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F. Scott Fitzgerald Autograph Letter Signed. One page on Ellerslie letterhead, 8 1/2 x 11 inches, Edgemoor, Delaware;...

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Description

A party invitation from Fitzgerald promising "a delightful atmosphere of homliness [sic] yet luxury and that je ne sais quoi"

F. Scott Fitzgerald Autograph Letter Signed. One page on Ellerslie letterhead, 8 1/2 x 11 inches, Edgemoor, Delaware; no date, but circa 1927–1929, when F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald resided there. During this period, Fitzgerald was at the height of his literary fame following The Great Gatsby, published in 1925. In this letter to his close friends Gilbert and Amanda Seldes—quite possibly penned while under the influence of alcohol—Fitzgerald writes with his characteristic wit and the self-aware verve that marked his social persona in the 1920s. In full:

"Dilanda: (short for 'Dear Gilbert & Amanda')

The 25th of this month is a wk.end upon which we will positively take no excuses. My spearsman is foaming at the leash or straining at the pod, and since he is a Bantu and has worked for Conan Doyle, the deaths he inflicts are excruciatingly painful. Inferior toilet tissue can often abraid [sic] the skin and be the source of a cause of real anger.

So, old cravat, (one wk. in the R.F.C [Royal Flying Corps] 1918) (They never recover) just make up your mind to it. The guests will be assorted and very few – but a delightful atmosphere of homliness [sic] yet luxury and that je ne sais quoi that has so often been used to describe our parties will hover over everything. Tell Amanda to do wear that lovely, fluffy stomach pump with the beige retches, or is it ruches (Charlotte will be there and you should see Charlotte's ruches).

Write me a letter yielding with womanly sweetness and as she melted into his arms and her mouth filled with tweed combings the last thing she saw was the sinister figure of

F Scott Fitzgerald."

Gilbert Seldes (1893–1970) was a writer, critic, and editor of the prominent modernist magazine The Dial. Although he was openly critical of Fitzgerald's earlier work, he recognized the artistic achievement of The Great Gatsby, praising it in the August 1925 issue of The Dial as "vivid and glittering and entertaining...The technical virtuosity is extraordinary." Fitzgerald and Seldes remained friends throughout their careers, sharing a circle of literary contemporaries that included Edmund Wilson, John Dos Passos, and Dorothy Parker.

Written during Fitzgerald's Ellerslie years, his last relatively stable period before a long decline, the letter showcases the exuberance that coexisted with his growing personal troubles. Within a few years, his escalating alcoholism would consume both his health and writing, while Zelda's worsening mental illness led to her institutionalization in various sanitariums throughout the 1930s.

Accompanied by a French "certificat d'exportation pour un bien culturel" (certificate of exportation of cultural goods), confirming the letter's legal export from France.

Condition: Lightly toned with smoothed folds and very minor creasing at the top margin.

Auction Info

2026 February 26 Historical Manuscripts Signature® Auction #6328 (go to Auction Home page)
Bidding Begins Approx.
January
26th Monday
Auction Dates
February
26th Thursday
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29 Days
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