---

In a first writing of this post I reasoned about the priority of the Advance reading copy on the “red proof”. I wrote: “It is often assumed that this proof precedes the more common advance reader’s edition, but it does not. Gary Fisketjon, McCarthy’s editor at the time, wrote to me in a 2024 email: ‘This was issued right when the Advanced Reader’s Edition format came into being. A few normal galleys (such as this red one) were produced for book reviewers; the ARE copies had much higher printings. At the time I thought this marketing gambit was sort of cheesy, not really thought out, and insulting to writers who were given only standard galleys’. In fact, several details suggest that this proof was printed after the more appealing (and, in my opinion, more fleshy) advance reader’s edition. Most notably, it reproduces the exact finished dust jacket design of the first trade edition, whereas the advance reader’s edition shows an earlier version with different layout and lettering that was later abandoned. Furthermore, the proof specifies the full publication date, ’25 July 2005′, while the advance reader’s edition states only July 2005”.

Since the moment the post was published, collector Al Selberg provided several facts I hadn’t noticed which convince me I was wrong. In spite of the fact that the proof and the Arc were probably produced almost simultaneously, the proof was printed earlier and soon replaced by the more attractive (but not for me) advance reader’s copies. Especially, he explains the difference of the Arc’s repro od they dustjacket design as a marketing expedient: “I asked myself who would design and who would publish a dust jacket without the author’s name? It has everything to do with the black flap and is a gimmick or marketing tool. The black flap hypes it up a bit with the seven years…national book award winner…author of ATPH etc. and then credits CORMAC McCARTHY in big bold lettering. But you have to open the flap to reveal the title! It’s like solving a little mystery…”. It is evident that he is right.

COLLECTING TOPICS: This proof is scarce in itself and much scarcer than the common advance reader’s copies. Rare Book Hub lists a single copy at auction. I am aware of only six or seven copies, including mine. The earliest catalog listing I know of appeared in Ken Lopez’s Catalog 141 (April 2006), where it was already described as “uncommon.” My copy was purchased from Strand in 2014 for $125. Collector Al Selberg acquired a well-read copy in 2006 for $10, and another fine copy in 2019 from Texas bookseller Maggie Lambeth for $250—a bargain, since fine copies were already fetching around $500 at that time. Both are still in Al’s collection. Other copies were listed by MarxandMarzipan (Australia), Amir Naghib, and Burnside Rare Books; the latter sold one in 2023 for $1,200. I sold a copy in 2024 for $2,500. Later that year, dealer Christopher Subarton offered a very good copy at the striking price of $3,500, still available in August 2025 at a reduced $3,250.

I am not aware of any signed or inscribed copies.