First edition of McCarthy's scarce debut novel, owned by a friend of his father in 1965
Publisher and Year: New York: Random House, 1965
Edition: First edition, first printing (stated). One of approximately 4,000 copies issued in May 1965. In the original dust jacket, priced $4.95 and with the code of "5/65" on the front flap. The second printing, released three years later in 1968, reused the same jacket design but all copies were price clipped (likely by the publisher to increase the price without changing the printing plates). Presence of the original price is therefore essential for verifying a first issue jacket.
Condition and Description: Octavo, publisher’s red paper boards over green cloth spine, stamped in gilt and red. Top edge stained green, fore edge deckled. 246 pp. A sharp copy of the book, with minimal wear to the boards, bright gilt, and tight binding. Inscribed by Howard G. King (1910-1998) on the front pastedown, a month after publication: "H.G. King / June 7 1965 / Cormac McCarthy's father is my good friend Charles McCarthy, TVA Gen. Counsel, Knoxville, Tenn." Small bookplate of Howard's son, Lloyd G. King (1940-2025), to the front free endpaper, as is a tiny green ink stamp of an "X" in a circle. Otherwise, the book is entirely absent of prior owner's markings. The dust jacket has general surface wear; loss to the top of the spine and upper-right corner of the rear panel; a short split to the front fold; a small triangular chip to the front panel; small closed tear to the lower front joint; a couple of tiny losses to the extremities; light creasing to the front flap; tape to the front fold (encroaching on the front panel and flap); Howard's signature lightly inked just above "The" on the front panel, and a sticker ghost to the rear panel. Select closeups provided. The jacket is preserved in a removable mylar cover. A presentable copy of McCarthy's debut, in its original and notably fragile first-issue jacket.
"He stood at the edge of the orchard looking back, the trees black and twisted, the snow already a palimpsest of his coming. All was quiet and still."
Inventory ID: 768 - 520 - 368
First edition of McCarthy's scarce debut novel, owned by a friend of his father in 1965
Publisher and Year: New York: Random House, 1965
Edition: First edition, first printing (stated). One of approximately 4,000 copies issued in May 1965. In the original dust jacket, priced $4.95 and with the code of "5/65" on the front flap. The second printing, released three years later in 1968, reused the same jacket design but all copies were price clipped (likely by the publisher to increase the price without changing the printing plates). Presence of the original price is therefore essential for verifying a first issue jacket.
Condition and Description: Octavo, publisher’s red paper boards over green cloth spine, stamped in gilt and red. Top edge stained green, fore edge deckled. 246 pp. A sharp copy of the book, with minimal wear to the boards, bright gilt, and tight binding. Inscribed by Howard G. King (1910-1998) on the front pastedown, a month after publication: "H.G. King / June 7 1965 / Cormac McCarthy's father is my good friend Charles McCarthy, TVA Gen. Counsel, Knoxville, Tenn." Small bookplate of Howard's son, Lloyd G. King (1940-2025), to the front free endpaper, as is a tiny green ink stamp of an "X" in a circle. Otherwise, the book is entirely absent of prior owner's markings. The dust jacket has general surface wear; loss to the top of the spine and upper-right corner of the rear panel; a short split to the front fold; a small triangular chip to the front panel; small closed tear to the lower front joint; a couple of tiny losses to the extremities; light creasing to the front flap; tape to the front fold (encroaching on the front panel and flap); Howard's signature lightly inked just above "The" on the front panel, and a sticker ghost to the rear panel. Select closeups provided. The jacket is preserved in a removable mylar cover. A presentable copy of McCarthy's debut, in its original and notably fragile first-issue jacket.
"He stood at the edge of the orchard looking back, the trees black and twisted, the snow already a palimpsest of his coming. All was quiet and still."
Inventory ID: 768 - 520 - 368
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