Signed book: All the Sad Young Men. First edition [publisher’s seal on copyright page; broken “0” to page 90]. NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1926. Hardcover (lacking jacket), 5.25 x 7.5, 267 pages. Signed an inscribed in fountain pen on the front free end page, “For Lefty and Nora, The horse and the cart, The eye and the eyeball, The spleen and the hear[t; missing], The tooth and the dentist, The wind and the weathe[r; missing]—Well that’s quite enough to say you’re togethe[r; missing], F. Scott Fitzgerald.” On the contents page, Fitzgerald has also (in a different ink) added the notation “Read the ones marked, F.S.F.” and checked off six of the stories. Maurice “Lefty” and Nora Flynn were friends of Fitzgerald’s in Tryon, North Carolina, a popular resort area for the treatment of tuberculosis. Fitzgerald and his daughter, Scottie, spent two weeks there in February 1935, at a time when the writer had become concerned about the health of his lungs. “Lefty” had earlier been a Yale football star, and, in the 1920s, an actor who appeared in such films as The Millionaire Cowboy, The Golden Stallion, and High and Handsome. In fair to good condition, with ex-library markings (pocket removal remnants to inside back cover, call number on spine inked out, and library stamp to page 50), covers rubbed and lightly worn at the edges, scattered toning and a few spots of light soiling to interior. The signed page is toned (including most of writing and signature); chips and small tears to the right edge affect a few letters (noted above) and touch the “d” of Fitzgerald’s signature; the notation and initials on the contents page are a bit light but fully legible, while the presentation and full signature are dark and clear throughout. Fitzgerald is always desirable in signed books, and examples with inscriptions of this length are uncommon. R&R COA.
