Suttree, first English paperback edition.
London: Picador, 1989.
First English paperback edition, first printing, with full number line “987654321” on the copyright page. Softcover, 20.1 × 13 cm. [x], 471, [2] pp. advertisements, [1] order form for Pan books bound at rear. Publisher’s glossy white wrappers lettered in black and grayish blue, with an illustration by George Sharp on the front cover. The back cover carries a summary, four review blurbs (Stanley Booth, The Washington Post, New York Times Book Review, Times Literary Supplement), and pricing information: “U.K. £5.99 / Not for sale in Canada / Australia $14.99 / NZ $18.95 rrp / incl GST.”
Condition: Near fine.
Published 10 March 1989 at £5.99, in a probable print run of 2,000 copies.
A Picador press brochure issued to promote the first English edition of All the Pretty Horses records that this first English paperback edition of Suttree was published simultaneously with the first English edition of Blood Meridian (hardback) and the first English paperback edition of Child of God. Picador archive records confirm Child of God was issued in March 1989 and Blood Meridian on 10 March 1989. While the archive does not state the print number for Suttree, the figure of 2,000 for Child of God strongly suggests a comparable first printing for Suttree.
Collecting note: First English paperback editions of Suttree, Child of God, and Blood Meridian have become increasingly scarce and are now sought-after by collectors.
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