“…WHOSE DUST IS NOW ONE WITH THE BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF PARTICLES THAT COMPOSE THAT ANCIENT PLAIN”: FIRST EDITION OF ANYTHING FOR BILLY, INSCRIBED BY MCMURTRY

MCMURTRY, Larry. Anything for Billy. New York: Simon & Schuster, (1988). Octavo, original half blue cloth, original dust jacket. $450.

First edition of McMurtry’s “affectionate ode to dime novels, Billy the Kid and the wild, wild West” (Publishers Weekly), inscribed on the title page, "For Roswitha Mott. The legendary Bill. Larry McMurtry."

"A lifetime resident of that strange no-man's land halfway between history and legend, Billy lends himself perfectly to McMurtry's interest in myth making… [but] in fact, Anything for Billy is constantly reminding the reader of the disparity between the mythic West of pulp fiction and the considerably less romantic reality of day-to-day life on the frontier… [It is] a ballad of one outlaw's misspent life, as well as a lament for a time and place that once existed in our collective imagination" (New York Times). Recipient Roswitha Mott is a member of the family that has run the antiquarian book business Howard S. Mott since 1936. McMurtry's well-known engagement with the rare book trade began in his twenties as a book scout, and he ran his own book store, Booked Up, for over 40 years.

Fine condition.