jelly-Bean (Oct 1920) [Jazz]
    32. The Lees of Happiness (Dec 12, 1920) [Jazz]
    33. Jemina (Jan 1921) [Jazz]
    34. O Russet Witch! (Feb 1921) [Jazz]
    35. The Popular Girl (Feb 11 & 18, 1922) [Bits]
    36. Two for a Cent (April 1922) [Price]
    37. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (May 27, 1922) [Jazz]
    38. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (June 1922) [Jazz] [Cowley]
    39. Winter Dreams (Dec 1922) [Sad] [Cowley]
    40. Dice, Brassknuckles & Guitar (May 1923) [Price]
    41. Hot & Cold Blood (Aug 1923) [Sad]
    42. Gretchen’s Forty Winks (March 15, 1924) [Sad]
    43. Diamond Dick and the First Law of Woman (April 1924) [Price]
    44. The Third Casket (May 31, 1924) [Price]
    45. Absolution (June 1924) [Sad] [Cowley]
    46. The Sensible Thing (July 5, 1924) [Sad] [Cowley]
    47. The Unspeakable Egg (July 12, 1924) [Price]
    48. John Jackson's Arcady (July 26, 1924) [Price]
    49. The Baby Party (Feb 1925) [Sad] [Cowley]
    50. The Pusher-in-the-Face (Feb 1925) [Price]
    51. Love in the Night (March 14, 1925) [Bits]
    52. One of My Oldest Friends (Sep 1925) [Price]
    53. The Adjuster (Sep 1925) [Sad]
    54. A Penny Spent (Oct 10, 1925) [Bits]
    55. Not in the Guidebook (Nov 1925) [Price]
    56. The Rich Boy (Jan/Feb 1926) [Sad] [Cowley]
    57. Presumption (Jan 9, 1926) [Price]
    58. The Adolescent Marriage (March 6, 1926) [Price]
    59. The Dance (June 1926) [Bits]
    60. Rags Martin-Jones and the Pr-nce of W-les (July 1926) [Sad]
    61. Your Way and Mine (May 1927) [Price]
    62. Jacob’s Ladder (Aug 20, 1927) [Bits]
    63. The Love Boat (Oct 8, 1927) [Price]
    64. A Short Trip Home (Dec 17, 1927) [Taps]
    65. The Bowl (Jan 21, 1928) [Price]
    66. Magnetism (March 3, 1928) [Cowley]
    67. The Scandal Detectives (April 28, 1928) [Taps] [Cowley] [B & J]
    68. A Night at the Fair (July 21, 1928) [Afternoon] [B & J]
    69. The Freshest Boy (July 28, 1928) [Taps] [Cowley] [B & J]
    70. He Thinks He's Wonderful (Sep 29, 1928) [Taps] [B & J]
    71. The Captured Shadow (Dec 29, 1928) [Taps] [Cowley] [B & J]
    72. Outside the Cabinet-Maker’s (Dec 1928) [Afternoon]
    73. The Perfect Life (Jan 5, 1929) [Taps] [B & J]
    74. The Last of the Belles (March 2, 1929) [Taps] [Cowley]
    75. Forging Ahead (March 30, 1929) [Afternoon] [B & J]
    76. Basil and Cleopatra (April 27, 1929) [Afternoon] [B & J]
    77. The Rough Crossing (June 8, 1929) [Cowley]
    78. Majesty (July 13, 1929) [Taps]
    79. At Your Age (Aug 17, 1929) [Price]
    80. The Swimmers (Oct 19, 1929) [Bits]
    81. Two Wrongs (Jan 18, 1930) [Taps] [Cowley] [B & J]
    82. First Blood (April 5, 1930) [Taps] [B & J]
    83. A Nice Quiet Place (May 31, 1930) [Taps] [B & J]
    84. The Bridal Party (Aug 9, 1930) [Cowley]
    85. A Woman with a Past (Sep 6, 1930) [Taps] [Cowley] [B & J]
    86. One Trip Abroad (Oct 11, 1930) [Afternoon]
    87. A Snobbish Story (Nov 29, 1930) [B & J]
    88. The Hotel Child (Jan 31, 1931) [Bits]
    89. Babylon Revisited (Feb 21, 1931) [Taps] [Cowley]
    90. Indecision (May 16, 1931) [Price]
    91. A New Leaf (July 4, 1931) [Bits]
    92. Emotional Bankruptcy (Aug 15, 1931) [B & J]
    93. Between Three and Four (Sep 5, 1931) [Price]
    94. A Change of Class (Sep 26, 1931) [Price]
    95. A Freeze-Out (Dec 19, 1931) [Price]
    96. Diagnosis (Feb 20, 1932) [Price]
    97. Six of One (Feb 1932) [Price]
    98. Flight and Pursuit (May 14, 1932) [Price]
    99. Family in the Wind (June 4, 1932) [Taps] [Cowley]
    100. The Rubber Check (Aug 6, 1932) [Price]
    101. What a Handsome Pair! (Aug 27, 1932) [Bits]
    102. Crazy Sunday (Oct 1932) [Taps] [Cowley]
    103. One Interne (Nov 5, 1932) [Taps]
    104. On Schedule (March 18, 1933) [Price]
    105. More Than Just a House (June 24, 1933) [Price]
    106. I Got Shoes (Sep 1933) [Price]
    107. The Family Bus (Nov 1933) [Price]
    108. No Flowers (July 1934) [Price]
    109. New Types (Sep 1934) [Price]
    110. In the Darkest Hour (Oct 1934) [Price]
    111. Her Last Case (Nov 1934) [Price]
