Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Hillerman, Tony. The Blessing Way (Signed Copy). Harper & Row, 1970.
Price: US$125.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Signed copy of the original edition of Tony Hillerman's first mystery. This copy states First Edition on the title page, but has a number line on the verso of the last text page ends with a 5, indicating Fifth Printing. Signed by Tony Hillerman on a bookplate on the front pastedown page. 201 pages. The dust jacket is price clipped and has some creasing and surface paper loss on the front cover. The jacket also has a tear at the top of the spine and surface paper loss near the bottom of the spine. The book has a 1/2" scratch/gouge at the top of the spine.
Seller: M.S. Books, Salisbury, MD, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony. The Blessing Way. Harper & Row, Publishers, New York, 1970.
Price: US$125.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: SIGNED. 201pp. Octavo [21 cm] 1/2 magenta cloth with black paper covered boards. The covers are cocked, the boards are faded at the fore-edges, and there is a previous owner's name on the verso of the front free endpaper. In a price-clipped dust jacket, with fading and losses to the spine. The Blessing Way is the first of the series involving Joe Leaphorn. Signed by Tony Hillerman on the half title page.
Seller: Ken Sanders Rare Books, ABAA, Salt Lake City, UT, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony. The Blessing Way. Harper & Row, Publishers, New York, 1970.
Price: US$200.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: SIGNED. 201pp. Octavo [21 cm]; 1/2 magenta cloth with purple paper covered boards. The covers are just a little cocked, there are a couple of tape stains to the verso of the front free endpaper, and this page and the half title page have darkened areas from paper that was once laid in. In a worn dust jacket, with edge tears backed with tape. The Blessing Way is the first of the series involving Joe Leaphorn. Inscribed by Hillerman on the half title page (recipient not specified): "With best regards / Tony Hillerman /(I hope you enjoyed it.)"
Seller: Ken Sanders Rare Books, ABAA, Salt Lake City, UT, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony. The Blessing Way. Harper & Row, Publishers, New York, 1970.
Price: US$349.50 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: The author's first novel. A square solid tight carefully read carefully used copy. This copy has some light tanning, light soil to the edge of the text block. This copy has been rebound in brown quarter leather by a previous owner and should be a welcome addition to someone's Hillerman collection. This copy has been signed by Tony. THIS COPY IS IN MY POSSESSION AND WILL NORMALLY SHIP NEXT DAY.
Seller: Pat Cramer, Bookseller, Lewisville, TX, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony. The Blessing Way (SIGNED). Harper & Row, New York, 1970.
Price: US$360.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: 1st Edition/2nd Printing (states First Printing on cpyright page with number line on last page beginning with '2'). SIGNED and inscribed by author on title page: "For Sandy & Daniel: A Navajo thought: May you always go with beauty all around you. Tony Hillerman". Ex-Lib copy with two book stampings (top page block and title page). Waterstaining to last few pages and rear end page. Pastedowns scraped from glue residue from DJ flaps. Slight spine slant. Small scrape on rear board. DJ has spine sunning and library label. $4.95 price on DJ flap with "0370" date stamp on bottom flap. Includes laid-in a promotional Hillerman bookmark. Includes laid-in the original New York Times obituary for Hillerman. Scarce signed first book by Hillerman.
Seller: Daniel Montemarano, Newfield, NJ, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony. The Blessing Way. Harper & Row, Publishers, New York, 1970.
Price: US$400.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: SIGNED. 201 pp. Octavo [21 cm]; 1/2 magenta cloth with purple paper covered boards. The backstrip is sunned, and the spine title is a bit rubbed. A handful of the pages are trimmed short. In the dust jacket, with an abraded area to the surface of the backstrip which obscures the majority of the author's name. The jacket's edges are lightly rubbed and creased. The Blessing Way is the first of the series involving Joe Leaphorn. Signed by Hillerman on the title page.
Seller: Ken Sanders Rare Books, ABAA, Salt Lake City, UT, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony. THE BLESSING WAY. Harper & Row, Publishers (1970), New York, 1970.
