"IT CAME TO ME OUT OF NOWHERE, THIS GUY IN COWBOY BOOTS WHO MOVED AROUND ON THE ROADS… I WROTE THE POEM IN THE COLLEGE RESTAURANT ON THE BACK OF A PLACEMAT, BUT THAT GUY NEVER LEFT MY MIND": DELUXE LIMITED FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY AUTHOR STEPHEN KING AND ILLUSTRATOR GLENN CHADBOURNE

KING, Stephen. CHADBOURNE, Glenn, illustrator. The Dark Man. Baltimore: Cemetery Dance, 2013. Oblong octavo, original full brown morocco stamped in gilt and orange, original dust jacket, publisher's original matching traycase. $2000.

Signed limited first edition of the first-ever appearance of one of Stephen King's greatest villains: a poem King wrote in college, fully illustrated, signed by both author and illustrator, lettered "PC" for publisher's copy from the deluxe traycased edition of just 500 copies.

The mysterious Dark Man of this poem was the earliest incarnation of Randall Flagg, King's favorite fictional bad guy and one of his most frequently used antagonists—a character who later appeared (in various forms) in The Stand, The Eyes of the Dragon, Hearts in Atlantis, and much of the Dark Tower series. The disturbing, elaborately detailed artwork was done by Glenn Chadbourne, a Maine artist known for his collaborations with King. Publisher's copy, from an edition consisting of 52 signed lettered copies and 500 numbered, signed copies; issued simultaneously with the trade edition.

A fine copy.