Which upcoming books are you looking forward to most?

Which upcoming books are you looking forward to most? For me it is:

1) 1984 St. James Park Press: Oversized 14 x 10, 350 pages, can't wait to see all the letterpressed illustrations on different handmade papers.

2) Gormenghast LE Folio Society: This will be a insta-buy when it is released with McKean as the artist - I'm only afraid it will be a while before it is announced because Dante LE was only recently announced. The excellence of the Dante LE makes me even more excited for this.

1) “The Case of Death & Honey” from Arete Editions - super excited to see what this new press does.

2) “Who Goes There” from Angel Bomb - I know Arete just announced they’re doing this as well, but everything about Angel Bombs production, letterpress printing and overall attention to design details is top notch.

3) “Morte De Smudgie” from Arion Press - this ones already shipping, but I haven’t got mine yet

4) “Sudden Immobility” from Barbarian Press - this will be my first sampling of their work, and everything seems to indicate it will be their finest production yet.

>2 NathanOv: where did Arete say they will be doing Who Goes There? I’m on the waitlist for the A state of Bordering on the Sublime. Do you think Sudden Immobility will be better than Pericles then?

>1 punkzip: I find it hard to believe that the FS can improve upon their earlier three volume set illustrated by Peake himself.

I'm looking forward to the same editions as >1 punkzip: and >2 NathanOv:: St Jame's Park 1984 , Arete The Case of Death & Honey, and Barbarian's Sudden Immobility as well as Bordering on the Sublime not to mention the upcoming Foolscap Press book.

>4 kdweber: the three volume FS Gormenghast set was illustrated by Peter Harding, not Peake.

But I agree with the broader sentiment nonetheless. It is pretty much perfect for Gormenghast, in my opinion.

>5 abysswalker: Yep, you're right, sorry about that. Still think it's a great set.

1. 1984 St. James Park Press

2. Thornwillow has dropped hints of publishing an edition of Ulysses soon. Looking forward to seeing what they do.

3. No Reply Press indicated they’re working on an Ursula K. Le Guin book. Not sure which title, but still very intrigued as a fellow Portlander, fan of the author and press.

4. American Crow from Midnight Paper Sales

On order, the wind in the willows by hand and eye.

Also looking forward to seeing the Thornwillow Ulysses and No Reply Le Guin.

Gormenghast LE : Folio Society (if there are anything in these .. what`s the word .. rumors, then great)

The Collector : Suntup. Only the Artist edition will be available for public though. That said, it is the art that will be a big deal in this book.

>9 Pellias: Gormenghast LE is definite at this point based upon the McKean has posted. He posted the limitation page of a FS LE he was working on, with a symbol that led many to speculate it was Gormenghast. Later, he posted a picture of an illustration for the Gormenghast trilogy. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10217211485838442&set=p.102172114858...

The Collector is almost certainly the upcoming Suntup book, but nothing has been announced, even about the artist, so how do you know the art will be a big deal... You might be able to get another state than the artist too without rights.

>8 EdmundRodriguez: Which state of the Hand and Eye WiTW do you have on order? I was too late for the numbered and would probably have gotten that, although the all black doesn't seem to suit WiTW and seems a strange design choice. Was going to order the standard but shipping very high to the US, close to a 1/3 the cost of the book.

>11 punkzip:
Numbered, primarily because I liked the idea of some hand colouring.

>3 punkzip: they’re actually publishing the full version of the story, “Frozen Hell.” They’ve talked pretty openly about it.

Lol, and I’m not going to fall for the “better than Pericles” trap - however, it’s set to be their longest and most ambitious production, and while I haven’t seen a thing they seem to have taken another step up in production quality for this one.

Is the St. James Press 1984 fully subscribed?

>14 SDB2012: I subscribed in the past week

If you would like some enablement:

The price goes up substantially after the subscription period, assuming there are copies left.

There is only one other fine press version of 1984 as far as I know - the Suntup. I picked up a copy of the numbered Suntup which is a reasonable value I think and has a unique external appearance in the slipcase. However, the lettered Suntup 1984 which is in the same price range as the subscription 1984 seems like a terrible value for what you get.

