Arete Editions, let me introduce myself

Allow me to introduce myself, I have been making books for decades, you may know the ones I have done under Wandering Star Library of Classics. Quite a few of my books have been made by other small (relative, I know) press publishers.

I'm going to try and upload images, see if it works!

For my sins we have created a new publishing house. During the start of lockdown, I suggested to the artist Gary Gianni that we work on a book together, just for us, and for him to find a story that he could feel he could doodle with. He chose a short story by Neil Gaiman. ‘The Case of Death and Honey’. After he had found his creative mojo, and the project became a book, I asked Neil if we could publish it. He was graciously enthusiastic and helpful.

I was originally going to do the book with an established publisher and also produce, for myself, twenty-six lettered editions that I was going to have handmade. I met up with a hot metal type bespoke printer Phil Abel at Hand & Eye Press, who, when he saw the project, suggested we do the whole edition as a hot metal letterpress edition, and that we become creative partners. Many of you probably know he has been a bespoke master printer for thirty years and has made, and printed multiple Fine Press Books for decades. He felt we should produce the whole edition, all seven hundred books, as different handmade hot metal type editions. I became obsessed, and fell in love, with the process, although it takes many, many months to do – it gives an extraordinarily unique look and feel to the type on the printed page. And when coupled with crafted bindings, to make the kind of books that just a handful of Fine Press publisher make.

So, I embarked on, what turned out to me, a huge learning curve. These Fine edition books are amazing, and it’s a bit like working on a small movie, every craftsperson has input and yet is beholden to the design of the book. We got together with handmade binders, Ludlow Bookbinders, with Richard Tong and formed a creative team. As it went on Phil, suggested that we do more, so we formed a new publishing house.

https://www.arete-editions.com
https://www.facebook.com/AreteEdition

These books have some of the most elaborate designs and production that Richard Tong has done, the lettered edition is on handmade paper and all editions (except the ‘Fine’) have full leather bindings with dozens of foil block passes.

I am so proud of what everyone has done.

The Artists/Lettered edition is a massive endeavor and, I must say, turned out amazing. Each copy of the lettered edition has, bound in to the cover, an original Gary Gianni original illustration from the book, housed in a Bradel bound solander box, I should have images up in the next week on FB, however a couple are added below.

There will also be a companion volume, The Adventure of the Creeping Man, the Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that inspired Neil's book. These are hot metal type letterpress books, the Fine edition of D&H is machine bound with four stamped foil block and has the letterpress printing, on different paper stock, as the numbered edition.

We have other titles in development, including a book of poetry by Neil Gaiman.

Wow! I'm impressed by the quality of your work. It's just stunning. Congratulations.

>2 booktsunami: Thanks! Very much appreciated. I'll compress the interior illustrations so I can post them

here are the specs, I like detailed specs on books, I know that some people in the trade like to keep them short and pithy but I like everything, so for the bibliophiles:

Book -
175 x265 mm / 6.9in x 10.4in

This edition of 250 numbered copies and 30 publishers’ copies of The Case of Death and Honey was hot metal letterpress printed in two colours, red and black, on a Heidelberg cylinder press by Phil Abel and Robert Hetherington at Hand & Eye Press. The black was printed in two workings. Hot-metal typesetting by Nick Gill at Effra Press.

The paper is 145 gsm Mouldmade Zerkall paper.

Book binding is by Richard Tong @ Ludlow Bookbinders designed by Richard Tong and Gary Gianni, art directed by Marcelo Anciano.

Book designed by Marcelo Anciano.

Fully bound in off-white goatskin leather with a French groove between the spine and boards. The front and back boards have been foil blocked extensively with 6 passes to the front, two to the back and two to the spine. Ten in total. To the spine there are five raised bands which have been hand tooled with gold lines. The book has 'set' headcaps (where the leather is formed over the headbands). The top edge of the book has been hand gilded, with the bottom (tail) edge being deckled.

Slipcase - made from strong 3mm book board and lined with dark red suedel. The box is covered in Ratchford’s black, textured Coral cloth with a raised goatskin leather label. The label is foil blocked with four passes of blocking.

Thirty-nine full page black and white line illustrations and one half page plus multiple decorations by Gary Gianni.

Tipped in full colour frontispiece

Unique designed endpapers by Gary Gianni

Each copy is signed by Neil Gaiman and Gary Gianni.

Price £395

that is for the numbered edition, as soon as I gather all the info on the lettered and Fine editions, I'll post them

Very impressive. Looks like a fledgling publisher that is well worth watching.

This is gorgeous, very impressive. I'm looking forward to these books, and others you will make further down the line.

>1 marceloanciano: Very excited for this. I hope the Numbered Edition is available long enough for me to secure a copy once you start taking preorders :).

>6 SF-72: Thank you, Phil and I have a pretty intense couple of years planned, although we'll be doing only a couple a year, they are all labour intensive

>7 const-char-star: I'm sure it will

>8 marceloanciano:

I can well imagine. You can see how much creativity and craft went into this title.

I have signed up for the newsletter and am anxiously awaiting details and availability on the other editions!

I was very happy to secure a numbered edition at the initial preorder a few months ago, and eagerly await delivery.

>12 _WishIReadMore: That's great, many thanks. We so needed funds to purchase tens of thousands of pounds of materials and your purchase, sight unseen, of our books enabled that, so thank you so very much

>1 marceloanciano:
Question: How is the companion volume presented with the numbered edition?

>14 kermaier: Only by virtue of it being the same size as the numbered and it being the story that inspired Neil Gaiman, so I guess, strictly speaking, it is included in the Artist/lettered edition, and sits comfortably with the Fine edition

>15 marceloanciano:
So then no double slipcase option with the numbered edition?

>16 kermaier: No, the slipcase for the numbered edition is handmade and has a suedal interior with a leather label, all hand done, it is designed to protect the goatskin of the book cover, doing a few for the people that want to have a case for both would be even more expensive I'm afraid.

>17 marceloanciano: Thats unfortunate, as I’m sure they would have looked great together - the numbered and the additional book.

Is it at all possible to make it an option for those willing to pay?

>18 _WishIReadMore: I can ask Richard Tong, bookbinder, to see if he is willing to make a couple of one-off's, what he has created is pretty complex already, and the suedel interior works really nicely for protecting the goatskin cover, I haven't seen how it would work with the fabric of the Hudson and the Hudson against the leather. But I'll ask him and see how much a bespoke slipcase would be, I imagine that they wouldn't be cheap, they are already pretty expensive.

>1 marceloanciano: Thank you for posting on LT. I was one of the lucky few to have ordered the book during the presale but I'm looking forward to your other editions as well. Good luck.

>19 marceloanciano: Thank you; would be happy to know.

I asked Rich if it would be possible to make a bespoke slipcase for you, he said that has has the components he needs, so, yes, he could. He also said he thought that the two books are different sizes, so he may need to make some sort of platform for the Creeping Man to rest on, and possibly have a divider between the two books, in order for the fabric of the Creeping Man not to rub against the numbered edition's goatskin of D&H. If you wanted one, and it doesn't sound cheap, contact Ludlow Bookmakers and address it to Richard Tong; http://ludlowbookbinders.co.uk/contact_ludlow_bookbinders.asp
And he'll work it out for you!

>22 marceloanciano: Well, I'll certainly be enquiring as well! Perhaps we can get some economy of scale if there's 5-10 of us

>22 marceloanciano: Thank you, I’ll send an inquiry, can’t hurt. And as Nathan said, if there are a few of us, maybe there will be some economies of scale to putting aside the time to churn a few out, instead of just one or two.

>24 _WishIReadMore: That was a great idea! and I sent in an inquiry as well. Hopefully it is a feasible add on option

>25 Praveenna_Nagaratnam: Curious to hear if anyone's got a reply from Richard yet! I'm sure he's quite busy, but no I'll be making the decision on pre-order day

>26 NathanOv: I havent heard anything yet. I guess he must be busy. I am sure he will get back to us soon enough; or after the pre order? I did see on the website that there is an option for double slipcase for both the fine editions.

Nothing here either.

Hey! Rich and Ludlow Bookbinders got the request and has asked me for the specs so he can see how feasible, and what needs to be created, he said that they will probably make them after the production has finished on 'The Case of Death and Honey' but wanted to make a dummy to find out the issues and costs.

>29 marceloanciano: Thank you! Looking forward to seeing the outcome ~ and hoping it is within my budget 😅

>29 marceloanciano: Great, thank you!

NVM - nothing to see here

>32 mkavf: please delete if you're still on!

>32 mkavf: No, we were testing the strength of the store web site for a few minutes and someone pressed the button on the store while we were testing! It's closed now and will reopen on Saturday at 5, British time...

Anybody else having trouble checking out?

Looks like the store is open for preorders now: https://www.arete-editions.com/store

>35 EdwinDrood: I managed to get through checkout without any problems. What issues are you seeing?

I click on my cart and it takes me to the Home Page

Same for me...back to the home page

Click "Go to Checkout" after clicking on one of the products in the store rather than clicking on the cart.

>40 kronnevik: thank you! That made all the difference :)

I’m not seeing “go to Checkout”. I’ve tried the single item method and get the same result. Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll keep trying different options. I also sent two messages to Arete.

>42 EdwinDrood: Have you tried adding an additional item to your cart, and then clicking 'Go to checkout' from that item's page (if it appears there for you)? That seems to work for me, and you can then remove the extra item from your cart before checking out. The 'Go to checkout' option should appear under the 'Add more' button on the store page of the item you've just added.

Note, the 'Go to checkout' won't appear while your cart is empty.

I couldn’t place an order using a MacBook nor a PC (similar issues as noted above); however, managed to complete the order using my iPhone. I see similar comments on Facebook. The proprietor is responding to people on Facebook, so if you are having issues, try posting there. Hopefully you can place an order via email. (Looks like there are still 75 numbered copies available.)

Well I got my Arist first thing because I wasn't sure how fast it would sell it out, or if it would be reserved once I added to cart.

