In Cold Blood. A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences.

CAPOTE, Truman.

Published by New York: Random House, 1965

About this Item

First edition, signed limited issue, number 285 of 500 copies signed by the author, this copy finely bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. "Capote's revolutionary and compelling approach to narrative non-fiction has been much copied, but rarely bettered" (Colquhoun). The "true crime" novel was inspired by the Clutter family murders in Holcomb, Kansas, on 15 November 1959. Capote reported on the story for the New Yorker while accompanied by Harper Lee and saw the potential for a novel, later remarking, "murder was a theme not likely to darken and yellow with time" (quoted by Keefe). This copy was bound for William Lewis Safire (1929-2009), the Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and White House speechwriter who wrote the presidential address to be delivered in the event that the Apollo 11 astronauts did not survive their mission. In 2006, Safire was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The front cover is stamped with the initials of his later father Oliver Craus Safir (1893-1934), in keeping with the rest of the library William Safire inherited. The limited issue had appeared in the publisher's special black cloth and the trade issue was bound in red cloth with dust jacket. Stanton, p. 6. Kate Colquhoun, "Book of a Lifetime: In Cold Blood", Independent, 13 May 2011; Patrick Radden Keefe, "Capote's Co-Conspirators", New Yorker, 22 March 2013. Octavo (207 x 134 mm). Frontispiece and title page printed in orange and black. Late 20th-century orange morocco, spine lettered and framed in gilt with central device in compartments, front cover initialled in gilt "O.C.S.", covers, board edges, and turn-ins ruled in gilt, marbled endpapers, edges gilt. A fine copy.

Seller Inventory # 174682

Bibliographic Details

• Title: In Cold Blood. A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences.
• Publisher: New York: Random House, 1965
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)