The bag is old, spotted, and battered—but it is Cormac McCarthy’s bag. It bears a metal plaque engraved “C. McCarthy” and contains a well-used passport along with several engineering drawings by the author of Blood Meridian. A true literary treasure.

The bag was owned by Liz McDade Rogers, widow of Rick Rogers, who reportedly worked as McCarthy’s personal assistant for over 15 years. Rogers assisted McCarthy with his extensive car collection and—along with Liz’s brother, Leroy McDade, a custom furniture maker—with renovations on McCarthy’s El Paso home prior to his move to Santa Fe. Leroy also helped build bespoke furniture based on McCarthy’s own designs. Liz’s other brother, Jim McDade, also had a close and friendly relationship with the author.

They were the brilliant New York rare book dealer Michael DiRuggiero of Manhattan Rare Book and Sarah Funke Butler, of Funke Literary, who recently sold to the Wittliff Collection McCarthy’s early and later material, along with decades of correspondence, who brought the bag and its backstory to light. Michael and Sarah purchased it directly from Liz Rogers and listed it online in May. It remained available for just a few days before it was reportedly acquired by the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University in San Marcos.

The engineering drawings date back from McCarthy’s university years. But the real collector’s gem is the passport—issued in July 1965 to Cormac McCarthy, the name he had only recently adopted. This passport documents McCarthy’s first travels abroad, including his visit to London, Paris, and Rome, where he met Anne DeLisle (whom he later married). He also spent nearly a year in Ibiza, where he befriended Leslie Garrett and completed his second novel, Outer Dark. The passport includes a Juárez immigration stamp dated 1971.

The McDade-Rogers family also owns some first editions inscribed by McCarthy over the years. All of them are later titles—published after Blood Meridian, though. A copy of No Country for Old Men inscribed to Jim McDade sold to an American collector and dealer for $2,000. A first edition of All the Pretty Horses inscribed to the same recipient is currently offered by Manhattan Rare Books for $3,200. Additional titles are expected to be listed on Manhattan Rare Books website over time.

But the story doesn’t end there. The McDade-Rogers estate also includes typescripts originating from McCarthy. Though I haven’t yet examined them, they could prove to be of considerable interest. Equally striking is a Colt Single Action Army revolver, once owned by McCarthy himself. The gun is believed to have been manufactured in 1902. Michael DiRuggiero explains:

“In All the Pretty Horses (1992), Jimmy Blevins—whose attachment to his gun triggers the chain of events that drives the narrative—has a pistol that strongly resembles this one. Though this Colt predates the Bisley model introduced in 1895, and it’s a .44-40 caliber instead of Blevins’s .32-20, it matches McCarthy’s description in nearly every other way.”

The gift of the Colt to Jim McDade has a touching backstory, as Di Ruggiero recounts:

“McCarthy’s assistant Rick Rogers—McDade’s brother-in-law—confirmed its significance in a letter accompanying the pistol as a gift from McCarthy to McDade:

‘Please accept this Colt pistol from Mac as a personal token of his gratitude, knowing it was one of his most cherished possessions. The pistol is a gift to you in appreciation of your generosity in sending that banjo to Jon [sic]. Mac knew how much you admired it during your last visit to the house in Santa Fe, and he wanted you to have it. He says that the banjo has become Jon’s [sic] favorite thing to play with, and I have included a personal note from him for you as well…’.

In 2002, Jim McDade visited his sister and brother-in-law in Santa Fe. He and his wife Tracy enjoyed an evening of music and conversation with the family—and with McCarthy. McCarthy’s young son John was so taken by Jim’s banjo playing that Jim later sent a banjo to him as a gift. (John McCarthy is now a professional musician.) In gratitude, McCarthy wrote McDade a brief but heartfelt note:

“Jim—thank you so much for John’s banjo. It is just his favorite thing ever. Really, very very nice of you. Come see us. —C.”

Naturally, the note accompanies the gun as part of its provenance.