The Centipede Press Thread, Including CP: Book by Book – An Incomplete Bibliography

[lotuz]

The Centipede Press Thread (Including CP: Book by Book – An Incomplete Bibliography)

[Note to mods – I am posting this in Calvin’s Corner because that’s where the other publisher-specific threads are (Cemetery Dance, Suntup Editions, Subterranean Press, etc.) as well as the other popular collecting-related threads (bookcases, etc.). Like Suntup, and to a degree, Cemetery Dance, these presses are popular in part because of the involvement of King, so I don’t think it’s totally crazy. Also, I’m hoping that it will keep me motivated to follow through with regular updates. If you disagree, please move this thread to Dutch Hill or wherever you think it would be most appropriate.]

Hi all!

I love Centipede Press. CP books make up the largest chunk of my collection, as well as more than a few of my most favorite books that I own. What started as an appreciation turned into an obsession, and this thread represents the culmination of my collecting and cataloging efforts from the past 5+ years. My aim is to present one book at a time, with pictures and comments to accompany each, starting from the very beginning of the press and continuing through to the present day. But, while that is my overall goal (and posting it publicly gives me some motivation), I hope that people will use this as a general CP thread and feel free to share comments about past/current/upcoming CP books, as well as your own personal collections.

Also, you will discover as we move ahead (or by reading my signature) that there are some books that I am missing. Please feel free to gift them to me, or, barring that, post pictures of them yourself :)


HERE ARE 1500 WORDS ABOUT CENTIPEDE PRESS, HAVE FUN

Let’s get right into it: Centipede Press is a very important press to me.

The first signed limited edition book I ever purchased was the Centipede Press release of American Psycho, in 2012. Prior to that I had spent a few years scouting and collecting first editions in book shops and thrift stores, but I had no real idea that there was a whole group of publishers out there putting out high quality books, with signatures, at that!

At first I just dipped my toe in the S/L pool – a book here and there from the Centipede Press newsletter, and every once in awhile something from the back catalog. Not only did I love the production values, but the books themselves were great! Some classic genre fiction, to be sure, but a lot of titles that I had never heard of before. My first introduction to Tim Powers was when CP announced that they would be producing The Anubis Gates – I immediately ordered a used paperback copy and have been loving Tim Powers ever since. John Farris, James Herbert, R.A. Lafferty – I like to think I would have come across them sooner or later, but CP really sped things up.

The releases in 2017 reflect well the wide-ranging tastes of the press: they include, among others, The Complete Samurai Cat, The Circus of Dr. Lao, Kafka on the Shore, Julia, the first book in a multi-book series reprinting Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, and, to tie it again back to King, Anthony Shriek, which was first published by Dell’s Abyss imprint, which prided itself on nabbing two firsts from Stephen King:


”Thank you for introducing me to the remarkable line of novels currently being issued under Dell's Abyss imprint. I have given a great many blurbs over the last twelve years or so, but this one marks two firsts: first unsolicited blurb (I called you) and the first time I have blurbed a whole line of books. In terms of quality, production, and plain old story-telling reliability (that's the bottom line, isn't it), Dell's new line is amazingly satisfying...a rare and wonderful bargain for readers. I hope to be looking into the Abyss for a long time to come."

Anyway, after a few years, I found out about a few other small presses. Pretty recently (last year), I realized that the books in my collection that I most enjoyed were my small press books. The books that ultimately pushed me over the edge and changed my collecting habits completely were the Dragon Rebound Editions, but Centipede Press paved the way for about 5 years prior to that, and now makes up the most significant chunk of my collection.

Why do I love Centipede Press books? Let me count the ways :rose:

(1) As I first mentioned, I have a sentimental attachment, I can’t deny that.

(2) Also already mentioned: the choice of books is wide ranging – many styles of horror, weird fiction, classics from multiple genres, and a dash of science fiction and fantasy.

(3) Top-notch production values: good paper, solid bindings, fun endpapers, thoughtful typography.

(4) Good collaborations: some individual books as well as some entire series are designed in collaboration with Jacob McMurray. As CP is mostly a one-man shop, having a sometimes collaborator does wonders in keeping the books new and fresh.

(5) Individual attention: there are general themes that hold for CP productions, which evolve and change over time, but it’s clear that every book chosen for release is treated as a separate entity, and I LOVE this. I mean, I like the look of a Sub Press collection (for example) - all of the numbered editions can be put on a shelf and look good together and are clearly from the same publisher. But I think it’s a hard and underappreciated ability to take a book and re-imagine it as a limited edition that has its own unique qualities, and you can see this when you look at a shelf of CP books. There are some unifying elements overall, but there are different shapes and sizes and cases, etc. There have been two big "eras" of CP - pre-dust jacket, and post-dust jacket.

(6) Good extras: Almost every CP book with a prior release has multiple extras included. Of course, new art and new design are “extras” too, but unless your design is really killer, the fall-back of taking a popular book and adding a new dustjacket is great for business but often only a minimum gain for collectors. Common CP extras include new forwards and/or afterwards, original essays, collections of previous art, collections of previous related works, and others.

(7) Deluxe editions that are truly deluxe: This is a feature that has changed pretty drastically over time. In the earliest releases there were a good number of editions that had deluxe states – the same book and content, but more elaborately bound and with a traycase. From 2008 until around 2013, there were fewer. After 2013 these became very rare. Some of these deluxe editions went beyond what many would call a lettered edition and took the production to an even higher level – more elaborate bindings, fine leather, silk cloth, fancier traycases, and extras that really went above and beyond (an entire suite of specially printed and personally signed prints was typical). This has been a rare occurrence since 2013, but you can be assured that if CP is doing a deluxe edition, it will be very fine indeed.

As I have made abundantly clear, I love Centipede Press. And this adoration has sparked a desire that I will likely never satisfy: a complete collection of Centipede Press books! And by complete, I mean every state of every book produced. This is not actually a crazy task for books that have been released since 2013. The vast majority of new books have one state: a signed limited edition. This state has two designations, (1) a version numbered in black, for public sale, and (2) a version numbered in black roman numerals, for contributors (the Centipede Press version of “PC”). They are generally identical in all respects except for the designation.

For books released prior to 2013, this becomes a lot harder. While the typography was generally settled for each edition, Jerad (the proprietor of the press) liked to experiment with endpapers, stamping, structure, binding materials, and even book size. As a result, some of the earlier books have multiple states that include one or more differences in each of these characteristics. I don’t think anyone (even Jerad) has a complete list of all of these differences, and although I’m trying my best, I’m certain that I won’t achieve 100% any time soon (if ever). I think there are a bare handful of folks out there who have more complete collections than I, in that they may have every single book, and/or also deluxe editions, but I don’t know if anyone has compiled a collection that includes as many different states of each book. If you have, or know of someone who has, please PM me so that we can become best friends/competitors.

A second-to-last note: Centipede Press does limitations a little differently than usual. Most publishers (in fact, all other publishers I’m familiar with) have printed limitation pages that are identical to each other, with a blank space for the limitation that the publisher writes in. CP prints the limitations for both general sale and PC copies right on the page during the printing process. If you have #10, the number is printed on the limitation page when the book is produced. It’s not possible to take a blank copy and replace it – the entire limitation page must be removed and re-tipped into a new copy. Crazy!! (The exception to this practice is the best known CP book on these boards: Salem’s Lot had hand-printed limitations.) On one hand, this definitely ups the ante in terms of damaged books. On the other hand, every limitation is known for every book (with very few exceptions!) – the limitation page states the total public limitation, as well as the number of copies that are printed for contributors (PC copies). A typical limitation page says something like: “There are 220 copies of this book – of these, copies 1-200 are for sale and copies I-XX are reserved for private distribution.” I know of two books that break this trend and have a copy of each. Perhaps there are more! But if so, they are certainly rare.

And the last note before I get underway: The earliest imprint of CP was actually called Cocytus Press, followed later by Centipede Press, then a small imprint called Millipede Press for some books, then back to Centipede Press. I include all these books under the umbrella of Centipede Press. Earlier stuff published by Jerad Walters is listed on the CP site - PM me if you have any of it :)

All that said, let’s get this show on the road!


