The Killer Angels
New York: David McKay Company, 1974.
First edition, first printing. Signed by Michael Shaara on the front free endpaper. xvii, [2], 374 pp. Bound in publisher's slate blue paper-covered boards titled in gilt on spine. Very Good+ with slight lean and soft crease to spine, light rubbing and toning to extremities, and light foxing to textblock edges. Light scattered foxing to endpapers, small abrasion and marker line to front endpapers. In a Very Good+ unclipped dust jacket with light toning, rubbing, and wear including abrasion and short tear to spine panel and diagonal crease to front flap. Light foxing to verso, not visible on recto.
Michael Shaara's Civil War novel was rejected by 15 publishers before it was accepted by David McKay. Reviews were mixed and sales were slow, even after the novel was awarded the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Shaara did sell the film rights in 1978, but the movie whose script he was hired to write languished in production. "Gettysburg" was finally released in 1993, five years after Shaara died. The movie was a hit, and the book that inspired it shot to the bestseller list for the first time. Signed copies of the book that was overlooked within the author's lifetime are rare.
Price: $12,500