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The Great Gatsby

World War II-era Armed Services Editions boosted troop morale and fostered a new generation of readers

February 3, 2015 - Richard Oram

Cover of Armed Services Edition of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath."

The book, When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II by Molly Guptill Manning, celebrates the importance of the Armed Services Editions. Published between 1943 and 1947, these inexpensive paperback editions were given to servicemen on the frontlines. As Manning points out, not only did the editions achieve their principal purpose of raising morale, they encouraged a whole generation of readers who retained their appetite for reading when they returned home. Possibly a few stopped bullets or shrapnel. It’s necessary to remember that the cheap paperback edition was still a novelty at the beginning of the war, having been pioneered by Penguin Books in England and Albatross Books in Germany during the 1930s.

Armed Services Editions were made possible by a group of publishers called the Council of Books in Wartime. This group collaborated by eliminating royalty payments and arranging for the production and distribution of paperbacks in the most inexpensive possible formats. The Ransom Center has a couple of connections with these books. Although there are larger collections at the University of Virginia and the Library of Congress, we own more than 1,400 of the books, most of them shelved together as a discrete collection in the stacks, while some are kept with other editions of our major authors, such as John Steinbeck. Because they were printed on poor-quality wartime paper that is now brittle and brown, each is protected in a simple acid-free enclosure, invented by the Center’s Conservation department in the 1980s, and called a “tuxedo case.” Students of publishing history can use the collection to study which books were most successful (Manning concludes that books with a touch of nostalgia or sex were particularly popular with soldiers, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was one of the best-selling titles, even though it was considered a flop when first published in hardback during the 1920s). The books were generally published in an oblong format, with the cover notation “This is the complete book—not a digest.” In all, some 125 million copies were produced.

Among the founding members of the Council of Books in Wartime was Alfred A. Knopf, the eminent literary publisher (the massive Knopf, Inc. archive is here at the Center). Ironically, Knopf was famous for encouraging high production values in his own trade books, but he immediately recognized the importance of encouraging reading and raising morale and contributed a number of series titles by familiar authors in the Knopf stable, including thrillers by James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler and more literary works by Thomas Mann and Sigrid Undset.

In the postwar era, a number of paperback reprint publishers capitalized on increased demand for books, the availability of new outlets for cheap editions, such as chain department stores and drugstores, and Americans’ newly enhanced disposable income. Pocket Books debuted in 1939 and became well known after the war for its lurid covers, which, as Louis Menand points out in an illustrated recent New Yorker piece, graced not only the unabashed pulp of Mickey Spillane but also higher-toned works by William Faulkner and James Joyce. Ballantine and Bantam editions flourished, and the era of the mass market paperback had arrived. Nearly every prominent American hardback publisher developed a line of paperback books. Oddly, Knopf, Inc. was a holdout, arriving late to the game with Vintage Books in 1956.  But it was the Armed Services Editions that gave the American paperback its big push.

Please click on thumbnails below to view larger images.

Cover of Armed Services Edition of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath."
Cover of Armed Services Edition of John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”
Shelves of Armed Services Editions wrapped in protective "tuxedo boxes." Photo by Alicia Dietrich.
Shelves of Armed Services Editions wrapped in protective “tuxedo boxes.” Photo by Alicia Dietrich.
Shelves of Armed Services Editions wrapped in protective "tuxedo boxes." Photo by Alicia Dietrich.
Shelves of Armed Services Editions wrapped in protective “tuxedo boxes.” Photo by Alicia Dietrich.
Shelves of Armed Services Editions wrapped in protective "tuxedo boxes." Photo by Alicia Dietrich.
Shelves of Armed Services Editions wrapped in protective “tuxedo boxes.” Photo by Alicia Dietrich.

Filed Under: Books + Manuscripts Tagged With: Albatross Verlag, Alfred A. Knopf, Armed Services Editions, Ballantine, Bantam, Council of Books in Wartime, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James M. Cain, Knopf Inc., Molly Guptill Manning, paperback, Penguin Books, Publishing, Raymond Chandler, Sigrid Undset, The Great Gatsby, Thomas Mann, Vintage Books, When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II, World War II

“Great Gatsby” materials on display

May 10, 2013 - Richard Oram

The first edition of "The Great Gatsby" (New York: Scribner’s, 1925). The dust jacket by Francis Cugat incorporates several themes of the novel, while maintaining a certain ambiguity. The eyes most likely belong to Daisy, “the girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs” of Jay Gatsby’s consciousness. The jacket was completed before the novel, and Fitzgerald was so fond of it that he claimed he wrote it into his book. Today, intact dust jackets are exceptionally valuable; both of our copies have been repaired.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, now generally recognized as the closest approximation to “The Great American Novel” and a staple of the high school curriculum, is embarking on yet another new life. Today, a film adaptation opens starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Baz Luhrmann, and it has already been described as one of the most stylish movies ever made.  Three previous movies and one television drama based on Gatsby reflect their time periods as much as they do the Twenties.

