TRUE GRIT
Signed first printing of Portis's eternally underrated masterwork — inscribed just months after publication.
Very good in a very good jacket.
Price: $5,000.00
TRUE GRIT
"People do not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father's blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it did not happen every day."
In his second novel, Portis produced the most singular, grim, and resolute voice of any narrator in literature, excepting perhaps Jane Eyre. Donna Tartt, eulogizing Portis poignantly and well wrote that he "caught better than any writer then alive the complex and highly inflected regional vernacular I heard spoken as a child — mannered and quaint, old-fashioned and highly constructed but also blunt, roughshod, lawless, inflected by Shakespeare and Tennyson and King James but also by agricultural gazetteers and frilly old Christian pamphlets, by archaic dictionaries of phrase and fable, by the voices of mule drivers and lady newspaper poets and hanging judges and hellfire preachers." Rare signed, especially so shortly after publication and with such an intriguing (car purchase?), lengthy inscription; Portis was a reluctant signer. An exceptional example of book that is every bit as good as people say.
Read more: "Donna Tartt on the Singular Voice, and Pungent Humor, of Charles Portis," The New York Times.
The Object
First edition. New York: Simon and Schuster, (1968). 7.75'' x 5.5''. Original blue-grey cloth. In original unclipped ($4.95) dust jacket designed by Paul Davis. Ochre endpapers. 215 pages. Inscribed on the front free endpaper by Portis: "For Gerald Cathey / who I hope has / given me a clean / title, with every / good wish / Jan 7, 1969 / Charles Portis." Book has slight lean, some fading to cloth, minor shelfwear. Jacket has mild toning, sunning to spine. A few small tears neatly repaired on verso; chip to one corner. Front flap creased. Overall, bright and clean.
The Fine Print
We work hard to meet our ethical responsibility to describe our material accurately. All items are guaranteed as described and may be returned for any reason within 30 days. Please notify us before mailing a return.
We guarantee the authenticity of our items. All materials are original (meaning not facsimiles or reproductions) unless otherwise noted. First editions (meaning first edition, first printing) are explicitly stated. TPM is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and upholds their Code of Ethics.
All photographs are of the actual item for sale. We're happy to provide additional images on request.
All domestic orders ship gratis. For orders under $250, free USPS media mail shipping is included; orders $250 and over ship USPS Ground Advantage. International orders over $1000 also ship gratis. Expedited, overnight, as well as other carriers (UPS, Fed-Ex, etc.), may carry additional costs beyond quoted rates. All orders receive tracking information and a direct contact in case of any questions.
International buyers are responsible for any customs, taxes, and related import fees. Please note that we are unable to accomodate requests to misrepresent, misdeclare, or otherwise falsify customs documents when shipping internationally. We appreciate your understanding.
We accept all major credit cards, Paypal, Venmo, check, money order, and bank wire. We are happy to bill institutional buyers' needs. Sales tax will be added to applicable purchases. Items subject to prior sale.
If for any reason you are dissatisfied with your purchase, please contact us. We prioritize our long-term relationships far above any individual purchase, and we want you to love your item as much as we loved cataloguing it.
