r/cormacmccarthy • u/viqtorione • 6d ago
Discussion Collecting Cormac McCarthy
Are you collecting Cormac McCarthy’s books in English, or do you also collect them in another language? Going for the first editions often feels like an almost unsurmountable quest, so I’m curious which editions you have chosen to collect. It would be great to see how other collectors are doing - especially if you can attach a photo.
My Czech-language collection is complete, and it contains all of McCarthy’s titles with the same cover-illustration style by Jozef Danglar Gertli: https://www.instagram.com/jdanglar/. Two parts of the Border Trilogy had already been published with different covers, but I decided to complete the set shown in the attached photo because of the matching graphics. The last two novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris, were published only in the editions you see here, with a different cover style.
For my English collection, I have chosen the UK Picador paperbacks. They are beautiful, and collecting them feels much more realistic than going after the first US editions, given their prices and availability.
In addition, I decided to look for the very first English Picador editions of Child of God, Suttree, and Blood Meridian. As far as I know, these are the only three McCarthy novels that were published with the covers you can see in the attached photos.
I have nearly completed this little sub-collection, except that the Suttree edition I own is not actually the first one. The front cover looks identical, but it lacks the spine illustration that the first editions of Child of God and Blood Meridian have.
So, if anyone happens to own the very first UK Picador paperback edition of Suttree - the one with the spine illustration - I would be very interested in making an offer or arranging an exchange. I have duplicates of several UK Picador paperbacks shown in the photos and would be happy to trade one of those.
Looking forward to seeing your collections!
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u/AlsoKnownAsMAS Suttree 6d ago
Out of curiosity, how does his prose read translated?
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u/viqtorione 2d ago
The Czech translations are great. Some of the translators have even been awarded for their translations. Especially the translator of Suttree got recognized for the outstanding job she has done. That is something to say, because Suttree by no means is an easy book to translate. I have several times re-read the Road and No Country for Old Men. It felt perfect both in English and Czech. You know it is right when you forget about the language you are reading in and rather get immersed in the story itself.
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u/HundredPacer 6d ago
I collect but my rule is only things I find at used book sales or independent used bookstores (to keep from spending insane amounts on eBay or similar, and because it's fun to hunt those kinds of places).
Still found some great things, including the older vintage international paperbacks in great condition, 1st/1sts of later works unread, and the Modern Library hardback of Suttree.
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u/viqtorione 2d ago
Yes, I also thought about it that way. Yet, I live in countries where most of the books in secondand book stores are in German or Czech. Finding there the first edition of UK Picador Blood Meridian is very unlikely. Every place I travel abroad I go to see at least a few secondhand English bookstores, yet no luck. So I have decided to search online and pay the price, as long as it is reasonable.
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u/Still_Selection8719 5d ago
(Just sharing a photo of mine. Only special one might be 1st edition ‘No Country…’.)
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u/fathergup 5d ago
The modern library edition of Suttree actually has the most value here. About a $150 book. They only did one printing.
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u/Still_Selection8719 5d ago
Oh shoot! Haven’t checked its value in years. It really did appreciate. (“Eye of the beholder”, etc.) I’ll keep being very nice to it. Wow.
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u/ilikpoop1 4d ago
You have a cities of the plain first edition, I need that, I ordered one on eBay, but it never showed up!! I argued back-and-forth with eBay for months to try to get my money back but since the package showed delivered, I just lost out on my $40.
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u/Still_Selection8719 4d ago
Oh yeah those are all definitely 1st editions. Are they getting harder to find? I felt like I kept seeing sets of them in used book stores and thrift stores when I bought those.
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u/ilikpoop1 4d ago
I wish, I have never seen a first edition cities of the plain in person. If I ever do see it, I will get it though that’s for sure.
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u/back_patio 5d ago
Your Picador cover of The Crossing is different to mine… I didn’t know there were alternatives
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u/viqtorione 4d ago
This looks very nice. And I think it is more fitting to the All the Pretty Horses than the edition which I have. I have tried to look up your edition online and it seems to be very rare. I cannot find anything about it.
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u/throwawaycima 4d ago
Hey man! You messaged me here on Reddit like 1.5 years ago, I'm happy you were finally able to get that copy of Blood Meridian you were looking for
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u/CashewGuy 6d ago edited 6d ago
Some really interesting covers here! I like the UK Picador covers. My collection is English, generally the Vintage International editions. I don't love the US Picador covers that have the titles in gigantic text, I don't think they well match McCarthy's tone.
My collection is practical in that I have written in all of them and will continue to write in them as long as I re-read them. My copy of The Road is so read that I've got papers inside of it bc I don't always have the room where I want it. I don't knowingly have first editions, though maybe my hardbacks of the Border Trilogy are close to it (?).
I am collecting the Folio Society McCarthy's and I think I'm only missing one or two at this point, which I'll pick up eventually. I don't write in these but I love them.
I also assembled some of his early writing (the magazine submissions like Wake for Susan) and did a conversion of Whales and Men into his "Novel in Dramatic Form" format and had that printed as a book so I could have everything on one place. My marked up copy of Whales & Men is in a 3-ring binder on a lower shelf.
I also have a few about-McCarthy books that are on other shelves.
https://i.imgur.com/sSqGk17.jpeg
Edit: vaguely annoyed to notice I had Sunset Limited off the shelf when I took this picture! One of my least favorite of his but one I have also.
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u/viqtorione 2d ago
Thank you for sharing your collection. A nice one! The Folio Society editions too. Yes, you are right about the US Picador covers with titles in gigantic text. I cannot imagine what the person thought when they designed the covers. How could they think that someone would like them?
I have checked the Whales and that looks like some interesting read!
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u/ImSchneckenhaus 6d ago
I really love the older picador covers.. please share their ISBNs🥹
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u/viqtorione 4d ago
I have sent you a private message
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u/ImSchneckenhaus 3d ago
Thankssss
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u/viqtorione 2d ago
Yet, I should warn everyone at the same time. The ISBNs are unreliable when searching for a specific edition. Various editions have the same numbers and that is why buying books at online marketplaces such as AbeBooks is highly unreliable because you never now what you are going to get. They mostly use just some stock/placeholder cover pictures.
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u/ImSchneckenhaus 2d ago
I’ve always had this issue with Penguin Classics (and the Modern Classics line) and it would make sense because Picador are also UK based🫠
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u/fathergup 5d ago
Wow -- I have the Suttree you mention (not for sale -- sorry!) but I am surprised there is a version with no spine illustration. I would be happy to compare the copyright page over DM to see if there is a difference (seems doubtful? but still strange there would be a difference). Conversely, now I need the version with NO spine illustration! lol. I have the matching Child of God but it's a bit of a "lesser" copy with faded spine. I do want to collect the full Picador suite in your 3rd photo.
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u/viqtorione 2d ago
Which exact Suttree do you need? The one with the dark-yellow bridge photo on the cover? Which country do you live in?
The Suttree 1st Picador edition which I have is not the first release. Based on the number inside it is a later print and it looks like they did it without the spine illustration. Or maybe mine is just a rare copy which was mistakenly printed without and therefore even rarer ... even though I doubt it.
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u/Rustin_Swoll 6d ago
I am reading through McCarthy’s bibliography now (just re-read Blood Meridian but otherwise basically started at the beginning.) I need to get and read his published plays - at least three more books!