The Orchard Keeper

New York: Random House, 1965. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/near fine. First printing, octavo size, 251 pp., signed by Cormac McCarthy. Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy, Jr., in 1933), is acknowledged by many as one of the greatest contemporary American writers. His first novel, "The Orchard Keeper", won a 1966 William Faulkner Foundation Award for notable first novel; "All the Pretty Horses" would win the National Book Award in 1992, and "No Country for Old Men", conceived as a screen play (and later turned into a novel) won four Academy Awards. He would eventually author twelve novels, three short stories, five screenplays and two plays.

This work, "The Orchard Keeper" was McCarthy's first novel; it would receive the 1966 William Faulkner Foundation Award for notable first novel. Initial reviews, although somewhat mixed, praised McCarthy's "flashing visual impact" and his "unusual writing furrowed by a stark, visual imagery while the story itself has a shadowed fascination" (n.b., quotes from Orville Prescott and "Kirkus Reviews").

This the first edition, first printing, signed simply "Cormac McCarthy" in blue ink on the half-title page.

___DESCRIPTION: Green cloth shelfback over red paper-covered boards, gilt lettering and red decorations stamped onto the spine, front board with blind-debossed decoration and the author's initials stamped in gilt, top edge stained green, First Printing stated on copyright page, McCarthy's signature on the half-title page; octavo size (8.25" by 5 5/8"), pagination: [i-iv] [1-7] 8-246 [1, author bio]. Dust jacket of white with black and red lettering, front flap with short summary of the book and the publisher's statement that they were "[c]onfident of the acclaim 'The Orchard Keeper' will ultimately receive...", back flap with author bio and a black-and-white photograph of (a very young) McCarthy, review blurbs on the back panel.

___CONDITION: Overall near fine; the binding clean and without wear, the gilt and red on the binding deep and unrubbed, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior clean and bright, the sole prior owner marking we see being a red label affixed to the front free endpaper from the Ziegler-Ross Agency with their address and phone (we presume they sent out a number of copies to customers); a few areas of white to the green top-stain, the corners very gently bumped and with minor rubbing. The dust jacket has been price-clipped, else near fine; not sunned (the red on the spine as deep as on the panels), clean, with the lightest of edgewear albeit with some light, extremely shallow scattered creases and a very light, narrow band of toning along the bottom of the jacket (about a half-inch up from the bottom edge). Even with its few faults, still an outstanding example of McCarthy's first novel, signed.

___PROVENANCE: We acquired this book from a collector who purchased it from an ABAA member who confirmed the signature, details available upon request.

___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.

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