Price: US$475.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 201 pages. Signed by author on title page. Dust jacket rubbed and worn at the head and foot of the spine and at the corner folds. Spine is slightly shifted. Very good in dust jacket. (125) First Joe Leaphorn Mystery.
Seller: Colorado Pioneer Books, Centennial, CO, U.S.A.
Tony Hillerman. The Blessing Way (First Edition). Harper and Row, 1970.
Price: US$495.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Signed. SIGNED by Tony Hillerman on the title page. Flat signature. 4th printing. Excessive wear and tear to the jacket and is in mylar plastic. Original price 4.95 is still intact. Pages are tanning. Foxing has occurred on the edges of the pages.
Seller: Books From California, Simi Valley, CA, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony. The Blessing Way. Harper & Row, NY, 1970.
Price: US$700.00 + shipping
Description: Signed by Hillerman on the half title page Very good with gently bumped edges and slightly yellowed pages Very good with lightly bumped edges, light chipping in the spine ends, a short tear at the foot of the rear panel, and a thin crease along the bottom of the front panel. Price clipped
Seller: Weller Book Works, A.B.A.A., Salt Lake City, UT, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony. The Blessing Way.. Harper, 1970.
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: A NEAR FINE FIRST IN VERY GOOD DJ. SIGNED BY AUTHOR
Seller: Vagabond Books, A.B.A.A., PASADENA, CA, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony. The Blessing Way (Signed on Title Page). Harper, New York, 1970.
Price: US$800.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: SIGNED, SECOND PRINTING, New York, Scribner, March 2023. "First Edition" stated on the copyright page with the number line ending in "2" on the next to last page. Signed in the year of publication by the Author with the inscription "To Jim with regards Tony Hillerman (Christmas, 1970)". His signature is his early one with a straight line across the T of Tony. A Near Fine Book in a Near Fine Dust Jacket which shows some edge wear, especially at the ends of the spine, color is bright except for some sunning of the spine, not price-clipped ($4.95), in a Brodart protective cover. Text Clean, no marks. Boards show no flaws, no bumps, very lightly faded. Binding is square and firm. A very nice copy of Hillerman's first novel introducing Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Nation Police. Books are Carefully Packed and Shipped Daily with Delivery Confirmation from a Dry, Smoke-Free shop
Seller: McInBooks, IOBA, Farmington, NM, U.S.A.
HILLERMAN, Tony. The Blessing Way (w/signed bookplate). Harper & Row, New York, NY, U.S.A., 1970.
Price: US$950.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: The true first edition (stated on copyright page with the number line on the second to last page ending in the number "1") of the author's first book and the first Joe Leaphorn. Dampstaining to back of bottom of dustwrapper (not evident from front). Dustwrapper shows one 1/3" closed tear to top of front panel and scuffing to top of spine. Overall, the book and purple dustwrapper show as "tight and clean" (especially in the mylar protector). Might be a printer's copy, because it has technical information on type-setting written on the ffep. in pencil. A very respectable copy at a "respectable" price. Laid in is a bookplate inscribed to me by the late Mr. Hillerman.
Seller: Michael J. Toth, Bookseller, ABAA, Springtown, PA, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony. The Blessing Way. Harper & Row, New York, 1970.
Price: US$1750.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing with "First Edition" printed on the copyright page and the number line beginning with 1 printed on the last page of the book. This copy is SIGNED by Tony Hillerman. A spectacular copy. This ORIGINAL dustjacket is vibrant in color without the ubiquitous fading to the spine with slight wear to the edges. The book is in excellent condition and appears UNREAD. The binding is tight with NO cocking or leaning. The pages are exceptionally clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. Overall, a beautiful copy of this TRUE FIRST EDITION in collector's condition.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony. The Blessing Way. Harper & Row, New York, 1970.