But now, I haven't been able to order a Fine with slipcase to accompany it despite trying three different devices and multiple payment options over the past half hour ... Perhaps they're blocking multiple orders?

Same here when it comes to being unable to check out on a PC, I tried two different browsers, a friend also tried for me. Clicking on the shopping basket always took us to the home page. At first it didn't work on my mobile phone either, it would let me go to checkout, then the field for my email wasn't active. That finally worked after a long wait and several tries.

I do hope they'll improve upon the website with an eye on future releases. This kind of thing is frustrating and can lead to people not being able to buy, which is what happened with Stardust and Lyra's Books.

Deleted—The website is in proper working order. Congratulations on the superb publication and excellent sales!

I cannot tell if they have sold out or the website is just hopeless.
Methinks this edition is over-hyped.
Will be interesting to see the secondary market in a couple of months. I suspect there may be many purchasers who hope to resell for a quick profit, but may be disappointed.

>49 wcarter: I think just the site - errors for some still but not all.

I can’t figure out the sudden negativity towards the book itself on here and Facebook now just because the sites not loading.

Literally no new details have come out and suddenly tons of people are trashing this beautiful work of art

>49 wcarter:

"Methinks this edition is over-hyped."

Disagree - regarding the numbered edition of 250 copies.

In reality, this is a livre d'artiste book by noted artist and illustrator Gary Gianni with a generous number (forty) of his illustrations. Toss in an innovative and attractive off-white full morocco binding by Richard Tong at Ludlow Bookbinders and excellent letterpress printing on Zerkall mould-made paper by Phil Abel at Hand and Eye Letterpress and the asking price of 395 GBP ($550) is certainly in the ballpark.

That said, it will not appreciate as rapidly or as much as the numbered full morocco edition of Stardust but it will eventually sell for a premium once it goes OOP.

I had absolutely no trouble purchasing the books went like a breeze. So managed to get a numbered, and both fine editions of The Creeping Man and D&H. I’m so excited!!

Many have had problems trying to buy and can understand the frustration hence turning into negativity. All copies still available but I can see the artist and numbered edition selling out soon……..

I was afraid this would be gone when I woke up here in Asia, but fortunately it wasn’t. I picked up the numbered edition. I’ve definitely gone over my book budget this summer, but having missed out on the leather Stardust (though I could get the standard), I didn’t want to miss out on this one. The leather binding looks gorgeous.

>51 dlphcoracl: totally agree!

>53 mnmcdwl: I didnt dare sleep until I purchased mine at exactly 12am (Malaysian time). I didn't have any trouble purchasing either. So excited to have gotten the numbered and the fine ed of creeping man

>50 NathanOv: right? I don't understand the sudden negativity either and people returning the book just because of no rights attached. I am glad the books will find homes with people who truly love them. Arete has done an amazing job and they have been wonderfully responsive! The books are absolutely stunning. I also don't understand people saying this is no Lyrasbooks. It is the same amazing team doing what they do best.

>50 NathanOv: >51 dlphcoracl:
Don't get me wrong, I have ordered a numbered edition, but -
- there has been an enormous amount of hype about this book for months, which I find a bit off-putting in a fine press book
- the website is poorly designed and not intuitive for potential buyers. It took me a long time to work out that there were still copies available when I woke up, some six hours after release.
- I suspect there will be a lot of "investors" who hope to on-sell the book at a profit
- it does look like a very nicely produced book, and hopefully lives up to everyone's expectations

>57 wcarter: To each there own - I've personally loved all of the production videos and details ; it's been fantastic to be able to follow a book through it's entire production like that, especially one that's a true Artist's book at all levels.

I don't know if design or intuition was the issue with the website - it was just overloaded and had bugs at launch, which luckily did not prevent anyone from ultimately being able to get a copy. They were just annoying.

That said, to me it seems like all the incredible artistry and production value of Lyra's Books *plus* an incredbly amount of wonderful artwork.

To me, any experience with a website or the marketing campaign is inconsequential compared to the book itself.

No issues with the website on my iPhone. Sorry others had issues and congrats to all involved in this project. Also enjoyed following the production details along the way. Looking forward receiving the gorgeous numbered edition!

Right now I can't reach anyone by email either, my mails two two different addresses get returned as not deliverable, in one case it says 550-JunkMail rejected. If someome from Arete reads this, could you please take care of this problem?

Wow, that is a lot of comments! The traditional way for these letterpress books is to be quite discrete in their marketing, I like seeing a process and, after a year working with Gary Gianni and Richard Tong, I wanted to show everything! I’m proud of what they have all done and want to show people. Also, we wanted Neil’s fans to understand and educate what a Fine Press edition can look like and why it would cost so much.

Richard Tong and I will be working a lot together, the line between Lyra and Arete is very blurred over the last few months, indeed, I could say that we are becoming very close relatives, to the extent that we are working out what we are doing for the next two years together, although the books will be coming from two different publishers, and that is more to do with cash flowing projects to completion rather than being different publishers.

The price on these books is the cost, with a very slim margin, they are very complex productions, from the hot metal foundry to the three passes of printing required on each page. We just wanted the book to be a landmark in binding, design and printing, and, yes, it did end up costing a lot for each book. The Fine Edition is letterpress printed, and as affordable as we can make it, you can see the difference in price with the exceptional binding. There were glitches on the store, but, in defence, we fixed them as quickly as possible. We are not a supermarket, we’ll be selling two or so books a year, we don’t spend our time making a web store but making books! That inevitably will mean we will have problems as we learn how to make a store a smooth process.

Some of the (another small publisher) fans were angry that we couldn’t offer rights, but I pointed out that our publishing projects doesn’t really correspond to the notion of rights, as I said then; ‘we are working on a selection of poems by Neil, and the editions we are planning probably won't include an edition like the numbered edition of Death and Honey, at the moment it will just be a portfolio of handmade loose-leaf paper, with one poem on each paper, like letterpress broadsheets, and a print, the book is, at the moment, one state and not numbered. I'm not sure how that would correspond to the three distinct editions of D&H’ Although, the states may change, and still might do them as numbered and some with a leather bindings…Neil is going to sign them come what may… but it doesn’t change my sense of how ‘rights’ would work.

I’m still unclear what people want from rights, to be quite honest, they have first refusal on a particular number? I’m still of the opinion that if a request for a number comes in with future projects, we’ll try and give it to them. Another book I’d like to do would possibly be with a world-famous museum artist, that would mean that the lettered edition could cost unbelievable money, but would have limited prints that Fine Art collectors would feel is cheap, but rights holders wouldn’t, it would be for a different buyer base, but a really cool project, very limited and still affordable for the numbered edition for Fine Press collectors. But how does that sort of project sit with ‘rights’?

I have realised that some of the Gaiman buyers don’t realise that the high cost of Hot metal letterpress and design handmade bindings, and what they really cost.

I just hope that when people get their books, they will see that as a great book production, and it will be up there with the best, Gary, Rich, Phil and myself wanted to show off the best we could do.

>61 marceloanciano: I don’t see why people would be down on you sharing info. I wouldn’t have known about the book if not for that. I ordered the Artist edition and looking forward to it. I think the leather bound edition looks really beautiful, but too expensive for me and I’m also not decadent enough to care (I really only bought it to have the story in a sewn binding with nice paper). Congrats on a popular debut.

>62 RRCBS: Thanks. You bought an Artist's Edition?! So cool! It is an extra ordinary production, Neil's reaction was 'Holy shit. That is unbelievably beautiful.' And he has seen a lot of really nice books made of his works

>63 marceloanciano: maybe said the wrong one, names confused. Whatever is the name for the cloth one.

>64 RRCBS: Nice one! Personally I think it is a fab affordable Letterpress book, and sits really well in hand, it is quite large when you hold it

>61 marceloanciano:

I enjoyed finding out more about the process and find the prices reasonably for what you get. Yes, some of the editions are expensive, but they're a work of art. And it's nice that there's also a more affordable edition that's still high quality.

As for rights: I actually appreciate the fact that you're not going down that particular road, although I might profit from it as someone who bought when you first offered a small number of copies. While publishers like Subterranean Press are doing a decent job with granting rights only on series if you bought a title from that specific series previously, Suntup Press have a system where people buy books they don't really want to keep 'their' rights / number, and people who really want a book then have to get it on the secondary market, if they can afford it there. It's also abused by people who buy to sell their books more expensively, not for themselves at all. I assume that some of the people who complained wanted to establish something like this system, and I'm grateful you didn't got for that.

So apart from the hassle with the website - if an edition sells out more quickly, some people will lose out when your shop just won't work with their PC or mobile, but works easily with others - I'm quite happy with how things were done. I'm very much looking forward to the books.

I am happy that you did some marketing for this book. Otherwise I might not have heard of it! I particularly like posts/photographs about the process behind it all. It is so fascinating and makes me appreciate the work going into it so much more. Finally, count me among those who *strongly* dislike “rights” systems like Suntup’s. A right to first buy, particularly for unrelated, non-series, works, just benefits speculators looking to flip it for a profit. The way this one launched was fair for all (even though it was released at 1 AM my time…). I’m very glad to have gotten a numbered copy when I woke up, but if I hadn’t, so be it—if I was diehard enough about it I would have stayed up for it. Next time I can hope for a launch a couple of hours earlier though :-)

>66 SF-72: I think if we ever did a series, which would, for our way of making books, be a huge undertaking, we would offer the same number across the different books, but only for that series. That seems right and fair to me. I am really happy that you like to see a process! I love it too. I want to show more of the printing in the next couple of weeks...

>67 mnmcdwl: Shheee, that is a big time difference, I sometimes feel that a lot of people don't quite realise just how much work goes into these books, I am astonished when I see other bespoke publishers show their books, I think, wow, how long did THAT take!

