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The Random House editorial fact sheet dated October 28, 1978 mentions a scheduled first print run of 6,000 copies (RH, 1611). The note sent by Sharon Lane of Random House to Howard Woolmer on July 25, 1983, confirms substantially the same number setting the first print run at 6,413 copy (Woolmer, 1,5). 

The book didn’t sell well, and many copies were remaindered. As early as Fall, 1979, Random House sold other 1,000 copies to Chatto & Windus to be published as first English edition. By 1983 the book had sold only 2705 copies (Woolmer 1,5). 

REVIEW COPIES: these included review slip, publisher’s sheet, and an author’s photo. About 200 were released. First edition copies were available at the publisher from December 15, 1978. On the same day, a review copy was sent to Burt Britton at Books and Co. along with a note by Cheryl Merser, publicity manager at Random House. It is worth to note that a review copy, inscribed by McCarthy on the title page, ”For Burt/Cormac McCarthy”, was sold at Freemans in 2022. 

On December, 29, a significant batch of reviews copies was sent out: 122 to newspapers, 38 to magazines, 22 to columnists and 9 to colleges. The copies sent to newspapers included the publisher’s release sheet and the author’s photo; those sent to magazines and columnists came with the publisher’s release only (RH, 1611). A review copy with review slip laid in, reading “February, 1979” as the date of publication, is part of the Woolmer collection. 

COMPLIMENTARY COPIES: we know for sure of only two copies with complimentary card laid in sent out. They were shipped to John Sergenthaler, Nashville Tennessean editor and, on January 23, 1979, to the poet Jonathan Williams. Other advance copies were sent at McCarthy’s request on December 27, 1978. Recipients included Joseph McEllroy, Guy Davenport, Leslie Garrett, Hy Cohen, Howard J. Woolmer, McCarthy’s father and sister Barbara, Reverend James Anderson of Tucson, AZ, and Sharon Ausderau, who lived at 1510 N. Brown El Paso. Moreover, advance copies were sent “at the suggestion of Albert Erskine” along with a brief letter by Cheryl Merser between January, 5 and January 11, 1979, to Ralph Ellison, Richard Yates, Shelby Foote, Mary Lee Settle, John Hersey, Malcolm Cowley, Eudora Welty, Walker Percy, Matthew Bruccoli, Jill Faulkner Summer, Joseph Blotner, Michael Mewshaw, Peter Matthiessen, James Dickey and John Hawkes. It is unclear wether these copies included complimentary cards. However, complimentary copies of Suttree are definitely scarce and significantly  scarcer than review copies. I have come across only one, housed in the Woolmer collection, with the slip reading “Jan 12, 1979”, noted among the notable copies below.  

REMAINDERED COPIES: copies with publisher’s remainder stamp were noted. The red Random House stamp is on the top or the bottom textblock edge.

RECIPIENT: Dan Frueh was a Cormac McCarthy’s fan. In a note to me he explained the circumstances under which this copy of Suttree was inscribed. He was used to frequent Books & Co., the bookstore run by Burt Britton, a great McCarthy’s supporter. One day, in spring 1979, Dan was in the store, when Britton showed him a man who was bruising the shelves and surprisingly told: “Dan, let me introduce Cormac McCarthy”. McCarthy kindly inscribed to Dan a copy of Suttree which had just been published. Dan, then, searched the store for any other books by McCarthy to have them inscribed but the only one he found was a second printing of The Orchard Keeper. That copy, inscribed to Dan, sold years later in the web for, if I remember well, $1,750. 

NOTABLE COPIES:  

• JIM LONG COPY: warmly inscribed by McCarthy to his longtime friend on the half title page: “For Jim Long / without whose friendship / this book would not exist. / All best to you, old friend, / from 1940 till the bell rings. / Much love / Cormac”. Hold at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Purchased in November, 2023 from Jim Long’s widow Elaine. The best inscription I have ever seen for this title. Absolutely gorgeous.

• KIDWELL COPY: a very good copy inscribed to Bill and Ann Kidwell: “For Bill and Ann / with love / Cormac” on the title page. Sold as part of the Kidwell collection at Heritage on April 10, 2013 for $4,687. Later listed in 2022 by Amir Naghib of Captain Ahab’s Rare Books at $17,500, it was sold to an American collector a few months later. 

• SHEDDAN COPY: a well read and damp stained copy, apparently signed by Sheddan on the first free endpaper. Notable for Sheddan’s handwritten notations throughout, identifying many of the novel’s characters. Housed in the Woolmer Collection.                                                                                                      

• WOOLMER COPY: a complimentary copy with publisher’s slip laid in, reading “WITH THE COMPLIMENTS OF THE AUTHOR” and “Jan 12 1979” printed below. A beautiful fine copy with minor edge wear and exceptionally white page in a fine dust jacket with especially bright and unfaded colors. Inscribed in blue ballpoint pen on the title page in McCarthy’s early hand: “For Howard Woolmer / with all the best wishes / Cormac McCarthy / Jan. 12, 1979”. Actually, the Woolmer correspondence with McCarthy shows that the book was inscribed later but pre-dated to January 12, at Woolmer’s request. 

• BORSTEN COPY: a very good copy, (although described as fine) inscribed to screenwriter and McCarthy’s friend Orin Borsten: “For Orin / All the best / Cormac”. Listed in 2024 by Raptis Rare Books for $18,500.

• HOLLEYS COPY: a well-loved copy, only in good condition, inscribed to McCarthy’s close friends John and Lanelle Holley: “For John & Lanelle / With lots of love / Cormac”. Sold at Case Antiques on January 27, 2024, for $7,620 Later listed in 2024 by Amir Naghib of Captain Ahab’s Rare Books for $ 20,000.

• REYNOLDS COPY: inscribed to guitarist, song writer, and McCarthy’s friend Billy Ray Reynolds and his first wife Pam: “For Billy Ray & Pam / with love / Cormac”. Sold at Heritage on April 10, 2013 for $2,500. Resold by BookBid in 2024 for $6,800. Later listed by Books 4 Ewe at $17,000.

• MURRAY COPY: a near fine copy, inscribed to Irish doctor and McCarthy collector Philip Murray: “For Philip Murray / All the best / Cormac McCarthy”. Auctioned by Fonsey Mealy on December 10, 2019 along with the Murray collection of Cormac McCarthy for €3,120 (FM, 719). 

• GONZALES COPY: a near fine copy inscribed in a later hand to McCarthy’s friend and author of a forthcoming biography of him, Laurence Gonzales. The entire Gonzales collection was sold in 2024 to a single American collector.

• DELISLE COPY: a near fine, bright copy signed (not inscribed) on the half title page. From the estate of dancer and McCarthy’s second wife Anne DeLisle. Sold at Bonhams on April 10, 2024 for $8,320.                                                                                                                                                                                                    
• FOOTE COPY: an unsigned copy but with historian and McCarthy supporter Shelby Foote’s marginalia, and his printed rebuke of a harsh review given to the book from the Memphis Press-Scimitar tipped-in to the rear pastedown by Foote himself. Sold by Bauman Rare Books, in 2010, for $3,600.