How many other small (1-2 person) fine presses can do a 350 page book? There are the largest American fine presses - Arion, Thornwillow and Suntup - which could do books of this length or longer. But I don't think there is any other small fine press around that is this ambitious (I think the Barbarian Bordering the Sublime will be around 250 pages). So this is project that could really stand out.

Subscription price seems good for what you get, relative to other current projects. This is the same oversized format 14 x 10 as the upcoming DWP WiTW which is $2000. For about $1000 more, this is more than 200 pages longer, and has more unique characteristics. I'm particularly interested in the variety of handmade papers the illustrations will be letterpressed on. There is also a huge double page illustration.

Several Centipede Press titles, particularly Dune (which sounds very close to release), Nova by Samuel Delany, and the letterpress Children of the Kingdom by T.E.D. Klein.

John Crowley's Little, Big 25th 40th Anniversary edition from Incunabula (is it actually happening??)

As others have mentioned- Thornwillow's Ulysses and No Reply's Le Guin.

>2 NathanOv: I'm not familiar with Angel Bomb but I'm a big fan of Campbell's story, so I'm definitely interested in that.

Currently, I’m most looking forward to:

1. “Brief Loves That Live Forever” (Foolscap Press)
2. “Ulysses” (Thorwillow)
3. “Enūma Eliš” and “A Scandel in Bohemia” (No Reply Press); excited to hear more about their Le Guin as well.
4. “Dark Dreamlands III” (Pegana Press)

>15 punkzip: You're killing me +). I sent an inquiry. We'll see if there are any left. It's in the hands of fate.

Just Thornwillow's Ulysses at this time. I believe Arion Press may be doing a Pablo Neruda publication in the not-too-distant future, which would be of interest to me.

Looks like the upcoming Thornwillow Ulysses is the most commonly listed book here so far. I'm going to pick this up for sure as I don't have a fine press version of Ulysses and the paper and half-cloth versions will be inexpensive (will have to see what they are doing exactly before deciding whether to go for a pricier state). However, I didn't list it myself as while I'm going to pick up it up given that there are inexpensive states available, I'm not too sure what they can do with Ulysses that will make it substantially more attractive than what is already out there (the same point was made by others over my choice of the FS Gormenghast). Having read Ulysses once (with some difficulty - used 2 secondary sources as well), I'm not it benefits much from illustration.

1. American Crow - Midnight Paper Sales
2. The Wind in the Willows - Mad Parrot Press
3. Enūma Eliš - No Reply Press

Above All Else
Enuma Elise
The Case of Death and Honey
TWITW from Mad Parrot Press
TWITW numbered from Hand and Eye
Song of Solomon
Centipede Press Dune
Gormenghast LE
Hopefully lots more Sci Fi and Fantasy from the Folio Society

Well, let's add Lyra's Dorian Grey and Amaranthine's Frankenstein to the list!

>23 NathanOv:

Be careful with the Amaranthine Frankenstein. Make certain they are using the original 1818 edition and not the vastly inferior 1831 revision by Shelley to make it more acceptable to popular tastes.

>24 dlphcoracl: Honestly, I'd prefer that - my Thornwillow is the 1818, so I wouldn't mind having the sure-to-be more modern feeling Amaranthine use a different version of the text than I already have.

>24 dlphcoracl: This is news to me and prompted me to check my two copies of Frankenstein (Arion and Folio) for information on the text. The Arion Press edition reinstates the 1818 tripartite division of the text but otherwise retains Shelley's 1831 revisions. The Folio Society book is the 1831 revision as well. Now, I don't exactly need another copy of Frankenstein, but out of curiosity, which do you recommend? I'm aware of the Centipede Press version with Lynd Ward illustrations (perhaps the best Frankenstein illustrations I've seen) but do not know which text they used.