    112. The Fiend (Jan 1935) [Taps]
    113. The Night of Chancellorsville (Feb 1935) [Taps]
    114. Shaggy's Morning (May 1935)
    115. The Count of Darkness (June 1935)
    116. The Intimate Strangers (June 1935) [Price]
    117. Zone of Accident (July 1935) [Price]
    118. Fate in Her Hands [aka 'What You Don't Know'] (April 1936) [Price]
    119. Image on the Heart (April 1936) [Price]
    120. Too Cute for Words (April 1936) [Price]
    121. Three Acts of Music (May 1936) [Price]
    122. Inside the House (June 1936) [Price]
    123. An Author's Mother (Sep 1936) [Price]
    124. 'Trouble' (March 1937) [Price]
    125. The Guest in Room Nineteen (Oct 1937) [Price]
    126. In the Holidays (Dec 1937) [Price]
    127. The End of Hate (June 22, 1940) [Price]
    128. The Kingdom in the Dark (Aug 1935)
    129. The Ants at Princeton (June 1, 1936)
    130. Author's House (July 1936) [Afternoon]
    131. Afternoon of an Author (Aug 1936) [Afternoon]
    132. I Didn't Get Over (Oct 1936) [Afternoon]
    133. Design in Plaster (Nov 1939) [Afternoon]
    134. An Alcoholic Case (Feb 1937) [Cowley]
    135. The Long Way Out (Sep 1937) [Cowley]
    136. Financing Finnegan (Jan 1938) [Cowley]
    137. The Lost Decade (Dec 1939) [Cowley]
    138. Strange Sanctuary [aka 'Make Yourself at Home' (1936)] (Dec 1939)
    139. Pat Hobby’s Christmas Wish (Jan 1940) [Pat]
    140. A Man in the Way (Feb 1940) [Pat]
    141. ‘Boil Some Water - Lots of It’ (March 1940) [Afternoon] [Pat]
    142. Teamed with Genius (April 1940) [Afternoon] [Pat]
    143. Pat Hobby and Orson Welles (May 1940) [Pat]
    144. Pat Hobby’s Secret (June 1940) [Pat]
    145. Pat Hobby, Putative Father (July 1940) [Pat]
    146. The Homes of the Stars (Aug 1940) [Pat]
    147. Pat Hobby Does His Bit (Sep 1940) [Pat]
    148. Pat Hobby’s Preview (Oct 1940) [Pat]
    149. No Harm Trying (Nov 1940) [Afternoon] [Pat]
    150. A Patriotic Short (Dec 1, 1940) [Cowley] [Pat]
    151. Three Hours Between Planes (July 1, 1941) [Cowley]
    152. News of Paris — Fifteen Years Ago (writ. 1940 / pub. 1947) [Afternoon]
    153. On the Trail of Pat Hobby (Jan 1, 1941) [Pat]
    154. Fun in an Artist’s Studio (Feb 1, 1941) [Pat]
    155. Two Old-Timers (March 1, 1941) [Cowley] [Pat]
    156. Mightier than the Sword (April 1, 1941) [Pat]
    157. Pat Hobby’s College Days (May 1, 1941) [Pat]
    158. That Kind of Party (Summer 1951) [B & J]
    159. Last Kiss (writ. 1940 / pub. 1949) [Bits]
    160. Dearly Beloved (Jan 1, 1969) [Bits]
    161. [as Paul Elgin] On an Ocean Wave (Feb 1, 1941) [Price]
    162. The Woman from Twenty-One (June 1, 1941) [Price]
    163. Discard [aka 'Director's Special'] (writ. 1939 / pub. 1948) [Price]
    164. Lo, the Poor Peacock (writ. 1935 / pub. 1971) [Price]
    165. On Your Own (writ. 1931 / pub. 1979) [Price]
    166. Gods of Darkness (writ. 1934 / pub. 1941)
    167. The Broadcast We Almost Heard Last September (Fall 1947)
    168. The World’s Fair (Autumn 1948)
    169. A Full Life (Winter 1988)
    170. Thank You for the Light (writ. 1936 / pub. 2012) [Lost]
    171. The Women in the House [aka 'Temperature'] (writ. 1936 / pub. 2015) [Lost]
    172. The I.O.U. (writ. 1920) [Lost]
    173. The Couple (writ. Apr 1920-Oct 1922) [Lost]
    174. Nightmare [aka 'Fantasy in Black'] (writ. 1932) [Lost]
    175. What to Do About It (writ. 1933) [Lost]
    176. Travel Together (writ. 1934) [Lost]
    177. [with Robert Spafford] Gracie at Sea (writ. 1934) [Lost]
    178. I'd Die for You [aka 'The Legend of Lake Lure'] (writ. 1935) [Lost]
    179. The Pearl and the Fur (writ. 1935) [Lost]
    180. Day off from Love (writ. 1935-1936) [Lost]
    181. Cyclone in Silent Land (writ. 1936) [Lost]
    182. Thumbs Up [aka 'The End of Hate' (1940)] (writ. 1936) [Lost]
    183. Dentist Appointment [aka 'The End of Hate' (1940)] (writ. 1937) [Lost]
    184. Offside Play [aka 'Athletic Interval'] (writ. 1937) [Lost]
    185. Ballet Shoes [aka 'Ballet Slippers'] (writ. 1936 / pub. 1976) [Lost]
    186. Salute to Lucy and Elsie (writ. 1939) [Lost]
    187. Love is a Pain (writ. 1939/40) [Lost]


