McCarthy, Cormac (1992) ‘All the Pretty Horses’, US signed and inscribed first edition

Cormac McCarthy (1992) ‘All the Pretty Horses‘, US first edition, first printing, published by Knopf. Quarter bound cloth with gilt lettering. In the original five blurbs dustjacket by Chip Kid as usual. Signed and inscribed by the author on the half title page to an American bookdealer in 1993: “For James Cahill with best wishes Cormac McCarthy“.

Condition: a fine book; square and tight, with white and unmarked pages. Covers with sharp corners, bright lettering and barely noticeable wear to edges. In a fine dustjacket, unclipped and without any of the usual wear.

Provenance: McCarthy is a very private person who has granted only a handful inteviews in his life, his motto being that it is better to write rather than to talk about writing. Although he has been portrayed as a recluse this is not entirely true. Prior to 1992 he simply was not widely read and thus he happily signed books for fans who bothered to mail to him. This changed after 1992 and the media attention surrounding his persona. Therefore, inscribed copies are quite rare, and ‘flat signed’ copies most likely forgeries. We can trace the ownership of the book to the inscribee and thus have impeccable provenance. The handwriting also matches other examples inscribed around that time.

‘All the Pretty Horses’, the first in the so-called ‘Border Trilogy’ was McCarthy’s breakthrough novel and earned him the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. It was adapted into a film starring Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz in 2000.