To answer the original question of the post:

Sudden Immobility (Barbarian)
The Wind in the Willows (Mad Parrot)
Brief Loves that Live Forever (Foolscap)
Handel's Messiah (pending further details; Arion Press)
Pastoral Elegies (Barbarian)
1984 (SJPP)

>26 ChampagneSVP: I don’t have it but the Douglas Bell illustrations for the EP DLE Frankenstein look really nice

>27 ChampagneSVP: Do you have any details on the Messiah? Did you get this information out of their recent subscriber outreach calls? Hard to imagine how they would handle music ... ? On my call he mentioned Pablo Neruda but nothing about this one.

Same old, same old........

My forthcoming editions of interest mirror the choices of many described above. The books I am awaiting are:

1. 1984 - St. James Park Press (standard edition)
2. TWITW - Hand & Eye Letterpress (numbered edition, full leather binding)
3. The Case of Death and Honey - Areté Editions (numbered edition, full morocco binding)
3. Brief Loves That Live Forever (Foolscap Press) - whenever this is announced and they begin accepting orders.
4. Sudden Immobility: Selected Poems of Molly Holden - Barbarian Press (deluxe edition)
5. Enūma Eliš and A Scandal in Bohemia (both deluxe editions) - No Reply Press

>26 ChampagneSVP:

For someone acquiring their first fine or private press edition of Frankenstein, the original 1818 edition is vastly preferred. The later 1831 revision by Mary Shelley greatly diminishes the raw power of her original vision and it was created to appease conservative critics and expand the book's popularity by making it acceptable to a wider audience. Do not be fooled - accept only the original (1818 edition). I do not know which of the two versions the outstanding Centipede Press edition uses as it is not stated in their introduction or colophon.

The only fine/private presses that understood this are Luke Ives Pontifell's Thornwillow Press and the super-deluxe Pennyroyal Press edition. Hardly surprising that a highly literate and Harvard-educated man (Pontifell) would make the correct choice here.

For such a low limitation it seems like half the SJPP 1984 are bought by members of this group (me included). It seems the taste in books of everyone here is quite similar. I'm also looking forward to the TWITW from Hand & Eye, both new Arete Editions books, Enūma Eliš from No Reply Press, Dune from CP and generally any title that Thornwillow is publishing.

>32 c_schelle: yes I noticed that as well. I think I may have convinced someone else here to subscribe 1984 in this thread :)

>29 LBShoreBook: no details. Just the teaser from their email:

>34 ChampagneSVP: Wow I need to check my spam filter, I missed this one. Thanks for sharing.

>35 LBShoreBook: was the 9/15 email in case you’re searching for it

>31 dlphcoracl: thanks for this

>35 LBShoreBook: A spam filter eating it would not be surprising as Arion's emails fail various email authentication protocols due to misconfigurations. This isn't uncommon for small business using 3rd parties to send mail on their behalf. They probably don't even know this is an issue, and to be fair it probably isn't much of one for a company of their size.

>29 LBShoreBook: “ Hard to imagine how they would handle music”

My guess is some introductory materials discussing the history and then the libretto.

I recently joined Arion as a subscriber; do they allow subscribers to skip an edition? Personally, not interested in the Messiah at all.

>40 Esoterics: LOL, me either but I already took advantage of said program to skip Morte de Smudgie, which also did not interest me. Tale of a dead cat? Nope.

>41 LBShoreBook: That's funny - an original work from Margaret Atwood, inspired by and juxtaposed with the work of Alfred Lord Tennyson is the first Arion title that caught my attention in a while and my first direct from the press. But then, as a non-subscriber, they're a bit of a harder sell.

>42 NathanOv: I am glad it ticked boxes for you - I like that they are experimenting but I am more of a traditionalist in my tastes, especially at AP's price point.

>41 LBShoreBook: Looking at the AP website info about the subscription info, I don't see anything about being able to skip a book. This would be very relevant to me if possible as I plan to become a subscriber when Don Quixote is reprinted to get at $2800 (unless I can somehow get it for a good secondary market price before that time). The website is very confusing about how to become a subscriber in the first place. It says you must purchase the current book at the subscriber price, but when you click on the form it asks for 3 books you would like to purchase. Does this mean that you must purchase 3 books at the subscriber discount to start, including the current book, or only the current book with others from the back catalog optional?