    F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Vegetable (1923)


    Plays & Poems:

  33. The Vegetable (1923)
  34. Poems 1911–1940 (1981)


  35. F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Last Tycoon (1941)


    Letters:

  36. The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald (1964)
    • The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ed. Andrew Turnbull. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1963.
  37. Dear Scott/Dear Max: Correspondence with Max Perkins (1971)
  38. As Ever, Scott Fitz—: Correspondence with Harold Ober (1972)
  39. Correspondence of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli & Margaret M. Duggan, with the assistance of Susan Walker (1980)
  40. F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters (1994)
    • F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters. Ed. Matthew J. Bruccoli. 1995. Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1998.

  41. Secondary:

  42. Fitzgerald, Zelda. Save Me the Waltz. 1932. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1982.
  43. Turnbull, Andrew. Scott Fitzgerald. 1962. Pelican Biographies. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1970.
  44. Bruccoli, Matthew J. Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Genealogical Afterword by Scottie Fitzgerald Smith. 1981. Cardinal. London: Sphere Books Ltd., 1991.


F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Love of the Last Tycoon (1993)




  • category - American Fiction: Authors






Acquisitions (40): A Baker's Dozen of 6-volume Sets



A Baker's Dozen of 6-volume Sets
[Classified during the first COVID-19 lockdown: Auckland, March 25-May 14, 2020]:


'What did you do during the Covid-19 lockdown?' might be a more contemporary version of the question from this classic British recruiting poster. Sat at home in my bubble, mostly, with occasional trips to the park and expeditions to the local supermarket, would have to be my answer.

For the most part, though, I tried to organise my book collection - adding plastic covers to those books that seemed to need them, and continuing to map their positions on the shelves for easy access.

Does that sound futile? No doubt. I was working as well, but there are only so many hours a day one can spend marking assignments and organising zoom tutorials. Part of the fruits of my labours is this list of sets of books in my collection. Enjoy - and please don't judge me too harshly ...



This is the second in a series of 'sets' of books chosen by me according to fairly arbitrarily selected criteria. They date, respectively, from 2019, 2020, and 2021.
  1. Joseph Addison. The Works. Ed. Richard Hurd. Rev. Henry Bohn. 6 vols. Bohn’s Standard Library. London: George Bell and Sons, 1901-06.
  2. Jane Austen. The Works: The Text Based on Collation of the Early Editions. With Notes, Indexes and Illustrations from Contemporary Sources. The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen. Ed. R. W. Chapman. 5 vols. 1923. 6 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1948-1954. London: Oxford University Press, 1975.
  3. Richard Barber. Legends. ['Legends of King Arthur', 1998; 'British Myths and Legends', 2000]. Illustrated by Roman Pisarev & John Vernon Lord. 6 vols. London: The Folio Society, 2001 & 2002.
  4. William Blake. The Illuminated Books. 6 vols. London: The William Blake Trust & The Tate Gallery / Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991-95.
  5. Sir Thomas Browne. The Works. Ed. Geoffrey Keynes. 6 vols. London: Faber & Gwyer / New York: William Edwin Rudge, 1928-31.
  6. Emily Dickinson. Poems / Letters. ['The Poems of Emily Dickinson', 1955; 'The Letters of Emily Dickinson', 1958]. Ed. Thomas H. Johnson et al. 6 vols. Cambridge, Mass & London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998 & 1979.
  7. F. Scott Fitgerald. The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. 6 vols. London: The Bodley Head, 1958-63.
  8. Edward Gibbon. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Ed. Oliphant Smeaton. 6 vols. Everyman’s Library. 1910. London: J. M. Dent / New York: E. P. Dutton, 1928.
  9. Henry James. The Novels. Ed. William T. Stafford, Daniel Mark Fogel, Myra Jehlen, Leo Bersani & Ross Posnock. 6 vols. The Library of America. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1983-2011.
  10. Polybius. The Histories. Trans. W. R. Paton. Introduction by Col. H. J. Edwards. 6 vols. 1922, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927. Loeb Classics. London: William Heinemann / Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967, 1968, 1972.
  11. Rainer Maria Rilke. Sämtliche Werke. Ed. Rilke Archive, with Ruth Sieber-Rilke & Ernst Zinn. 6 vols. Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1955-1966.
  12. William Robertson. The Works: To Which is Prefaced an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author. Ed. Dugald Stewart. 6 vols. London: Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans, et al., 1851.
  13. Virginia Woolf. The Letters. Ed. Nigel Nicolson, with Joanne Trautmann. 6 vols. London: The Hogarth Press, 1975-80.



A Baker's Dozen of Omnibuses
[Classified during the fourth Auckland COVID-19 lockdown:
August 18-December 3, 2021]:

  1. F. Anstey. Humour & Fantasy ['Vice Versa', 1882; 'The Tinted Venus', 1885; 'A Fallen Idol', 1886; 'The Talking Horse', 1892; 'Salted Almonds', 1906; 'The Brass Bottle', 1900]. London: John Murray, 1931. [1180 pp.]
  2. John Buchan. The Four Adventures of Richard Hannay ['The Thirty-Nine Steps', 1915; 'Greenmantle', 1916; 'Mr Standfast', 1919; 'The Three Hostages', 1924]. 1930. London: Hodder and Stoughton Limited, 1953. [1214 pp.]
  3. Lewis Carroll. The Complete Works. ['Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland', 1865; 'Phantasmagoria', 1869; 'Through the Looking Glass', 1871; 'The Hunting of the Snark', 1876; 'Sylvie and Bruno', 1889; 'Sylvie and Bruno Concluded', 1893; All the Early and Late Verse, Short Stories, Essays, Games, Puzzles, Problems, Acrostics, and Miscellaneous Writings]. Illustrated by John Tenniel. Introduction by Alexander Woollcott. 1939. Modern Library Giant. New York: The Modern Library, n.d. [1310 pp.]
  4. Joseph Conrad. The Complete Short Stories ['To-morrow' (1902); 'Amy Foster' (1901); 'Karain: A Memory' (1897); 'The Idiots' (1896); 'An Outpost of Progress' (1896); 'The Return' (1897); 'The Lagoon' (1896); 'Youth: A Narrative' (1898); 'Heart of Darkness' (1898-99); 'The End of the Tether' (1902); 'Gaspar Ruiz' (1904-5); 'The Informer' (1906); 'The Brute' (1906); 'An Anarchist' (1905); 'The Duel' (1908); 'Il Conde' (1908); 'A Smile of Fortune' (1910); 'The Secret Sharer' (1909); 'Freya of the Seven Isles' (1910-11); 'The Planter of Malata' (1914); 'The Partner' (1911); 'The Inn of the Two Witches' (1913); 'Because of the Dollars' (1914); 'The Warrior's Soul' (1915-16); 'Prince Roman' (1910); 'The Tale' (1916); 'The Black Mate' (1886)]. London: Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers), Ltd., 1933. [1007 pp.]
  5. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Conan Doyle Stories [Tales of the Ring & the Camp; Tales of Pirates & Blue Water; Tales of Terror & Mystery; Tales of Twilight & the Unseen; Tales of Adventure & Medical Life; Tales of Long Ago]. 1929. London: John Murray, 1951. [1216 pp.]
  6. Kenneth Grahame. The Kenneth Grahame Book ['The Golden Age', 1895; 'Dream Days', 1898; 'The Wind in the Willows', 1908]. 1932. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1933. [412 pp.]
  7. Thomas Hardy. The Short Stories ['Wessex Tales', 1888; 'Life's Little Ironies', 1894; 'A Group of Noble Dames', 1891; 'A Changed Man and Other Tales', 1913]. London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd., 1928. [1084 pp.]
  8. E. W. Hornung. The Collected Raffles ['The Amateur Cracksman', 1899; 'The Black Mask' (1901); 'A Thief in the Night', 1905]. Introduction by Jeremy Lewis. Classic Thrillers. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1985. [448 pp.]
  9. M. R. James. The Ghost Stories of M. R. James. ['Ghost Stories of an Antiquary', 1904; 'More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary', 1911; 'A Thin Ghost and Others', 1919; 'A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories'; 1925]. 1931. London: Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd., [1975]. [656 pp.]
  10. H. G. Wells. The Short Stories of H. G. Wells. 1927. London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1952. [1038 pp.]
  11. Oscar Wilde. The Works. ['The Picture of Dorian Gray', 1890; 'Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories', 1891; 'A House of Pomegranates', 1891; 'The Happy Prince and Other Tales', 1888; 'Lady Windermere's Fan', 1892; 'A Woman of No Importance', 1893; 'An Ideal Husband', 1895; 'The Importance of Being Earnest', 1895; Poems; 'Intentions', 1891]. With Fifteen Original Drawings by Donia Nachshen. 1931. London: Collins, n.d. [1247 pp.]
  12. P. G. Wodehouse. Week-End Wodehouse. Introduction by Hilaire Belloc. Decorations by Kerr. 1939. London: Pimlico / Herbert Jenkins Ltd., 1992. [512 pp.]
  13. P. C. Wren. Stories of the Foreign Legion: A P. C. Wren Omnibus ['Stepsons of France', 1917; 'Good Gestes: Stories of Beau Geste, His Brothers, and Certain of Their Comrades in the French Foreign Legion', 1929; 'Flawed Blades: Tales from the Foreign Legion', 1933; 'Port o' Missing Men: Strange Tales of the Stranger Regiment', 1934]. 1947. London: John Murray, 1953. [655 pp.]



