Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
McCarthy, Cormac. The Orchard Keeper. Random House, 1965.
Price: US$562.50 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: Second printing stated. Ex-library with typical marks, wear to the covers and spine; cracked between pages 58/59. Some discoloring to the pages. A reading copy of a rare 2nd printing of the author's first novel. No jacket. Quantity Available: 1. Category: Fiction; Inventory No: 206051.
Seller: Easy Chair Books, Lexington, MO, U.S.A.
Cormac McCarthy. The Orchard Keeper. Random House, 1965.
Price: US$1100.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 1965 Random House, hardcover with dust jacket, Second Printing stated, DJ is price clipped and slightly yellowed with small tear and sun-faded spine so the red lettering of the author's name and publisher are barely visible, top edge faded, endpaper tanned, book is clean and unmarked, 246 pages
Seller: Stone Soup Books, Camden, ME, U.S.A.
Cormac McCarthy. Orchard Keeper. Random House Publishing, 1965.
Price: US$1250.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Very Good Minus in a Good+ dust jacket; Hardcover; First Edition, Second Printing; Dust jacket has a couple small edge-tears, has a vertical crease inside the front jacket flap, and has been price-clipped, but is otherwise in nice condition (Now fitted with a new, Brodart jacket protector); Light wear to the boards; All three textblock sides are unblmeished, although there is fading to the green spray on the top textblock edge; Couple of tiny spot-marks to the right edge of the first endpaper and to pages 20 - 22, otherwise the endpapers and all text pages are clean and unmarked;; Medium Format (8.5" - 9.75" tall); 1.0 lbs; White dust jacket with title in red lettering; 1965, Random House Publishing; 246 pages; "Orchard Keeper," by Cormac McCarthy.
Seller: Salish Sea Books, Bellingham, WA, U.S.A.
McCarthy, Cormac. The Orchard Keeper. Random House, 1965, 1965.
Price: US$3200.00 + shipping
Description: 1st edition of his first novel Near fine/very good (the book is free of owner markings, although there are a couple of small spots on the front free endpaper; the offwhite dj, which retains its price, has a little uneven yellowing, a little chipping at the top of the spine, and a four-inch closed tear along the back flap fold)
Seller: Reed's Rare Books, Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.
McCARTHY, Cormac. The Orchard Keeper. Random House, New York, 1965.
Price: US$4000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Uncorrected proof. Light gray printed wrappers. Faint dampstain along the edge of the front wrap, and very faintly in the bottom margins of pages. Advance issue of the author's first book. Despite a strong following among literary cognoscenti, McCarthy remained obscure for years until he finally left Random House in the late 1980s and Knopf's publicity department helped propel him into the first rank of American authors with *All the Pretty Horses*. Very scarce.
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
Cormac McCarthy. The Orchard Keeper (First Printing). Random House, New York, 1965.
Price: US$4400.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: A fresh looking copy of Cormac McCarthy's first novel entitled: The Orchard Keeper. This book is a true First Edition and First Printing as noted on the copyright page. The book is listed in Near Fine Condition. It is square & tight with no major flaws. Pages are clean and free of writing or markings. Boards and spine are clean, tips sharp, bit of a jagged board edge from the publisher. This book has NO remainder mark. Green top stain lightly faded. The jacket is Near Fine - is still bright, no rips, tears, bit of age toning. The DJ is price-clipped - else Fine.
Seller: Midwest Books, Clarkston, MI, U.S.A.
McCarthy, Cormac. The Orchard Keeper (+ signed bookplate). Random House, New York, 1965.
Price: US$4400.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: Random House. New York. 1965. 246 pages. First edition, second printing stated. Included is a vintage, loosely laid in non-adhesive bookplate signed by Cormac McCarthy. Original issue DJ with $4.95 price intact on flap as well as 5/65 at base of flap. The book is Fine. A tight, crisp copy that is square with sharp corners. Pages lay tight and undisturbed; seemingly unread. DJ shows chipping at foot and crown with a small open chip to bottom front edge and a slightly larger one on rear edge. Front flap of DJ has separation however it was professionally reattached from the inside of the DJ. Traces of faint initials written to front of DJ. Author's first book is Fine, DJ is Good and the plum is a rare, loosely laid in bookplate of Cormac McCarthy.
Seller: Medium Rare Books, Mountainside, NJ, U.S.A.
McCarthy, Cormac. The Orchard Keeper. Random House, 1965.
