Signed Cormac McCarthy 1st Editions
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GUEST:
This is a collection of McCarthy's Western works, and they're in chronological order. And it includes the Border Trilogy here in the middle. McCarthy was a friend of mine back in Knoxville, Tennessee, years ago. And he moved out west in the late '70s, and I moved out west, coincidentally, in the early '80s, and actually, we ran into each other in a restaurant here in El Paso. I knew he was out west, but I didn't know exactly where he was at the time, so I was surprised to see him and we kind of renewed our friendship.
APPRAISER:
Now, he is notorious for not signing books. But every one of these books is signed to you. And this one, you see, is "El Paso," which is a nice signature. Does he do it very willingly?
GUEST:
He does. Cormac is very loyal to his friends. He doesn't mind doing that.
APPRAISER:
Every one of these is a first edition, which is great. They're all signed similar to the one we've shown. Blood Meridian is a very early book. As you get on in an author's career, they become more popular, they publish larger first editions.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
People also take more notice as they come out, so they're saving them, they're preserving them, so they become less and less valuable as they go on. The dust jackets on these books are very, very important to the condition. So what I would recommend doing is maybe getting a glassine plastic cover and wrapping each one of these dust jackets. The Blood Meridian is the most valuable. You're probably talking in the range of $7,500 for just that one. The trilogy, the next three books, they're all signed, they're all first editions-- again, the jackets are great-- probably $2,500 range. The third book, No Country for Old Men, that's more recent, more common. You still got $1,000 there.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And I was being very conservative, sort of on a retail. Now, on an insurance level, you have a collection here, I'd even say $10,000 to $15,000.
GUEST:
Wow, okay.
APPRAISER:
And of course the movies also add to his popularity, and thus have pushed the prices of the books up, too.
GUEST:
Well, you can bet they'll be passed on to my children and they'll never be sold. Very fortunate to have known him. He's a good man.
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