Signed Doheny Copy

Death Comes for the Archbishop [Signed, Numbered]

Cather, Willa

Publication: New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927. First Edition.

Notes: One of 225 signed and numbered copies of this classic New Mexico novel about the establishment of a Catholic diocese in the mid-19th century. The book is on both Time magazine's and the Modern Library's list of best novels, and it remains popular today.

"Death Comes for the Archbishop is still one heck of an adventure, a novel that has endured for a century, and in a hundred more years, I would wager that Father Latour and Father Vaillant are still riding their mules throughout the imagination of readers across the globe"—Kali Fajardo-Anstine's introduction to the 2023 Penguin Classic edition.

[Signature leaf], [viii], 304 pages. 6-1/4 by 9-1/2 inches. Printed on Borzoi all rag paper, with generous margins (a sort of large-paper copy). This was one of Cather's most popular books, with a first trade printing of 20,000 copies, which immediately sold out requiring a second printing before publication.

Edition + Condition: First edition, numbered issue. This is copy 90 of 175 on Borzoi rag paper. The bottom edges of the boards are worn; all edges untrimmed (as issued); lacking the slipcase. This copy has an interesting provenance. The original $10 price label from J. W. Robinson, a Los Angeles department store, is still present on the rear pastedown. The front pastedown has the bookplate of Edward Laurence Doheny and that of his wife, one of the great book collectors of the 20th century, Estelle Doheny.

Item No: #187272

Price: $2,500