This first trade edition precedes by about two months the signed limited edition issued by Ecco Press, and is thus the true first edition.

Albert Erskine made an attempt to have the play published by Random House in October 1986, but the proposal was unsuccessful (AEP). The book was finally issued almost a decade later by The Ecco Press, following the tremendous success of All the Pretty Horses, and in anticipation of the forthcoming publication of The Crossing by Knopf in June. In December 1993, Daniel Halpern was set on printing 10,000 copies, but W.W. Norton, the distributor, had reservations, leading to a reduced print run (WP). According to an inscription by Chip Kidd on a copy of the limited edition that appeared on the market, the dust jacket features an image of Mike Tyson.

RECIPIENT: Joseph “Joe” DeSalvo was an attorney for major oil companies. In 1988, he left that career and purchased a four-story building at 624 Pirate Alley in New Orleans—once the residence of William Faulkner while he wrote his first novel, Soldiers’ Pay, in the 1920s. At the time of purchase, DeSalvo was already an avid book collector with a particular interest in Samuel Johnson, books on Napoleon, and contemporary authors such as Saul Bellow, John Updike, and Philip Roth.

“When I saw Faulkner’s former home, it clicked and I decided it was time to make my hobby my profession,” he later explained. He turned the building’s ground floor into Faulkner House Books, a bookstore devoted to rare books and contemporary literature. The shop quickly became a center of literary life in New Orleans and a favorite stop for visiting writers. DeSalvo became friends with several, including Cormac McCarthy, who spent considerable time in New Orleans and set The Passenger there. Faulkner was among McCarthy’s strongest influences. DeSalvo passed away in 2020.

REVIEW COPIES: Review copies are noted. These include a laid-in photocopied letter requesting reviews, signed in facsimile by Bill Crager, director of publicity and marketing at Ecco. They were sent out around April 16.

LATER PRINTINGS: The book went into a second printing, issued in a second-issue dust jacket.

FORGERIES: First trade editions of The Stonemason, in my experience, frequently bear forged McCarthy signatures. It is especially advisable not to purchase signed copies without ironclad provenance. Inscribed copies are always preferable.

NOTABLE COPIES

DELISLE COPY: Near fine book in near fine dustjacket, inscribed by McCarthy to his second wife Anne DeLisle: “For Annie, With much love, from Cormac.” Sold in 2024 at Bonhams for $4,608.

WOOLMER COPY: Fine book in fine first issue dustjacket. Inscribed by McCarthy in black felt pen on the first half-title page: “For My Friend Howard / with all best wishes / Cormac.”
Held in the Howard Woolmer McCarthy Collection at The University of Texas, San Marcos.

GONZALES COPY: Fine in a fine dustjacket. Inscribed by McCarthy in 2017 to his friend and future biographer Laurence Gonzales. Now in a private American collection.

COLLECTING TOPICS:
Rare Book Hub lists 44 copies sold at auction. Of these, 31 were unsigned, 8 flat signed, and 5 inscribed. Only three of the inscribed copies were addressed to known individuals. As of August 2025, AbeBooks lists 42 copies: 39 unsigned, 1 flat signed, 1 inscribed, and 1 forged.

In summary:

• Unsigned copies, even in fine condition, are common and often available for $50 or less.
• Flat signed copies are uncommon.
• Inscribed copies are scarce, especially association copies.

The price of this edition has risen since McCarthy’s death. It is worth noting that all flat signed copies sold at auction between 2010 and 2019 fetched no more than $293. Bookstore-sourced copies sold for $450–550. The only flat signed copy auctioned after McCarthy’s passing sold instead for $1,125. An inscribed copy listed on AbeBooks in August 2025 was priced at $1,750. A bargain, given that a forged flatsigned copy was offered for $1,500 on Abe in the some month.