Dear Great Gatsby subscribers:
It is with great pleasure that we reach out to tell you that Thornwillow has embarked on a new Fitzgerald project that we thought you, as lovers of Fitzgerald, might enjoy! This month, we have announced the release of a fine press limited edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
When Benjamin Button was anthologized inTales of the Jazz Age in 1922, Fitzgerald wrote that, “Inspired by a remark of Mark Twain’s to the effect that it was a pity that the best part of life came at the beginning and the worst part at the end,” he penned this tale of a man born at the age of 70, only to get younger and younger as his life wore on. The story debuted in Collier’s in May 1922 – just weeks after the first edition of Ulysses (our most recent major publication) was released in Paris – and inspired this bit of fan mail for its author:
“Sir – I have read the story Benjamin Button in Colliers and I wish to say that as a short story writer you would make a good lunatic. I have seen many pieces of cheese in my life but of all the pieces of cheese I have ever seen you are the biggest piece. I hate to waste a piece of stationery on you but I will.”
A more enthusiastic reader, David Fincher, turned the concept into a blockbuster film in 2008, attracting 13 Oscar nods, including Best Actor for Brad Pitt.
What do you think? Is this tale of a life lived upside down relevant to our own tumultuous times, and worth a read? Or is its author, quite simply, a “piece of cheese”? We leave it up to you, our beloved readers, to decide!
We are presenting The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as part of our ongoing Monthly Dispatch series, which is a monthly subscription of fine printing, in three editions :
- Classic Edition: Copies bound in letterpress paper wrappers, available to subscribers for $30
- Patrons’ Edition: Volumes featuring handmade paste paper bindings and letterpress printed labels, individually numbered and signed by the publisher, available to subscribers for $100
- Centaur Patrons’ Edition: Hardbound in cloth and decorative paper boards, individually numbered and signed by the publisher, and available only to Centaur Patron subscribers for $300
If The Great Gatsby and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are not enough to satisfy your desire for all things Fitzgerald, we would like to remind you of our past publication, A Fitzgerald Companion by celebrated journalist Steve Garbarino. Garbarino blends travelogue, recipe book, and quote encyclopedia to sketch an anecdotal biography of the literary mascot of the Jazz Age. Available in paper wrapper and a limited number of half-leather letterpress editions, A Fitzgerald Companion perfectly complements any Jazz Age or Fitzgerald collection.
The paper wrapper (left) and half-leather (right) editions of A Fitzgerald Companion.The Fitzgerald fun continues! If you yourself are a writer, or simply need to say thank you to someone in your life, Thornwillow is pleased to offer a set of 10 heavy archival stock flat cards and tissue-lined envelopes engraved with the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, one of the most iconic images from The Great Gatsby, in fine metallic gold ink.
Thornwillow’s Eckleburg Eyes stationery set.We are so excited to share the love of Fitzgerald and the Jazz Age with all of you! The last opportunity to sign up to receive your edition of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as a part of the Thornwillow September Dispatch is August 31st, 2022 at 7 pm EST; if you order through the Dispatch, your copy of Benjamin Button will be discounted at the prices listed above, as a reward for your ongoing support! Another bonus of subscribing to the Dispatch is that you will receive not only Benjamin Button, but also a variety of fine print goodies to brighten your study, from letterpress broadsides to stationery! If you prefer to order a la carte at a later date, you will be able to buy The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on our website, while copies remain available, for an increased price. These delightful books will ship once they have been printed and bound to make sure they are of the highest quality that we can achieve. A Fitzgerald Companion and the Eckleburg Eyes flat card set are both in stock and available to purchase on our website at any time.
To subscribe to Thornwillow’s Monthly Dispatch, visit: https://thornwillow.com//
To purchase A Fitzgerald Companion, visit: https://thornwillow.com/
To purchase the Eckleburg Eyes stationery set, visit: https://thornwillow.com/
Thank you so much for your ongoing support!