The Thornwillow Dispatch Box

As an era of electronic books begins, the Thornwillow Dispatch is dedicated to the belief that physical books—tangible, aesthetically pleasing, letterpress printed, and beautifully bound—have a new and evermore important place in our lives: as repositories of permanence in an increasingly ephemeral world of letters. This monthly subscription features the work of celebrated writers—both established greats and dazzling up-and-comers—of fiction and nonfiction, from prose to poetry. The Thornwillow Dispatch is a growing collection of voices commemorating our times for times to come.

Ongoing subscribers to the Thornwillow Dispatch receive a new letterpress-printed, limited-edition short publication from the Press, as well as a curated collection of engraved and letterpress-printed keepsakes and goods for your study. Each month, your Dispatch Box is sure to surprise and delight.

We offer three subscription tiers for the Dispatch that are tailored for a range of collectors, from budding enthusiasts to dedicated veterans of the fine press world.

The September Title
Announcing the next Thornwillow Dispatch

The Diamond As Big As The Ritz
By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Available for pre-order via subscription to the Thornwillow Dispatch until August 31st, 2026, at 7 pm EST.

Dear Friends of Thornwillow,

Summer has a way of slowing us down. Sitting on a porch or looking out across a harbor while on holiday, it is easy to imagine another age—one of weathered wooden sailboats, modest seaside cottages, and a quiet measure of prosperity.

At the height of the Jazz Age, F. Scott Fitzgerald looked upon his gilded era and presented a different view—an allegory of wealth carried to its ultimate—and absurd—extreme. In The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, he writes about a mountain made entirely of diamond, a fortune so vast that it exists beyond ordinary economics, morality, and reason itself.

This story elucidates what happens when the pursuit of wealth alters the moral landscape of an age.

Enjoy this fun and thought-provoking summer read that is sure to surprise and delight. It will make you wonder: What becomes of a society that mistakes wealth for virtue and luxury for happiness?

With highest regards from the press,

Luke Ives Pontifell
Printer & Publisher

Available for pre-order via subscription to the Thornwillow Dispatch until August 31st, 2026, at 7 pm EST.

Patrons’ and Centaur Patrons’ Editions will also be individually numbered and signed by the publisher.

*Available only to Centaur Patron subscribers to the Thornwillow Dispatch

 

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First published in 1922, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz occupies a unique place in Fitzgerald’s body of work. More overtly fantastic than his novels, it nevertheless explores the same enduring concerns that would define his finest writing: wealth and privilege, ambition and illusion, and the moral consequences of unchecked excess.

The story follows John T. Unger, a young man invited to spend the summer at the remote estate of his wealthy classmate Percy Washington. Hidden deep within the mountains of Montana lies the Washington family’s astonishing secret—a diamond so immense that its owners have built an entire civilization around protecting it. What begins as a tale of adventure gradually unfolds into a sharp and unsettling allegory about the corrupting power of limitless wealth. What becomes of a society that mistakes wealth for virtue and luxury for happiness?

This Thornwillow edition has been newly typeset and letterpress printed as part of the ongoing Thornwillow Dispatch—a growing library of beautifully crafted books that bring enduring works of literature into conversation with the present.

About F. Scott Fitzgerald

Few American writers captured the promise and contradictions of the twentieth century more vividly than F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940). Best known for The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald chronicled the glamour, ambition, and disillusionment of the Jazz Age with a style that remains among the most lyrical in American literature.

Although celebrated for his novels, Fitzgerald was also one of the finest practitioners of the short story. Throughout his career, he published more than 160 stories in magazines including The Saturday Evening Post, using the form to explore themes of aspiration, class, love, illusion, and the pursuit of the American Dream.

Written during the remarkable creative period that produced The Beautiful and Damned and eventually The Great Gatsby, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz stands among Fitzgerald’s most imaginative works—a brilliant blend of fantasy, satire, and social criticism that continues to resonate more than a century after its first publication.