THE ORCHARD KEEPER & OUTER DARK - INSCRIBED TO TIM BURDINE & EDYTHE TARWATER

McCarthy, Cormac

Published by Ballantine Books 1969-1970, New York, 1969

About this Item

First Printings. Two octavo volumes (17.75cm); original pictorial card wrappers; dark yellow edge-staining; [vi],[2],3-198,[4]; [vi],[2],3-215,[3]pp. Both volumes are identically inscribed by McCarthy in a contemporary hand on the title pages to William Timothy Burdine and his wife, Edythe Tarwater, using both his nickname, "Mac," as well as his full name: "For Tim + Edythe / Mac / Cormac McCarthy." Orchard Keeper shows some foxing to inner covers, light wear to extremities, some mild dust-soil to wrappers, and a small tear to base of spine; contents clean; Very Good+. Outer Dark has a slight forward lean, faint vertical crease at spine and left edge of front wrapper, light dust-soil to wrappers, with some scattered foxing to inner covers; Very Good.First paperback editions of McCarthy's first two novels the first set during the inter-War period within a small, isolated town in Eastern Tennessee, and the second set in Appalachia dark, brooding, incestuous, and violent. Both novels were published to great critical reviews, with The Orchard Keeper winning the Faulkner Foundation Award for Best First Novel of the Year. These copies constitute a seldom-seen pair of contemporary association copies: Burdine and his wife were friends with McCarthy, and from 1968-1970 neighbors with the author and their mutual friend, Bill Kidwell, in Rockford, Tennessee. While we have handled numerous inscribed books and presentation copies of McCarthy's works, our experience is that those inscribed to people who knew him during his Appalachian period appear quite infrequently in commerce.

Seller Inventory # 8131

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE ORCHARD KEEPER & OUTER DARK - INSCRIBED TO TIM BURDINE & EDYTHE TARWATER
• Publisher: Ballantine Books 1969-1970, New York
• Publication Date: 1969
• Edition: First Paperback Editions.
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature
  • Association Copies