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TRIMALCHIO: A Facsimile Edition of the Original Galley Proofs for The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald, F. Scott; Bruccoli, Matthew J.

Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2000. Boxed Limited Edition. Paperback. Thin folio, [77 unnumbered leaves]: 7 introductory, 57 text, 11 afterword by Matthew J. Bruccoli, and 2 notes. Laid-paper sheets (each 24 × 6 in.) housed in the publisher’s blue folding case with printed paper label on the upper cover. Numbered 82 of 500 copies on the limitation leaf. Complete with the publisher’s original cardboard shipping container, measuring 28 × 8 × 2 in.

A handsome limited facsimile of Fitzgerald’s original galley proofs for The Great Gatsby, reproducing Trimalchio, one of several titles the author considered for his masterpiece. Were it not for his editor Maxwell Perkins, who thought the name too obscure and difficult to pronounce, the novel might have appeared as Trimalchio or Trimalchio in West Egg. The title derives from the ostentatious Roman freedman of Petronius’s Satyricon, an apt emblem for Gatsby himself. Edited and introduced by Matthew J. Bruccoli, this edition preserves Fitzgerald’s earlier text and title, offering a fascinating glimpse into the evolution of one of the great American novels. Fine, as issued in publisher’s original blue folding case, with limitation label and shipping box.

Price: $450.00 save 15% $382.50