Suttree [Inscribed]

New York: Random House, 1979. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. Inscribed by Cormac McCarthy in black ink on the half-title page to Santa Fe bookseller, Nicholas Potter: "For Nicholas | With fond best wishes | from your friend | Cormac."

451 pp. Octavo [21.5 cm]. Publisher's black cloth and cream paper-covered boards stamped in gilt. Black dust jacket with orange, yellow, and olive green typography and ornamentation, designed by Jack Ribik. First edition clearly stated on the copyright page. Dust jacket with "$12.95" price intact at top-front flap and "2/79" code at the bottom of the rear flap.

A Near Fine copy, with only minimal, sporadic surface soil and gentle wear to the edges and corners of the boards, perhaps lightly read. The text block is solid and square. The dust jacket is likewise Near Fine, with only very light surface rubbing and some minor edgewear near the folds. An attractive copy with an intimate association. A significant association copy, warmly inscribed by the notoriously reclusive author to his long-time friend, the late Santa Fe bookseller Nicholas Potter. A short note in Potter's hand is laid in: "Scarce 1st edition inscribed to me in the mid 90's..." Throughout a friendship spanning forty years, Potter's bookstore served as a frequent destination for McCarthy, where the two shared a rapport rooted in their mutual appreciation of literature, art, music, and history. This volume represents a vital fragment of that connection; McCarthy, who famously avoided public life, inscribed most of his published works to Potter.

The first printing of Suttree consisted of a run of just under 6,500 copies, and was the only printing of the first edition of this work. It was another commercial failure for McCarthy at the time, selling less than 3,000 copies before being remaindered by the publisher.

Suttree is McCarthy's most expansive and picaresque work, marking the culmination of his "Southern Gothic" period (preceded by The Orchard Keeper, Outer Dark, and Child of God). Set in the decaying riverside slums of mid-century Knoxville, Tennessee, the narrative follows Cornelius Suttree as he navigates a grotesque carnival of scattered river-dwellers. It is a masterpiece of character and atmosphere that balances dark humor with existentialism through its dense, philosophical prose.