A NOTE ON ORDERING/BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DESIGNATIONS

I have created some ordering rules based on other bibliographies, they are as such:

1. Overall order of publication for a title. Each publication has one primary Arabic numeral.

a. Edition (generally: ultra-deluxe, deluxe, standard, paperback). Each edition has one letter.

i. State of the edition (e.g., unique combination of endpapers/stamping/materials/structure/size/signature sheet). An edition can have multiple states. Note: I choose to define a “state” by its physical characteristics, and consider all books with the same physical characteristics to be the same state, regardless of the color of ink used or designation. I will however note cases in which there are different colors of ink or different designations.

(1). Order of the set. For books sold as sets, numbers in parenthesis indicate the order of the books in the set.

Example

A book was released in the following formats: leather-bound deluxe edition in traycase (signed, designated with Roman numeral), cloth-bound edition in slipcase (signed, designated with Arabic numeral), cloth-bound edition in different color with no slipcase (signed, designated with Arabic numeral), and paperback (unsigned, no designation).

They would be denoted as follows:

1.a Leather-bound deluxe edition in traycase, signed, designated with Roman numeral
1.b.i Cloth-bound edition in slipcase, signed, designated with Arabic numeral
1.b.ii Cloth-bound edition in different color and no slipcase, signed, designated with Arabic numeral
1.c Paperback, unsigned, undesignated

I can’t promise these won’t change over time.

NOTE: IF YOU HAVE A VERSION OF A BOOK THAT I DIDN'T POST PICTURES OF OR THAT I'M NOT AWARE OF, PLEASE POST IT HERE AND/OR PM ME SO THAT I CAN UPDATE THE BIBLIOGRAPHY. I WON'T MENTION YOUR NAME OR PUBLICLY POST YOUR PICTURES (WHICH ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED) WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION. THANK YOU!!

[lotuz]

Stigmata
Various Authors

1.a Leather binding in traycase with signature page type 1: >5 - $750
1.b.i Cloth binding with signature page type 1: unknown (300 total of state 1.b) - $250
1.b.ii Cloth binding with signature page type 2: unknown (300 total of state 1.b) - $250
1.c Cloth binding with no signature page: unknown - $150

Published as Cocytus Press; October 2001
Original price: $750/$250/$150

OK, so we are out of the gate with a weird one! The actual release doesn’t follow the prospectus (pics below) – there was originally going to be a standard state of 300 copies, bound in cloth, and not signed, on sale for $150, as well as a deluxe state of 20 copies, bound in leather (of your choice!), with extra content, in a traycase, and with a signature page signed by all possible contributors (with a list price of $1995).

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72461.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72471.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72481.jpg

In reality there were at least three states that were printed. I not only have no idea how many of each exist, I don’t even know for sure how many different states there truly are (but there are at least three because that’s how many different states I have). All three states are identical in their composition and content, but have different signature pages (different signature pages count in my differentiation of states). There was one state bound with the deluxe limitation page that included 10 signatures, a second state bound with the standard limitation page that included 5 signatures, and a third state bound with the standard limitation page and with no signature page (not shown).

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72521.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72511.jpg

The book itself is called Stigmata. Lest you be confused (and some were), this is a “collection” and the name was chosen not because there is an underlying unity of theme (stigmata) but because Jerad liked that name. Or so I heard. For the life of me I can’t remember where or how (it was probably a message board), and this book came out more than a decade before I ever heard of the press, so take that worth a grain of salt (the fact that he picked the name because he liked the word, not the fact that the stories aren’t related to stigmata – that’s definitely true).

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72681.jpg

This was a pretty good first book, production wise! It was the first of one of the classic CP looks – bound in black cloth with a gold (or sometimes silver) stamped spine, and a picture inset on the front board. Lots of the early books followed this design, and some of the more recent books (The Collector, The Girl in a Swing) are a throwback to this design, but kicked up a notch.

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72491.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72501.jpg

The inside was a little scattered, a bit of a mishmash of stories and art, with several different versions of the signature page, and also some mistakes, as pointed out in the errata sheet. This being their first major book, CP was also keen on feedback – some copies (maybe all copies, I don’t know) were sent with a survey inside.

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72381.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72691.jpg

EDIT: There is also a deluxe state of this book, now added to the bibliography. And as of November 2006 the deluxe state was also available with a framed 4' tall print of the cover inset Oedipus and the Sphinx for $3000.


Next up:
The most famous and well-known CP book ever produced!

NOTE: IF YOU HAVE A VERSION OF THIS BOOK THAT I DIDN'T POST PICTURES OF OR THAT I'M NOT AWARE OF, PLEASE POST IT HERE AND/OR PM ME SO THAT I CAN UPDATE THE BIBLIOGRAPHY. I WON'T MENTION YOUR NAME OR PUBLICLY POST YOUR PICTURES (WHICH ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED) WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION. THANK YOU!!

[Lurker]

Great thread. I don't have a lot of CP books - I wish now I had bought more, like the Gene Wolfe books, but I do have most all of the emails, newsletters, PostMortems etc starting in 2007 if you ever need anything from those...

[RC65]

I’m excited to see this thread...I’ve collected Centipede for quite some time so have a good number of them. Will watch this thread with great interest.

On a personal aside, I just lost an eBay auction for an older title I didn’t have and really wanted...just couldn’t keep up with the bidding (that topped out at over $400). It was the Hallahan volume, SEARCH FOR JOSEPH TULLY, a book that doesn’t come around very often. :-(

[cit74]

If you are keeping track of Stigmata books - I too have one of those "20 copy" deluxe versions with the signature page of 10 signatures. Lovely book. I actually got mine a few years back. I asked Jerad if he had any more signed copies and he actually had 1 more with all of the signatures...cannot remember how much he charged me at the time - but it wasn't much at all - maybe even the original issue price.

[jon10g]

Excellent thread. Looking forward to reading more about this press.

[lotuz]

Great thread. I don't have a lot of CP books - I wish now I had bought more, like the Gene Wolfe books, but I do have most all of the emails, newsletters, PostMortems etc starting in 2007 if you ever need anything from those...

Awesome! For some of the early books (pre-2013), the details can be a bit fuzzy, especially the release date. The CP site has them listed by release year, but the order isn't always right and for most of them I don't have the release month. There were some digital catalogues that would be great to have, too.

Also there are a few things that were for sale once upon a time but are no longer on the site - for example, a statue of Cthulhu made by Jim Humble. I have one, but I have no idea when it was released. There are probably a few other things that I'm missing throughout the years that I'm not even aware of. So feel free to chime in!

[lotuz]

If you are keeping track of Stigmata books - I too have one of those "20 copy" deluxe versions with the signature page of 10 signatures. Lovely book. I actually got mine a few years back. I asked Jerad if he had any more signed copies and he actually had 1 more with all of the signatures...cannot remember how much he charged me at the time - but it wasn't much at all - maybe even the original issue price.

If you could check and see if your sigs are different from the ones I posted, that would be much appreciated!

[swintek]

Good idea! Nice intro and start, as well!

[Lurker]

Great thread.

Also there are a few things that were for sale once upon a time but are no longer on the site - for example, a statue of Cthulhu made by Jim Humble. I have one, but I have no idea when it was released. There are probably a few other things that I'm missing throughout the years that I'm not even aware of. So feel free to chime in!

E-mail of 12/30/08: A new item is the statue of Mighty Cthulhu created by Jim Humble. This item has been custom painted and is limited to just 15 copies. You can find out more about this little beauty at: http://www.centipedepress.com/cthulhu.html. A picture of the statue -- which does not show the diminutive wings on the back -- is attached to this email.

https://image.ibb.co/gRGocp/e_Cthulhu_statue_4.jpg

2/08/09: From Centipede Press News Letter March 2009

https://image.ibb.co/fSVycp/Statute_Post_Mortem_09.jpg


7/06/10: Cthulhu statue 2 left!! http://www.centipedepress.com/art/cthulhu.html

The first link does not still work, but the second one does And to drive you crazy, the e-mail says there were 15, the web page says 20.

