Gatsby's library is first mentioned in chapter three of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby. Nick and Jordan are at one of Gatsby's lavish parties at his palatial mansion in West Egg. While they are searching for the host they meet a "stout middle-aged, owl-eyed man" in the library. He carries on about the books. He can't believe they are actually real. He had originally thought they were simply cardboard. The scene fits the theme of the chapter as wild speculation about Gatsby pervades the party. Some believe he killed a man and some say he was a German spy. He is a complete mystery to most of the party goers and the "owl-eyed" man is quite impressed by the "thoroughness" and "realism" of the library.
The mansion, the parties, and the library are all part of Gatsby's plan to lure Daisy Buchanan to his mansion. He believes that an ostentatious display of wealth will win her. In chapter five Gatsby's dream partially comes true as he gives Daisy a tour of his house. It is here that the reader learns the books are supposedly from "the Merton College library," which is on the Oxford, England campus. Throughout the novel, Gatsby claims to be an "Oxford man." This title is presumably just another way he hopes to impress Daisy.
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