The Gardener’s Son, Advance Reading Copy
The Ecco Press, Hopewell, NJ, 1996
Advance reading copy of the first edition. Softcover, 19.2 x 13.5 cm, 94 numbered pages. Glossy pictorial wrappers reproducing the first trade edition dust jacket design by Michael Ian Kaye, in colors that differ from those of the first trade edition dust jacket: white and olive green, lettered in black and white on the spine and front panel, which reads “Uncorrected Proof”—even though the format appears more like an advance reading copy (as Ken Lopez also identifies it). The back panel notes “September 13, 1996” as the publication date. The copyright page reads: “Printed and bound by The Country Press Inc Middlesborough Ma.” Foreword by Richard Pearce dated “April 29, 1996” (APG 009a).
CONDITION: A fine, immaculate copy.
PROVENANCE: Purchased from Skyline Books in 2009.
Issued between May and August 1996, in a print run of 76 copies.
According to APG, which quotes Ken Lopez, only 42 copies were printed. However, Howard Woolmer—who had direct contact with publisher Dan Halpern—claims in his working papers for a McCarthy bibliography that the correct number is 76. There is reason to speculate that Halpern initially intended to print only 42 copies, roughly the same number as those issued two years earlier for The Stonemason. But Woolmer may have persuaded him to print a couple dozen more, committing to purchase them himself. He had made a similar attempt with The Stonemason, though he apparently was unsuccessful.
In 1975, McCarthy was approached by film director Richard Pearce—who had been hooked by reading Child of God—about collaborating on an original screenplay. McCarthy agreed, and the two worked together not only on the screenplay but also on the production of the film. McCarthy even appeared in the movie as a shareholder in a textile mill, in a non-speaking role.
The Gardener’s Son aired on PBS on January 6, 1977, as an episode of Visions, a weekly television anthology series of original dramas, often with historical settings. Despite receiving positive reception, being nominated for two Emmy Awards, and earning excellent reviews in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Village Voice, the screenplay remained unpublished in book form—despite McCarthy’s persistent efforts to monetize it—until the major success of All the Pretty Horses.
NOTABLE COPIES:
GONZALES COPY. A fine copy, inscribed by McCarthy to his friend and author of a forthcoming biography, the writer Laurence Gonzales.
COLLECTING TOPICS: This advance reading copy is very scarce. Rare Book Hub lists only four copies at auction. As of August 2025, only one copy was offered on AbeBooks. Prices have skyrocketed since McCarthy’s death. I purchased this copy back in 2009 for $200 from a book dealer. A copy was listed on AbeBooks in spring 2023—just before McCarthy passed away—for $400. The copy listed on the same site in August 2025 is priced at $1,400.
The only signed or inscribed copy I am aware of, is that inscribed to Gonzales and mentioned above.
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