[lotuz]

The first link does not still work, but the second one does And to drive you crazy, the e-mail says there were 15, the web page says 20.

Awesome, thank you! Yes, there are definitely some questionable limitations out there. I am going to post one probably next week where the actual limitation page itself disagrees about how many were released :pullhair:

The timing at the end of the year is nice, though. I have that The Influence was the last release of 2008 (and Masters of the Weird Tale H.P. Lovecraft was two books prior to that, which makes the statue well-timed in that regard also) and Wildwood was the first release of 2009, so I'll stick it in between those for now.

The next post, which is one of the longest and will hopefully inspire some discussion, will be up tonight!

[MikeDuke]

Seeing this make me wish I knew about them a long time ago. Most of the stuff is out of print. Maybe one day I will try and pick something up that piques my interest.

[Father Cody]

E-mail of 12/30/08: A new item is the statue of Mighty Cthulhu created by Jim Humble. This item has been custom painted and is limited to just 15 copies. You can find out more about this little beauty at: http://www.centipedepress.com/cthulhu.html. A picture of the statue -- which does not show the diminutive wings on the back -- is attached to this email.


Annnd sold out. How much were they, do you know?

[HONKYTONKSMASH]

E-mail of 12/30/08: A new item is the statue of Mighty Cthulhu created by Jim Humble. This item has been custom painted and is limited to just 15 copies. You can find out more about this little beauty at: http://www.centipedepress.com/cthulhu.html. A picture of the statue -- which does not show the diminutive wings on the back -- is attached to this email.


Annnd sold out. How much were they, do you know?

$100 postpaid in US...in 2008..and still in 2010 apparently :thumbsup:

[lotuz]

Seeing this make me wish I knew about them a long time ago. Most of the stuff is out of print. Maybe one day I will try and pick something up that piques my interest.

It's really interesting - as far as I can put together, CP was soldiering along pretty well for a number of years, selling a good number of books but very few titles really flew off the shelves. As recently as 2014/2015 there were still some older titles available. But in the past couple of years, most titles seem to move pretty quickly, getting sold out after the first couple of weeks or months, and a not insignificant number of books are selling out pre-publication, or very shortly thereafter. There have been roughly 40 titles in 2017 & 2018 and most of them are out of print. Of the ones in print, there are only two with signed copies available (CP has been doing unsigned overruns more often in the last few years, selling them at a small discount after all S/L copies are gone).

I had an email conversation with Jerad about this a while ago, and he places a lot of weight on starting to include dust jackets. Prior to 2013, most books were jacketless, but starting in 2013 dust jackets became the norm. I disagree - I think CP was just getting more popular in general - but things appear to be moving much faster these days than they were 5+ years ago so I think he's wedded to the DJ model now. I have to give it to him, he has great jackets and he lets the art really shine. I have a number framed and displayed. But IMO some of the best books from the last year or two have been jacketless and followed the older style.

And some of the older titles are commanding pretty massive price hikes now! In general, the pre-jacket books...

[lotuz]

Alright – here’s a big one! And the last until probably next week. It takes me awhile to put these together and I’ve revised this entry several times since I started it a few days ago. But hopefully it will generate some good conversation.

Salem’s Lot
Stephen King
Photographs by Jerry Uelsmann

2.a Goatskin binding with metal clasps, signed by Stephen King, Jerry Uelsmann, Forrest Jackson, David John Lawrence, Jim Croft, Stuart Brockman, and Ben Colborn (only 1 signed by Colborn): 2 – NFS
2.b Goatskin binding with traycase, signed by Stephen King and Jerry Uelsmann: 25 - $900 (15 in black Roman Numerals), NFS (10 in red Roman Numerals)
2.c Cloth binding with slipcase, signed by Stephen King and Jerry Uelsmann – 392+: $450 (300 in black numbers), NFS (80 in red numbers), NFS (unknown total with “Printer’s Copy” in black ink), NFS (unknown total with “Printer’s Copy” in red ink), NFS (unknown total with “Printer’s Copy” in black ink but not signed)
2.d Gift edition, not signed – 600: $150

Published as Centipede Press; 2004
Original price:NFS/$900/$450/$150

Note: Of the two copies of the goat skin edition with clasps, the only publicly documented sale was one copy, offered for sale by the owner in 2008 for $7500. Rather than use this as the "list" price and basis for further speculation, I am going to put the original price as Not For Sale, as with the red numbers and letters, and treat further prices as transactions on the secondary market, almost all of which have been undocumented and are private for this particular state.

First of all, this is the best list of editions and states that I have put together based on my own research and knowledge (and vastly supplemented by The Catalog). But if there’s any book in the CP canon that people on these boards are going to have extensive knowledge about, it’s this one, so feel free to post corrections. Note again that I define a “state” as a book with different physical characteristics, not by the color of ink or designation status. However, there are definitely other ways to view the states, and this is the book on which there could be the most possible interpretations that are all some version of correct.

Second, using my bibliographical system, this book has 4 states. If you were to consider different designations (numbered versus “Printer’s Copy”) and ink color, you could increase this to 8!

Several other early books had 3+ states - if you don’t consider ink color, Salem’s Lot isn’t even the book with the most states :cry:

The Other[/i] by Thomas Tryon, with 5. But it’s certainly possible that by my definition, there are books with even more…]

Third, as I have showcased before, I have a (franken)deluxe version of this book that I consider non-canonical, because, although it was designed and bound at the direction of Jerad, it was not part of the initial release. You can see it in my Stephen King collection thread if you like.

[B]Link to the first post of my collection thread, with the frankendeluxe Salem’s Lot. (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?21642-Book-Collection-lotuz&p=1117148&viewfull=1#post1117148)

Fourth, I am aware that there are at least two other non-canonical versions that were bound later from the original page block – a red version, and a black version. The black version had two sizes. Looking back in my folder of saved pictures, I now recognize RF’s table in my saved photos of the black versions! I must have gotten those pics from this site a while ago. I saw the red version up on eBay once upon a time (it was delisted almost immediately, probably because the seller got a private offer). I also think I remember Bob pulling out a few copies when he did the tour/interview with Paul. I don’t know who did the bindings, but would like to.

Here are the pictures of the red version from the short-lived eBay auction:

And here is another picture from my folder, I have no idea when or where it’s from. This is the red and black version, and next to it is another greenish version – can anyone confirm that this is a rebind? [Also, if this is a picture of your collection and you’d rather me not show it, contact me and I’ll take it down. I have a folder of random pictures that I can’t attribute that I got from browsing forums and google and while I want this thread to be as complete as possible, I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.]

This is a link to the dedicated Custom Bound Salem's Lot thread that puts my speculation here to shame - please go over and look and comment on it. (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?18906-Custom-Bound-Salem-s-Lot-Books)

Fifth, I’m not sure what else to say about this book that hasn’t been said before on these very forums! The goatskin states represent one of the finest productions of a King book ever, and as such are highly sought after, super expensive, and rarely change hands (at least in publicly known sales). They really have to be held in person to be fully appreciated.

This is also possibly the rarest King book, having fewer copies than even a 1/1 Salem’s Lot (not counting prototypes).

And speaking of prototypes, here are some pictures of Jerad’s prototype version and the letter he received from King. I’m pretty sure I got these off of Amazon so it might be out there in the world as well. Let me know if you know where it is! [Or again, if you are the owner and want me to take them down.]

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/51eaXzYcpLL.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/51rvvLtjZEL.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/51fmNYKexVL.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/41Pow-ph9jL.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/51vxdSEKISL.jpg

If anyone has any more pictures to share, of any states, please do!

UPDATE: I was going through my CP folders and found a document containing a correspondence from 2008 between Jerad and a collector who later publicly posted it:


The deluxe leather of Salem's Lot includes a couple goodies. The book is bound in full leather with raised bands on the spine and brass clasps to keep the book closed. It has very gorgeous endsheets and has a special imitation page, different from every other edition, that was signed by King, Uelsmann, and four binders. It comes in a very heavy red-cloth bound traycase.