>69 marceloanciano: it really stuns me that many of the same people who don’t understand the artistry, craft and truly hand-made nature of this edition don’t even question Thornwillow’s pretty standard leather editions starting at $1k+

I see the Numbered edition as an absolute bargain, and the artist price as more than justified so I’m not surprised to hear your selling these at a very slim margin!

I definitely see the passion for simply creating the most beautiful books possible from everyone involved.

This looks absolutely lovely!
My only hesitation is that it is indeed a very short work. You can read the entire story here
http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ina22/200/The%20Case%20of%20Death%20and%20Honey.htm
You'll be done in 10 minutes. I personally would love to see a larger work, some novella such as Goodbye, Columbus or A Clockwork Orange or The Lifecycle of Software Objects or ... well you get the picture. Still, production value is wonderful, this is truly "fine press" :)
Good luck, I look forward to seeing more in the future!

>71 astropi: it is a short story, but there are also ~40 illustrations. I believe the page count is a bit over 80.

I otherwise agree with you; I have come to greatly appreciate my nicer printings of longer works. I'm reading the LEC edition of Quo Vadis? at the moment, which is almost 600 pages printed letterpress (though not on the hand press) at the Officina Bodoni, with ~35 tipped in illustrations by Salvatore Fiume. Alas for the economics of this sort of production.

>61 marceloanciano:

Hello Marcelo! First of all, congratulations on the pre-orders yesterday. I did have issues with placing an order on my MacBook (just for your information, it doesn’t look like your website is works well on MacBook’s Safari - certain images are missing and the ‘Store’ doesn’t work - jut a blank page - not sure of this is just my computer); however, I was able to place an order on my iPhone. (I ordered the Numbered edition and a copy of The Creeping Man.) Also, I am grateful that you have not artificially limited the number of each edition to a ridiculously small number and allowed everyone interested in purchasing a copy to do so.

With respect to “rights” (whatever it means) and other related ‘criticism’, I believe the main question is what type of private press you want to be (I use the term ‘private press’ deliberately as I believe your first two books meet that definition). Do you want your customers to be individuals who love and appreciate exquisitely crafted books printed letterpress using metal type on good paper with original illustrations and purchased for their own enjoyment for many years to come or do you want them to be speculators who buy books with a hope of making a quick profit on resale? Do you want collectors who are interested in various authors, illustrators, genres of literature and edition formats or do you want to print one genre only following the same predetermined formula?

I appreciate that I am being somewhat facetious in asking these rhetorical questions; however, I sincerely hope that you will not get discouraged or too concerned about some of the negative feedback that you appears to have received. I am certain that these negative sentiments are not shared by the majority of members of this group and private press collectors.

With respect to the cost, I think the books are reasonably priced. The Fine Edition is a great value giving the printing process and materials used. I can see how people unfamiliar with private presses may not share this sentiment; however, all you can do is educate - which is what you have been doing with your posts, pictures and videos.

Speaking about promoting and marketing, that’s an interesting question. I don’t see anything wrong with promoting your books using various social media platforms. Although a lot of books in my collections have been printed by presses that have been around for many years and who, shall we say in good humour, are not too keen on technology or providing regular updates (I am not being critical of these presses - au contraire, it is all part of the charm of private presses), I do appreciate more regular updates and ‘production’ images/videos from some of the newer private presses on my bookshelf.

Looking forward to my copy of the books and to your future projects. All the best!

>71 astropi: There's something to be said about a beautiful, Fine Press book you can take your time with and still experience cover-to-cover in one sitting.

This is also essentially an Artist's book, which typically do run under 100 pages and often cost much-much more.

You've got more artwork in this then you'd typically find in a 400 page book from another publisher, and all accept the painting, I believe, are letterpress printed.

>74 NathanOv: the web site says the illustrations are reproduced by line block. Not exactly letterpress, but also physical direct impression rather than some other kind of reproduction process. (I would be curious to know whether this uses zinc plates, photopolymer plates, or something else. I don't see additional details on the site.)

Beautiful book with a well-respected and established team behind it. What's not to love?

Hello Marcelo,

I'm a long-time HUGE fan of your impeccable and thrilling book design, going back to when I first opened my Wandering Star edition of Solomon Kane, and felt like I was looking at an old Arthur Rackham illustrated classic. I've loved the stuff you've done with Flesk (just received the new Call of Cthulhu and it is magnificent), and was overjoyed when I heard you were starting up Arete. And starting with a great Gaiman story, no less! Us Bibliophiles need you in the mix!

Of course I eagerly jumped on a numbered edition yesterday, and because I couldn't help myself, added the 2 fine editions and matching slipcases. May my wife never read this! Can't wait for the books, and to see what else you've got coming down the road.

One thing I'll mention here is one of the fantastic things that made Wandering Star so extraordinary- besides the amazing books- was the beautiful (and abundant!) ephemera that went along with each project. You were the best at that. I know that kind of stuff isn't free, but was wondering if you plan anything like that to go along with 'Death and Honey'?

Lastly, considering what a landmark, reference series of books your REH volumes turned out to be, I always desperately wished that you would do the same for HPL, who, bizarrely, has never really had one. Any thought on that?

Best of luck with everything, can't wait for the books!

Ron

>61 marceloanciano: Thanks for all the upfront sharing. I love it when publishers and book making professionals share their knowledge. The website was a little buggy but to be expected from a small press, easy enough to work around and only mildly annoying. Please don't go down the "rights" path. The only time rights make sense is for a series. For a series I much appreciate being offered the rest of the series and with the same limitation number. Congratulations on a successful release, I hope it proves profitable for all those involved in the production.

The person upset about rights had weeks to ask about them, but only did so after they purchased a copy. Why is that?

I personally hope Rich continues to produce books of the caliber and value he did with Stardust, and not stray too far into the livre d'artiste territory, either by himself, or in partnership with others.

While I did purchase a copy of D&H, it is quite the indulgence, and I don’t plan to do so quite often. If a quarter binding and a couple fewer bees knocked £100 off the price, I would have probably been just as content as well, maybe more so, and they would’ve probably all sold out by now.

But that’s neither here nor there - I expect to be quite pleased with it when I do get it. But I’m certainly not looking for the dial to be turned up to 11 for all of my purchases.

>72 abysswalker: It was always considered to be an 'art' book, like the 90-100 page books that artists like Rackham used to do, Gary and I wanted a story to be able to have our passion for visual storytelling to interact with the words, over the years, decades actually, that Gary Gianni and I have been working together we had come to a way of storytelling that almost has become a manifesto for our way of enhancing stories. We wanted a picture on virtually every page.

As Arete and working with Lyra, we do intend to do larger, longer, books, our next Arete book, as opposed to Neil's poems, is a couple of hundred pages, the ones after are about 300 pages. We want to work our way into larger 'art' books. The hot metal type we intend to use also needs time for us to work out how much work will be involved, soft proofing these lead type faces takes an age, and we still want to have it feel illustrated, so the design and storytelling will take an age too. 35 tipped in illustrations is, in the current market, not only time consuming for an artist to paint but is a huge job when it is hand done, but, we hope to one day do that.

>73 vadim_ca: I cannot agree with you more. Each book has it's own needs, some fit the lettered/numbered/Fine editions, some do not. Some feel as if they only need one state. Some may be elaborate chap books. What people sell on the secondary market is up to them! Yes! Educate. Educate. Educate. The buyers of books like Folio are becoming more aware of the different means of printing and I can't help feeling that they will be the new Fine press collectors. If not already.
Thank you so much for your encouragement.

>75 abysswalker: They are line block, created from photopolymer plates, letterpress printed. The tipped in painting is a Giclee print because, I seem to remember, it prints with 12 colours. The Fine edition is done with litho, four colour

>77 swintek: Thank you! Those wandering Star books were great fun! Led the way for publishers like Subteranean Press, I feel. With the Wandering Star books, I printed them off set Litho, you can make a book in a couple of weeks, that left time to do all the ephemera that we did, it also, before the internet, allowed us to use them as marketing, now, I'm using the internet to show what we are doing.

Did you ever see 'Knight of the Seven Kingdoms'? George RR Martin asked Gary to do a 'Wandering Star Solomon Kane' book for him, so Gary asked me to work with him and design, create, the book. We spent nearly two years working on it. We gave it to Random House, who refused to credit me, saying it would incur a payment, I had done it for Gary and love, so their designer took our design, changed a couple of things and was credited. But, subterranean press then released it as a limited edition book and reinstalled me as designer. It is Wandering Star's Solomon kane on steroids! I want to do a letterpress book like that, but it is really difficult to still use hot metal type and have it run around letterpress poly plates... one day I will solve it.

The wandering Star books I financed using Film money, in order to elevate the film rights they paid for the books to be made and released as trade books to recreate awareness, they lost money, the books cost more than we charged, but it worked for them and I ended up with some nice looking books. Lovecraft has nothing like that and would cost years and a fortune to make, so I fear Lovecraft will have to remain as nice Arkham books.

>78 kdweber: Thank you! it would be nice to just pay everyone and cover costs!

>79 _WishIReadMore: Thanks, Rich has his own books he'd like to do, I'll be working with him on them. Actually, if Gary and Rich had designed the bindings to have less bees, in the grand scheme of things, it wouldn't have made all that much difference, it was things like the leather costs, the paper stock, the metal type printing needing three passes, the bradel binding time, the elaborate binding. Now, we could have gone quarter binding and it would have shaved of an awful lot of money, but, it wouldn't be the same kind of book. So we figured we'd produce a letterpress, three pass book and bind it for a lot less and that became the Fine edition.

ha ha ha, what would an 11 book be like! Each book demands it's own number! The poetry by Neil is a very understated production, while Greg Manchess' project is pretty insane, I want to use a form of binding that hasn't been done in a hundred years, where the double page paintings are able to lay flat, no gutter, that is an insane way to make an illustrated book, is that an 11?

>85 marceloanciano: I’m sure it’ll be quite beautiful; sounds like I’ll be enjoying it vicariously.

I have to admit I was initially sceptical about this back in April, when it was announced for pre-pre order without much in the way of details. £395? For a short story?? Now however, having seen the beautiful binding and knowing the full production details I'm completely won over and have placed an order for a numbered edition + The Creeping Man. I think these will be wonderful, unique and ones to cherish and I agree with >51 dlphcoracl: above that, taking into account the production details, the price isn't at all bad. I'll also add that the openness and enthusiasm of those creating these books really helped in my decision to purchase (not sure if this is what is referred to as 'hype' in some of the posts above, but personally I think it's great).

>71 astropi: It's not the length of the wand, it's the magic in the magician ;-)

At time of writing there are only 2 Artist's Editions and 4 Numbered remaining. For those still on the fence, now would be the time to decide...

>87 Levin40: Thank you for your purchase! Very much appreciated. I hope people don't see it as hype, we started to put up all the cool clips and sketches as a means to show what sort of work and personalities were involved in the production. I like seeing productions, sometimes clips will come up, like on Arion's books, where I thought, wish I could see more, so we've decided to do just that...

>87 Levin40: "At time of writing there are only 2 Artist's Editions and 4 Numbered remaining."

Fine fine fine I'll do it. To be honest I had assumed these were long sold-out; I'm slightly baffled there's anything left.

>88 marceloanciano: Thank you! And congrats on the (almost..) Artist's/Numbered sell out.

>89 gmacaree:To be honest I had assumed these were long sold-out; I'm slightly baffled there's anything left.

To be fair, it's still been less than 48 hours. And it's a new publishing house - I doubt word has fully spread yet. I remember that many of the early (and apparently best) Suntup's hung around for several days and there hardly a frenzy at that point. Lyra's Stardust Leather edition is often cited as an example of an 'instant' sell out, but as I understand it there were only about 20 of the 100 copies still available when sales opened. This would also have sold out pretty much instantly if there had been only 20, or even 100, copies available.

Oh crumbs only 1 numbered edition left……

>91 LoveAlice: Someone cancelled their order, so 2 left!

>61 marceloanciano: I think you guys have done a brilliant job, and I have absolutely loved every single production video, photo and information about the books you have posted. There will always be those unhappy with the way things are done, but you are building yourself a wonderful fan base as can be clearly seen in this thread :) I for one am glad there will be no rights attached to the books because I feel it gives a chance to people who really want the books to purchase them. I am now excited at the prospect of buying the Poem Collection! There is something romantic about loose sheets letterpress printing haha.
Congratulations on a brilliant start to Arete's edition! I cannot wait to hold my numbered edition and see it in all it's glory

>92 marceloanciano: Numbered Edition is SOLD OUT (or possibly not…) Artist Edition is down to 2.

>92 marceloanciano: I hope they don’t live to regret it……

However, congrats, the numbered edition looks to be sold out!!

>93 Praveenna_Nagaratnam: That is just the way I feel about the poem broadsheets too! It will be a nice object, Rich is designing a way cool portfolio case for them

Rookie fine press collector here with a couple of questions:

1) Is £20 for shipping within the UK fairly typical for a small, fine press book? (a genuine question, not a criticism!).

2) For those who are familiar with the The Case of Death and Honey, is it a really great piece of writing in its own right? I'm very out of touch with modern fiction.

All somewhat subjective, I know. I understand the story is available to read online, but it seems a shame to read it beforehand if I decided to order the book.

>97 GardenOfForkingPaths:

1. Yes! In fact, that's not too bad.

2. I didn't like the story myself, and it's the reason I didn't subscribe to the edition. That said, totally subjective, and the edition is so beautiful that I nearly subscribed anyway.

>97 GardenOfForkingPaths:

2) just to offer a countering opinion, I really enjoyed the story and I think it will be even better read with a matching copy of Adventure of The Creeing Man (though it’s a good idea to read any copy of Creeping Man).

It’s definitely written in a mock-Doyle style though; it reads very much like an ACD Holmes story, but with some added bits of humor. I think Gaiman accomplished this style quite effectively, but I understand ACD’s style can come across a bit stuffy for modern readers, though I also think Gaiman reinvigorated it fairly well.

>82 marceloanciano:
Not trying to be difficult -- but is "giclee" still art-speak for "inkjet"?

>100 kermaier: It's inkjet but usually 8 color rather than 4 color. Genuinely better!!! But yes inkjet... 😅

>100 kermaier: I haven't got a clue, they look glorious and have various tone of black! I saw some prints that the National gallery had done on handmade paper for the Titian show, and they were so rich and accurate, I thought, that is how to print paintings. They were giclee.

>100 kermaier: Just to add on to Grifgon's answer, giclee is also done with pigment instead of dye which is much longer lasting, and almost always on archival paper.

>100 kermaier:

This webpage provides some good information about Giclee prints.

https://www.canvasvows.com/blogs/news/what-is-a-giclee-print

>104 vadim_ca: Thank you for the link above, the article was very informative on Giclee printing.

>96 marceloanciano: Sounds fantastic! and I just started reading Who Goes There? after seeing it mentioned as your next project on the website 😊

>106 Praveenna_Nagaratnam: Really? Where did you read that? Yes, not the short story, but Frozen Hell, which was the extended, first manuscript before the editor who first printed Who Goes There edited out a quarter of the writing, which became the story everyone has read. The original submitted manuscript was found three years ago, the story that became the movie; The Thing. Artist Greg Manchess is working on it and what he's doing is insanely good.

>104 vadim_ca: That is really good, thanks, stuff there I didn't know. I saw the finished prints and could see that it was a fantastic way to print paintings, the most accurate colours I have ever seen.

>98 grifgon: >99 NathanOv:

Thanks for your thoughts guys! I'll try and read a few chapters of some of Neil Gaiman's other books and see what I make of the writing. It's a beautiful edition that's for sure. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Areté do in the future.

>107 marceloanciano: it is on your website! honestly cannot wait for all you have planned! 😊

>109 GardenOfForkingPaths: I think that Neil's stories are, in the main, fantastic. The Case of Death and Honey book was largely driven by Gary Gianni. He was in a creative black spot and I suggested to him that to find his mojo, let's create a book, just for us. Something he could doodle with and get back to the creative spirit. He chose Neil's short story, it really spoke to him about his emotions at the time, and he was a huge Sherlock fan. It soon became obvious that it would be a book, short, but a book. I asked Neil if we could publish it, he saw what we were doing and enthusiastically said yes. Neil's stories are varied, and he is really evocative with the 'other world' type short stories, like 'snow, glass, apples'. Neverwhere, American Gods, are two books I read every year, like old friends.

>110 Praveenna_Nagaratnam: Oh yeah! forgot about that Phil had done that! ha ha ha

So it's not Who Goes There but the newly found extended and edited version named Frozen Hell. I read Who Goes There some years ago and reviewed it (https://faiselk.wordpress.com/2014/12/27/review-3-who-goes-there-seven-tales-of-science-fiction-by-john-w-campbell-jr/) it was alright. The start was good though but overall a hard read so I am tempted to see how your edition turns out of Frozen Hell

>113 ironjaw: The original is more of an adventure story, describing how they find the UFO and try to explore it only to destroy everything but the creature. Greg really responded to the build up. Personally, I prefer the title 'Who Goes There' as it seems to fit the paranoia that the creatures presence induces in the team. Frozen Hell it the title of the original story that was found, so I guess we'll have to keep it.

btw, the cancelled order for the numbered edition is back on sale at our site

>111 marceloanciano: I am still hoping and waiting for a fine press edition of American Gods and Neverwhere. So am really hoping there are plans for that somewhere in the future 😁

>116 Praveenna_Nagaratnam: yeah, that would be nice

>111 marceloanciano: Thanks! Very interesting to hear the background to this work. A remarkable achievement for the artist to go from being in a bit of creative lull to producing 40 fabulous drawings. The enthusiasm, craftsmanship and attention to detail in this project is obvious. Great stuff.

Ordered the cloth copy and can't wait to see the book in person, it looks great from the photos.

I ordered a numbered edition. I was one of the people who were initially hesitant but can now see the value in the offering. I'm looking forward to future offerings.

Alas I didn't have funds available as this went on sale and missed out on the numbered edition. As I collect Gaiman specifically this is a major disappointment. I guess I'll end up paying more on the secondhand market for it. I must have it though.

>121 Sorion: While I don't know how long their fulfillment is expected to take, at this price point and with a somewhat higher limitation # cancellations are very likely if you keep an eye on it.

It seems there is one Artist edition come available on the Arete website. If anyone has missed out on this edition, now is the chance to grab it!

>124 supercell: Gotta say I'm pretty excited to get mine! And that means Words of Fire should be up for preorder soon too, I believe.

>124 supercell: Did I miss some email from Arete Editions? I'm also waiting for a numbered edition and quite excited about it.

Marcelo, I'm very much looking forward to the solicitation of Frozen Hell, and I was wondering if you guys have made a decision as to how you'll handle rights at Areté? I haven't seen anything stated publicly (unless I've missed it somehow).

Thanks!

>128 whytewolf1: I'm happy that you are looking forward to Frozen Hell, I really think that everyone has pushed their art to an extraordinary degree. It, at least to me, looks like an extraordinary craft achievement. Now just have to keep prices down. At the moment we don’t plan on having rights, although I’ll try and match numbers with people who ask for them, but cannot guarantee them. What do you hope to gain if you had the rights? I would really like to understand. I know for many publishers it allows for a quick sell out but I often see the secondary market flooded soon after by people who had bought and don’t want the book. Some of the books we have planned much later are with historically important (I think) artists and their prices for prints bound into the book may end up way more than the usual book, what do rights holders then do? Pay a fortune out for a book they don’t want? And it may not be easy to sell on the secondary market, unless you are part of the Fine Art world. We want to have the options to make books that we feel should be in this world. Some will be attractive to the genre market, like our Frozen Hell. Some books we’d like to do would fit more in the Arion world, not that my tastes are ever that obscure, but I like the idea of working with contemporary artists alongside the Gianni’s and Manchess’s, the Cai’s and McKean’s, master illustrators of the world. With rights, it seems to me that one has to produce the same limitation on at least two editions, currently lettered and numbered, what happens when we don’t? Rights seem too restrictive somehow. Having said that, matching numbers is always possible.

Will prices be staying where they are for the fine editions of D&H. I know sometimes once the books are complete, the price in effect for prepublished goes up.

>130 trentsteel: Same price

>131 marceloanciano: thanks. On the to buy list.

>129 marceloanciano:

What you mention is exactly what I dislike about rights systems like those of Suntup. It can less stressful, so to say, when you know you want a book and don't have to compete in the rush on the website for very popular titles. But ideally, there are enough books so people who try to buy in a timely manner have a fair chance and nobody is forced to buy because otherwise they fear they'll miss out on future editions they really want.

>129 marceloanciano: Thanks for the reply, Marcelo. I do agree with you on the downsides of offering, and of customers sometimes going to great lengths to retain, rights. I suppose I just assumed that they would be offered, as most other publishers oriented to the higher-end collectors' market seem to be doing so these days, whether in a limited or more expansive way. If I'm reading your response correctly you seem to be suggesting that Areté will be publishing a wider variety of books at a wider variety of price points than most similar publishers. If that's the case, I would agree that offering "rights" would make little sense. As for what I or many of my fellow collectors who would normally be interested in rights would hope to gain, I think it is simply a form of security in knowing that you have, in essence, a right of first refusal for new releases from a publisher that you have a great deal of interest in (or sometimes, the subsequent volumes in a multi-part series of books you're interested in collecting). Though of course, once you do "refuse," then that's that. And there is that pressure, as you mentioned to occasionally purchase books that you're not really interested in, in order to retain rights to the next release after that. Anyhow, thanks again for the reply, and I remain eager to see all the new treasures that Areté has in store for us!

>133 SF-72: But that's just the thing, as more collectors seem to have entered this space in the past couple of years, more and more you have situations in which popular limited editions sell out in minutes, and nowhere near everyone has a chance to purchase in a timely manner. That's why rights can be so coveted.

>129 marceloanciano: "We want to have the options to make books that we feel should be in this world. Some will be attractive to the genre market, like our Frozen Hell. Some books we’d like to do would fit more in the Arion world, not that my tastes are ever that obscure, but I like the idea of working with contemporary artists alongside the Gianni’s and Manchess’s, the Cai’s and McKean’s, master illustrators of the world. With rights, it seems to me that one has to produce the same limitation on at least two editions, currently lettered and numbered, what happens when we don’t? Rights seem too restrictive somehow. Having said that, matching numbers is always possible."

This is very encouraging and will IMO will make Arete stand out. It's easy enough to jump on the genre + crowd pleasing illustrator + numbered/lettered rights bandwagon, but then one would be just one of many publishers going this route which is currently a path to fast FOMO based sales, but may not last. I'd like to see Arion type publications, with more "literary" books paired with fine artists (as opposed to illustrators) without the need to subscribe to access non-exorbitant prices. Mix this with a few genre + crowd pleasing illustrator books, and you'll be golden.

>134 whytewolf1: We took two days to sell out Death and Honey lettered and numbered, I think that is enough time, perhaps if it sold out in minutes like Dune did, we'd have to somehow look after the founder collectors, but I do feel that a few days to click 'buy' is enough time.

>135 whytewolf1:

True, but rights can actually make that a lot worse since people who don't even want a book buy it anyway so they won't lose those rights. But I understand completely that there's a certain feeling of safety involved.

>137 marceloanciano:

Two days are definitely enough, so I hope it stays that way. But lately things have gone a bit crazy with collector's editions of books and sometimes it's really over in minutes. If you're at work, otherwise away from home or don't have excellent internet access, that can be it, unfortunately.

>136 punkzip: "literary" books paired with fine artists (as opposed to illustrators) ... Mix this with a few genre + crowd pleasing illustrator books

Hit. Nail. On. Head. Exactly where we would like to take Arete, I like the idea of amazing stories like, say, 2001 with etchings by Antony Gormley, some of his energy prints are stunning (not that we are), and do Benjamin Button with relief prints by McKean bound in (which we are) ... we'll always do the mainstream stories with fantastic illustrators, I love them too much not to, books like Lud-in-the-Mist, fantasy and Magic Realism stories, but made in a form that pushes the envelope with book making would be cool. Let's see what the reaction is to books like Frozen Hell.

>137 marceloanciano: I certainly agree with you, given those circumstances.

It looks like some people have received the fine edition of A Case of Death and Honey, does anyone here have it?

>141 punkzip: Mine arrived yesterday. I'm in the US and did not receive a shipping notification or tracking number, so the box's arrival was a surprise! I only did a quick flip through and am at work now, but my first impression was very positive. I ordered the two book set with slipcase and they are bigger that I expected but a comfortable size to hold. I am looking forward to digging into them this weekend.

My two volume set also arrived yesterday. The books are very nice. As I just finished my current read, these will be next.

>142 wdripp:
>143 EdwinDrood:
Same here — the set looks really nice, and very much what I expected.

I received my 2-volume set yesterday. I perused them and they are very nice. The Case of Death and Honey is profusely illustrated. I love Gary Gianni's illustrations - very apropos to the story and traditional. The only negative is that the slipcase suffered shipping damage, which fortunately did not extend to the books themselves. I've contacted Arete to ask for a replacement slipcase.

I've received the companion book The Adventure of the Creeping Man but not my copy of The Case of Death and Honey.

>145 ultrarightist:
My slipcase suffered a bump so minor that, were it not for some damage to the shipping box, I would have attributed it to a slight handcrafting imperfection. Not worth complaining about, to me.

I was seriously underwhelmed, by the way, by the quality of the packaging. I’d be very surprised if Arete doesn’t hear of significant numbers of damaged books. (Though I think these were shipped directly from the binder, so the blame may lie there.)

>147 kermaier: My damage was much more significant, with major bumping / crushing to three of the corners. It's a minor miracle that the books were not damaged.

"I was seriously underwhelmed, by the way, by the quality of the packaging. I’d be very surprised if Arete doesn’t hear of significant numbers of damaged books."

Same, and I agree. Definitely sub-standard packaging for a fine press book.

>148 ultrarightist: I was surprised by the packaging too. When I received it, I assumed it was from a seller off Abe (have a few books coming) and shuddered at the banged up cardboard sleeve. Book was fine though

Hopefully this feedback gets to them, for the remaining books, and the numbered.

>146 kdweber: Hmm, I believe that Ludlow's are sending out all the books at the same time, so you should have got the two books at once, can you send us at Arete your order number and ask where Death and Honey is? Phil can then check.

>147 kermaier: Yeah, I haven't seen how Ludlow's have packed the Fine editions, I'll ask them how they are doing the Numbered, thanks

I received both books a couple of days ago with no imperfections at all from shipping or packaging. They are great looking books, and I’m excited to dive into them this weekend.

>151 marceloanciano: I ordered a numbered copy of The Case of Death and Honey. Is that shipping yet?

>154 kdweber: I believe the answer is no, but >151 marceloanciano: should confirm that.

>154 kdweber: I think they start leaving next week, I was talking to Rich today who was deep in doing the last minute gold work...

>156 marceloanciano: Exciting news! Looking forward to getting my numbered + The Creeping Man

Well, I was pleasantly surprised to recieve my standard "Death & Honey" today despite having the numbered on the way!

I echo packing concerns, and the slipcase is dented, but I'm not too concerned since I'd ordered The Creeping Man with the two-volume slipcase which I guess must be shipping with the numbered.

It's a much thicker book than expected, and the interior is absolutely stunning with beautiful artwork, but so many other nice little touches.

I’m loving my fine editions of the two books! Beautiful printing of text and illustrations, and the books are a pleasure to hold in the hand.

I’ve found a few typos, which seems to be par for the course, but it still surprises me in such short works. And if I notice them while reading casually, a proofreader should notice them when reading with focus.

A question, if anyone knows: Why are the two fine editions printed on different paper? Death and Honey is on Munken Design, while The Creeping Man is on Mohawk Superfine. It seems to me that the Mohawk took a deeper impression from the press than the Munken.

>159 kermaier: Thanks! The Creeping Man is on Munken for cost, a little bit cheaper, love to know where the typo's are, m

>160 marceloanciano:
Ok, makes sense. The 2 papers are very similar in appearance, just the Mohawk got bitten harder, so i can feel the print through a little bit.

I’ll DM you the typos I noticed.

>161 kermaier: thank you, I'll look out for it

Just received my numbered The Case of Death and Honey, wow! Also, much better packed than The Adventure of the Creeping Man though my copy arrived unscathed.

>163 kdweber: Thanks! Glad you liked the book/s, really appreciate getting feedback!

My numbered just came in the door too. Perfectly packed 😊
What a book!!! It's really stunning in every way!!!

>165 Dr.Fiddy: That's lovely!

Came home from a work trip to find my package of Arete Editions. This will take some time to digest. The numbered Death and Honey is beautiful. I knew there'd be a lot of artwork but in in person the amount of art per page is truly special. Well done. I can't wait to spend time with this in a couple of days. I really like the spine logo, by the way.

>166 marceloanciano:
>167 SDB2012:

I received my Numbered Edition of 'The Case of Death and Honey' as well (yesterday) and it is everything I had hoped for, and then some. As SDB2012 has aptly noted, this is really a Gary Gianni livre d'artiste book, and a wonderful one at that. Gianni's drawings are dense, detailed and illuminating. All details have been attended to - the endpapers and pastedowns are illustrated, a full colour frontispiece is tipped in, and the Numbered Edition binding design and execution by Marcelo Anciano and Richard Tong are unique and top quality. This is everything a fine & private press book should be.

I just received my copies (Leather, and the Linen of both books, all individually slipcased), and I am blown away by how gorgeous everything is. First of all- they were all very nicely packed with no issues whatsoever. Yes, they are all exquisitely printed and bound, but the design is the thing that really stands out about these volumes. They are books that demand reading- and what could be better than that? The surprisingly generous size makes them immediately striking, and the sumptuous materials (of course the leather edition is magnificently bound, but- damn, how I love that linen!) beg instant investigation. When one dives into the interior, that's where the treasure really is- where it should be. There are so many wonderful illustrations (so much more than I even imagined), and design elements that my head is still spinning. It's been a long time since I was this bowled over by an expensive (for me, at least) book, or- books, as it were. Thanks, Marcelo- these are truly wonderful books.

Ron

Received mine today as well; stunning.

Did you all get tracking numbers? I haven't heard anything about mine!

Ed: I spoke this into being, it just arrived!

Thanks, how do you reply to a number of people together? Thank you ever so much with your compliments! I can't begin to tell you how much they mean, we work in private for so many years to produce everything, reading these compliments are very special, Gary has indeed made an livre d'artiste book, I will tell him your comments, he will be thrilled! And, obviously, I am touched by Ron's observation to the design, I really wanted Arete to create designed 'art' books that are meant to be read, I hope some of the other projects have the same quality of art and design. Both Phil and Rich, with printing and bindings, have really put heart and soul into the books. I can't wait until people who got the lettered edition see their books, that is really the Gianni livre d'artiste book, 50% larger and on handmade paper, looks extraordinary, thank you for your kind words, marcelo

I can't really add anything, but I also received my numbered copy today and it is a triumph. As the Oracle says, "This is everything a fine & private press book should be." Bravo.

I’ll just add to the chorus as well, having recently received my copy. Such a beautiful production from all involved. It has raised the bar.

>172 marceloanciano: I'd intended to read the book on Saturday but when I woke up this morning, I couldn't wait. Reading is my meditation and this work of art was a fine start to the day. I'm blown away by the amount and quality of art in the book. Every facet of the book is complimentary to the others. The design is amazing. Beautiful, clean, artistic. It's incredible readable. If it sounds like I'm an Arete Editions fanboy, well, I guess it's because I am, although a middle aged one... Arete Editions is the supergroup of the fine press world.

May your creative energy never fade.
Long live Arete Editions!

If anyone ordered the lettered edition, please post pictures.

>175 SDB2012: Ta! That is so nice! Thank you so much, wow, a 'supergroup'! Being old enough to remember when supergroups were a fashion, I'm grinning ear to ear, m

>174 CTPress-Tony: Thank you Tony, the response to the books have been wonderful to read, very much appreciated! BTW, I'm looking forward to your Peter Pan!

Mine recently arrived as well. Echoing all the praise above.

Additionally, this makes me that much more excited to see what Gary Gianni does for other upcoming releases such as A Christmas Carol.

The density of art and design elements is so high that, had I not seen it in person, I might worry the result would be crowded. There is a full page illustration on almost every spread, not to mention smaller illustrations. However, the effect is anything but crowded. The design is elegant and balanced.

One of the finest efforts I have seen in a while.

I can't help but share one of the spreads. There are a few others that might be more dramatic, but I quite like this one:



(The slightly dappled tone to the paper is not due to the Zerkall, but rather the morning light.)

I've been a fan of Gary's art for a long time - going back to his work on 'The Shadow' & 'MonsterMen' from the '90s - and this edition does a great job of putting a spotlight on it, with wonderful design, craftsmanship and materials.

Not to get too far off topic, but for folks particularly interested in Gary's work process 'Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea Studio Edition' provides some good insight.

I'm quite sorry now for missing the numbered. How much is the standard different than the numbered?

>181 punkzip: The numbered interior, is, more or less, the same, the tipped in frontis plate is a giclee print, so much better than the offset print in the standard, the main difference is the binding, the endpapers and the slipcase.

>181 punkzip: I received my standard a few days before the numbered, so had time to admire it on its own merit before being totally blown away by the higher state, and it is a truly lovely book.

The plain red binding and foil stamping did not impress me that much in photos, looking a little insubstantial and a bit like a board book, but it’s actually quite elegant and nicely done and the interior of course is what makes this edition truly special.

>182 marceloanciano: different paper too, no? I only have the numbered (printed on Zerkall mould made) but the web store says the fine edition is Mohawk Superfine.

>184 abysswalker: Yes, absolutely correct, different paper, and damn, that Zerkall is nice, shame you can't get it anymore

Is is a beautiful book but I found something on YouTube that I like much better. Historic edition of adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I really want the book in this video https://youtu.be/gPQwChOX0eQ

>181 punkzip: There is one for sale on the Fans of Lyra's books Facebook page.

>186 fancythings: I like it and want it too. Really nice book and a pleasure to read in its original book form. This was original publisher of Sherlock Holmes stories and novels Strand library. Cant get better than this book, if you like sherlock Holmes stories. Piece of history. Very rare and nice. Original is always better. Conan Doyle museum has this edition. The book in this video was when Doyle picked his 12 favorite Sherlock Holmes stories and they were first published in the book form by George Newnes, who initially published SH stories in Strand magazine.

That said, Arete editions are really nice too. Congrats to everyone here who purchased it. I like paper in this edition

Just got an email from Arete about Frozen Hell, Brave New World and Words of Fire. I will definitely be buying Frozen Hell and Brave New World. Not sure about Words of Fire as I was not even aware that Gaiman wrote poetry before this was announced. I'm wondering if the portfolio - which presumably means unbound sheets - will be more or less expensive than the book? I'd think the book would be more expensive, but the description suggests that portfolio could be more expensive as no details of the book are specified (e.g. perhaps the paper is not handmade etc).

An email announcement just came in from Arete showing a couple of illustrations of their forthcoming projects.

Excited to see a glimpse of Brave New World!

>189 punkzip: Ah, I was too slow.

>189 punkzip: I think at various points, I’ve seen Words of Fire described as anywhere from an edition of 100 to a lettered edition, but it’s always been the higher state as far as I’m aware.

I’m assuming it will be the printing, materials and presentation that elevate it over what I think will be a relatively small quarter-clothe standard.

All just speculation based on photos and past teases, though!

>189 punkzip: The portfolio will be the more expensive version, the silkscreen prints by Bill are pulled in five colours that took a week to make, the paper is handmade and each sheet is a broadsheet poem. Neil has written poetry all his life and are included most of his short story collections, they are mature and some are really powerful. The paper stock for the book we are using is Bockingford 150gsm, m

>190 bacchus.: I'm definitely going to get "Frozen Hell." That would be a great edition to my horror books collection

>192 marceloanciano:

Of the three editions planned in the near future in your e-mail update, I hope particular care and thought is given to 'Brave New World' with regard to quality of materials, e.g., hand-made paper, full morocco binding, etc. Similar to George Orwell's '1984', it is a bold, visionary 20th century work that has become increasingly important and relevant in the 21st century. This is what prompted James Freemantle (St. James Park Press) to devote several years of time in the planning and execution of his magnum opus edition of '1984', due very shortly.

Currently, the only fine/private press edition of 'Brave New World' is a wretched edition from the George Macy Limited Editions Club in its waning years and a truly distinctive edition of 'Brave New World' does not currently exist. If this is done properly, with production values on a par with your splendid Numbered Edition of 'The Case of Death and Honey', this will fill a distinct void in the fine & private press oeuvre. A mediocre or half-hearted Areté Edition of this important work will be a distinct miss.

>194 dlphcoracl: Brave New world will be everything, and more, of what Arete is about. We want it to be an historical book (doesn't every Fine press publisher?), Allen Jones shows at the Royal Academy and is an RA, we want to do a show of the book and prints there. Rich is already excited to be working with him. Phil is working on tests with multiple types to see what will be right. We are extremely conscious of the weight of history with this book. And I want to do, both the book, and book making, justice.

>196 marceloanciano: Hopefully, this care and attention will be given to "Frozen Hell" as well.

>195 kdweber:

Thanks, Ken. Correction has been made.

>197 horrorbooks: Frozen Hell will be extraordinary! The bindings are going to push everything we did with D&H, beyond. The double and four page plates are going to open up without a gutter! Giving a real cinematic book experience. If we can pull it off, it will be a landmark, and I love that a story like Frozen Hell is being treated this way. I'm incredibly excited with the way it's coming out.

>199 marceloanciano: can’t wait for it. You made me incredibly excited. Since you in UK you can definitely ship your books to Geneva, Switzerland. Can’t wait to have my entire shelve covered with Arete editions like that

I'm really looking forward to Frozen Hell and Words of Fire, those will be a no-questions-asked purchase for me. It will be interesting to see more of Brave New World and make a decision then.

>196 marceloanciano: Very exciting!

Having the incredible numbered edition of ‘The Case of Death and Honey’ in hand, I really look forward to both ‘Frozen Hell’ and ‘Brave New World’.

...and my only worry, now that such excellence is apparent, is there will be a stampede to buy when the window opens and many of us will be crushed in the carnage.

>204 SDB2012: Agreed. Frozen Hell is one that I would spring for a lettered on, but I have a feeling it's going to be a mad rush!

I received my numbered copy recently (I previously received the fine edition). OUTSTANDING maiden effort by Arete. Excellently crafted book with exquisite binding. I'm an Arete fan and look forward to their future publications.

Note: the packaging of the numbered edition is much better than the packaging of the fine edition.

Yesterday I took a selfish half day off work (I have a 3 year old and a 5 year old and reserve all my time off for them), made a tea and devoured my standard edition of A Case of Death and Honey. What a beautiful reading experience, a gorgeous book. Looking forward to the day one of my kids happens upon it in our library and gets to enjoy it.

Marcelo, any update as to when Words of Fire will be available for pre-order? Thanks.

>209 Levin40: Rich is just finishing off the samples of the books, can't find the right paper for a cover yet, too much choice, the printer of another paper we need has just finished the portfolio cover paper. It seems as if they are a small bespoke printer in the Shetland isles, who hand makes nice paper designs, part of a church up there! At first they didn't want to do it because 'we don't do sci-fi' until it was pointed out by Rich that they were a small collection of poems. Phil has done the printing and Neil and Bill have signed the pages, so ready to go with that. Hoping to get a pre-order out in the next couple of weeks, m

>210 marceloanciano: "At first they didn't want to do it because 'we don't do sci-fi' until it was pointed out by Rich that they were a small collection of poems."
Interesting that a small printer would refuse a commission just because it was thought to be science fiction..

>211 punkzip: I think they are a religious order...

>212 marceloanciano: So they do believe in science fiction.

For those not on Facebook, here's the latest post we put out, (trying an experiment here, going to attempt to put pictures into Library Thing):

Sometimes we at Arete will make smaller projects between the mammoth books like Frozen Hell, Brave New World, Lud-in-the-Mist and Death and Honey, projects like this slim book of personal poems by Neil Gaiman.

Words of Fire is a book of some, mainly, unpublished (on paper) poetry by Neil. Rich Tong has designed and bound a book with wonderful colour and combinations of materials. We didn’t want them to be like the ornate craftsmanship of the big projects we are currently doing. Phil Abel has already hot metal letterpress printed the books and the handmade sheets that will make up an extraordinary portfolio of individual poems as either broadside prints or folded jewels. The very limited-edition silkscreen print, (edition of 40) signed and numbered by maestro Bill Sienkiewicz printed in five colours by Jealous Studios is a killer kiss to the portfolio! Look out for more pics of what the different editions of the book will look like in the coming week. We are so pleased with the intimate quality of the project. All books signed by Neil Gaiman.

How does one make them large?!

>215 marceloanciano: it looks like you're linking to the thumbnail that postimg created rather than the full resolution image. I'd also recommend using width=600 in the img tag, though LibraryThing is more finicky about the syntax than standard HTML (no quotes around the number, must have a space after the number). I can post an example later if you're having trouble.

>216 abysswalker: Yep, still not getting it. Edited to say, GOT IT!! thanks!

>214 marceloanciano:

Thank you for sharing this here.

In case anyone is interested, below is a link to a video of Neil Gaiman unboxing his copies of the standard and lettered editions of the Case of Death and Honey and The Creeping Man. The lettered edition looks unbelievably stunning.

https://youtu.be/V9cvxWIkBSA

>219 jsg1976: That's really freaking cool. I wish more writers would do that.

>214 marceloanciano: Thanks for the preview. From what I can see the books look lovely. I might be wrong, but if what I'm seeing is correct it looks like there'll be four editions: the very limited silkscreen print, lettered, numbered and standard. Interested to hear further details on production, numbers and pricing soon.

>219 jsg1976: nice to see an author so thrilled to see their work getting such a fine treatment. Wonder if he received the numbered too.

>221 Levin40: He did, but Neil got those numbered editions earlier and, I guess, wouldn't be a true unboxing as he'd already opened them.
With words of Fire, yes, 4 versions, I'm trying to keep costs down, so there will be an option to buy the books with or without slipcases, there will be two versions of the 'standard', one with an image which fits nicely with a case, another where the title is blocked on and, really, works without a slipcase...but we'll send out more details in the coming week.

>222 marceloanciano:

I'm very much looking forward to it.

Collectable Book Vault have just published an interview with me, where we talk about history, rights, and production of Arete. Some of which you may find interesting (I hope!):
https://www.collectiblebookvault.com/post/minds-of-the-press-vol-2

>224 marceloanciano: Great interview!

>225 SDB2012: Thanks!

From the interview, it mentions October 1 sale date for words of fire. Will there be emails sent or just posted to the website?

>227 trentsteel: We'll be sending out an email with details and prices, and it will be on the web site too. It'll be on Oct 1st at 5pm UK time, although I don't feel that there will be a run, I'm sure there will be plenty of time to order. I'm in the process of moving all our FB posts to a blog on the Arete site soon, so I can bring the two together for people that are not on FB.

>228 marceloanciano: Exciting update! I'm curious to see pricing. Can you share what limitation you decided on for the portfolio edition? I believe you'd mentioned either lettered or roman numeral in the past.

>229 NathanOv: The portfolio is an edition of 40 with 28 for sale, the Roman edition, hardback and slipcased, signed by Bill and Neil, is an edition of 30 with 20 for sale, pricing is going to be emailed tonight, I hope.

>230 marceloanciano: Fantastic, thanks for the info!

>228 marceloanciano: Thank you for migrating the posts over to your website!

>232 DMulvee: take a while, but it is going to happen!

I just received email from them and preorder it

>234 horrorbooks: you actually ordered? I got an informational email, but I don't think links were active.

>235 trentsteel: I sent email to preorder it as soon as it becomes available. Will be watching it like a hawk. I need this book. Thanks for correcting me. Neil Gaiman’s Words of Fire pre-order time 5pm BST on 1 October. Arete press is awesome and respond to emails fast. I’m very excited they are making it.

>224 marceloanciano: Great interview. What an interesting background and career you have. It seems like you've worked with some of the New Wave bands I grew up with.

>236 horrorbooks: Thanks for your support! I'm sure there won't be a mad demand, poems never seem to have the same excitement as novels....

>237 ultrarightist: Yeah, probably, it was a mad, great time to be around!

Thank you for moving your Facebook posts to your own website. I'm not on FB and don't want to be, so this is much appreciated.

>240 SF-72: I've been wanting to do that for a while now, it's going to take a while to do, but will be done somehow.

>238 marceloanciano: I don't know, I think I've landed on the Roman as my preferred edition but that limitation is still making me nervous!

>242 NathanOv:

Same here.

I think there will be a mad scramble for the Roman. I’m guessing the other two will be much easier to get

>244 DMulvee: Agreed. 20 copies for the Roman seems waaaaay too few. It's clearly going to be the most popular with book collectors, not least as of the three it's the one that looks most like an, erm, book ;-) I would also understand if the book cost thousands, but not in this price range. I predict many disappointed collectors and for this number of copies I think a lottery would have been a better option than a mad scramble at the website. I don't suppose there's any chance to increase the limitation at this late stage, Marcelo? I would be interested in the rationale for having such a low limitation here.

>245 Levin40: It came down to how many signatures we could get from Bill. Simple as. And we didn't want to make such a slim, and poetry, book expensive for the, now, softcover edition. They were coming out to be really expensive to do hardcover, so went for the most cost effective way to make it as mainstream as possible. I wanted the fans of Gaiman to be able to afford a letterpress book. The Roman edition though was restricted by the amount of autographs we had.

>246 marceloanciano: Thanks for the explanation. It did give me a chuckle to learn that Gaiman is such an enthusiastic signee that it's now the artist's signature which is the main constraint on limitation :-) Anyway, the Roman edition does look lovely, but I suppose most of us will have to be content with the (signed, good value and also very nice) Numbered edition.

>246 marceloanciano:

That's interesting, thank you.

>247 Levin40:

I really like this about Gaiman, he comes across as really generous and positive about this kind of thing.

That didn't last long, the Roman sold out in less than a minute?

Well...as expected I suppose.

Had a Roman in the cart at 23:59 showing 20/20 available, sold out by the time I had entered my card number at 00:00. Hope some of you had more luck.

>250 Aleks3000: Complete fail. Did everything as fast as possible, but then my bank asked for payment confirmation via the app and by the time I'd managed to do that it had sold out.

A lottery next time for this number of copies in this price range. Please.

>252 supercell: Well done. But I had done my homework and came well prepared - meaning what exactly? I did too, but then as I say my bank asked me for a mobile confirmation of the payment which cost me 30 seconds or more. Seems pretty unfair to me, which is why I would favour a lottery.

I'm not in favour of the lottery system at all, at least in part because it's very easy to cheat on there. It seems much fairer to me to let people try to purchase something actively like Areté did. However, it would be helpful if a system could be installed that lets you keep something in your cart for a few minutes in case your payment requires a security check. Losing out on this edition because of that must be extremely frustrating.

All in all, I think the interest in the Roman edition was probably underestimated. I'm pretty sure it would have sold as well without the artist's signature and with a larger limitation, and that way more people would have been able to get a copy. It seemed the most attractive to me, being a book and really nicely designed.

>254 SF-72: Yeah, in retrospect should have done a hundred hardbacks, but they were coming out as really expensive, as much as the roman, to do so, and I just figured a slim book of poetry costing more than some big letterpress books, like Animal farm, felt wrong.

>253 Levin40: I tried to find a way that when you ordered a copy and it was in your basket it would be taken out of the store. Doesn't seem possible. I think we are going to look into seeing how, and if, that could be done for the future.

>255 marceloanciano:

I understand what you mean and respect the thoughts behind that decision. I'm just really sorry for everyone who missed out on this beautiful edition. I know how frustrated I was about Coraline and the numbered edition from Lyra's. Personally, I think Words of Fire is really something special, poetry and relatively slim or not. It's worth it to me more than Animal Farm, which you mentioned. But then I really admire Neil Gaiman, and the combination of his work and what you do with it - so beautiful - is simply a perfect combination. That being said, I'm also looking forward to the other editions you mentioned as being in the works. Your creativity in that regard is such a joy.

>257 SF-72: Thanks! It is tough when these books cost so much to make to evaluate value and demand, anyway, I'm pleased they sold, and many thanks for the kind words.

>254 SF-72: >256 marceloanciano: Thank you both. To be fair though, most online sales work in the say your site currently does and I wouldn't necessarily advocate changing things - there are also many disadvantages to letting people block off (very limited) stock in their cart for a while without payment. I just happened to be unlucky this time.

>255 marceloanciano: >257 SF-72: For me the 'it's a slim volume therefore is expected to be cheap' argument doesn't carry much weight (pun intended). Cf, for example, Folio Society's forthcoming edition of The Waste Land: $1500 for 84 pages. To me the combination of Gaiman's words, Arete's design, Hand and Eye's printing and Rich's binding elevates these books to works of art, whatever the length. I would also note another attraction: this particular work is unique to Arete. I can buy 100 different editions of Animal Farm.

>259 Levin40: Ha! I've seen and held the folio Waste Land and it is HUGE! Much as I'd like to think, and Phil feels the same as you, that people don't consider such things, I just don't want to think that buyers feel we are taking the p***, and even though we have a very slim margin on these books, a slim book like this felt too much to ask hundreds of pounds for as a hardback, it's about building confidence of our pricing being fair. For me anyway.

>261 marceloanciano:

I understand that completely, and yes, it can turn me off publishers when I feel that they're ripping people off and the quality and pricing aren't in balance. But this book is really something special and definitely worth the price to me.

Is this good to ship? Or currently in production?
Looking to get the paper wrapped edition

>263 trentsteel: It's printed, needs to be bound and the colour plates done, and then that is in Ludlow's hands

>260 supercell: Thanks for the details. I'm happy that your preparations paid off!

>261 marceloanciano: Very much appreciate that you're trying to be fair and transparent with pricing. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, yes, I do take length into account, but it's just one factor amongst many and, for fine press publishing in particular, it's far from the most important.

Anyone know what "drawn on paper covers" means? Re: the numbered edition. Does it mean the cover is not attached to the sewn text block, or something else?

>266 abysswalker: The term was written by Rich to describe the bindings, to be quite frank with you, I don't know what he meant by it. The sewn sigs/folios are glued to a card cover that is then glued to a really nice heavy weight paper that has the title on, that folds, like a dustjacket that is stuck to the spine. Hope that helps. If you are on FB you can see a little movie of Rich showing the cover and how the flaps work.

Incredibly small limitation, no email sent out day of…what a terrible disappointment.

>267 marceloanciano: thanks for the clarification. I am on FB and will look for the video.

>268 Objectr:

There was all the information one needed in an email as well as on the website. But yes, the limitation was very small.

>270 SF-72: so you received an email today went the sale went live or right before?

I failed as well. No trouble adding the book to the cart at 1 second in but then I’m too slow to fill out the forms. Lasted until the last button push when I was told my basket was empty. People are fast! I had everything done in less than a minute. Congrats to the speeders.

Anyone know how fast the Portfolio edition sold out? I tried for the Roman. Plenty of copies left of the Numbered edition.

Congratulation to those who were successful! I didn’t even attempt it today, deciding ahead of time that my ninja reflexes were good but not good enough when there are only 20 copies for sale.

Please increase (substantially!) the limitations for the higher states for Benjamin Button!

>267 marceloanciano: I had the same question. Congrats on the sales! I'm a bit surprised that even well-priced poetry sold that quickly. Please have larger limitations of the upper states of the forthcoming publications.

>273 kdweber: After about 10 minutes there was three copies of the Portfolio remaining, though they seemed to last for a while after that.

>268 Objectr: Did you receive the email 4 days ago with all the information on limitation, price and sale time? If you weren’t on their newsletter at that point in time, I can understand your frustration. If you did receive it, what is there to complain about?

>264 marceloanciano: That information would be useful to note somewhere on the site. I actually thought it was ready to ship, seeing no information to the contrary.

>271 Objectr:

I booked the newsletter a while ago and received an email with all the necessary information on the 27th of September. I then put the date in my calendar so as to not forget it. The website contained some more information, including a countdown. I know that some publishers also send out an email with a direct link, but that really wasn't needed here since the editions were well-integrated into the shop, not hidden somewhere / reserved for subscribers only or something of the sort. So I really didn't need an extra email on the day and actually preferred this method to being dependent on an email with the link making it through. I've had delays with those - an open website solves that problem nicely.

But yes, I completely agree with others here and hope that there will be larger limitations at the 'higher' levels for the upcoming editions. The interest is clearly there.

>274 DMulvee: Benjamin will all be signed, I hope, so won't have a small limitation like WoF, as I explained earlier in the thread, we were restricted by the amount of autographs we had.
>275 SDB2012: Thank you! i was pleasantly surprised too, with it being poems, I really didn't think it would sell as they did!
>277 What_What: We did put out that it was a pre-order, but yes, should have put it on the store pages too

>279 marceloanciano: I should’ve noted that too, thanks.

After many months, we have put all our social media posts onto a blog page, so anyone who isn't on FB or Instagram can look at our previous news and documentary films, and all the new stuff will also be coming out on the blog too. It's a bit basic but the code breaking with FB took ages, and if I'd known that it would take as long, it actually would have been easier to put each one in manually, oh well, you live and learn. It's a start.
https://arete-editions-blog.com/

>283 marceloanciano:

Thank you, that's really helpful, though clearly a lot of work for you.

I'm very much looking forward to Frozen Hell.

>283 marceloanciano: for me, at least, this is significantly better than trudging through IG and/or Facebook with all the associated distractions that come with those platforms.

I'm really looking forward to your upcoming publications.

>283 marceloanciano: Fantastic. That makes life much easier! I eagerly await Frozen Hell

>283 marceloanciano: Thank you!! For those of us trying to avoid social media, this is wonderful.

Thanks! It would be nice to wean myself off social media and still have the same sort of interaction.

I recently received Words of Fire, the Roman Edition. It's a truly beautiful book, both the poetry / content and how it's presented. It's beautifully bound - I really enjoy the marbled paper here, and a good size - not too small, not too large / heavy. I like what there is regarding illustrations (basically two, one in more than place), but the 'thing' here is the poetry, of course. I really liked the choices made, again not too little, not too much, so you could really concentrate on each poem there was and feel its effect. Three poems form an interesting 'set', all dealing with science / scientists in different ways. Others come across as very personal. It was quite fascinating. I love the paper and actually 'got' for the first time why some people get so excited about letterpress. Depending on the angle at which I held the book during reading, the writing developed an almost three-dimensional quality, something I haven't perceived in any other letterpress book I have. (Not that I have that many, but still - the others aren't like this. It's probably connected to the paper, too, which is thick and structured.) That it's signed by Neil Gaiman is also something I enjoy very much, there's the artist's signature, too. There's a solid slipcase that's also very high quality and fits the book perfectly. I consider myself very lucky that I got a copy of this and it's a volume I'll treasure in every regard.

What surprised me a bit was that this Roman Edition was numbered the same way numbered editions I have are, as in Arabic numerals are used. With the name I'd expected Roman numerals to differentiate this from the Numbered Edition, and think that's the way numbered and Roman editions are usually differentiated? It's my only one - and I don't expect to be able to afford others, they are usually beyond my means, so I could be mistaken. Could anyone with more experience in that regard comment? Not that this negatively affects my enjoyment of the book at all, but I am curious if this is normal or a possible glitch.

>289 SF-72: Thank you so much for your review. I feel it was a deeply personal choice of poems by Neil and works really well. The numbering. It was kind of my fault, I always intended to have roman numerals but was deep into Benjamin, Frozen and Brave new world that I just forgot to tell the person doing the numbers and send outs, and as I have never stated that (it would be roman numerals) I lived with it. Most of the other editions we have done has had the usual Arabic numbering across all versions.

>290 marceloanciano:

Thank you very much for the explanation. As I wrote, it doesn't affect my enjoyment of the book at all, but it's nice to know why there are Arabic numerals. What you write about the choice of poems is particularly interesting. It did 'feel' quite different from other poetry collections I've read, very intense, too. I'm very glad you made this book and I could get a copy. It's a real joy to have and read.

Does anyone happen to know what the price of the Artist Edition of The Case of Death and Honey was? I'm really interested in the upcoming Frozen Hell and Benjamin Button and I'm trying to see if I'd be able to afford the lettered/Roman editions or if the Numbered would be more reasonable for me.

>293 supercell: Thank you very much!!

Oh no, that's so stressful! Hopefully the preorders don't go up until you're back from your no doubt well deserved vacation (or at least that they occur when you have access to good wifi). And I really hope you enjoy your trip!

>293 supercell: >294 BooksFriendsNotFood: Yeah, been really quiet recently and it is a quiet before a storm, we have had problems with some of the production of Frozen Hell and trying to keep costs down as everything is becoming more expensive, Coraline also had production issues, both books have, quite different, sorts of unique printing and bindings, which is taking us more time than we all thought possible. Phil is away on holiday for 3 weeks, I'm hoping that we can start to get photos of Frozen Hell in the next 2/3 weeks and I'll begin to start showing, what is proving to be, in my eyes, an extraordinary book.

>295 marceloanciano: Thanks for the update and also for trying to keep costs down! Looking forward to seeing more pictures of the beautiful books in the next month :)

>295 marceloanciano: Thanks for the update, Marcelo. Hope the problems are not too serious. Does that mean Frozen Hell is already in (mass) production and will be available at or soon after the order opening?

>297 Levin40: I don't think so, we don't yet have the cash flow to enable that. Everything is coming together, Phil has all the pages laid in the metal, ready to print. I still am going backwards and forwards with the colour plates paper, which is an issue still, even after a year working on them, a couple of the plates in the artists edition are nearly a metre long when opened and finding the right paper to capture Greg's colours and find a paper with the right grain is much more problematic than I ever thought. Coraline's production has also meant that Frozen Hell was pushed down the line. The binding and sewing which will allow for the plates to open out without a gutter is, and always was going to be, complex. The designs for the look of the book are also pretty complex, the artists edition is more like a sculpture, but still needs to be thickness of a traditional book, that needed solving. The leather took months to source and when we finally got it, was not shaved enough. So we had to send them back. This is a couple out of the many. It has been those sort of frustrating issues. Costs have also, frighteningly, escalated month by month.

>298 marceloanciano: Thanks for clarifying. I can't imagine the hours you've all put into this project over the past couple of years, and it must be incredibly frustrating to watch production delays being compounded by rapid price rises. However, I'm sure the finished product will be something quite unique and well worth the wait. Looking forward to hearing more soon.