BLOOD MERIDIAN, THE PROOF OF THE ENGLISH EDITION AND ITS FORGERY

*Blood Meridian, the uncorrected proof of the first English edition.*

Blood Meridian, uncorrected proof of the first English edition.

Picador, London, 1988-1989.

Uncorrected proof of the first English edition. Softcover, 21 x 13,8 cm, 337 numbered pages. Red wrappers lettered in black on the front panel, which states: “Uncorrected proof copy on proofing paper and the property of the publisher and not for sale” (APG 005c).

CONDITION: very good.

PROVENANCE: purchased from Barwon Bookseller, Australia, in 2014.

The number of copies printed and the date this proof was issued remain unknown. Given that the trade first edition print run consisted of only 3,000 copies and that the McCarthy’s first four books had sold poorly in Great Britain, the number of proofs couldn’t have been high.

Peter Straus, publisher at Picador from 1990 to 2002, recalls an episode that occurred on the first day he worked there. He saw a small stack of five red proofs in a bin. He didn’t ask what they were until the day after when the rubbish had been taken away: “Blood meridian, was the answer! There was one copy left in my office and I sent it to a good friend, the writer and collector Iain Sinclair. I never got another one”.

Copies with publisher’s review slip laid in have been noted, although at least one of the slip reported was a later photocopy.

FORGERIES: at least one forged copy of this proof does exist. It differs from the genuine proof in several ways:

the wrappers are not brick red but a darker shade of red.

the text block is thicker.

the Picador imprint on the front cover is closer to the bottom edge than on the genuine proof.

the copyright page lacks the full number line.
it features a supposed publisher’s slip tipped in before the title page stating: “This Uncorrected Proof copy of Blood meridian by Cormac McCarthy is from the American sheets and is provided as an accommodation. The British Proof will be made available as soon as possible […]”; additionally, it features a notation in pencil stating it is one of only ten copies.

COLLECTING TOPICS: this is a scarce proof. Rare Book Hub lists only two copies at auction. Six or seven years ago, it was still possible to acquire one for around $500. In March 2024, Burnside listed a copy at $7,500. It sold to an American collector for less than that, indicating a price approximately ten times higher than what the proof once commanded.