TRIQUARTERLY 48: WESTERN STORIES - FEATURING 'THE SCALPHUNTERS' (EXCERPT FROM 'BLOOD MERIDIAN') by Abbey, Edward; Carver, Raymond; Doig, Ivan; Ford, Richard; Hall, Oakley; Kittredge, William; McCarthy, Cormac; McGuane, Thomas; Nichols, John; Sayles, John; Silko, Leslie Marmon - 1980

Evanston, IL: Northwestern University, 1980. Near Fine in photo-illustrated wrappers. Faint trace of soiling to upper edge of textblock, wrappers mildly toned, with a trace of rubbing at the crown of the spine. An important issue of TriQuarterly, containing 'The Scalphunters,' the first appearance in any format of Cormac McCarthy's western novel Blood Meridian. 'The Scalphunters' was eventually developed into Chapter 12 in Blood Meridian, and while the 14 page story is brief, it contains significant textual variations from the finished text. Portions of the text were omitted, reworked, and expanded within the five year period prior to the book's publication in 1985. Blood Meridian is widely considered McCarthy's masterpiece, a gruesome, gothic western novel based on real events in the post-Civil War era. This copy has been signed by three notable authors at their respective contributions: author, director, and screenwriter John Sayles ('Dillinger In Hollywood'), Leslie Marmon Silko ('Coyote Holds A Full House In His Hand'), and Pulitzer Prize winning author Richard Ford. A scarce and elusive issue containing an important first appearance, and the only copy of this journal we have seen signed by any of the contributors.