The book also comes with a book of interviews with Stephen King. I did a handful of copies of this book, which was originally supposed to ship with the original Centipede Press edition of Salem's Lot, but that never happened. Another extra is the prospectus of The Shining, a nice hardcover book detailing the specifics of the proposed Centipede Press edition of The Shining, written to Mr King, with original artwork by JK Potter. It is signed by JK and myself.

[redacted]

The asking price is $12,000. [redacted] The binder also donated $1,000 to King's favorite charity in order to help get the signature page. [redacted]

In this same folder I have pictures of the prospectus for The Shining. I want to stress that all photos that I didn't take myself will be properly vetted and attributed, and for those pictures that I literally got from many years of google image searches I will post but will ask for attribution and take down if requested.

UPDATE 2: RF has alerted me to an entire thread about the custom bound Salem's Lot that contains a lot more detailed information and a much better job of piecing them all together than my attempts, so I have updated this original post to remove my pictures and link to that thread instead!

Next up:
The Two-Handed Engine

NOTE: IF YOU HAVE A VERSION OF THIS BOOK THAT I DIDN'T POST PICTURES OF OR THAT I'M NOT AWARE OF, PLEASE POST IT HERE AND/OR PM ME SO THAT I CAN UPDATE THE BIBLIOGRAPHY. I WON'T MENTION YOUR NAME OR PUBLICLY POST YOUR PICTURES (WHICH ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED) WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION. THANK YOU!!

[Father Cody]

Wow that letter from King. And here I thought he wasn’t fond of such pricey productions. Goes to show how much internet chatter can be trusted.

[Randall Flagg]

You have jumped the gun to present a comprehensive catalog of CP books, when in fact it's more of an exploratory article (as many questions as answers).


PM me and we can talk about this.

[PennyUnwise]

I am in utter shock at the level of detail and amount of writing you put into this so far. It is amazing and I commend you and your passion! Better than I could ever do.

[webstar1000]

Wow that letter from King. And here I thought he wasn’t fond of such pricey productions. Goes to show how much internet chatter can be trusted.

This letter I believe is before he publicly made the comments he did. King made some pretty rude remarks about jerad and this book.... and shut down his Shining limited hopes. Really too bad as I would have loved CP to do that book.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[webstar1000]

I’m pretty sure Gerald Winters has one of the goat skin 1/2’s and I think it has some slight damage. I know where the other copy is (2/2) but that... I am not at liberty to share.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Father Cody]

Wow that letter from King. And here I thought he wasn’t fond of such pricey productions. Goes to show how much internet chatter can be trusted.

This letter I believe is before he publicly made the comments he did. King made some pretty rude remarks about jerad and this book.... and shut down his Shining limited hopes. Really too bad as I would have loved CP to do that book.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So he saw how much Salem’s Lot was going for on the aftermarket and said something or was it the list price he thought was too high? Sounds like there’s an interesting story here that I’ve never heard about. Do you (or anyone) know if it’s described anywhere on this site?

[Lot guy]

The price I don't believe had anything to do with it

[Father Cody]

The price I don't believe had anything to do with it

To be honest, and apparently, I know very little about the story. I just remember reading King isn’t a fan of collectors because of the exorbitant prices some of his books are sold for.

[RC65]

The price I don't believe had anything to do with it

My recollection was that King found the book to unwieldly in size and heavy, thus difficult to read, so that the production qualities that made/make them so attractive to collectors was, in King's eyes, a deterrent for readers, and it was this latter audience that he wanted his collectible books to appeal to as well. That's the gist, but I'm sure there was more to the story as King's reaction and later rather snide comments r.e. Jerad (which a search of this site should turn up, as the event has been discussed before) suggests something else was going on, but I've no idea what. Regardless, it's a shame, as future King titles from Centipede would have been wonderful.

[lotuz]

Yes, the basic gist is that SK found the book very large and extravagant and made for collectors and not readers (which, as members of this forum will say, isn't necessarily the case - it's a beauty to sit and read), and he made some comments to an interviewer as such.

It's been discussed before and my view is that King has a very loud mouthpiece, and when he's having a grumpy day and mentions something offhand, it has monstrous ripple effects that even he might not be aware of. So even though he loved the edition at the time, and the edition has become one of the best known collectible books, and he has subsequently approved editions that are much more elaborate and expensive than Salem's Lot, his intemperate words are forever available on the internet and will be a discussion point for years to come.

Also, there was the opinion that Jerad should have waited longer to present his next prospectus for a King book, but the date of submission hasn't been confirmed and Jerad has never commented publicly on this to my knowledge, and so this is nothing but conjecture (I bring it up because I think it's important to note that it's only conjecture, since if you dig about this issue it will come up).

AND HEY, I MADE AN IMPORTANT UPDATE TO THE SALEM'S LOT POST BASED ON OLD STUFF THAT I FORGOT ABOUT AND UNEARTHED TONIGHT, SO GO CHECK THAT OUT IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT (IT'S ABOUT THE 2/2 EDITION).

[Father Cody]

Thanks, guys, for filling me in on the story. I had bad luck finding any posts about it.

Is Jerad an active member here?

[lotuz]

Thanks, guys, for filling me in on the story. I had bad luck finding any posts about it.

Is Jerad an active member here?

Not that I know of. I'm sure he's aware of the board's existence, because he posted a few times long ago, but I don't think he pays any attention to it now. Or if he does, he doesn't maintain an account in which he is openly the proprietor of CP.

If I'm wrong, and he's reading this, I hope he'll PM me with any problems with what I'm writing.

Salem's Lot is also the most confusing book, bibliographically speaking, as well as the one with the most "drama" (i.e., further comments and private sales). But I'm sticking to what I can personally verify and what's publicly available, and the first books are the definitely the ones with the most unknowns. Things start off a little murky, then begin to clear up, and eventually are pretty transparent. In this vein, I'm really counting on other folks to police me if I'm wrong! This all adds to the collective knowledge about Centipede Press, which I'm hoping to both maintain and advance with this thread.

[cit74]

If you are keeping track of Stigmata books - I too have one of those "20 copy" deluxe versions with the signature page of 10 signatures. Lovely book. I actually got mine a few years back. I asked Jerad if he had any more signed copies and he actually had 1 more with all of the signatures...cannot remember how much he charged me at the time - but it wasn't much at all - maybe even the original issue price.

If you could check and see if your sigs are different from the ones I posted, that would be much appreciated!

my sig sheet is the same as the one you have above with the 10 signatures

[lotuz]

If you could check and see if your sigs are different from the ones I posted, that would be much appreciated!

my sig sheet is the same as the one you have above with the 10 signatures

Good to know, thank you! I was only speculating on a third state signature sheet based on the fact that I know there are at least two and couldn't rule it out. I'm thinking it's less likely now.

[biomieg]

And here is another picture from my folder, I have no idea when or where it’s from. This is the red and black version, and next to it is another greenish version – can anyone confirm that this is a rebind? [Also, if this is a picture of your collection and you’d rather me not show it, contact me and I’ll take it down. I have a folder of random pictures that I can’t attribute that I got from browsing forums and google and while I want this thread to be as complete as possible, I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.]

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/CP_-_Salem_s_Lot_Rebinds.png



I don’t think anyone answered this question but it’s a pic from Bob’s collection. The rebound copy on the left is Stu's prototype I think.

[Merlin1958]

And here is another picture from my folder, I have no idea when or where it’s from. This is the red and black version, and next to it is another greenish version – can anyone confirm that this is a rebind? [Also, if this is a picture of your collection and you’d rather me not show it, contact me and I’ll take it down. I have a folder of random pictures that I can’t attribute that I got from browsing forums and google and while I want this thread to be as complete as possible, I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.]

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/CP_-_Salem_s_Lot_Rebinds.png



I don’t think anyone answered this question but it’s a pic from Bob’s collection. The rebound copy on the left is Stu's prototype I think.

Should other folks pics be posted without their permission? Especially when they weren't originally credited and such? Just me but this whole thread seems a bit off. Maybe more references noted and sources identified? Just asking is all..................

[zelig]

Great thread lotuz!

