Call Number:

C1323

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.2 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Malcolm Cowley Collection Related to The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1949-1950 (inclusive)

Creator:

Cowley, Malcolm, 1898-1989.

Form:

Correspondence -- 20th century, Galley Proofs (Printing) -- 20th century., and Manuscripts -- 20th century.

Abstract:

Consists of related correspondence, typescripts, editorial notes, and galley proofs for The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, A Selection of 28 Stores, published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1951, which American author and critic Malcolm Cowley edited and introduced.

Malcolm Cowley was was an American novelist, poet, literary critic, and journalist. As part of the great crowd of creative genius that migrated to Paris, France, and congregated in Montparnasse, Cowley lived in France for three years, befriending Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and others. He is often referred to as being part of America's Lost Generation. His most famous work is his autobiographical Exile's Return, published in 1934, which chronicled the general movement of the Lost Generation out of the United States.

The collection consists of related correspondence, typescripts, editorial notes, and galley proofs for The Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, A Selection of 28 Stores, published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1951, which Cowley edited and introduced. There are typescripts (some carbon copies), mostly with autograph corrections and additions, of the outline, table of contents, and editorial notes for each of the four chapters of the book, and galley proofs of the introduction, the editorial notes, and the epilogue.

The correspondence is chiefly with publisher Charles Scribner and editor Wallace Meyer. In a letter dated October 7, 1949, Scribner proposes the idea of the book to Cowley after having discussed it with Cowley's agent, Harold Ober. There is also a letter from Meyer dated October 10, 1950, on planning the dust jacket and the title of the book. (The original title was "A Selection of 27 Short Stories.") The rest of the correspondence is between Cowley and Fitzgerald biographer Arthur Mizener, who was also preparing a book on Fitzgerald"s unpublished short stories.