Description
The first edition, first printing of McCabe: A Novel Of The West by Edmund Naughton, a review copy from the publisher.
Octavo, [6], 146pp. Black cloth, title stamped in red on spine. Stated “First Printing” on the copyright page. Light rubbing to cloth boards, offsetting from old newspaper clippings at three points in the book. Previous owner’s inscription on the front free endpaper, dated “October, 1959.” In the publisher’s first state dust jacket, $2.95 retail price on front flap, shelf wear, chipping along top edge, a few short closed tears. Includes a laid-in review card from The Macmillan Company, a photograph of the author, and a letter from the publisher.
A scarce title.
McCabe was Naughton’s debut novel, an uncommon Western centered on a gambler and entrepreneur in a mining town in the Pacific Northwest. The novel was adapted by Robert Altman as the 1971 film McCabe & Mrs. Miller, starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie.
The recipient of this copy, Charles Edward Whaley (1928-2025) was a Kentucky journalist and critic whose seven-decade career centered on education, books, theater, and the arts. Whaley worked for The Louisville Courier-Journal for most of his career.