Price: US$4950.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: A near fine first edition in a near fine dust jacket, with original price of $4.95 still on front flap of dust jacket and First Printing stated on copyright page. Not ex-library, and jacket is intact, not separating at fore edge. Housed in a custom-made collector's slipcase.
Seller: Bookbid, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.
McCarthy, Cormac. The Orchard Keeper. Random House, 1965.
Price: US$5000.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: A near fine first edition in a very good dust jacket with original price still present. First Printing stated on the copyright page. Red letter H stamped on front free endpaper. Housed in a custom-made collector's slipcase.
Seller: Bookbid, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.
McCarthy, Cormac. Orchard Keeper. Random House, New York, 1965.
Price: US$7500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing with the words "First Printing" printed on the copyright page. A stunning dustjacket that is vibrant in color without the ubiquitous fading to the spine. This ORIGINAL dustjacket has the publisher's $4.95 printed price present with NO chips or tears. The book is in excellent condition and appears UNREAD. The binding is tight with NO cocking or leaning. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. A superb copy.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Price: US$9500.00 + shipping
Description: First Printing. Octavo (21cm); brick red paper-covered boards and dark teal cloth backstrip, with titling, decorative elements, and author's initials stamped in gilt and metallic red on spine and front cover; green topstain; dustjacket; [iv],[7],8-246,[4]pp. Novelist and literary critic David Madden's review copy, with his contemporary holograph signature at upper front endpaper, and his extensive markings and annotations appearing on 232pp of text, including five full pages of notes on the terminal leaves. Topstain faded, light wear to extremities; Very Good+. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $4.95), gently spine-sunned and lightly dust-soiled, showing moderate external wear, several tiny nicks and small tears; five pieces of clear tape reinforcement on verso (including a long split along the front flap fold), with tape reinforcement along the rear joint and lower left corner of rear panel; Very Good only. McCarthy's first book, set during the inter-War period within a small, isolated town in Eastern Tennessee. The book won the Faulkner Foundation Award for Best First Novel of the Year, and while it was successful enough to go into a second printing, only around 3,000 copies were sold in total. This copy belonged to Tennessee author, critic, and Southern fiction scholar David Madden, whose 1979 novel The Suicide's Wife was a Pulitzer Prize nominee. Madden wrote one of the earliest reviews of McCarthy's novel for the Literary Annual (1966). His interaction with the text is both extensive and insightful, and on numerous occasions he draws clear parallels between McCarthy's writing and the work and influence of William Faulkner. The volume is annotated in five colors of ink, and it's clear that this is a work Madden would revisit over the course of four decades. A true reviewer's copy, connecting two of the 20th century's most prominent Tennessee authors.
Seller: Captain Ahab's Rare Books, ABAA, Stephenson, VA, U.S.A.
Cormac McCarthy. The Orchard Keeper (Signed, first printing). Random House, New York, 1965.
Price: US$12000.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: A lovely copy of Cormac McCarthy's first novel entitled: The Orchard Keeper. This book is a true First Edition andFirst Printing as noted on the copyright page. Importantly, this book is signed by the author on the FFEP. Thr book is listed in Fine Condition. It is square & tight with no major flaws. Pages are clean and free of writing or markings. Boards and spine are clean, tips sharp. This book has NO remainder mark. Top stain still presnet. The jacket is Near Fine - is still bright, no rips, tears, bit of age toning. The DJ is price-clipped - else Fine. You will be pressed to find a nicer copy of this important novel. Signed by McCarthy.
Seller: Midwest Books, Clarkston, MI, U.S.A.
McCarthy, Cormac. The Orchard Keeper. Random House, New York, 1965.
Price: US$12000.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: 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. ___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.
Seller: Swan's Fine Books, ABAA, ILAB, IOBA, Walnut Creek, CA, U.S.A.
McCarthy, Cormac. The Orchard Keeper.. Random House, New York, 1965.
Price: US$12500.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of the author's rare first book. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Cormac McCarthy on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with some light wear to the extremities. Jacket design by Muriel Nasser. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. "The novels of Cormac McCarthy owe much to William Faulkner, especially in their "use of dialect and concrete sense of the world a debt McCarthy does not dispute. The ugly fact is books are made out of books, he says. The novel depends for its life on the novels that have been written.' "Cormac McCarthy is expert in generating an emotional climate, in suggesting instead of in stating, in creating a long succession of brief, dramatic scenes described with flashing visual impact" (The New York Times). James A. Michener said of it, âHis use of words is remarkable, for he lures from them a very special musicâ¦. But what is best, I think, is his acute observation and his ability to describe things in new ways. The specific gravity of his writing is high indeed."