A Baker's Dozen of 12-volume Sets
[Acquired: Paeroa, Monday, September 2, 2019]:

  1. Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë. The Works. Illustrations by A. S. Greig. Ornaments by T. C. Tilney. 9 vols of 12. 1893. London: J. M. Dent, 1895-96.
  2. George Gordon, Lord Byron. Byron's Letters and Journals: The Complete and Unexpurgated Text of All the Letters Available in Manuscript and the Full Printed Version of All Others. Ed. Leslie A. Marchand. 12 vols. London: John Murray, 1973-1982.
  3. Giacomo Casanova di Seingalt. The Memoirs: Translated into English by Arthur Machen. Privately Printed for Subscribers Only. 1894. Limited Edition of 1,000 numbered sets. + The Twelfth Volume of the Memoirs of Giacomo Casanova; Containing Chapters VII. and VIII. Never Before Printed; Discovered and Translated by Mr. Arthur Symons; and Complete with an Index and Maps by Mr. Thomas Wright. 12 vols. London: The Casanova Society, 1922-1923.
  4. Daniel Defoe. The Shakespeare Head Edition of the Novels and Selected Writings. [The Shortest Way with the Dissenters and other pamphlets (1702); A Plan of the English Commerce (1728); The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner, 3 vols (1719); A Journal of the Plague Year (1722); The Fortunate Mistress, 2 vols (1724); Captain Singleton (1720);Memoirs of a Cavalier (1720); Moll Flanders, 2 vols (1722); Colonel Jack, 2 vols (1722)]. 1927-28. 14 vols. [The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner, 3 vols (1719); A Journal of the Plague Year (1722); The Fortunate Mistress, 2 vols (1724)]. 6 vols of 12. Oxford: Basil Blackwell / Stratford-upon-Avon: The Shakespeare Head Press / London: William Clowes & Sons Limited, 1974.
  5. Diodorus Siculus. The Library of History. 12 vols. Loeb Classics. London: William Heinemann / Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1935-67.
  6. Fyodor Dostoevsky. The Novels. Trans. Constance Garnett. 12 vols. 1912. London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1912-1920.
  7. Henry James. The Complete Tales. Ed. Leon Edel. 12 vols. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1962-1964.
  8. Andrew Lang. The Fairy Books. Illustrated by H. J. Ford. 12 vols. 1889-1910.
  9. Enno Littmann. Die Erzählungen aus den Tausendundein Nächten: Vollständige deutsche Ausgabe in zwölf Teilbänden zum ersten mal nach dem arabischen Urtext der Calcuttaer Ausgabe aus dem Jahre 1839 übertragen von Enno Littmann. 1921-28. 2nd ed. 1953. 6 vols in 12. Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1976.
  10. Edward Powys Mathers. The Anthology of Eastern Love. Engravings by Hester Sainsbury. 12 vols in 4. London: John Rodker, 1927-30.
  11. Alexander Pope. The Poems: Twickenham Edition. Ed. John Butt et al. 12 vols. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. / New Haven: Yale University Press, 1940-69.
  12. Arthur Ransome. The Swallows and Amazons Series. 12 vols. London: Jonathan Cape, 1930-47.
  13. William Makepeace Thackeray. The Works. 12 vols. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1881-1882.






Joseph Addison: The Works (1901-06)


  1. Joseph Addison. The Works. Ed. Richard Hurd. Rev. Henry Bohn. 6 vols. Bohn’s Standard Library. London: George Bell and Sons, 1901-06.
    1. Plays; Poems; Medals (1906)
    2. The Tatler; The Spectator (1901)
    3. The Spectator (cont.) (1906)
    4. The Spectator (cont.); The Guardian; The Freeholder (1902)
    5. The Freeholder (cont.); On the Christian Religion; Letters (1902)
    6. Letters (cont.); Addisoniana (1902)

    There are certain recurrent numbers in the book-trade - books are grouped in sets of three, four, six, ten or twelve - less often five, seven, or nine. Hence the idea for this blogpost (as well as the companion one on sets of twelve books in my possession).

    I do like these old Bohn Classics - they're surprisingly pleasant to read, though grey is perhaps not the most inspiring of colours.

    As for Addison, well, I can't say I've (so far) read a great deal of his work: a few Spectator essays, some poems, but you never know when an edition of his collected works mightn't come in handy!


