Matthew Joseph Bruccoli (August 21, 1931 – June 4, 2008)Lee Higgins,

", ''

The State A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "stat ...

'', June 5, 2008. Retrieved on June 5, 2008William Grim
"Matthew J. Bruccoli, 76, Scholar, Dies; Academia’s Fitzgerald Record Keeper
,

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, June 6, 2008. Retrieved on May 10, 2010 was an American professor of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

at the University of South Carolina. He was the preeminent expert on

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

. He also wrote about other writers, notably

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

Thomas Wolfe Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist of the early 20th century. Wolfe wrote four lengthy novels as well as many short stories, dramatic works, and novellas. He is known for mixing highly origin ...

and John O'Hara, and was editor of the '' Dictionary of Literary Biography''.

Early life

Matthew Joseph Bruccoli was born in 1931 in

The Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York ...

to Joseph Bruccoli and Mary Gervasi.Virginia, Marriage Records, 1936-2014 He graduated from the

Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science, commonly called Bronx Science, is a public specialized high school in The Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science involves passing the Sp ...

in 1949. He studied at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

, where one of his professors was the noted author

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bor ...

, and at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. On campus, he was a founding member of the fledgling

Manuscript Society Manuscript Society is a senior society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Toward the end of each academic year 16 rising seniors are inducted into the society, which meets twice weekly for dinner and discussion. Manuscript is reputedly ...

, graduating in 1953. In 1960, he received a PhD in English literature studies from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

, where he was supervised by

Fredson Bowers Fredson Thayer Bowers (April 25, 1905 – April 11, 1991) was an American Bibliography, bibliographer and scholar of Textual criticism, textual editing. Life Bowers was a graduate of Brown University and Harvard University (Ph.D.). He taught at ...

. Bruccoli's interest in

began in 1947 when he heard a radio broadcast of Fitzgerald's short story "

The Diamond as Big as the Ritz ''The Diamond as Big as the Ritz'' is a novella by novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was first published in the June 1922 issue of ''The Smart Set'' magazine, and was included in Fitzgerald's 1922 short story collection ''Tales of the Jazz Age'' ...

".Caroline Lord,
Interview with Matthew Bruccoli
", ''Short Story'', Fall 2006. Retrieved on June 5, 2008. That week he tracked down a copy of ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...

'', "and I have been reading it ever since," he told interviewers.

Career

Bruccoli taught at the University of Virginia and the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

early in his career. He settled at the University of South Carolina, where he earned tenure and taught for four decades. He lived in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...

, where, according to his ''

'' obituary, he "cut a dash on campus, instantly recognizable by his vintage red Mercedes convertible, Brooks Brothers suits, Groucho mustache and bristling crew cut that dated to his Yale days. His untamed Bronx accent also set him apart." Over the course of his career, Bruccoli wrote more than 50 critical books on F. Scott Fitzgerald and other literary figures. His 1981 biography of Fitzgerald, ''Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald'', is considered the standard Fitzgerald biography. He has edited many of Fitzgerald's works, from ''

This Side of Paradise ''This Side of Paradise'' is the debut novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1920. It examines the lives and morality of carefree American youth at the dawn of the Jazz Age. Its protagonist, Amory Blaine, is an attractive ...

'' to Fitzgerald's unfinished final novel, ''

The Last Tycoon ''The Last Tycoon'' is an unfinished novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In 1941, it was published posthumously under this title, as prepared by his friend Edmund Wilson, a critic and writer. According to ''Publishers Weekly,'' the novel is "generally ...

''. It had first been published posthumously in 1941. Edited by Bruccoli, it was published in a new version in 1993 as ''The Love of the Last Tycoon,'' part of a collection by Cambridge University Press. Bruccoli also edited

Zelda Fitzgerald Zelda Fitzgerald (; July 24, 1900 – March 10, 1948) was an American novelist, painter, dancer, and socialite. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, she was noted for her beauty and high spirits, and was dubbed by her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald ...

's only novel ''

Save Me the Waltz ''Save Me the Waltz'' is a 1932 novel by American writer Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. It is a semi-autobiographical account of her early life in the American South during the Jim Crow era and her tempestuous marriage to novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. ...

;'' she was married to Scott. While studying Fitzgerald, Bruccoli and his wife Arlyn began to collect all manner of Fitzgerald memorabilia. Bruccoli owned the artist's copy of ''Celestial Eyes'', the cover art by

Francis Cugat Francis Cugat, also known as Francisco Coradal-Cougat (May 24, 1893 – July 13, 1981), was a painter and graphic designer whose most famous work was the original 1925 dust jacket for ''The Great Gatsby'' by F. Scott Fitzgerald. From the mid-1940s ...

which appeared on the cover of the first edition, and most modern editions, of ''The Great Gatsby''. In 1969, Bruccoli befriended Frances "Scottie" Fitzgerald, the daughter of the Fitzgeralds. In 1976, Bruccoli and Scottie Fitzgerald Smith published ''The Romantic Egoists'', from the scrapbooks that F. Scott and Zelda had maintained. These had included numerous photographs and book reviews. Later in life Bruccoli and his wife donated their collection to the Thomas Cooper Library at University of South Carolina. The collection is valued at nearly $2 million. Bruccoli was general editor of the ''"Pittsburgh Series in Bibliography,"'' published by the University of Pittsburgh Press. As part of this series, he produced ''F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Descriptive Bibliography'' and, with Richard Layman, ''Ring W. Lardner: A Descriptive Bibliography'' (1976). Bruccoli had written a working draft of the Lardner book in the summer of 1973 before giving it to" his then-graduate-research-assistant Layman to work on checking it. Layman displayed so much aptitude for the assignment that a collaboration seemed obligatory."Bruccoli, Matthew J. and Richard Layman. ''Ring W. Lardner: A Descriptive Bibliography''. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1976, p. xiii. In 1983, Bruccoli published ''Ross Macdonald / Kenneth Millar: A Descriptive Bibliography'' in the ''"Pittsburgh Series in Bibliography."'' Along with Layman, who became recognized as a

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...

scholar, and businessman C. E. Frazer Clark, Jr., Bruccoli launched the ''Dictionary of Literary Biography''. The 400-volume reference work contains biographies of more than 12,000 literary figures from antiquity to modern times.

Private life

Bruccoli married Arlyn Firkins on October 5, 1957. They had four children: Mary, Joseph, Josephine Owens, and Arlyn Bruccoli.

Death

Bruccoli continued working at the University of South Carolina until being diagnosed with a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

. He died on June 4, 2008.

References

External links

Matthew J. Bruccoli papers
at the University of South Carolina Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruccoli, Matthew J. 1931 births 2008 deaths University of South Carolina faculty Writers from South Carolina Yale University alumni University of Virginia alumni Ohio State University faculty American academics of English literature The Bronx High School of Science alumni University of Virginia faculty American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers