Tristan and Iseult DLE

Pricey but interesting. EP indicates that about 120 pages of this 136 page book are illustrated. https://www.eastonpress.com/prod/233/3277/THE-ROMANCE-OF-TRISTAN-AND-ISEULT
Anybody receive this yet?

I can't wait to own this. It looks fabulous.

If you're interested...I spoke with EP CS yesterday, and they said the there are 100 copies remaining of Alice in Wonderland DLE.

>2 bullylover: one of my favorite operas. I will bite the bullet! I was torn on Alice, so bought the 150th Anniversary deluxe edition which includes the Rackham art.

>1 HugoDumas: Are you saying EP did another Alice with the Rackham art, and that it was a DE? If so, do you feel it's as wonderful are the current DLE?

>4 bullylover: No it was not EP and included samples of art from all editions over a 150 year period.

I got mine, and it is beautiful. So many illustrations--seemed like every page.

>5 HugoDumas: The Annotated Alice put out by W. W. Norton?

>7 kdweber: yes. I believe that was your recommendation.

I also chose the Norton edition with Tenniel's original illustrations and 100 more modern ones. But its real value to a math junkie like me are Martin Gardner's incomparable notes throughout the book. Overall, a far better value for me than the DLE, lacking only the leather covers.

Note: Norton has published several similar but older editions. Be sure to get their 150th anniversary deluxe edition.

>9 jroger1: A very nice edition indeed and a great value to boot. Still, I appreciate my six other copies of Alice including the FS and EP DLEs.

Does anyone ever have issues with Books like the Alice DLE having cover pages that stick to the tipped in illustrations?

>11 cu29640: Yes! Sometimes there is leftover rubber cement on the pages of EP DLEs. Every time I've had the problem it was easy to roll the rubber cement off and fix the problem.

Getting back on topic got my Tristan and Iseult. Drop dead gorgeous!

And getting back after reading this Famous tragic romance this Memorial Day, I must say this is a glorious DLE. Now time to revisit the opera; I have 2 versions. I think though Leontyne Price was the best Iseult, though I only have her on CD.

I'm thinking of making a trip to the MET to see Wagner. Over the years, I've seen a number of amazing operas there, including Aida, which is one of the most spectacular productions ever (perhaps THE most spectacular)! Yet, I have not seen any Wagner, time to change that :)

I date my love of opera from a 7th grade "field trip" to the Met, a matinee performance of Don Giovanni: what a wonderful work to introduce a kid to this fantastic universe of music and drama!

>15 astropi: do it perhaps once...the Wagner operas are difficult in person with 2 intermissions. I have chosen to get the best of all Wagner on DVD and watch them in leisure on my 8 foot screen at home.

There are only 59 of this glorious illuminated manuscript DLEs left. It is expensive but it is worth it. Quite unique.

Last chance on this title, 5 copies remain.

If anyone is on the fence, this is a nice book. I am glad I picked up a copy. I include this on the shelf with my Deluxe Illustrated Editions. Sure it doesn't have new illustrations and an artist signature, but most of the other attributes are the same, and there are plenty of partial page illustrations.

Easton has brought back The Romance of Tristan and Iseult:

https://www.eastonpress.com/all-categories/deluxe-limited-editions/the-romance-o...

>21 saintmelville:. “Because so few of these books are available, only our most valued customers are receiving this exclusive invitation to own one of these stunning facsimile volumes.”

And yet, there it is on the DLE page for the whole world to see!

“THE DEFINATIVE TRISTAN AND ISEULT“

The marketing department could profit from a spelling workshop.

>22 jroger1: they can also benefit from listening to what collectors actually want

>23 fancythings: What do you mean?

>24 HugoDumas: printing books that we want EP to print not just bringing old editions back.

Bringing back so many old titles that didn’t sell well enough the first time around seems rather futile to me. They have to be counting on new customers, because the established ones already decided they didn’t want those books.

>26 jroger1: exactly my point. Also, it’s pretty risky business proposition for EP to rely on what new customers might want instead of pleasing established customer base.

>26 jroger1: I don't think it's futile at all. "Sold slowly" is vastly different from "customers didn't want/ didn't buy." If EP had evidence that customers really didn't want these books, I'm quite sure they would not be making a return appearance. Also, I do think part of what they're doing is exposing the books to new customers (there have no doubt been hundreds, if not thousands, of new customers acquired in the intervening years), and certainly, there may be old customers who may not have been interested at the time but are now (interests change), as well as folks who procrastinated too long the first time and will be glad for another shot.

In addition, I'm sure that there are at least some folks who were on collecting hiatus at the time (like me) and are glad to have a second chance at some of these titles. I happily grabbed the Alice in Wonderland DLE recently. And I have my eye on a few other older DLEs that I'm sure I'll grab in the coming months. :)

And lastly, let's not forget that high-end books like this make great graduation gifts, Christmas gifts, etc. On the Folio Society site where they allow reviews, I often see LE reviews mentioning that the book was bought as a gift and that the recipient loved it, etc.

>28 whytewolf1:
Perhaps you’re right, but I’ll bet they are doing an even smaller print run this time around.

How do you know EP isn't under contract with some printer for these? Bringing it back may have been a requirement.

>31 treereader:
I don’t of course, but it sounds like a dangerous business practice. Here’s another question: What is the advantage to EP of keeping the number sold to date of limited editions secret? Why not make this information public?

>32 jroger1:

I'm no business expert but there's a reason companies that can stay private do, as opposed to those who go public and cater to the whims of those who worship the quarterly report. In other words, there must surely be a business advantage to not publishing those numbers, some sort of competitive edge, and it's presently worth more to EP/MBI than the satisfaction/reassurance that a few customers might feel if the numbers were published. I don't even know what advantage might be gained but I do know that if I owned my own publishing company, I sure as heck wouldn't post my sales figures or limitation count statuses for all to see. It doesn't sit right, if you know what I mean.

As for the idea of one or more contracts existing between EP and a printer/binder (e.g., BindTech) - it's practically a sure thing. I can only guess as to how they construct these contracts but we can deduce that there are several flavors. For perennial sellers and subscription series, this must be some sort of rolling or open contract where EP provides the design/layout/material requirements/etc. and can order print runs as often as they need; the contract could specify how often and at what cost structuring (e.g., tiered, market price, etc...). For DLEs, considering the limitation counts and the staggered orders, the contracts couldn't open-ended. But they could still be written such that EP promises to order the full limitation number. There's risk at both ends. EP could go under and "owe" the binder an order for X-number of remaining copies. Likewise, the binder could go under and be unable to produce the remaining copies. Given the apparent current health of EP and the knowledge that at least some of its binders have other customers, the risk seems fairly low. It's not like these limited DLEs represent millions or billions of dollars, right? What's the percent value of a full 1200-count DLE run at $800/copy compared to the total value of EP as a business?

>34 jroger1:
Some of the FS Devotees have learned that they can tell how many copies remain of an LE by trying to place an order of, say, 300. If they get a message saying the order cannot be completed, they will try 200. Then if the system accepts this amount, the potential buyer knows there are between 200 and 300 remaining. Sometimes they even post this information on the forum. I don’t know if the same trick might work with EP.

I don’t think FS has ever brought back a “sold out” LE. When they start counting down from 100, it is for the full limitation, so they must print all of them at once rather than smaller print runs. If one doesn’t sell out after several years, e.g., the Letterpress Shakespeares, they will put them on sale at a much reduced price.

I suppose both business models have been successful, but as a customer I prefer Folio’s.

>34 jroger1:

I'm not sure the difference is that clear cut. Folio prints in batches, too, though it's unclear how they decide when to print the whole limitation or to print in batches. For instance, The Door in the Wall LE was printed in two batches. The first sold out and it remained sold out for several months. The pretend-to-order-as-many-as-you-can trick worked prior to the exhaustion of the first batch but only with regard to the available printed stock, not the full limitation count. Conversely, the recent PKD short story set appears to have been printed in its entirety. The trick worked there, too, but at present, no one is expecting another batch to appear so the trick and the countdown only had the appearance of showing the true remaining count of the limitation.

I guess I understand that it can be frustrating to some. It's hard for me to relate, though. I don't believe in any of these limitations - they are all artificial and they don't incentivize me to purchase any more or less than I would if they weren't limited. EP is just taking an educated guess at what the market will bear, essentially throwing a dart at a dartboard, to choose any given limitation count. It's completely arbitrary (and a marketing gimmick) because other than the honor of keeping their word, there's no real reason they couldn't simply print and sell more of these things.

>35 treereader:
I agree wholeheartedly about the limitations. I don’t understand why a single number, whether printed or hand-written, means anything at all in a book the purpose of which is to be read. There is currently a lengthy thread in the Fine Press forum regarding the publisher Suntup that is almost comical in its devotion to numbered and lettered editions. I own a few Suntups myself, but they are the unnumbered “artist” editions. Some people, though, are willing to pay thousands to get one with a number or letter on it.

>36 jroger1: Suntup is not a good example in this context though, because the production details often differ significantly between artist gift editions (the lowest tier) and numbered, lettered, or the occasional higher tiers. For example, the one Suntup numbered edition that I own, I Am Legend, is printed letterpress on wonderfully textured Teton paper and bound in quarter vellum with hand-marbled paper over boards. The corresponding artist gift edition is printed offset on lower-quality (though still nice) paper and bound in full cloth. I paid the numbered premium for the improved construction details, not the number or limitation per se.

This is the same dynamic as any producer that differentiates by quality tiers, such as Toyota/Lexus, Honda/Acura, or VW/Audi/Bentley.

Additionally, though the artist gift editions are not numbered, they do have a firm stated limitation, generally 1000, which is about 3-4 times as many copies as the numbered edition, depending on the particular release (since print runs for more recent titles have been raised to 350).

Centipede Press, however, might be a better example, because the only difference between a signed and unsigned Centipede Press volume is the page with signatures. The material construction remains otherwise the same. Jerad charges the same amount for both states I think (or if there is a difference it is slight) with the signed state being more or less a perk for early buyers. I wouldn’t personally pay much more for this kind of differentiation, but clearly some people value the signatures, based on secondary market prices.

>37 abysswalker:

I could have sworn that Jerad prices the signed and unsigned versions differently. It may be that he's just clearing out the unsigned ones (at a mild discount) that aren't selling, too.

>39 treereader: The unsigned sell for slightly less.