Butcher’s Crossing

New York: Macmillan, (1960). First edition, 1st printing. 8vo. 239 pp. Original half crimson cloth over grey paper-covered boards, stamped in silver, in original unclipped ($3.95) dust-jacket. Jacket shows consistent wear. Handling, shelf wear and foxing throughout. Some fading to the spine. A few spots of droplets evident, some tears to edges - particular to spine. Protected in archival mylar. Book is tight and firm, with light forward lean. Considerable foxing present to pages, edges and tanning to paper stock. Small pencil price to front free end paper. Top front corner nudged. Spine crown lightly faded., spine ends curled. Still, a rare copy of a modern western.

Dust Jacket: Good

Hardcover: Good

“Butcher's Crossing is the second novel by John Williams, preceded by Nothing but the Night. It is considered by many to be among the first pioneers of a more "realistic" breed of western novel, along with a few other notable works including Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian and Oakley Hall's Warlock. Reflecting on the state of the western genre at the time of writing Butcher's Crossing, Williams wrote: "The subject of the West has undergone a process of mindless stereotyping". Williams' response to this stereotyping came in the form of Butcher's Crossing, in which the harshness of life on the Western frontier is emphasized. The novel features a protagonist, Will Andrews, who is deeply influenced by the idea of human–nature harmony found in Emersonian philosophy.”