
The Road, early uncorrected proof, first issue, state A
Knopf, New York, 2006
Early uncorrected proof of the first edition, first issue, state A. Softcover, 28 x 21.8 cm, 231 numbered pages, consisting of photocopied, computer generated typescript bound in the publisher’s white cardboard covers lettered in black, with a black tape spine. The front cover lists “9/26/2006” as the date of publication and “S23.00/$30.00 CAN” as the price. There is an information sheet bound immediately behind the front cover, mentioning Dan Frank as the in-house editor, publishing data on earlier works by McCarthy and marketing tools. Corrections and notes (photocopied) appear in the text. Housed in a black cloth box lettered in gilt on the spine.
CONDITION: near fine.
PROVENANCE: purchased from Manhattan Rare Books in 2021.
Issued in February 2006, in an unknown number of copies.
This is the earliest proof of The Road, preceding the publication of the first trade edition by approximately seven months. McCarthy had just finished writing the final version of The Road before December 13, 2005 (as reported in a letter he sent to his friend Bill Kidwell sent on that date). The proof’s issue date is inferred from the fax string on page 51, which shows “02-02-2006” as the date a typescript—of which this is a bound photocopy—was faxed by ICM to someone at Knopf. ICM was, at the time, the literary agency representing McCarthy. Another source supporting this date is the information page, which lists “2/23/06” as the date it was printed. The proof was intended for distribution to Knopf’s representatives.
Copies with a publisher’s letter addressed to Knopf’s representatives have been noted.

The exact number of copies printed and distributed remains unknown, as I couldn’t access the Knopf’s archive. However, it is likely that only a limited number were produced, as the letter accompanying some copies instructs representatives to keep the “manuscript to yourself for now and do not share it with your customers or friends.”
The pages in various copies are inconsistently centered, providing evidence that the proof sheets were photocopied at different times.
STATES: the proof exists in two states. State A includes the correct information sheet. State B, however, features an information sheet intended to promote a different book, From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map by Edward Said, which was mistakenly bound in.
The priority of these states remains unclear. The most straightforward theory suggests that State B was produced first, with the incorrect page, and that a later batch corrected the mistake. However, this theory contradicts the printing dates of the two information sheets: the correct sheet was printed on February 23, while the incorrect one is dated “3/10/2006.” This indicates that State B, with the wrong page, was bound and distributed in March, after the 10th. Therefore, it is likely that State A, with the correct information page, was bound and distributed shortly after February 23, while State B resulted from a second batch, mistakenly including the Said sheet. A conclusive answer may lie in Knopf’s archive.


UNBOUND COPY: In 2020, Amir Naghib of Captain Ahab’s Rare Books offered an unbound, photocopied set of the sheets that had been faxed by ICM to Knopf and later included in the proof. The set, originating from Knopf editor Gary Fisketjon, was identical to the proof except for the absence of the information page and that it is printed on the recto only and so it bulks much thicker. There are reasons to think that the bound proof is a two-sided (front and back) photocopy of the single-sided unbound sheets. However, the unbound sheets could also be a photocopy made for Fisketjon (who wasn’t the editor of The Road) at any time. Therefore, the priority of the unbound sheets is possible, but not certain.

A NEW EDITOR: Gary Fisketjon had been McCarthy’s editor at Knopf since All the Pretty Horses. However, when work on The Road began, McCarthy requested a new editor. The role was given to Dan Frank, then editorial director at Pantheon Books (which, like Knopf, was part of Random House). In an email to me dated March 13, 2024, Fisketjon recalled the change:
“Having reprinted Suttree and been in charge of every book through No Country, I was shocked to learn that Cormac wanted to have a new editor for The Road. Many of my colleagues were also shocked. At the time I imagined that he was somewhat chagrined that I’d turned up a number of unusual errors in No Country; I kept my larger reservations about the novel to myself, since every writer is free to write what he/she wants to. Still, this seemed a lesser work by far than the Trilogy. And Cormac might also have sensed that my enthusiasm for Cities of the Plain was less absolute than it was for The Crossing, which in my view (then and now) is the best novel he ever wrote; I never suggested any of this, of course, because that violates my principles. Besides, I’d accomplished what I set out to do: to establish Cormac McCarthy as one of the greatest American writers going a long way back, certainly before my time. I was delighted to see Dan Frank step in, because I liked and respected him enormously. And also because his new author by now had unlimited prospects of success both critically and commercially – as The Road demonstrated overwhelmingly”.
COLLECTING TOPICS: copies of this proof are scarce. I am aware of only seven copies, including mine, that have appeared on the market.
- A state B copy was purchased online by a collector in Vancouver, WA, shortly before the publication of the first trade edition. He paid just $100 and still owns it.
- Two copies surfaced in 2011: one, with cover spotting and corrections in an unknown hand, sold for $606. Another, heavily creased, soiled, and with underlining in pen, sold for $350.
- A fourth copy (state B), in near-fine condition with the publisher’s letter, was offered by Between the Covers in 2012 for $2,500. It was eventually sold to the American collector Sean Lynch in 2021.
- In October 2014, a copy was auctioned at Heritage in a lot including other proofs of McCarthy’s novels. It resold in 2016 to Michael DiRuggiero at Manhattan Rare Books for $1,400.
- After McCarthy’s death in June 2023, a very good copy (State B) sold for $3,700.
Additionally, a copy in the state B is housed in the Woolmer collection of Cormac McCarthy at the University of Texas.
Rare Books Hub lists only one copy at auction and as for January 2025, one copy only (that coming from Between the Covers) was listed on Abebooks.
Copies in state A seem to be scarcer than copies in state B.
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