>44 punkzip: I think in limited circumstances you can substitute a book from the back catalogue (versus skip). Not a formal or advertised practice. To become a subscriber you have to purchase three books from back catalogue and agree to buy at least the next three publications after you subscribe. DQ will count as two of your three back-catalogue books - that is what happened with me. My back catalogue purchases were DQ and Paradise Lost.

>45 LBShoreBook: Thanks, that's very helpful to know that DQ counts as 2 purchases. FWIW my 3rd would likely be Paradise Lost as well (would also consider Frankenstein). Unfortunately I missed the Oak Knoll DQ for $2500 :(. So it looks like when you subscribe you have to also get the current publication to start? So if one were to subscribe today would one have to get the Atwood? Or is it the NEXT publication (which would be Messiah if one subscribed today?). It sounds like there is some strategy in deciding when to subscribe, particularly as AP books aren't going to sell out any time soon - e.g., one could wait to see what is upcoming before starting the subscription.

>46 punkzip: I subscribed when Willa Cather was currently out and Steinbeck was forthcoming and they let me choose so I think there is some flexibility. They want to get you in the door so I would not hesitate to ask about what they can do for you. The woman who deals with subscribers and questions (Alice Lin) is really approachable and can help navigate these issues. She will likely be the one to respond if you send them an e-mail to inquire about subscribing.

>46 punkzip: when I subscribed, the aforementioned Alice Lin was very helpful and flexible. I hold her I was interested in subscribing, but wasn’t particularly interested in the current publication of The Nose. She advised me of the upcoming Atwood edition and a future edition of Woolgathering by Patti Smith. I was interested in the Atwood, so even though it hadn’t even been officially announced, they let me subscribe starting with that edition. I selected my three editions from the back catalogue and created a payment plan for all four. The website isn’t entirely clear, but if you send them an email, they’ll answer all your questions.

>2 NathanOv: - Angel Bomb's 'Who Goes There' is now live on Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/angelbomb/who-goes-there-deluxe-letterpress...

I feel honoured to add my two fine editions in this thread that I am looking forward to:

1. Enūma Eliš from No Reply Press. I've ordered the vellum edition.
2. Soon to be announced Thornwillow's Ulysses.

>49 jeremyjm: That looks very nice. I'm conflicted because the Arete edition promises to publish an expanded text based on recent discoveries.

>33 punkzip: Yep. Pushed me over. To be transparent, I'd been going to that page for some time. I can't wait to see it in person.

>52 ultrarightist: I will likely pledge the standard as it isn’t a big commitment - knowing about the Arete edition

>52 ultrarightist: In all honestly, I'll probably use the excuse that they're different versions to purchase both. I like that Angel Bomb's is the original work with the original title, and Todd Thyrberg's letterpress illustrations are always stunning. Arete, however, will probably be a little more "Fine Press" feeling and I've been waiting to read Frozen Hell for an edition like theirs.

>55 NathanOv: I love the text-illustration integration in the example photos.

>53 SDB2012: Only 2 of the 24 broadside posters are on the website currently, and there will be different artists. This adds to the anticipation for me.

>49 jeremyjm:
Thank you - enabled at the deluxe level.
Now to wait a year for delivery :-(

>52 ultrarightist:
>54 punkzip:
>55 NathanOv:

Are Areté Editions plans to publish 'Who Goes There' definite? If so, I did not see any announcement. Can someone provide a link in this regard?

>59 dlphcoracl: From their "About" page:

>60 PatsChoice:

Thanks. Clearly, I missed that. If past is prologue, I will hold out for the Areté Editions/Hand & Eye Letterpress /Lyra's Books edition.