[Randall Flagg]

And here is another picture from my folder, I have no idea when or where it’s from. This is the red and black version, and next to it is another greenish version – can anyone confirm that this is a rebind? [Also, if this is a picture of your collection and you’d rather me not show it, contact me and I’ll take it down. I have a folder of random pictures that I can’t attribute that I got from browsing forums and google and while I want this thread to be as complete as possible, I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.]

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/CP_-_Salem_s_Lot_Rebinds.png



I don’t think anyone answered this question but it’s a pic from Bob’s collection. The rebound copy on the left is Stu's prototype I think.

Should other folks pics be posted without their permission? Especially when they weren't originally credited and such? Just me but this whole thread seems a bit off. Maybe more references noted and sources identified? Just asking is all..................




There are numerous pics of Jackson's 'Salem's Lot editions in several threads here on the site. All were used with his permission.

[Ben Mears]

Does anyone know who were the original two owners of the goatskin version with clasps? I think Jerad kept one and sold it via this forum a number of years ago, but I’m not sure who got the other. Bob? Surely that’s the rarest King book, having fewer copies than even a 1/1 Salem’s Lot (not counting prototypes)?

And speaking of prototypes, here are some pictures of Jerad’s prototype version and the letter he received from King. I’m pretty sure I got these off of Amazon so it might be out there in the world as well. Let me know if you know where it is! [Or again, if you are the owner and want me to take them down.]

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/51eaXzYcpLL.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/51rvvLtjZEL.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/51fmNYKexVL.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/41Pow-ph9jL.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/51vxdSEKISL.jpg

If anyone has any more pictures to share, of any states, please do!

UPDATE: I was going through my CP folders and found a document containing a correspondence from 2008 between Jerad and a collector who later publicly posted it:


The deluxe leather of Salem's Lot includes a couple goodies. The book is bound in full leather with raised bands on the spine and brass clasps to keep the book closed. It has very gorgeous endsheets and has a special imitation page, different from every other edition, that was signed by King, Uelsmann, and four binders. It comes in a very heavy red-cloth bound traycase.

The book also comes with a book of interviews with Stephen King. I did a handful of copies of this book, which was originally supposed to ship with the original Centipede Press edition of Salem's Lot, but that never happened. Another extra is the prospectus of The Shining, a nice hardcover book detailing the specifics of the proposed Centipede Press edition of The Shining, written to Mr King, with original artwork by JK Potter. It is signed by JK and myself.

[redacted]

The asking price is $12,000. [redacted] The binder also donated $1,000 to King's favorite charity in order to help get the signature page. [redacted]

In this same folder I have pictures of the prospectus for The Shining. I want to stress that all photos that I didn't take myself will be properly vetted and attributed, and for those pictures that I literally got from many years of google image searches I will post but will ask for attribution and take down if requested.

I think there still may be some confusion on the 2/2 clasped edition and the $12,000 deluxe leather package. Back in summer of 2008 Jared travelled to Bob Jackson's home to photograph some of Bob's artwork for Knowing Darkness. During that trip he showed the 2/2 clasped edition to Bob but he didn't purchase the book. It was then shipped to me for consideration but I elected not to purchase as well due to the fact that the block used was from the limited edition, not the deluxe, that utilized the Saunders Waterford paper and which helped to make it such an incredible book. The asking price at that time was $7500. It was a very unique item and I appreciated the opportunity to evaluate it.
As for the $12,000 package, that was the deluxe edition (not sure if signed), not one of the clasped versions, along with all of the goodies mentioned. The value added attraction there was the Shining proposal which helped bump the asking price as I believe the deluxe SL was valued around $7000-8000 at that time.
Since the clasped 2/2 version didn't surface until nearly four years after official publication of the CP 'Salem's Lot I'm not sure is can be considered an official state. Ultimately it is a custom bound block similar to Stu's and any other custom CP 'Salem's Lot block and probably should be treated the same.

[Merlin1958]

And here is another picture from my folder, I have no idea when or where it’s from. This is the red and black version, and next to it is another greenish version – can anyone confirm that this is a rebind? [Also, if this is a picture of your collection and you’d rather me not show it, contact me and I’ll take it down. I have a folder of random pictures that I can’t attribute that I got from browsing forums and google and while I want this thread to be as complete as possible, I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.]

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/CP_-_Salem_s_Lot_Rebinds.png



I don’t think anyone answered this question but it’s a pic from Bob’s collection. The rebound copy on the left is Stu's prototype I think.

Should other folks pics be posted without their permission? Especially when they weren't originally credited and such? Just me but this whole thread seems a bit off. Maybe more references noted and sources identified? Just asking is all..................




There are numerous pics of Jackson's 'Salem's Lot editions in several threads here on the site. All were used with his permission.

Yeah, okay but then didn't he delete them all when he left thereby rescinding any permissions he may have given? Again, just asking.....

[Randall Flagg]

Yeah, okay but then didn't he delete them all when he left thereby rescinding any permissions he may have given? Again, just asking.....
Bill, as is often the case, you are mistaken. Bob deleted the links to his pictures through whatever image hosting service he used. Images that he granted permission to use for the wiki, and for certain threads are hosted here on our servers.



BTW, Bob Jackson is a big boy, and he doesn't need you to be his Copyright attorney.


Now, back on topic.

[Merlin1958]

Yeah, okay but then didn't he delete them all when he left thereby rescinding any permissions he may have given? Again, just asking.....
Bill, as is often the case, you are mistaken. Bob deleted the links to his pictures through whatever image hosting service he used. Images that he granted permission to use for the wiki, and for certain threads are hosted here on our servers.



BTW, Bob Jackson is a big boy, and he doesn't need you to be his Copyright attorney.


Now, back on topic.


Well, what crawled up your vagina? It was a simple question.

[Randall Flagg]

Infraction given.
Back on topic please.

[Merlin1958]

Infraction given.
Back on topic please.

Vagina, vagina, vagina, vagina

[lotuz]

Hi all,

One quick note today, and one response to a previous comment.

Note: RF made me aware of an entire thread dedicated to custom bound editions of Salem's Lot, which contains way more information and lots of pictures and is in general superior to my comments on the matter. As I noted in the thread, I consider the custom bound editions non-canonical and I didn't include them in the bibliography that I am building, but I know it's an important book and wanted to reference them. I have updated my original post to link to that thread, it is definitely the better place to talk about rebinds.

And, related to rebinds, a comment:


I think there still may be some confusion on the 2/2 clasped edition and the $12,000 deluxe leather package. Back in summer of 2008 Jared travelled to Bob Jackson's home to photograph some of Bob's artwork for Knowing Darkness. During that trip he showed the 2/2 clasped edition to Bob but he didn't purchase the book. It was then shipped to me for consideration but I elected not to purchase as well due to the fact that the block used was from the limited edition, not the deluxe, that utilized the Saunders Waterford paper and which helped to make it such an incredible book. The asking price at that time was $7500. It was a very unique item and I appreciated the opportunity to evaluate it.

As for the $12,000 package, that was the deluxe edition (not sure if signed), not one of the clasped versions, along with all of the goodies mentioned. The value added attraction there was the Shining proposal which helped bump the asking price as I believe the deluxe SL was valued around $7000-8000 at that time. Since the clasped 2/2 version didn't surface until nearly four years after official publication of the CP 'Salem's Lot I'm not sure is can be considered an official state. Ultimately it is a custom bound block similar to Stu's and any other custom CP 'Salem's Lot block and probably should be treated the same.

Thank you for joining the thread, and I hope you'll stay!

I do however, respectfully disagree that this is a rebound and will continue to rank it as an ultra-deluxe limited edition in the bibliography. I have a couple of small reasons for this, and a big one. The small reasons have to do with the timing - although Jerad first shopped his copy of the book around in 2008, the book was produced prior to that, being finished possibly as early as 2006, maybe even sooner. Given the enormous amount of effort that went into the book, from multiple craftsmen around the US, I don't think the time difference is that great. It's not unusual for a lettered edition to follow months or more after a numbered edition, so I'm willing to allow some grace in the production time for a book of this stature. But that's just my opinion.

