With manuscript essay about Fitzgerald at Princeton
Safety First! Presented by the Princeton Triangle Club.
Cincinnati / New York / London: John Church Company, 1916.
Price: $3,500.00
About the item
First edition. 99 pp. Large 4to. Illustrated color card covers, orange cloth spine, as issued. Rubbed, wear to corners; front and back covers folded (cracked and repaired). Numerous autograph emendations in blue pencil and ink; autograph essay in ink on verso of cast listing. In custom quarter morocco slipcase and chemise. Bruccoli A4.
Item #369594
The third consecutive and final Triangle Club production Fitzgerald participated in, writing the lyrics for all 18 songs in this 1916 comedy, as he had for the two prior shows, Fie! Fie! Fi-Fi! (1914–1915) and The Evil Eye (1915–1916).
This particular staging featured two people with the surname Harris: the first, E. Harris, was one of the composers, and besides the title page, this is futher noted by the multiple autograph additions of the letter "E" in blue pencil on the song list page. The second was W. I[rving] Harris, who appeared as "Detective No. 1," a role which was originally printed as being played by E. Harris; this error is corrected in ink.
It was this latter Harris who in 1975 penned the warm (unpublished) remembrance of Fitzgerald at Princeton on blank page [4], which begins, "Scott Fitzgerald of course was in a class by himself." He continues, "The lyrics of 'One-Lump Percy' the parlor-snake spoofed the antics of contemporary collegians, and for 'Charlotte Corday' Scott should have been given an extra high mark in his course in French history/literature! 'Where Did Bridget Kelly Get Her Persian Temperament' was another song that brought down the house."
Harris closes with, "I remember Scott as exceedingly unassuming and modest, and as a member of the Triangle Club a true enthusiast. As far as I know everyone liked him and no one would have thought of competing with his skill as a lyricist. The work was all his, — and as you will see, speaks for itself."
