McMurtry, Larry (1985) ‘Lonesome Dove’, US signed and beautifully inscribed first edition

Larry McMurtry (1985) ‘Lonesome Dove’, US first edition, first printing, published by Simon and Schuster. Signed and inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper: “To Ralph | On his | 66th birthday | with Best | wishes | Larry McMurtry”. Judging by the signature style this was signed and inscribed around the publication date. Larry later developed a squiggle to speed up signing books. Rare inscribed as such.

Condition: a fine copy in like dust ajcket. The boards are clean, the corners sharp. No previous owner’s scribbles, no bookplates, no stamps. Usual sagging of page block due to the weight. Dust jacket is NOT price clipped showing the correct USD 18.95 price; now protected in removable mylar.

A landmark book in the Western genre which has won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Adapted as a 1989 TV mini-series. McMurtry would go on and produce three more novels as prequels and sequels to the original Lonesome Dove.

McMurtry, apart for being an award-winning author was also a bibliophile and bookseller and he owned a bookshop. Perhaps knowing the value of beautiful signatures and inscriptions he would later develope a squiggle to sign his books.