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 price-clipped dust-jacket. A few light wrinkles to jacket, some trivial spine fade, with very light handling and shelf wear. Protected in archival mylar. Book is tight, square and firm. Very light rubbing to panel edges and corners, particular to spine. Pages very toned, more so than commonly found, else fine. Interior is clean and unmarked.

Dust Jacket: Near Fine

Hardcover: Near Fine

“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.”