Great Gatsby: An Edition of the Manuscript

Description: This edition presents the manuscript of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the earliest full version of the novel that survives. Study of this manuscript reveals much about the composition of the novel - about the development of its characters and themes and the revision of its language. Fitzgerald reworked the manuscript, putting it through several drafts and continuing to edit until a few weeks before publication. The period of its creation was an amalgamation of his talent, inspiration, and self-discipline which resulted in a masterpiece. An introduction by James L. W. West, III, the general editor of the series, gives the compositional history of the novel; a bibliographical commentary by Don C. Skemer, Curator of Manuscripts at Princeton University Library, describes the manuscript and gives the story of its preservation, acquisition, and restoration. The reading text is presented without emendation and with a minimum of editorial apparatus. This edition will allow critics, teachers, and students to study The Great Gatsby as a fluid text, evolving and progressing toward its final form from its very earliest incarnation.

Brief description: James L. W. West, III is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English, Emeritus, at Pennsylvania State University.

Review Quotes: 'Like a jazz album offering multiple takes on a single tune, the value of this edition lies in the access it offers to the creative process. Comparing it to the novel published in April 1925 reveals the decisions Fitzgerald made as he revised his greatest work and supplies fascinating insights into its evolution ... Seeing The Great Gatsby as it might have been shows that Fitzgerald's drive for perfection matched that of his beloved hero.' Sarah Graham, The Times Literary Supplement