A travel through a McCarthy first editions collection

THE STONEMASON ITALIAN EDITION JUST RELEASED. WHAT ABOUT THE GARDENER’S SON?

Il tagliapietre (The Stonemason), first Italian edition.

Il tagliapietre (The Stonemason), first Italian edition

Einaudi, Torino, 2025

First Italian edition, first printing with complete number lines from 0 to 5 and to 2025 to 2029, and “Stampato […] nel mese di gennaio 2025” on a colophon page bound after the text at the rear of the book. Hardcover, 18.5 x 12.5 cm, 135 numbered pages. Publisher’s original greenish grey cloth lettered in black on spine. Photographic dust-jacket with the front panel lettered in white on a black background featuring a photo by Thoma Barwick / Stone / Getty Images. White spine lettered in black. White flaps and back cover that features a price “€ 15,50”. Translated by Maurizia Balmelli.

CONDITION: a fine copy, still sealed in shrink-wrap.

Published on January 28, 2025, at € 15,50, in a first print run of 14,000 copies.


This is a handsome edition, appearing more than thirty years after the true first edition, published by The Ecco Press in 1994. However, it is marred by an error on the dust jacket’s back panel, which states: “The last author’s work still unpublished in Italy”. This claim is incorrect, as The Gardener’s Son has yet to be published in Italian.

The publication date and print run details are based on publisher records.

Il tagliapietre (The Stonemason), first Italian edition: the colophon page bound at the rear of the book, featuring the complete number lines.

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