The film has sent the paperback edition soaring to the top of the Amazon best-seller list.  Yet the first edition (1925) was only a modest success, as Fitzgerald notes in a letter in the Ransom Center’s collection.  Although his literary reputation went into a swoon in the late 1930s and 40s, the novel was reprinted from time to time, though it was rarely regarded as an American classic.  More than a decade after the author’s early death in 1940, biographical and critical re-evaluations finally established The Great Gatsby’s permanent place in the canon of modern fiction. In the above slideshow, a group of editions from the Ransom Center’s collections shows its progress from first edition to the current movie mass-market tie-in.  Not for the first time in its history and probably not for the last, Gatsby has been born again.

A case of materials related to The Great Gatsby and F. Scott Fitzgerald are on display in the Ransom Center lobby through June 9.

Please click on thumbnails for larger images.

Press book for the Francis Ford Coppola film, 1974. Perhaps taking its cue from Daisy Buchanan (“you always look so cool,” she says, referring to her lover Jay Gatsby), the movie features a suave title character, played by Robert Redford, and a pastel, soft-focus look.
Press book for the Francis Ford Coppola film, 1974. Perhaps taking its cue from Daisy Buchanan (“you always look so cool,” she says, referring to her lover Jay Gatsby), the movie features a suave title character, played by Robert Redford, and a pastel, soft-focus look.
Movie still for “The Great Gatsby” (1949). This remake was to have starred Gene Tierney and Tyrone Power, but when Tierney was dropped, Power left the cast. Alan Ladd and Betty Field played Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. The film is rarely seen on television due to rights issues.
Movie still for “The Great Gatsby” (1949). This remake was to have starred Gene Tierney and Tyrone Power, but when Tierney was dropped, Power left the cast. Alan Ladd and Betty Field played Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. The film is rarely seen on television due to rights issues.
Movie still for “The Great Gatsby” (1926). Fitzgerald received around $13,500 for the film rights and was reportedly disappointed in the production, starring Warner Baxter and Lois Wilson. The only part of the movie that remains is the trailer.
Movie still for “The Great Gatsby” (1926). Fitzgerald received around $13,500 for the film rights and was reportedly disappointed in the production, starring Warner Baxter and Lois Wilson. The only part of the movie that remains is the trailer.
Armed Services Edition of "The Great Gatsby." These editions were were small, compact, paperback books printed by the Council on Books in Wartime for distribution within the American military during World War II. The books were meant to provide entertainment to soldiers overseas.
Armed Services Edition of “The Great Gatsby.” These editions were were small, compact, paperback books printed by the Council on Books in Wartime for distribution within the American military during World War II. The books were meant to provide entertainment to soldiers overseas.
The Great Gatsby" (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1950). This edition is the classic Penguin look of the 1940s and 1950s.
The Great Gatsby” (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1950). This edition is the classic Penguin look of the 1940s and 1950s.
"The Great Gatsby" (New York: Bantam, 1945). This mass-market paperback cover emphasizing the high life of the Twenties.
“The Great Gatsby” (New York: Bantam, 1945). This mass-market paperback cover emphasizing the high life of the Twenties.
The first edition of "The Great Gatsby" (New York: Scribner’s, 1925). The dust jacket by Francis Cugat incorporates several themes of the novel, while maintaining a certain ambiguity. The eyes most likely belong to Daisy, “the girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs” of Jay Gatsby’s consciousness. The jacket was completed before the novel, and Fitzgerald was so fond of it that he claimed he wrote it into his book. Today, intact dust jackets are exceptionally valuable; both of our copies have been repaired.
The first edition of “The Great Gatsby” (New York: Scribner’s, 1925). The dust jacket by Francis Cugat incorporates several themes of the novel, while maintaining a certain ambiguity. The eyes most likely belong to Daisy, “the girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs” of Jay Gatsby’s consciousness. The jacket was completed before the novel, and Fitzgerald was so fond of it that he claimed he wrote it into his book. Today, intact dust jackets are exceptionally valuable; both of our copies have been repaired.

Image: The first edition of The Great Gatsby (New York: Scribner’s, 1925). The dust jacket by Francis Cugat incorporates several themes of the novel, while maintaining a certain ambiguity. The eyes most likely belong to Daisy, “the girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs” of Jay Gatsby’s consciousness. The jacket was completed before the novel, and Fitzgerald was so fond of it that he claimed he wrote it into his book. Today, intact dust jackets are exceptionally valuable; both of our copies have been repaired.

Filed Under: Exhibitions + Events Tagged With: Baz Luhrmann, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Leonardo DiCaprio, The Great Gatsby

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