Price: US$2250.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing SIGNED by Tony Hillerman. This is the TRUE FIRST EDITION with the number line beginning with 1 and the words "First Edition" printed on the copyright page. This First Issue dustjacket has the $4.95 printed price present on the front flap with minor wear to the spine. The book is in nice condition. The binding is tight with light wear to the boards. The pages are clean with NO marks or bookplates in the book. A sharp copy of this First Edition SIGNED by the author.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony. The Blessing Way. Harper & Row, 1970.
Price: US$2500.00 + shipping
Description: Signed by the author on the title page and with two very handsome original drawings by Navaho artist Ernest Franklin, one covering the entire half-title and a portrait of Joe Leaphorn on the title-page. Slight wear, still fine in very good dust jacket with a lightly sunned spine, shallow chipping to spine tips, minor rubbing and a one-half by three-quarter inch chip to rear panel, in mylar cover. Housed in custom modern slipcase
Seller: THE HERMITAGE BOOKSHOP, Denver, CO, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony; Ernest Franklin [Original Art]. The Blessing Way. Harper & Row, New York, 1970.
Price: US$4000.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First edition stated, first printing. Signed by Tony Hillerman on the title page, and with an original ink and colored pencil drawing by Native American artist Ernest Franklin, also signed. Bound in publisher's original purple leatherette boards over blue cloth spine lettered in red. Near Fine with a thin strip of black staining and associated sunning along top and bottom edges of book and jacket. In a Near Fine unclipped dust jacket with sunning to spine, general shelf wear. Housed in publisher's blue cloth slipcase with silver stamping. Only a handful of copies of this title were illustrated by Franklin in this manner.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony.. The Blessing Way.. NY, Harper & Row, 1970, 1970.
Price: US$4200.00 + shipping
Description: NY, Harper & Row, 1970, first edition, first printing, dust jacket. Hardcover. Author's First Book which launched a great career as a mystery/detective writer who not only created both Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee as his main Native American detectives, but also used his fiction to teach readers about Native American culture, this copy is not only Signed by Hillerman, but it also carries original art Signed by Native American (Navajo) artist Ernest Franklin who depicts a shape-shifter or Navajo wolf, similar to a werewolf in Western culture, the gun and skull which are also depicted represent a sophisticated criminal enterprise undertaken on the Navajo reservation, Hieb bibliography A1a, with slipcase, only a handful of this title were so illustrated by Franklin, very scarce. Bookseller's tiny sticker on front free endpaper, fine in a very good jacket.
Seller: James M. Dourgarian, Bookman ABAA, Concord, CA, U.S.A.
Hillerman, Tony.. The Blessing Way.. NY, Harper & Row, 1970, 1970.
Price: US$13125.00 + shipping
Description: NY, Harper & Row, 1970, first edition, first printing. This is the ultimate copy of Author's First Book, it is an Inscribed Presentation/Association Copy of the highest order, inscribed by Hillerman to Navajo artist Ernest Franklin who went on to create a cottage industry wherein he illustrated many of Hillerman's titles in an after-market situation where individuals brought him copies of Hillerman's books for Franklin to illustrate, the vast majority of such books include just one illustration by Franklin, this one has 30 (!) illustrations by Franklin in addition to Hillerman's doubly signed inscription ("with my thanks to/Ernie Franklin/for showing me/what Leaphorn/looks like/TH"), the inscription is on the title page, Hillerman has additionally signed his full name under his printed signature on the title page, Joe Leaphorn is the Navajo tribal policeman created by Hillerman with this book (and who appears in many of his subsequent books) who solves the mysteries that Hillerman created, there is one small black ink drawing, 18 quarter-page black ink drawings, one full-page black illustration, and 10 full-page color illustrations, the book has been re-bound in full black leather with four raised bands on the spine, with gilt rules and decorations on front and back covers, spine with gilt rules, decorations, a title/author panel in gilt, and date of publication panel also in gilt, now housed in a custom clamshell case. Fine.
Seller: James M. Dourgarian, Bookman ABAA, Concord, CA, U.S.A.