Set of 4 F. Scott Fitzgerald Hardcover Books

Circa 1950s-1960s/United States

Charles Scribner's Sons published books like these in New York City to bring classic American literature into homes across the country. They were made in the mid-twentieth century as matching decorative sets for readers who wanted uniform collections of major authors on their bookshelves. The publishers used durable cloth bindings stamped with gold foil on the spines to give affordable reprints a handsome and timeless appearance.

Readers used these volumes for personal enjoyment and to display cultural literacy in home libraries and living rooms. They were kept on wooden shelves and read by generations of students and fiction lovers discovering the Jazz Age. Eventually, as reading habits shifted toward paperback formats and digital media, matched hardcover sets found a second life as decorative objects for interior styling.