My bigger reason for designating it as a limited edition, is because Jerad said so, and gave it a limitation page. Unlike my franken-copy, which is signed on the title page, or other rebound copies that may have been signed later, the ultra-deluxe goat skin copy has its own limitation page that was produced for, signed, and bound into the book. I have permission from the owner to share the following picture in this thread only, which gives folks a chance to see a clearer version of the limitation page than is available in The Catalog:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/photo_13.jpg

Jerad chose to designate the books "the first of two" and "the second of two", which I consider to be limitation numbers, and thus include as official S/L editions in the bibliography. Believe me, as a Centipede Press wanna-be completist, it pains me that there is a limited state that I will never own. But alas, it is thus.

I expected that this post would generate a lot of discussion, being one of the most important books in the Stephen King S/L canon, and I hope that everyone will stick around to see what's next!

[HONKYTONKSMASH]

Is Jerad an active member here?


He definitely used to be..although i dont think he's been around in quite a long time

[jhanic]

One of the items you didn't mention (unless I missed it) was the issuance of a number of unbound page blocks. I still own one of them but I have no idea how many were issued. I know a number of the were rebound beautifully, though. Just thought I'd mention them. Also, any idea how many packets of pictures were issued?

John

[Randall Flagg]

Infraction given.
Back on topic please.

Vagina, vagina, vagina, vagina

That is the response I expected.....from a petulant child trying to show they can offend by saying something they hope is shocking.
I think you need to take a break from the site. Don't come back until you can control youself.

[Ben Mears]

Hi all,

One quick note today, and one response to a previous comment.

Note: RF made me aware of an entire thread dedicated to custom bound editions of Salem's Lot, which contains way more information and lots of pictures and is in general superior to my comments on the matter. As I noted in the thread, I consider the custom bound editions non-canonical and I didn't include them in the bibliography that I am building, but I know it's an important book and wanted to reference them. I have updated my original post to link to that thread, it is definitely the better place to talk about rebinds.

And, related to rebinds, a comment:


I think there still may be some confusion on the 2/2 clasped edition and the $12,000 deluxe leather package. Back in summer of 2008 Jared travelled to Bob Jackson's home to photograph some of Bob's artwork for Knowing Darkness. During that trip he showed the 2/2 clasped edition to Bob but he didn't purchase the book. It was then shipped to me for consideration but I elected not to purchase as well due to the fact that the block used was from the limited edition, not the deluxe, that utilized the Saunders Waterford paper and which helped to make it such an incredible book. The asking price at that time was $7500. It was a very unique item and I appreciated the opportunity to evaluate it.

As for the $12,000 package, that was the deluxe edition (not sure if signed), not one of the clasped versions, along with all of the goodies mentioned. The value added attraction there was the Shining proposal which helped bump the asking price as I believe the deluxe SL was valued around $7000-8000 at that time. Since the clasped 2/2 version didn't surface until nearly four years after official publication of the CP 'Salem's Lot I'm not sure is can be considered an official state. Ultimately it is a custom bound block similar to Stu's and any other custom CP 'Salem's Lot block and probably should be treated the same.

Thank you for joining the thread, and I hope you'll stay!

I do however, respectfully disagree that this is a rebound and will continue to rank it as an ultra-deluxe limited edition in the bibliography. I have a couple of small reasons for this, and a big one. The small reasons have to do with the timing - although Jerad first shopped his copy of the book around in 2008, the book was produced prior to that, being finished possibly as early as 2006, maybe even sooner. Given the enormous amount of effort that went into the book, from multiple craftsmen around the US, I don't think the time difference is that great. It's not unusual for a lettered edition to follow months or more after a numbered edition, so I'm willing to allow some grace in the production time for a book of this stature. But that's just my opinion.

My bigger reason for designating it as a limited edition, is because Jerad said so, and gave it a limitation page. Unlike my franken-copy, which is signed on the title page, or other rebound copies that may have been signed later, the ultra-deluxe goat skin copy has its own limitation page that was produced for, signed, and bound into the book. I have permission from the owner to share the following picture in this thread only, which gives folks a chance to see a clearer version of the limitation page than is available in The Catalog:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/photo_13.jpg

Jerad chose to designate the books "the first of two" and "the second of two", which I consider to be limitation numbers, and thus include as official S/L editions in the bibliography. Believe me, as a Centipede Press wanna-be completist, it pains me that there is a limited state that I will never own. But alas, it is thus.

I expected that this post would generate a lot of discussion, being one of the most important books in the Stephen King S/L canon, and I hope that everyone will stick around to see what's next!


Whichever designation you prefer is OK but you might want to reconsider the issue price. The clasped version by itself was initially offered at $7500. If one was purchased as part of a package for $12,000 it wouldn't be accurate to assign the entire total to just the clasped version.

[lotuz]

One of the items you didn't mention (unless I missed it) was the issuance of a number of unbound page blocks. I still own one of them but I have no idea how many were issued. I know a number of the were rebound beautifully, though. Just thought I'd mention them. Also, any idea how many packets of pictures were issued?

John

I don't know how many unbound page blocks were issued but I know that this happened for several books and will try to note it when applicable! I also don't know how many packets of pictures were issued. If anyone has this info I will include it as supplementary information in the original post.

Regarding the page blocks this is the dedicated Custom Bound Salem's Lot thread that puts my speculation here to shame. (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?18906-Custom-Bound-Salem-s-Lot-Books) Worth checking out, if you haven't!



Whichever designation you prefer is OK but you might want to reconsider the issue price. The clasped version by itself was initially offered at $7500. If one was purchased as part of a package for $12,000 it wouldn't be accurate to assign the entire total to just the clasped version.

Good point!

[Lookwhoitis]

all I can say is WOW!

i really love Centipede Press and i really love this thread!

thanks for the enthusiasm for the imprint and for sharing your research. i look forward to reading and contributing to this thread.

[lotuz]

Hi all!

Happy Labor Day (for those in the US)! Happy September 3, rest of the world!

Next up in our ongoing bibliography of Centipede Press is:

Two-Handed Engine
Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore
Frontispiece by Richard Powers
Introduction by David Curtis (Ed.)

3.a Cloth binding with slipcase: 215 or 300 - $225 (200 or 300 in black numbers), NFS (15 or 85 in red numbers)
3.b.i Trade hardcover with dust jacket: 1000+ - unknown price
3.b.ii Trade hardcover with dust jacket, BCE/BOMC: unknown quantity - unknown price

Published as Centipede Press; 2005
Original price: $225/unknown/unknown

The third book published by Centipede Press was a compilation of stories written by the husband and wife team of Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore. They met because they were both devotees of Lovecraft and you can read more on Wikipedia about them if you want.

The book itself has two states, and is the only CP book (to my knowledge) to have a trade hardcover state, although the following two years (2006 and 2007) saw the release of multiple Millipede Press books, which were generally released with trade paperback versions.

The limited state of Two-Handed Engine is quarter bound with black cloth on the spine and very nice red cloth on the boards. The slipcase is black cloth with an inset frontispiece. You can see that my copy has some slight rubbing on the edges of the frontispiece (which for most CP books is a small print with a backed adhesive placed in an indentation). Eventually I’d like to upgrade, but this is one of the rarer non-deluxe titles, having come up for public sale only twice in the last 5 years (that I’m aware of) – one on eBay in 2016 that was snatched up via BIN very quickly, and the other through a bookseller in the US that had acquired a sizable collection from a now-deceased collector and contributor to weird fiction (this copy).

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72531.jpg

You’ll notice that the slipcase has the plain gray cardboard interior – future slipcases have black cardboard or cloth interiors.


http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72551.jpg

The spine is stamped in gold, and unlike many future volumes has all the text at the top. There are a number of different ways to display spine text, and this is more similar to the later text on the dustjackets, in terms of spacing, compared to the next few dozen releases, which were primarily also metallic spine printing stamped on black cloth. Also, at this point, there were no logos placed on the spine.

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7254.jpg

This book is not signed, and as you may be able to tell from the bibliographical information, there is a question about how many limited edition copies were produced, and how many were black vs. red. This is because the limitation page itself can’t quite make up its mind:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72561.jpg

So there are 215, of which 200 are for sale. But copies 1-300 are numbered in black and the rest in red.

