Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Cather, Willa. Death Comes for the Archbishop. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1927.
Price: US$3000.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First Edition. One of a limited 175 copies signed by Willa Cather. Bound in marbled paper covered-boards over green cloth spine with black morocco title label lettered in gilt; lacking the slipcase. Near Fine with light rubbing to edges and covers, slight fading to spine cloth. Vintage bookseller ticket to rear paste down, and small number label to front free endpaper. A lovely copy.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
CATHER, WILLA. DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP. NEW YORK NY ALFRED A KNOPF CO PUB 1927., 1927.
Price: US$4500.00 + shipping
Description: NEAR VERY GOOD WITHOUT D.J. SIGNED LIMITED EDITION /# 160 OF 175 COPIES ON BORZOI RAG PAPER QUARTER BOUND WITH GREEN MARBLE PAPER-COVERED BOARDS WITH GREEN CLOTH SPINE AND BLACK SPINE TITLE LABEL. BOOK'S CORNERS AND EDGES RUBBED AND WORN WITH CLOTH SPINE MODERATELY COLOR FADED, SPINE ENDS VERY SLIGHTLY WORN, AND SOME RUBBING TO THE REAR BOARD. STILL A VERY NICE COPY OF THIS 20TH CENTURY HIGHLIGHT OF AMERICAN FICTION WITHOUT THE ORIGINAL PUBLISHER'S SLIPCASE. FIRST EDITION. Binding is HARDCOVER.
Seller: JOHN LUTSCHAK BOOKS, BURLINGTON, WI, U.S.A.
CATHER, Willa. DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP. Alfred Knopf, New York, 1927.
Price: US$7500.00 + shipping
Description: Original green cloth with the first printing error on page 20. SIGNED by the author on the front free endpaper and quite scarce as such. There was a Limited Edition of 175 numbered and signed copies, but one rarely comes across a signed trade edition of this classic of American Literature. We found only two copies appearing at auction in the last 35 years, the Pforzheimer copy in 1987, inscribed to Carl Pforzheimer, and another inscribed copy in 2006. The present copy is signed only and on an integral sheet of the book, not on a piece of paper added later. Contents clean and fresh; covers bright with sunning to the spine and darkening of the spine label. Very Good or better, lacking the scarce dustwrapper
Seller: Charles Agvent, est. 1987, ABAA, ILAB, Fleetwood, PA, U.S.A.
Cather, Willa. Death Comes for the Archbishop. Alfred Knopf, New York, 1927.
Price: US$7500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing. This copy is SIGNED by Willa Cather on a laid in signature. This advance FIRST ISSUE dustjacket is vibrant in color with NO fading to the spine. This ORIGINAL dustjacket has all the First Issue points present with minor wear to the edges. The book is in great shape. The binding is tight with NO cocking or leaning and the boards are crisp. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. A beautiful copy of this TRUE FIRST EDITION SIGNED by the author. We buy Cather First Editions.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
CATHER, Willa.. Death Comes for the Archbishop.. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1927.
Price: US$9500.00 + shipping
Description: 303 [1] pp. 8vo, publisher's full gilt vellum, t.e.g. First edition, first printing, limited issue. Copy No. 41 o f 50 copies on Japan Vellum signed by Willa Cather (a total of 225 copies were so signed). Crane A16.a.i. There are a few very minor spots to the cream-colored vellum and the boards are slightly bowed; otherwise a fine copy.
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.
CATHER, Willa.. Death Comes for the Archbishop.. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927, 1927.
Price: US$11308.01 + shipping
Description: First edition, first impression, number 39 of 50 copies on japon signed by the author and issued in a deluxe binding, this example in bright condition with the slipcase. This experimental modernist novel was first published serially in Forum between January and June 1927, and over 200 alterations were made for publication in book form. Cather "considered this book her best, as do many critics" (ANB). Set in New Mexico just after the annexation of the territory to the United States this loosely episodic work fictionalizes the lives of French missionaries John Baptist Lamy and Joseph Machebeuf. Inspired by the way the lives of the saints were written in The Golden Legend, in which their martyrdoms are no more emphasized than the trivial events of their lives, the work is "beautifully told in Cather's simple but eloquent style, and is one of the classics of modern American literature", included in the Modern Library's list of 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. There were three issues of the book: 50 copies on japon, 175 copies on rag paper, and 20,000 trade copies. Octavo. Original cream parchment boards, lettering to spine in gilt, decorations to spine and front cover in gilt, publisher's device to rear cover in gilt, top edge gilt, largely unopened. Publisher's green card slipcase with paper label to spine. Striking bookplate of collector Henry Lewis Batterman Jr, designed by Rockwell Kent, on the front pastedown, touch of glue reside at head, light subsequent offsetting to facing leaf. Bookseller's ticket to rear pastedown. Spine lightly sunned, faint foxing to boards, contents clean and fresh; a beautiful copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
CATHER, Willa.. Death Comes for the Archbishop.. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927, 1927.
Price: US$12923.44 + shipping
Description: First edition, first impression, number 45 of 50 copies on japon signed by the author and issued in a deluxe full vellum binding, this example in extraordinarily bright condition with the slipcase. Set in New Mexico just after the annexation of the territory to the United States, this major modernist novel was included in Modern Library's list of 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. There were three issues of the book: 50 copies on japon, 175 copies on rag paper, and 20,000 trade copies. The novel was first published serially in Forum between January and June 1927. Crane records that there were over 200 alterations made for the first publication in book form. Crane A16.a.i. Octavo. Original cream parchment boards, lettering to spine in gilt, decorations to spine and front cover in gilt, publisher's device to rear cover in gilt, top edge gilt, many gatherings unopened. Publisher's green card slipcase with paper label to spine. Housed in a custom brown morocco-backed folding box. Spine very slightly bumped and toned; a near-fine copy. Slipcase a little worn and slightly soiled.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom