We're always wanting to purchase signed,
inscribed, and/or dust-jacketed first editions of
F. SCOTT
FITZGERALD
First Editions. Page 8
ALL THE SAD YOUNG MEN
1st edition in original dust
jacket. Inscribed by F. Scott
Fitzgerald to Louis Azrael of Baltimore, Maryland
In July 1934
F. Scott Fitzgerald entered a name into his personal ledger.
It was that of Lewis [sic] Azrael, referring to one of the outstanding
young men of letters Fitzgerald had encountered while in Baltimore.
After meeting Azrael at a Young Vagabonds performance, the two men spent
many a late night at Fitzgerald’s residence discussing the works of Sigrid
Unset, Ernest Hemingway, H.L. Mencken, and Gertrude Stein.
It would have been impossible for either to predict that in just several
months Fitzgerald would be sending Azrael the following note, “It’s just
possible you saved my life. I
don’t know what would’ve happened to me wandering about the streets in that
condition.”
Fitzgerald
was in a drunken, Poe-like stupor when Azrael discovered him stumbling along a
Baltimore street. It was a warm,
autumn day and Fitzgerald was bundled up in a long, dirty coat; unshaven, hair
disheveled, eyes faded into the darkness of his skull.
Azrael quickly guided him into the nearby Emerson Hotel, at the corner of
Baltimore and Calverts, seated him in
the lobby, and ordered a strong pot of tea.
“Who’s your doctor?” Azrael asked, anxious and concerned.
Soon after learning the physician’s name, Azrael hurried Fitzgerald
into a taxi and they headed to the office on Chase Street.
It was obvious Fitzgerald was undernourished; but he also looked anemic.
It was imperative he see a doctor. Turns
out, Fitzgerald was almost dead from alcohol poisoning.
But thanks to Louis Azrael, Fitzgerald was taken to John Hopkins
University, and there he recovered. Fitzgerald
was genuinely grateful for Azrael’s assistance.
The two men became even closer friends, and that partly explains why
Fitzgerald inscribed this first edition of ALL THE SAD YOUNG MEN, “Scott
Fitz—,“ as he often did, or close variations thereof, for people who meant a
great deal to him.
(M. [Monsieur] Azrael) LOUIS AZRAEL (1904 – 1981) was a Baltimore,
Maryland journalist whose career lasted six decades.
He worked for the various reincarnations of the Baltimore Sun, and for a
long time was considered the paper’s star columnist. Azrael
started writing for the paper in 1927, and his pen flourished on a variety
subjects from war to the arts. He
became a household name after his on-site reporting of the carnage that took
place on Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion.
Fitzgerald moved to Baltimore in 1932 to be closer to Zelda,
who was under the psychiatric care of Dr. Adolph Meyer at John Hopkins
University. Zelda resided at Henry
Phipps Clinic and was working frantically to finish her play, Scandalabra,
for the Junior Vagabonds, a Baltimore repertory group.
She asked Scott to polish her lines and help with the play’s
production. During this time, Louis
Azrael often stopped by 1307 Park Avenue to speak with Fitzgerald about
literature and his latest novel, TENDER IS THE NIGHT. Azrael
noted that Fitzgerald was depressed by the critical reception of his novel,
Zelda’s schizophrenia, and his recurring financial troubles.
Azrael tried helping Fitzgerald cope with his excessive
drinking. Azrael, himself, had once
been a heavy drinker, and was now an influential figure in the local chapter of
Alcoholics Anonymous. Years later,
in the 1970s, Azrael told Prof. Matthew Bruccoli, that Fitzgerald had tried
desperately to ration himself no more than an ounce of gin per hour, but was
unable to discipline himself, often borrowing ounces on future hours.
In 1937, Scott Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood, leaving Zelda at John
Hopkins University and Scottie with Harold and Anne Ober.
In 1975, Azrael spoke before the Baltimore Park Board, saying
that “just having F. Scott Fitzgerald in Baltimore was a great distinction for
the town. Back in 1932 Baltimoreans
knew merely that a somewhat tarnished gilded butterfly had alighted, but one
with social credentials. In their
city he found a useful atmosphere and ideas for classic books.
By 1937, when he left, Fitzgerald had proven his credentials had
surpassed the social, that the tarnish on his wings but briefly hid a literary
brightness of purest gold.” With
those words, Louis Azrael helped convince the Park Board to rename the open
space across from F. Scott’s old residence Fitzgerald
Park.
In 1985, four years after Louis Azrael’s death, Azrael was named to the
Maryland Newspapermen’s Hall of Fame. Today, there is a Louis Azrael Fellowship in Communications and in
Writing Seminars at John Hopkins University.
(References: SOME SORT OF EPIC
GRANDEUR, by Prof. Matthew J. Bruccoli; MARYLAND’S WITS AND BALTIMORE’S
BARDS: A Literary History with Notes on Washington, by Frank R. Shivers, Jr.)
This book
represents a period in Fitzgerald's life where he felt he was living in a
"charmed city," yet was enduring the dark years of his life. It
was here in Baltimore that Fitzgerald began his famous essays, those of the
"Crack-Up," which, at the time, were thought to have terminated his
career, but are now considered his most honest, insightful, and revealing.
Original dust
jacket has been professionally conserved at hinges, head and toe of spine
chipped; spine darkened; otherwise, in good plus condition. Book is in very good condition
with gilt on spine dulled, yet readable, and head and toe of spine evidently
frayed. Book hinges are strong; pages are slightly toned. Book was
some battered type on pages 38 and 248, as noted by Bruccoli; dust jacket has
very little, if any, of the battered lips thought to be of a later
printing.
A significant association copy.
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For more books by and about F.
Scott Fitzgerald, please click on the following links:
Other first editions:
ERNEST
HEMINGWAY
BEN
HECHT
First
Editions, Literary
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