F. Scott Fitzgerald: Trimalchio
An Early Version of 'The Great Gatsby'

The first edition ever published of Trimalchio, original version of Fitzgerald's classic The Great Gatsby.

F. Scott Fitzgerald (Author), James L. W. West, III (Edited by)

9780521890472, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 25 April 2002

216 pages, 5 b/w illus.
21.3 x 14 x 1.5 cm, 0.26 kg

"Raw and edgy, Fitzgerald's prose practically dances across the page. For all of its subtle, flawed deviations from the finished work, the book possesses a charm that Fitzgerald never realized so completely again." Missouri Review

This first edition ever published of Trimalchio, an early and complete version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby now appears in paperback. Fitzgerald wrote the novel as Trimalchio and submitted it to Maxwell Perkins, his editor at Scribner's, who had the novel set in type and the galleys sent to Fitzgerald in France. Fitzgerald then virtually rewrote the novel in galleys, producing the book we know as The Great Gatsby. This ur-version, Trimalchio, has never been published and is markedly different from The Great Gatsby: two chapters were completely rewritten for the published novel, and the rest of the book was heavily revised. Characterization is different, the narrative voice of Nick Carraway is altered and, most importantly, the revelation of Jay Gatsby's past is handled in a wholly different way.

Chronology of composition and publication
Introduction: 1. History of the text
2. Editorial principles
Trimalchio
Record of variants
Explanatory notes
Illustrations
Appendix 1. Perkins' letters of criticism
Appendix 2. Note on Trimalchio
Appendix 3. Note on eyeskip.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: from c 1900 - [DSBH]