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
McCarthy, Cormac. Orchard Keeper. Random House, 1965.
Price: US$12500.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing SIGNED by Cormac McCarthy on a laid in signature. An attractive dustjacket that is rich in color with no chips or tears. The book is in nice condition. The binding is tight and square with no cocking. The pages are clean with no writing, marks or bookplates in the book. Overall, a lovely copy of this true first edition SIGNED by the author.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
McCarthy, Cormac. The Orchard Keeper.. Random House, New York, 1965.
Price: US$14500.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of the author's rare first book. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Cormac McCarthy on the title page in a contemporary hand. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with some light wear to the extremities. Jacket design by Muriel Nasser. Books signed by McCarthy are uncommon, especially his earlier novels. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. "The novels of Cormac McCarthy owe much to William Faulkner, especially in their "use of dialect and concrete sense of the world a debt McCarthy does not dispute. The ugly fact is books are made out of books, he says. The novel depends for its life on the novels that have been written.' "Cormac McCarthy is expert in generating an emotional climate, in suggesting instead of in stating, in creating a long succession of brief, dramatic scenes described with flashing visual impact" (The New York Times). James A. Michener said of it, âHis use of words is remarkable, for he lures from them a very special musicâ¦. But what is best, I think, is his acute observation and his ability to describe things in new ways. The specific gravity of his writing is high indeed.â
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Price: US$25440.46 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Cormac McCarthy (1965) The Orchard Keeper , US first edition, first printing, published by Random House. Signed and inscribed by the author on the half-title page: For Philip Murray All the best Cormac McCarthy . The scarce McCarthy debut novel inscribed with rock solid provenance as described below, and as the correspondence letters cement in the last images of this listing. Please note that the original letters stay with us. However, the buyer will receive a copy of Philip Murray s memoirs with this The Orchard Keeper copy. Condition: a very good copy. No previous owner s bookplates, no inscriptions. A little shelf wear including rubbed top corners and a faint stain on the top of the front board. Lettering is still fresh on the spine and so is the green top stain. A whiff of foxing. The first state dust jacket is NOT price clipped (most clipped dust jackets look a bit fresher as they come from the second printing). Slightly sunned on the spine commensurate with age. Provenance: From the Dr Philip Murray collection. Medical Doctor Philip Murray (1940-2019) from Sligo, Ireland was an avid reader of literary fiction and became a passionate collector of first edition books. He only collected what he also enjoyed reading. In 2011 he published his memoirs titled Adventures of a Book Collector [Currach Press] where he recalls his collecting career spanning over four decades. In his memoirs he dedicates four pages to Cormac McCarthy (pp 120-24) and one photographic plate which depicts Murray and McCarthy arm in arm in Sligo in 2004. Murray relates that he wrote to Cormac in 1990 before McCarthy hit fame with his Border trilogy. McCarthy agreed to sign and return his books and over the years they maintained correspondence with the highlight being McCarthy s visit in Sligo in 2004. Murray embarked on a complete author collection of McCarthy. In the summer of 2016 his vast collection of over 2,000 books was sold in Dublin at auction fetching over EUR 275,000. However, it speaks volumes that Murray could not bring himself to part with his McCarthy collection back in 2016 but kept it until he died. Too strong his love for the work of the author. Cormac McCarthy is a very private author who has granted just a handful of interviews to journalists. His principle is that it is better to write than to talk about writing. As a result genuine signed books are few and far between and provenance is key. We recommend that flat signed copies should be avoided by the collector as signed material is rare and many forgers cannot resist the temptation of enhancing a book s monetary value . Whilst a flat signed copy might be genuine, in our opinion the risk of acquiring a forgery is too great. The Orchard Keeper is Mccarthy s debut novel. Although hailed by critics and earning the Traveling Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters as well as the William Faulkner Foundation Award for notable first novel, it would take five more novels and almost three decades until he would enjoy commercial success with All the Pretty Horses (1992). Since then McCarthy has been rediscovered and declared greatest living American writer . The Road (2006) earned him the Pulitzer Prize, and Hollywood startet to adapt his work to blockbusters like No Country for Old Men and The Road . First and Fine
Seller: First and Fine, Birmingham, United Kingdom