Cold In July [Typescript + First Editions]

Lansdale, Joe R.

Published by Bantam Books, New York, 1989

About this Item

The corrected typescript plus three editions of the book, the Bantam Books paperback original (1989), the Mark Zeising hardcover (1990), and the Mysterious Press paperback (1995). The typescript consists of 336 ribbon-copy sheets, with Wite-Out and handwritten corrections on most every page. The typescript pages are numbered to 300, with 36 inserted pages and no leaves numbered 135?137, although the text is continuous. Several slightly different stocks of paper are used in the typescript, which seems to have been corrected a page at a time, rather than completely retyped as Lansdale revised it. If, for example, he made changes to p. 77 that spilled over to another page, he inserted a new page, 77A, with the additional text which then flowed to the original, unchanged p. 78. A brief comparison of the typescript to the published book suggests that this typescript is very close to the final form of the book, although there were undoubtedly copyediting corrections. Cold in July is a gritty, disturbing crime novel that was adapted into a feature film starring Michael Hall (of Dexter), Don Johnson (Miami Vice, Nash Bridges), and the playwright Sam Shepard. This typescript comes from a group of manuscript material Lansdale sold to collectors in the late 1980s. Since 1992, he has periodically donated his papers and books to the Wittliff Collection at Texas State University in San Marcos. This is likely one of the few opportunities to acquire a substantial manuscript from the dean of Texas weird fiction and horror writers. The typescript is complete, despite the erratic pagination, and signed by Lansdale on the first page. It is preserved in a black-cloth clamshell box commissioned by the Lansdale collector Tom Garner along with a near fine copy of the first edition (a paperback original, signed), a NF/Nf out-of-series hardcover limited edition (signed), and a very good paperback reissue from Mysterious Press, signed.

Seller Inventory # 332570

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Cold In July [Typescript + First Editions]
• Publisher: Bantam Books, New York
• Publication Date: 1989
• Binding: Ephemera
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Near fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Autographs / Manuscripts
  • Books into Film
  • MYSTERY
  • Texas author