The Passenger & Stella Maris, first mixed edition, unsigned state, in slipcase.
Knopf, New York, 2022
The Passenger, is a first trade edition, first printing with “First Edition” and no mention of further printings on the copyright page. Hardcover, 24 x 16.5 cm, 383 numbered pages, with numbers appearing only on odd-numbered pages. Publisher’s blue cloth lettered in gold on spine. The two-tone first issue dustjacket designed by Chip Kidd features artwork by James Thew/Alamy on the front cover and by Victory/Alamy on the left side of front cover, spine and back cover. It is lettered in white. The back panel features five praise for Cormac McCarthy by Ralph Ellison, The New York Review of Books, USA Today, Time, and The New York Times Review of Books. The front flap shows a price of “U.S.A. $30.00 Canada $41.00”, the back flap the code “10/2022” and a photo of McCarthy by Beowulf Sheehan.The copyright page states “Manufactured in Canada”.
Stella Maris is a first limited edition in the unsigned state. Hardcover, 24 x 16.5 cm, 189 numbered pages with numbers appearing only on odd-numbered pages. Publisher’s brick red lettered in gold on spine. In uniform blue-tone dustjackets designed by Chip Kidd with the code “12/2022” on the back flap.
The two books are boxed in the heavy cardboard slipcase of the slipcased limited issue, featuring the code “12/2022”. It is wrapped in shrinkwrap who has a sticker glued on stating the price ”US $56.00 /CAN $77.00” and the ISBN “9780593537299”.
The Passenger is inscribed on the first free endpaper: “For Brantley / & Janay / Love / Cormac”. Stella Maris is inscribed on the first free endpaper: “For Brantley & Janay / Cormac McCarthy”.
CONDITION: near fine books in a near fine slipcase.
PROVENANCE: purchased at Case Auction of Knoxville on July 7, 2024.
The first trade edition of The Passenger was published on October 25, 2022, at $30, with an announced first print run of 300,000 copies. The slipcased limited edition was issued on December 6, 2022, in 50,000 sets.
This appears to be a mixed slipcased edition in which a first trade edition of The Passenger was married with a limited edition of Stella Maris in its unsigned state and with the limited edition slipcase. We don’t know when it happened, although it appears unlike that this was a mistake in the production process.
RECIPIENT: the books are inscribed to John and Lanelle Holley’s daughter Janay and her husband Brantley. The Holleys were McCarthy’s longtime friends.
COLLECTING TOPICS: Signed or inscribed copies of the first editions are among the rarest in the McCarthy canon, as he passed away just seven months after the books publication. Unsigned limited copies inscribed by McCarthy much so, the Stellas Maris copy included in this set being the only one which surfaced the market. In fact, the set sold at auction in 2024 for the record price of $17,080.
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2 Responses
Hi Umberto
Can’t see the dust jacket for Stella, but the jacket shown for The Passenger is incorrect for the slipcased edition? (should be predominantly blue?)
Perhaps the slip case was added after the fact?
Keep up the good work!
Hi Al,
sorry for the late reply. You are perfectly right and I can’t realize how I did so a huge mistake. In fact, while the Stella Maris dustjacket is in blue-tone and comes from an unsigned boxed issue, The Passenger has a two-tone dustjacket and is a trade first edition copy. Who married the two copies and the box? The recipients? The book dealer who sold them the books? I’ll try to find out. However, it is clear that my description is wrong. I’ll correct that in a few days.
Thank you for your help.