Observations [SIGNED by TRUMAN CAPOTE - 1959 1ST EDITION WITH SLIPCASE - IN COLD BLOOD ASSOCIATION COPY]

Simon and Schuster, 1959. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. Very good. BOOK DESCRIPTION: New York: Simon & Schuster, 1959. Hardcover lacking the fragile glassine dust jacket housed in cardboard slipcase. Folio Illustrated with photographs by Richard Avedon and text by Truman Capote. 152 pp., numerous black-and-white illustrations, 11x14º". Mostly portraits of famous people of the twentieth century. Offered here is a fantastic In Cold Blood ASSOCIATION COPY that was SIGNED/INSCRIBED by Truman Capote at the request of Lester and Hazel McCoy (residents of Garden City, Kansas whom Capote interviewed for In Cold Blood; indeed Mr. Lester McCoy is mentioned in Capote's masterpiece). This copy of Observations was then gifted by Lester and Hazel to Barbara and John McCoy (to whom they initially had the book inscribed by Capote). The the original gift note from Lester and Hazel McCoy is included, as is a certified letter from the current owner - the daughter of Barbara and John McCoy - confirming and detailing the transfer of the book from Lester and Hazel to John and Barbara. The present copy of Observations offered here is therefore a fantastic historical artifact and a literary.photographic compliment to the decades-long friendship between Capote and Avedon confirming the time they both collaborated on Capote's literary masterpiece. Indeed, Avedon visited Capote in Garden City, Kansas during April, 1960 and using a handheld Rolleiflex camera in a studio, took startling mug shot-like portraits of Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, the two men who were then awaiting trial for the murders of the Clutter family depicted so provocatively by Capote in his brilliant literary work (indeed these Avedon portraits have been utilized on the covers of recent editions of Capote's In Cold Blood). BOOK CONDITION: Very Good Minus (VG-): binding solid with moderate lean to spine, moderate rubbing, soiling and general wear to covers, edges and corners, rubbing along joints, abrading to paper at corners and along fore edge, tape repairs at head and heel of spine, bumping to upper corners also affecting the tips of all pages. Housed in a Very Good original slipcase showing overall rubbing, soiling and wear, and light splitting along edges (but slipcase solid and holding strong). Lacking the original glassing dust jacket. Overall a well-loved association copy not only linking Capote and Avedon directly to the citizens of Garden City Kansas as well as the time both artists collaborated on Capote's literary masterpiece, In Cold Blood. SIGNED by Truman Capote.