    Sir Godfrey Kneller: Joseph Addison (1672-1719)






    R. W. Chapman. ed.: The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen (1923-54)


  2. The Works of Jane Austen: The Text Based on Collation of the Early Editions. With Notes, Indexes and Illustrations from Contemporary Sources. The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen. Ed. R. W. Chapman. 6 vols.
    1. Sense and Sensibility. 1811. 1923. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1949.
    2. Pride and Prejudice. 1813. 1923. London: Geoffrey Cumberlege / Oxford University Press, 1952.
    3. Mansfield Park. 1814. 1923. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1948.
    4. Emma. 1816. 1923. London: Geoffrey Cumberlege / Oxford University Press, 1952.
    5. Northanger Abbey & Persuasion. 1818. 1923. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1948.
    6. Minor Works. Now First Collected and Edited from the Manuscripts. 1954. 3rd ed. Rev. B. C. Southam. 1969. London: Oxford University Press, 1975.

    This, by contrast, is a bona fide classic. There's something rather delicious in the way that Chapman has tried to preserve even the accidental features of Austen's original publications. His claim that even her volume breaks are arranged for maximum dramatic effect is a bold one, but very persuasive in the case of Mansfield Park, in particular.

    It's hard to imagine this edition ever being superseded. That's not to say that there isn't more - much more - to be said on the subject of Austen and her intentions, but simply that anything textually related will have to be based on the foundation of what the Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen has already achieved.


    Cassandra Austen: Jane Austen (1775-1817)






    Richard Barber: Legends of King Arthur (2001)


  3. Richard Barber. Legends. 1998 & 2000. 6 vols. London: The Folio Society, 2001 & 2002.
    • Set I - Legends of King Arthur. Illustrated by Roman Pisarev. 3 vols (2001):
      1. Arthur
      2. Tristan
      3. The Holy Grail
    • Set II - British Myths and Legends. Illustrated by John Vernon Lord. 3 vols (2002):
      1. Marvels and Magic
      2. Heroes and Saints
      3. History and Romance

    I do have rather a soft spot for these multi-volumed Folio Society reprints of books originally far less inspiring in appearance.

    These two, together, perform the very useful function of providing a clearly written summary of the legendarium of England, free from the archaic phrasing of Caxton, Malory, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and many others. I can certainly imagine it providing a wonderful introduction to the subject for younger readers, as well as those of us who have at one time or another struggled through the originals.

    Mind you, as Caxton put it in his preface to the Morte d'Arthur, "for to pass the time this book shall be pleasant to read in, but for to give faith and belief that all is true that is contained herein, ye be at your liberty."


    Richard Barber: British Myths and Legends (2002)






    William Blake: The Illuminated Books (1991-95)


  4. William Blake. The Illuminated Books. 6 vols. London: The William Blake Trust & The Tate Gallery / Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991-95.
    1. Jerusalem the Emanation of the Giant Albion. Ed. M. D. Paley (1991)
    2. Songs of Innocence and Experience. Ed. A. Lincoln (1991)
    3. The Early Illuminated Books. Ed. M. Eaves, R. N. Essick & J. Viscomi (1993)
    4. The Continental Prophecies. Ed. D. W. Dörrbecker (1995)
    5. Milton a Poem. Ed. R. N. Essick & J. Viscomi (1993)
    6. The Urizen Books. Ed. D. Worrall (1995)

    There have been many attempts to reprint Blake's prophetic books. This is one of the most sumptuous. Of course, the problem is that the colouring of each copy - whether done by Blake himself or by Mrs. Blake - is unique.

    Having said that, there are certain consistencies. Late copies tend to be far richer in purples and violets than the more delicate water-colour hues the little family business started off with.

    That proviso apart, this is probably as good a set of his master-works as we're ever likely to see.


    William Blake: The Illuminated Books (1991-95)






    Geoffrey Keynes, ed.: The Works of Sir Thomas Browne (1928-31)


  5. The Works of Sir Thomas Browne. Ed. Geoffrey Keynes. 6 vols. London: Faber & Gwyer / New York: William Edwin Rudge, 1928-31.
    1. Religio Medici; Christian Morals; A Letter to a Friend (1928)
    2. Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Books I-III (1928)
    3. Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Books IV-VII (1928)
    4. Hydrotaphia; Brampton Urns: The Garden of Cyrus (1929)
    5. Miscellany Tracts; Repertorium; Miscellaneous Writings (1931)
    6. Letters (1931)

    It's hard to describe the charm of Browne's work to someone who hasn't experienced it. It sounds dry-as-dust, but actually it's anything but that.

    It's no accident that he was one of Jorge Luis Borges's favourite authors. The two shared an affinity for the weird, the recondite, and the paradoxical.

    There may be more scholarly annotated editions out there, but this one - edited by bibliographer and pioneering Blake scholar Geoffrey Keynes - is certainly one of the most beautiful books of its era, the late 1920s.


    John Wollaston: Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682)






    R. W. Franklin, ed.: The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Variorum Edition (1998)


  6. Emily Dickinson. Poems / Letters. 6 vols. 1955 & 1958. Cambridge, Mass & London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998 & 1979.
    1. The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Variorum Edition. Ed. R. W. Franklin. 3 vols (1998)
    2. The Letters of Emily Dickinson. Ed. Thomas H. Johnson, with Associate Editor Theodora Ward. 3 vols. 1958 (1979)

    No matter what your opinion of the merits of the Belle of Amherst, you'll certainly find her work most commodiously presented in these handsome hardback volumes.