>61 dlphcoracl: Yeah, after Neil's poems, we are going to do Frozen Hell, which is the original version of Who Goes There before the editor cut down the story, by about 30%, to fit the pulp. We are deep into it at the moment, Greg Manchess is doing astonishing work for it, and I've worked with Greg for decades. I've had a look at Angel Bomb's book and it's very nice, but completely different from what we have planed, we are going for another 'Arete' book, with Richard Tong and Greg creating some extraordinary leather work for the binding, we also plan on resurrecting an old way of sewing and binding (from Paris in the 1900's) which, when I saw it years ago, blew me away; of having large plates of art open across two pages without a gutter!!! The books are completely different, get both! Frozen Hell is quite large for hot metal type, we are going to see how much time it's going to take Phil to print, we are planning 250-300 page stories soon and next, so want to see just how long they are going to make, but won't announce those until well into next year.

>62 marceloanciano:

Your comments only reconfirm my decision to wait for the Areté Editions copy. With regard to "having large plates of art open across two pages without a gutter!!", this reminds me of the work Atelier Jacoumet did for the Nonesuch Press (1928) in their edition of Dante's 'La Divina Commedia' in which the original drawings done by Sandro Botticelli were reproduced for the first time.

>62 marceloanciano:
High quality modern atlases are bound with no gutter to show the full map across two pages without losing detail in the gutter. Is this the style you are planning to use?

>64 wcarter: I haven't seen those atlas style bindings, I'll check them out. Modern books have a no-gutter double foldouts, but they use very thin paper and glue them together mechanically. This uses a tab which is sewn into the folios and then tipped, not quite, but I don't know how to describe it, into the tabs. Hard to describe. I showed Rich and Paul (Ludlow binders) the book I have from 1890's and they took it apart and said: If you had one hundred people sewing and pay them nothing, you can do it! ha ha ha, well, we'll be paying a few people a lot to do it! I think it will show off Greg's painting breathtakingly.

>63 dlphcoracl: I haven't seen the Nonesuch Press book, man, that sounds like a nice book, will have to look out for it. So many books, many I've chased down from suggestions here, and is costing me a fortune!

>58 wcarter: Looks like the deluxe will sell out soon.

>65 marceloanciano:
An example of the atlas map binding I mentioned in >64 wcarter: is shown in the pictures below.





This is the The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain Presenting an exact geography of the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the Isles adjoining, Together with A Prospect of the most famous parts of the World. John Speed. 1970 facsimile of 1676 edition. See here.

Here's another approach by Barbarian Press which is a bit simpler, basically a single large sheet tipped in along one edge:





I'd be curious to know the technical bookbinding term for this, if one exists.

>68 wcarter: Yes, very similar to how we want to bind, the book that we are emulating has a much more discrete way though, it looks like they could be an inch whereas ours would be a fraction of that, although the size of the tabs would be determined by the thickness of the spine I guess. Cool, thanks for that!

>69 abysswalker: I would too.

>71 marceloanciano: I suppose being able to do something for its artistic merit is reason enough to actually do it. But with two elegant and straightforward approaches used by esteemed fine presses shown above, how do you make the call on the third approach and the added cost to pay people “a lot” to save a fraction of an inch on the paper the illustrations are attached to?

>72 _WishIReadMore: I don't know if the above do cost less, we are hand binding, and I was being a bit flippant, so they probably work out the same, I know it is easier to do the whole book with tabs. However, I want them to be bound into regular (for the text and black and white and colour letterpress printing direct on to the paper) folios, so really, it is a bit different. Ludlows only hand stitch, so the time and cost is factored into each book, depending on the way we make them. It would be easier, and I'm assuming here, if it was a larger spine to the book too. Hand binding always costs 'a lot' compared to some sort of mechanical binding, even if we weren't trying something a bit different. I'm hoping it won't come to much more than the cost of hand stitching and regular tipping in. Crossed fingers.
Edited to add: Also, with the photos of the map book, you can see how it would work, it raises the tipped in sheet above the page, with the way it was done in the book I own, you cannot photograph it and see the tab. It raises just above the gutter of the folio, so as a reading experience, which I am always aware of, just feels better.

>73 marceloanciano: Thanks for sharing all of that; very interesting. Looking forward to Death and Honey!

>73 marceloanciano: "...so as a reading experience, which I am always aware of, just feels better." Bravo!!!

>73 marceloanciano: "...so as a reading experience, which I am always aware of, just feels better." Bravo!!!