Extremely rare First National Bank check, 7.75 x 3, filled out in another hand and signed by Fitzgerald, "F. Scott Fitzgerald," payable to Grove Park Inn for $10, November 17, 1936. In very good condition, with trimmed left edge, some dampstaining, a vertical fold, and an old tape remnant and associated tear to the upper left corner. Fitzgerald spent time at the Grove Park Inn, situated in Asheville, North Carolina, during the summers of 1935 and 1936, recuperating from ill health in the clean mountain air. He rented two rooms at a time—one for sleeping and one for writing—opting for basic accommodations that overlooked the main entrance so that he could observe the comings and goings of beautiful women. While staying there in 1936, he experienced a series of traumas—he helped to transfer his wife Zelda to Highland Hospital for psychiatric treatment, broke his shoulder while diving into a swimming pool, and suffered from writer's block. He invited New York Post reporter Michael Mok to the Grove Park Inn to do a story on him in September, but the resulting article—'The Other Side of Paradise, Scott Fitzgerald, 40, Engulfed in Despair'—plunged him into a deep, brooding depression. Although Fitzgerald went to the Grove Park Inn seeking solace and relaxation, this became one of the darkest periods of his life. Fitzgerald checks are exceedingly scarce, with this being just the second we have offered.
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