All the Pretty Horses; The Crossing; Cities of the Plain [The Border Trilogy]

New York: Random House, 1992. First edition. Original cloth, original dust jacket. Fine/Fine. FIRST EDITIONS, with All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing signed and inscribed by McCarthy. Inscribed in ink on the half-titles of All the Pretty Horses: "For Darla / All best / Cormac McCarthy"; and The Crossing: "For Darla / All best wishes / Cormac McCarthy". All three volumes are from the recipient, with detailed letter of provenance (available upon request).

"The completion of Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy - All the Pretty Horses (1992), The Crossing (1994), and Cities of the Plain (1998)--marked a major achievement in American literature. Only ten years earlier this now internationally acclaimed novelist had been called the best unknown writer in America.

"The trilogy is McCarthy's most ambitious project yet, composed at the height of his mature powers over a period of fifteen years. It is 'a miracle in prose,' as Robert Hass wrote of its middle volume, an unsentimental elegy for the lost world of the cowboy, the passing of the wilderness, and the fading innocence of post-World War II America. The trilogy is a literary accomplishment with wide appeal, for despite the challenging materials in each book, these volumes remained on bestseller lists for many weeks..." (Arnold and Luce, A Cormac McCarthy Companion).

Note: The Crossing was also issued in a signed limited edition of 1000 copies with a tipped-in leaf signed by McCarthy (before binding). The copy in the present set is a much more desirable first trade edition where McCarthy actually signed the book. There was no signed limited edition issued for All the Pretty Horses.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992-98. Octavo, original half black cloth, original dust jackets. Fine copies.