:orely:

I think that the 1-300 is probably a typo that is supposed to say “1-200”. And the two black numbers I have seen bear this out (as both have been under 200). I’d be really interested to hear if anyone owns or has seen a black number over 200.

Also, this is the last book that was hand-numbered one of the few remaining books that were hand-numbered! Yes, to my knowledge there are only two hand-numbered books: Salem’s Lot and Two-Handed Engine very few remaining hand-numbered books. Some subsequent editions do retain a black vs. red distinction for the printed numbers, but they tend to hold to a pattern that we’ll observe and discuss as we move forward.

The endpapers on this book mark the debut of a nice textured black paper that has been continued to be used in a good number of other Centipede Press books throughout the years. To some extent it’s the “default” endpaper – in many editions there are fancier or differently patterned endpapers that mirror some other aspect of the design or story, or are just pretty looking – but there are almost never plain endpapers used after Stigmata (which are plain red and not noteworthy and thus not shown in that post). This swirly textured black endpaper is probably the most common of them, though I haven’t sat down and made a count of all the different types of endpapers, so we’ll see if this is borne out as we continue.

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72571.jpg

This was also the only CP book to my knowledge that also had a trade hardcover release. There have been many subsequent books that have had a non-signed state, which is in effect identical to the signed state but without the limitation page. But this book has a standard trade hardcover binding and a dustjacket (something that CP would not do again for a number of years). It’s a totally typical non-limited hardcover book.

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72701.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72712.jpg

Next up is one of the rarer and more mysterious CP titles…

Chimera I

NOTE: IF YOU HAVE A VERSION OF THIS BOOK THAT I DIDN'T POST PICTURES OF OR THAT I'M NOT AWARE OF, PLEASE POST IT HERE AND/OR PM ME SO THAT I CAN UPDATE THE BIBLIOGRAPHY. I WON'T MENTION YOUR NAME OR PUBLICLY POST YOUR PICTURES (WHICH ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED) WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION. THANK YOU!!

[firemonkey66]

Great job with this thread, Lotuz. An enjoyable read, without a doubt.

[Father Cody]

Great job with this thread, Lotuz. An enjoyable read, without a doubt.

+1

[RC65]

There was also a bookclub edition of ENGINE...not sure how many Centipede titles had that additional distinction, but I don’t believe it’s many.

[lotuz]

There was also a bookclub edition of ENGINE...not sure how many Centipede titles had that additional distinction, but I don’t believe it’s many.

I did not know that - thank you! I've added a note.

[wizardsrainbow]

Alright – here’s a big one! And the last until probably next week. It takes me awhile to put these together and I’ve revised this entry several times since I started it a few days ago. But hopefully it will generate some good conversation.

Salem’s Lot
Stephen King
Photographs by Jerry Uelsmann

2.a Goatskin binding with metal clasps, signed by Stephen King, Jerry Uelsmann, Forrest Jackson, David John Lawrence, Jim Croft, Stuart Brockman, and Ben Colborn (only 1 signed by Colborn): 2 – NFS
2.b Goatskin binding with traycase, signed by Stephen King and Jerry Uelsmann: 25 - $900 (15 in black Roman Numerals), NFS (10 in red Roman Numerals)
2.c Cloth binding with slipcase, signed by Stephen King and Jerry Uelsmann – 392+: $450 (300 in black numbers), NFS (80 in red numbers), NFS (unknown total with “Printer’s Copy” in black ink), NFS (unknown total with “Printer’s Copy” in red ink), NFS (unknown total with “Printer’s Copy” in black ink but not signed)
2.d Gift edition, not signed – 600: $150

Published as Centipede Press; 2004
Original price:NFS/$900/$450/$150

Note: Of the two copies of the goat skin edition with clasps, the only publicly documented sale was one copy, offered for sale by the owner in 2008 for $7500. Rather than use this as the "list" price and basis for further speculation, I am going to put the original price as Not For Sale, as with the red numbers and letters, and treat further prices as transactions on the secondary market, almost all of which have been undocumented and are private for this particular state.

First of all, this is the best list of editions and states that I have put together based on my own research and knowledge (and vastly supplemented by The Catalog). But if there’s any book in the CP canon that people on these boards are going to have extensive knowledge about, it’s this one, so feel free to post corrections. Note again that I define a “state” as a book with different physical characteristics, not by the color of ink or designation status. However, there are definitely other ways to view the states, and this is the book on which there could be the most possible interpretations that are all some version of correct.

Second, using my bibliographical system, this book has 4 states. If you were to consider different designations (numbered versus “Printer’s Copy”) and ink color, you could increase this to 8!

Several other early books had 3+ states - if you don’t consider ink color, Salem’s Lot isn’t even the book with the most states :cry:

The Other[/i] by Thomas Tryon, with 5. But it’s certainly possible that by my definition, there are books with even more…]

Third, as I have showcased before, I have a (franken)deluxe version of this book that I consider non-canonical, because, although it was designed and bound at the direction of Jerad, it was not part of the initial release. You can see it in my Stephen King collection thread if you like.

[B]Link to the first post of my collection thread, with the frankendeluxe Salem’s Lot. (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?21642-Book-Collection-lotuz&p=1117148&viewfull=1#post1117148)

Fourth, I am aware that there are at least two other non-canonical versions that were bound later from the original page block – a red version, and a black version. The black version had two sizes. Looking back in my folder of saved pictures, I now recognize RF’s table in my saved photos of the black versions! I must have gotten those pics from this site a while ago. I saw the red version up on eBay once upon a time (it was delisted almost immediately, probably because the seller got a private offer). I also think I remember Bob pulling out a few copies when he did the tour/interview with Paul. I don’t know who did the bindings, but would like to.

Here are the pictures of the red version from the short-lived eBay auction:

And here is another picture from my folder, I have no idea when or where it’s from. This is the red and black version, and next to it is another greenish version – can anyone confirm that this is a rebind? [Also, if this is a picture of your collection and you’d rather me not show it, contact me and I’ll take it down. I have a folder of random pictures that I can’t attribute that I got from browsing forums and google and while I want this thread to be as complete as possible, I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.]

This is a link to the dedicated Custom Bound Salem's Lot thread that puts my speculation here to shame - please go over and look and comment on it. (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?18906-Custom-Bound-Salem-s-Lot-Books)

Fifth, I’m not sure what else to say about this book that hasn’t been said before on these very forums! The goatskin states represent one of the finest productions of a King book ever, and as such are highly sought after, super expensive, and rarely change hands (at least in publicly known sales). They really have to be held in person to be fully appreciated.

This is also possibly the rarest King book, having fewer copies than even a 1/1 Salem’s Lot (not counting prototypes).

And speaking of prototypes, here are some pictures of Jerad’s prototype version and the letter he received from King. I’m pretty sure I got these off of Amazon so it might be out there in the world as well. Let me know if you know where it is! [Or again, if you are the owner and want me to take them down.]

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/51eaXzYcpLL.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/51rvvLtjZEL.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/51fmNYKexVL.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/41Pow-ph9jL.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/51vxdSEKISL.jpg

If anyone has any more pictures to share, of any states, please do!

UPDATE: I was going through my CP folders and found a document containing a correspondence from 2008 between Jerad and a collector who later publicly posted it:


The deluxe leather of Salem's Lot includes a couple goodies. The book is bound in full leather with raised bands on the spine and brass clasps to keep the book closed. It has very gorgeous endsheets and has a special imitation page, different from every other edition, that was signed by King, Uelsmann, and four binders. It comes in a very heavy red-cloth bound traycase.

The book also comes with a book of interviews with Stephen King. I did a handful of copies of this book, which was originally supposed to ship with the original Centipede Press edition of Salem's Lot, but that never happened. Another extra is the prospectus of The Shining, a nice hardcover book detailing the specifics of the proposed Centipede Press edition of The Shining, written to Mr King, with original artwork by JK Potter. It is signed by JK and myself.

