[Rarebooks] FS: 27 Letters from the Editor of THE GREAT GATSBY and the Dedicatee of THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA

[Charles Agvent]

"Thomas Wolfe used to want me to go out and beat up critics."

PERKINS, Maxwell. ARCHIVE consisting of 27 TYPED LETTERS SIGNED (TLSs) 
to novelist Alan Kapelner.  A sizable group of 27 TYPED LETTERS SIGNED 
(TLSs) dating from 1942 to 1946 to novelist Alan Kapelner, who died in 
1990, one of the last discoveries of famous Scribner's editor Maxwell 
Perkins. Perkins, who died in 1947, worked on the first novels of Ernest 
Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Thomas Wolfe. Kapelner published two 
novels, LONELY BOY BLUES in 1944, which earned acclaim for its evocation 
of New York City and which is on several neglected books lists, and ALL 
THE NAKED HEROES in 1960. Braziller, the publisher of the latter book, 
touted its author as Maxwell Perkins's last discovery. Nearly all of the 
letters here are single page on Charles Scribner's Sons stationery and 
SIGNED in full. The correspondence begins with requests to see 
Kapelner's manuscript [LONELY BOY BLUES] as well as politely declining 
the author's requests for a job at Scribner's. Some selections: "I 
should never think of making a decision on a book of such ability 
without reading it carefully,- and what's more, I am certain that I 
shall personally enjoy it greatly." "Thomas Wolfe used to want me to go 
out and beat up critics--who often were bigger men than I-- but I never 
could see that any particular good could come of it." Several of the 
letters deal with specific advice about LONELY BOY BLUES, tentatively 
titled IN AT THE KILL. Wonderful archive from arguably the most 
important editor of the twentieth century whose advice resulted in often 
substantial changes in the final versions of THE GREAT GATSBY, LOOK 
HOMEWARD ANGEL, THE YEARLING, and FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, among others. 
Hemingway dedicated THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA to Perkins. Near Fine.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: Unlike most editors, he actively sought out promising 
new artists; he made his first big find in 1919 when he signed F. Scott 
Fitzgerald. This was no easy task, for no one at Scribner's except 
Perkins had liked The Romantic Egotist, the working title of 
Fitzgerald's first novel, and it was rejected. Even so, Perkins worked 
with Fitzgerald to revise the manuscript and then lobbied it through the 
house until he wore down his colleagues' resistance.
Its publication as This Side of Paradise (1920) marked the arrival of a 
new literary generation that would always be associated with Perkins. 
Fitzgerald's profligacy and alcoholism strained his relationship with 
Perkins. Nonetheless, Perkins remained Fitzgerald's friend to the end of 
Fitzgerald's short life, in addition to his editorial relationship with 
the author, particularly evidenced in The Great Gatsby (1925), his 
masterpiece, which benefited substantially from Perkins' criticism.

It was through Fitzgerald that Perkins met Ernest Hemingway, publishing 
his first major novel, The Sun Also Rises, in 1926. A daring book for 
the times, Perkins fought for it over objections to Hemingway's 
profanity raised by traditionalists in the firm. The commercial success 
of Hemingway's next novel, A Farewell to Arms (1929), which rose to 
number one on the best-seller list, put an end to questions about 
Perkins' editorial judgment.

The greatest professional challenge Perkins ever faced was posed by 
Thomas Wolfe, whose talent was matched only by his lack of artistic 
self-discipline. Unlike most writers, who are often blocked, words 
poured out of Wolfe. A blessing in some ways, this was a curse too, as 
Wolfe was greatly attached to each sentence he wrote. After a tremendous 
struggle, Perkins induced Wolfe to cut 90,000 words from his first 
novel, Look Homeward, Angel (1929). His next, Of Time and the River 
(1935), was the result of a two-year battle during which Wolfe kept 
writing more and more pages in the face of an ultimately victorious 
effort by Perkins to hold the line on size. Grateful to Perkins at first 
for discovering him and helping him realize his potential, Wolfe later 
came to resent the popular perception that he owed his success to his 
editor. Wolfe left Scribner's after numerous fights with Perkins. 
Despite this, Perkins served as Wolfe's literary executor after his 
early death in 1938 and was considered by Wolfe to be his closest friend.

Although his reputation as an editor is most closely linked to these 
three, Perkins worked with many other writers. He was the first to 
publish J. P. Marquand and Erskine Caldwell. His advice was responsible 
for the enormous success of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, whose The Yearling 
(1938) grew out of suggestions made by Perkins. It became a runaway 
best-seller and won the Pulitzer Prize. Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved 
Country (1946) was another highly successful Perkins find. His 
next-to-last discovery was James Jones, who approached Perkins in 1945. 
Perkins persuaded Jones to abandon the novel he was working on at that 
time and launched him on what would become From Here to Eternity (1951). 
By this time, Perkins' health was failing and he did not live to see its 
success, nor that of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea (1952), which 
was dedicated to his memory. Perkins last discovery was Marguerite 
Young, who started her mammoth Miss MacIntosh, My Darling in 1947 with 
his encouragement, signing a contract in 1947 based on her 40 page 
manuscript. The novel was finally published in 1965. (#014000)     $5,000.00

http://home.ptd.net/~chagvent/014000.jpg

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