“Thoughtbook of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald” [Princeton University Library, 1965]

FITZGERALD, F. Scott. Thoughtbook of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald.

Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Library, 1965. Limited edition, one of 300 copies. Quarto. Publisher’s paper-covered boards printed to simulate a lined notebook, the titling designed to resemble Fitzgerald’s handwriting; in the original glassine wrapper. With an introduction by John R. Kuehl and facsimile reproductions of Fitzgerald’s adolescent manuscript throughout. Glassine toned with chipping and short tears at edges; boards clean; interior bright and unmarked; binding firm. Very Good in Good+ glassine.

A photographic facsimile of Fitzgerald’s teenage “Thoughtbook,” written circa 1910–1911 when he was a student in St. Paul, Minnesota, preserving his early reflections on social life, ambition, and romantic preoccupations. Issued by the Princeton University Library in a small limitation of only 300 copies, the work reproduces in full the surviving manuscript pages, offering a rare glimpse into the formative years of one of the central figures of American literature.

Uncommon on the market, particularly in the fragile original glassine, which was prone to loss or heavy wear. As an early piece of Fitzgerald juvenilia—predating his published career by nearly a decade—the “Thoughtbook” occupies an important place in Fitzgerald collecting, appealing both to institutional buyers and collectors seeking material documenting his development.