FITZGERALD, FRANCIS SCOTT.
FITZGERALD ON CRITICAL RESPONSE TO GATSBY: "UNTIL MENCKEN SPOKE FOR IT THE REVIEWS WERE ANGRY AND CHILDISH."
Autograph Letter Signed ("F. Scott Fitzgerald"), 1 p, 4to, Paris, "14 Rue de Tilsitt", to Miss Lane Pride, leaf lightly creased and toned; with original autograph transmittal envelope postmarked September 23, 1925, some loss and toning to envelope.
Fitzgerald responds to a fan letter from a woman who apparently had to overcome her initial dislike of his work in order to read The Great Gatsby, which she then enjoyed very much. In full: "Thank you for your most kind and cordial letter. I think that my first books must have outraged a lot of people because I know that so many approached this with suspicion and hostility. For the first months there were hardly any sales at all, and until Mencken spoke for it the reviews were angry and childish. Now of course it has become a best seller. / Let me tell you how much I appreciate your writing to meand how much I hope that future books won't send you scurrying back to your original opinion."
See illustration.
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