    A variorum edition of the poems was definitely necessary, given her equivocal views on revision and alternative readings.

    The letters are, perhaps, the true treasure here, though. They read as much as a family drama as an intellectual autobiography, and are indispensable to any true appreciation of her work.


    Thomas H. Johnson & Theodora Ward, ed.: The Letters of Emily Dickinson (1958)






    F. Scott Fitgerald: The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald (1958-63)


  7. F. Scott Fitgerald. The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. London: The Bodley Head, 1958-63.
    1. The Great Gatsby; The Last Tycoon and Some Shorter Pieces. 1925, 1941. Introduction by J. B. Priestley (1958)
    2. Tender is the Night; Autobiographical Pieces; Letters to Frances Scott Fitzgerald and Four Short Stories. 1934 (1959)
    3. This Side of Paradise; The Rich Boy; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; The Cut-Glass Bowl and Other Short Stories (1960)
    4. The Beautiful and Damned. 1922 & 1961. Rev. ed. 1967 (1979)
    5. Short Stories – I. Early Successes; II. Glamour and Disillusionment. Ed. Malcolm Cowley. 1951 (1963)
    6. Short Stories – III. Retrospective: Basil and Josephine; IV. Last Act and Epilogue. Ed. Malcolm Cowley. 1951 (1963)

    There's something rather beautiful about these Bodley Head sets of particular writers - Max Beerbohm, Ford Madox Ford, Jack London, and Henry James are some of the others.

    While I have myself reluctantly concluded that Fitzgerald was essentially a one-book man - The Great Gatsby seems somehow to encapsulate almost all that he had to say in the fictional form - I do find many of his shorter pieces very accomplished, and it's a pleasure to read him in this form.

    Mind you, the flow of posthumous and uncollected stories seems still to be steadily accreting. And some of this new material is undeniably interesting - but there's not much there to change the views one would form from these six elegant volumes.


    F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)






    Edward Gibbon: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1910)


  8. Edward Gibbon. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Ed. Oliphant Smeaton. 6 vols. Everyman’s Library. 1910. London: J. M. Dent / New York: E. P. Dutton, 1928.

  9. I've told elsewhere the true tale of my acquisition of these volumes.

    They're certainly not a patch on David Womersley's Penguin Classics edition, but they remain very attractive, especially now they've been given a set of new mylar covers.

    I've only made it all the way to the end of Gibbon's great work once, though I've read the first couple of volumes a number of times. He remains one of my favourite authors, though - perhaps because his matter-of-fact approach to the history of the early church seems to me so refreshingly honest.


    Henry Walton: Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)






    Henry James: Complete Novels (1983-2011)


  10. The Novels of Henry James. Ed. William T. Stafford, Daniel Mark Fogel, Myra Jehlen, Leo Bersani & Ross Posnock. 6 vols. The Library of America. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1983-2011.
    1. Novels 1871-1880: Watch and Ward / Roderick Hudson / The American / The Europeans / Confidence. 1871, 1875, 1877, 1878 & 1879. Ed. William T. Stafford. The Library of America, 13 (1983)
    2. Novels 1881-1886: Washington Square / The Portrait of a Lady / The Bostonians. 1880, 1881 & 1886. Ed. William T. Stafford. The Library of America, 29 (1985)
    3. Novels 1886-1890: The Princess Casamassima / The Reverberator / The Tragic Muse. 1886, 1888 & 1890. Ed. Daniel Mark Fogel. The Library of America, 43 (1989)
    4. Novels 1896-1899: The Other House / The Spoils of Poynton / What Maisie Knew / The Awkward Age. 1896, 1897, 1897 & 1899. Ed. Myra Jehlen. The Library of America, 139 (2003)
    5. Novels 1901-1902: The Sacred Fount / The Wings of the Dove. 1901 & 1902. Ed. Leo Bersani. The Library of America, 162 (2006)
    6. Novels 1903-1911: The Ambassadors / The Golden Bowl / The Outcry / Appendix: “The Married Son.” 1903, 1904, 1911 & 1908. Ed. Ross Posnock. The Library of America, 215 (2011)

    The textual history of Henry James's novels and stories was greatly complicated by his decision to revise most of them substantially for the 24-volume New York edition (1907-1909). This entailed turning his clear early prose into the more tortuous idiolect of his later style, with predictably uneven results. The Library of America has therefore attempted to reproduce the first book-form of each novel, rather than these later versions, which are - in any case - readily available elsewhere.

    I actually have a facsimile edition of the printer's copy for the revised text of The American (1877), which really has to be seen to be believed. Certainly no-one can accuse James of undertaking the task lightly. Virtually every page has extensive additions and changes, including the notorious 'his cheek knew the kiss of the matitutinal steel' for the original 'he was clean-shaven.'


    Henry James: Novels 1903-1911 (2011)






    Polybius: The Histories (1922-27)


  11. Polybius. The Histories. Trans. W. R. Paton. Introduction by Col. H. J. Edwards. 6 vols. 1922, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927. Loeb Classics. London: William Heinemann / Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967, 1968, 1972.

