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First edition, first printing, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "for Al Lowman, all best wishes, Cormac McCarthy". Lowman was a respected Texas historian who spent his life studying and sharing stories of the American Southwest, the setting for McCarthy's most celebrated works, including No Country for Old Men, All the Pretty Horses, and his brutal masterpiece and quintessential Old West novel, Blood Meridian. McCarthy grew up in Tennessee and Appalachia, where many of his early works are set. His first trip to Texas in 1970 inspired him to write Blood Meridian, and in 1974 he moved to El Paso to immerse himself in the history and geography of the region. The subsequent work was "as close to history as novels generally get, drawn in sometimes verbatim tones from memoirs, chronicles, eyewitness testimony" (Mitchell). McCarthy was a notoriously reclusive author, but it is likely he and Lowman met during the course of McCarthy's research. Lowman (1935-2013) curated the special exhibits and catalogues at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio and served as president of the Texas State Historical Association, the Texas Folklore Society, and the Book Club of Texas. He was a member of the Grolier Club and the Philosophical Society of Texas, and he published a number of book, including Printing Arts in Texas (1975), "the best history of fine printing in Texas" (Jenkins), and This Bitterly Beautiful Land: A Texas Commonplace Book (1972), with an introduction by Carl Hertzog, El Paso's master printer and an internationally renowned book designer. The year before his death, Lowman wrote a love-letter to the Texas of his youth: "My earliest memories are of Aladdin lanterns, battery-powered radios, treadle sewing machines, and mud roads... The fecund black earth extended from our house in all directions. Four hundred years before my time Cabeza de Vaca saw part of Nueces County and described 'vast and handsome pastures, with good grass for cattle... it strikes me the soil would be very fertile were the country inhabited and improved by reasonable people.' Nothing waits more patiently than the earth itself." READ MORE Octavo. Original red quarter-cloth, spine lettered in gilt and ruled in metallic red, red paper sides. With dust jacket. Title page and facing page illustrated with map of New Mexico. Very faint foxing to top edge: a fine copy in fine, unclipped jacket. John Jenkins, Basic Texas Books, 1983; Al Lowman, "Some Recollections of Defining Events", First Timers and Old Timers: the Texas Folklore Society Fire Burns On, 2012; Lee Clark Mitchell, "A Book 'Made Out of Books': the Humanizing Violence of Style in Bl

Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian" is a visceral and harrowing novel set against the backdrop of the American Southwest in the mid-19th century. The story follows an unnamed teenage protagonist known as "the Kid" who, after leaving home, journeys through the desolate landscapes of the borderlands between Texas and Mexico. He becomes entangled with a band of scalp hunters led by the enigmatic and malevolent Judge Holden, a towering and erudite figure. The group's activities primarily involve hunting Native Americans for their scalps, as well as engaging in other acts of violence and savagery. The Kid's experiences with this group expose him to the ruthless and brutal nature of the American frontier. Throughout the novel, McCarthy presents stark and vivid descriptions of violence, depicting brutal massacres, conflicts, and atrocities committed by the scalp hunters and other groups in the lawless region. The narrative explores the darker aspects of human nature, revealing the relentless and unyielding violence that seems inherent in mankind. At the heart of the story is the enigmatic and inscrutable Judge Holden, a highly intelligent and sinister figure whose motives and true nature remain ambiguous. The Judge embodies a sense of malevolence and omniscience, serving as a symbol of the inherent evil and the relentless pursuit of power. "Blood Meridian" delves deep into themes of moral ambiguity, the consequences of unchecked violence, the corrupting nature of power, and the inherent darkness within humanity. McCarthy's prose, characterized by its poetic yet brutal language, vividly captures the harsh and unforgiving landscape of the American West while plumbing the depths of the human psyche. The novel is notable for its stark and unflinching portrayal of violence, its philosophical underpinnings, and its exploration of the futility of human existence in a brutal and unforgiving world. McCarthy's masterful storytelling, evocative prose, and haunting themes have cemented "Blood Meridian" as a challenging yet profound work in American literature.