Description
First edition, first printing of The Vegetable: From President to Postman by F. Scott Fitzgerald, in the publisher’s restored dust jacket.
Octavo, 145pp, [2pp ads]. Original teal green cloth, title stamped in blind on front cover. Title in gilt on spine, now rubbed away. Stated “Published April, 1923” with Scribner’s Seal on copyright page. Solid text block, shallow bump to fore edge of covers, touch of wear to head and tail of spine. Faint stain to spine, slightly visible on rear endpaper. Text remains clean and legible. Previous ownership inscription to front free endpaper.
In the publisher’s original dust jacket, $1.50 retail price listed, with a few small chips and faint soiling. Professionally restored jacket with tissue repairs to edges, folds, and verso. Includes color touch-ups to spine and front panel. The first state jacket, with blurbs for The Beautiful and Damned and Tales of the Jazz Age on the front flap, and ads for the fifth printing of Flappers and Philosophers and the thirteenth printing of This Side of Paradise on the rear flap.
(Bruccoli A10.1.a)
The Vegetable, Fitzgerald’s only play, was the last publication before the release of his magnum opus, The Great Gatsby. The first performance of The Vegetable occurred on November 19, 1923 at the Apollo Theatre in Atlantic City, NJ. The show was not well received, with Zelda Fitzgerald later writing that members of the audience were “so obviously bored,” and some left during the second act. (Bruccoli, Epic Grandeur, p. 219)