  12. Polybius wrote a history of his own times which included an eye-witness account of the sack of Carthage in the Third Punic War.

    That is, in fact, his principal subject matter: the struggle between Rome and Carthage for domination of the Mediterranean.

    These dual-text Loeb editions can be somewhat cumbrous to read, but are indispensable if one wants to know precisely what some ancient author or other actually said. And that can matter just as much in the case of an historian as an epic poet or dramatist.


    Polybius (c.200-118 BCE)






    Rainer Maria Rilke: Sämtliche Werke (1955-66)


  13. Rainer Maria Rilke. Sämtliche Werke. Ed. Rilke Archive, with Ruth Sieber-Rilke & Ernst Zinn. 6 vols. Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1955-1966.
    1. Erster Band: Gedichte, Erster Teil. 1955 (1982)
    2. Zweiter Band: Gedichte, Zweiter Teil. 1956 (1982)
    3. Dritter Band: Jugendgedichte. 1959 (1982)
    4. Vierter Band: Frühe Erzählungen und Dramen. 1961 (1978)
    5. Fünfter Band: Worpswede; Auguste Rodin; Aufsätze. 1965 (1984)
    6. Sechster Band: Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge; Prosa 1906 bis 1926 (1966)

    I had a long period of Rilke-fixation during my undergraduate years at Auckland University. J. B. Leishman's translations of his works were the the easiest to get hold of then, and I developed quite a taste for his careful, accurate - though somewhat uninpired - versions. I felt that they took me closer to the original poems than later, more impressionistic recreations.

    I was also taking my first steps in German at the time (we'd only had Russian and French as foreign languages at school - no Latin or German, so I tried to repair my deficiencies in both areas in my first few years at the University of Auckland.

    This is the standard version of Rilke's collected works, in a very handsome hardback edition.


    Leonid Pasternak: Rilke (1875-1926)






    William Robertson: Works (1826)


  14. The Works of William Robertson, D.D. To Which is Prefaced an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author. Ed. Dugald Stewart. 6 vols. London: Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans, et al., 1851.
    1. The History of Scotland: 1542-1603 (1759) (1)
    2. The History of Scotland: 1542-1603 (1759) (2)
    3. The History of the Reign of Emperor Charles V (1769) (1)
    4. The History of the Reign of Emperor Charles V (1769) (2)
    5. The History of America (1777) (1)
    6. The History of America (1777) (2) / An Historical Disquisition Concerning the Knowledge Which the Ancients Had of India (1791)

    Reading the work of eighteenth and nineteenth century historians is now more of a pastime for literary scholars than actual students of history. It's generally assumed that subsequent research will have invalidated their conclusions and superseded many of their facts.

    This may well be so - especially in the case of Robertson's History of America, which records his intense scepticism about the state of civilisation in Mexico and Peru before their conquest by the Spanish.

    Having spent a good deal of time poring over the pages of Macaulay, Motley, Prescott and Parkman, however, I have to say that I do think there are still things to be learnt from these authors - certainly in terms of narrative cohesion, even if many of their details are now unreliable.

    This is one of various books I purchased from Professor Peter Lineham on his retirement. It certainly couldn't have gone to a more appreciative home.


    William Robertson (1721-1793)






    Virginia Woolf: The Letters (1975-80)


  15. The Letters of Virginia Woolf. Ed. Nigel Nicolson, with Joanne Trautmann. 6 vols. London: The Hogarth Press, 1975-80.
    1. The Flight of the Mind: 1888-1912 (Virginia Stephen) (1975)
    2. The Question of Things Happening: 1912-1922 (1976)
    3. A Change of Perspective: 1923-1928 (1977)
    4. A Reflection of the Other Person: 1929-1931 (1978)
    5. The Sickle Side of the Moon: 1932-1935 (1979)
    6. Leave the Letters Till We're Dead: 1936-1941. 1980 (1983)

    Virginia Woolf's letters and diaries have become a vital source of gossip about English intellectual life in the first half of the twentieth century. You name it, she's got a bitchy comment to make about it - which is very useful if one is studying any of these people in their own right.

    You certainly can't fault her for telling it like it is. It might perhaps have been kinder to hold back on occasion, but as far as the all-important task of amusing posterity goes, she is the Queen of Confrontation ...

    There are six volumes in this set of her collected letters, another six volumes of collected essays, and six volumes of diaries (5 in the main series, plus another book of early journals). It's possible that these books are more assiduously pored over now than any of her actual fiction, strange to say.


George Charles Beresford: Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)




So there you are. Clearly this principle could be applied ad infinitum: sets of five books, trilogies, etc. But you get the general idea.

Some people, I suppose, are turned off by the sheer concentrated wordage on offer in such multi-volume sets. I'm afraid I'm not one of them. C. S. Lewis is alleged to have said once that you couldn't find a book long enough or a cup of tea large enough for him. I don't know if I'd go to quite those lengths, but I certainly do like a long drawn-out reading project.

And going from volume to volume, rather than shifting bookmarks in some weighty tome, is by far my favourite way of doing it.