FITZGERALD, F. SCOTT. 1896-1940.
The Great Gatsby. New York: The Modern Library, 1934.

12mo. Publisher's red cloth, stamped and lettered in gilt, original dust jacket with art deco design by Newman, front hinge just starting, jacket spine toned, light wear at the corners.

FIRST MODERN LIBRARY EDITION OF FITZGERALD'S MOST ACCLAIMED WORK, INSCRIBED BY FITZGERALD TO BILLY DEBECK: 'For Billy de Beck I wish him thus: No rubber check to war his bliss. His love to neck? His Mountain self, And no one to check Billy himself. From F. Scott Fitzgerald Asheville 1936.'

Billy DeBeck was a well known cartoonist and the creator of the character Barney Google and his horse Spark Plug—whose enormous merchandising success lead to a surge in the 1920s of the childhood nickname 'Sparky.' The first Modern Library edition of Gatsby in the original jacket without the 'Discontinued Title' remainder stamp is hard to find, and inscribed copies appear only rarely. Bruccoli A11.1.e.
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