[redacted]

The asking price is $12,000. [redacted] The binder also donated $1,000 to King's favorite charity in order to help get the signature page. [redacted]

In this same folder I have pictures of the prospectus for The Shining. I want to stress that all photos that I didn't take myself will be properly vetted and attributed, and for those pictures that I literally got from many years of google image searches I will post but will ask for attribution and take down if requested.

UPDATE 2: RF has alerted me to an entire thread about the custom bound Salem's Lot that contains a lot more detailed information and a much better job of piecing them all together than my attempts, so I have updated this original post to remove my pictures and link to that thread instead!

Next up:
The Two-Handed Engine

I am the proud owner of Jerad's personal copy and I have the ORIGINAL letter that King wrote to Jerad (you pictured)...This copy I own comes with ALL the correspondence between CP and King's lawyers to get this book published and I have one of only 4 copies of the Shining Pitchbook that was created in the hopes that King would authorize Jerad to do an S/L (he was shot down). The value of this set is "market price" and my set won't be for sale until the time comes for me to liquidate my entire collection (shudders at that thought).

What is more....I also own what I believe to be another state of this book (not signed) that few people even know about...no pics will be made available....this Salem's Lot special internal copy made a very very brief eBay appearance several years ago as a CP insider sought to sell his copy but he abruptly closed the auction (I was told that Jerad was livid he was selling so he pulled the auction). I and at least one other member here emailed the seller saying we were interested in the book...over a year later, the seller contacted me out of the blue saying over the coarse of the year he completely vetted me to make sure I was the "right" person. He sold me his copy. I know of no other person who has a copy other than Jerad himself. ***ADDED after viewing full thread....I see that Bob Jackson owned a copy too apparently so maybe my "extra" is not as special as I thought (but it is I guess if Bob owns a copy....). It is the slipcased black spine copy just to the right of the Betts rebound page blocks.

[wizardsrainbow]

One of the items you didn't mention (unless I missed it) was the issuance of a number of unbound page blocks. I still own one of them but I have no idea how many were issued. I know a number of the were rebound beautifully, though. Just thought I'd mention them. Also, any idea how many packets of pictures were issued?

John

I don't know how many unbound page blocks were issued but I know that this happened for several books and will try to note it when applicable! I also don't know how many packets of pictures were issued. If anyone has this info I will include it as supplementary information in the original post.

Regarding the page blocks this is the dedicated Custom Bound Salem's Lot thread that puts my speculation here to shame. (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?18906-Custom-Bound-Salem-s-Lot-Books) Worth checking out, if you haven't!



Whichever designation you prefer is OK but you might want to reconsider the issue price. The clasped version by itself was initially offered at $7500. If one was purchased as part of a package for $12,000 it wouldn't be accurate to assign the entire total to just the clasped version.

Good point!

UNBOUND PAGES.....when I bought Betts Books from Stu late in 2009, I got about 40 sets of page blocks from Salem's Lot...they were all Gift edition page blocks (without the illustrations). Over the next several years I tried to sell these page blocks, starting at $150 and finally offering at $50...eventually there were no takers or interest (I think most of these originally came from George Beahm). I held them a couple more years and then (CRINGES) disposed of all but two copies. Those I gave to Jerome so he could create his special Salem's Lot rebound books.

[Lurker]

Wow.

[peripheral]

No photographs, David? Come on... why? I promise not to do anything inappropriate or untoward on, near, or in the general direction of said photographs(s)

[wizardsrainbow]

No photographs, David? Come on... why? I promise not to do anything inappropriate or untoward on, near, or in the general direction of said photographs(s)

well, pictures of the Jerad personal copy are already posted when it was for sale...it's the pics with the letter and all the extras...the supposed "secret" book i see in the repost of Bob Jackson's Salem's collection...it is the shorter slipcased one (black spine, reddish top to slipcase) to the right of the two rebound versions.

[RC65]

There was also a bookclub edition of ENGINE...not sure how many Centipede titles had that additional distinction, but I don’t believe it’s many.

I did not know that - thank you! I've added a note.
I had the bookclub edition in my collection, but gave it away in the hopes that a true 1st would come my way as a replacement, but several years later no such luck.

[jon10g]

Fascinating stuff.

[lotuz]

I am the proud owner of Jerad's personal copy and I have the ORIGINAL letter that King wrote to Jerad (you pictured)...This copy I own comes with ALL the correspondence between CP and King's lawyers to get this book published and I have one of only 4 copies of the Shining Pitchbook that was created in the hopes that King would authorize Jerad to do an S/L (he was shot down). The value of this set is "market price" and my set won't be for sale until the time comes for me to liquidate my entire collection (shudders at that thought).

What is more....I also own what I believe to be another state of this book (not signed) that few people even know about...no pics will be made available....this Salem's Lot special internal copy made a very very brief eBay appearance several years ago as a CP insider sought to sell his copy but he abruptly closed the auction (I was told that Jerad was livid he was selling so he pulled the auction). I and at least one other member here emailed the seller saying we were interested in the book...over a year later, the seller contacted me out of the blue saying over the coarse of the year he completely vetted me to make sure I was the "right" person. He sold me his copy. I know of no other person who has a copy other than Jerad himself. ***ADDED after viewing full thread....I see that Bob Jackson owned a copy too apparently so maybe my "extra" is not as special as I thought (but it is I guess if Bob owns a copy....). It is the slipcased black spine copy just to the right of the Betts rebound page blocks.



UNBOUND PAGES.....when I bought Betts Books from Stu late in 2009, I got about 40 sets of page blocks from Salem's Lot...they were all Gift edition page blocks (without the illustrations). Over the next several years I tried to sell these page blocks, starting at $150 and finally offering at $50...eventually there were no takers or interest (I think most of these originally came from George Beahm). I held them a couple more years and then (CRINGES) disposed of all but two copies. Those I gave to Jerome so he could create his special Salem's Lot rebound books.

WOW - congrats on acquiring such an important book! And all the correspondence...! And The Shining pitchbook...! I'd love to get my hands on one of those someday - good to know that there are three other copies floating around, though I imagine they all currently have loving homes that they will be reluctant to leave.

I didn't realize that there were so many book blocks - at least a good number of them were turned into beautiful aftermarket books.

And the "secret" book is very interesting! Perhaps a prototype for the gift edition?

[CyberGhostface]

Only got the 'Illustrated' trade version for 'Salem's Lot' but I still thought it was a beautiful production and I liked that they made the deleted scenes available to the public.

I own the 'Knowing Darkness' and while it's huge and not something I'm going to be opening up again and again it was nice to see the art in such a fashion. I think Bernie Wrightson's art was what impressed me the most, his artwork for 'The Stand' has a lot of detail and linework that the trade versions didn't do justice.

[Scoogs]

UNBOUND PAGES.....when I bought Betts Books from Stu late in 2009, I got about 40 sets of page blocks from Salem's Lot...they were all Gift edition page blocks (without the illustrations). Over the next several years I tried to sell these page blocks, starting at $150 and finally offering at $50...eventually there were no takers or interest (I think most of these originally came from George Beahm). I held them a couple more years and then (CRINGES) disposed of all but two copies. Those I gave to Jerome so he could create his special Salem's Lot rebound books.

That's interesting that your blocks were the gift edition. I always thought that the block I purchased from Jared was an unsigned version of the limited.
I sold it to John years ago, so he would have to verify that.

Perhaps Jared eventually sold blocks of both versions.

[Randall Flagg]

The page blocks were from the SL edition.

[wizardsrainbow]

I stand corrected...I don't have any anymore, was going from memory....Jerome would know cause I sent him at least one if not two copies.

[Ari_Racing]

Very interesting thread! Thanks, Lotuz! Please keep on posting here! :)

[lotuz]

Ask and you shall receive, Ari :)

Chimera I
Various Authors

4.a Leather binding in cloth traycase: 20 - $1000 (red Roman numerals)
4.b Cloth two-tone binding in cloth slipcase with frontispiece: 220 or 520 – $250 (200 or 500 with black numbers), NFS (20 with red numbers)

Published as Centipede Press; 2005
Original price: $1000/$250

The fourth book published by Centipede Press is another collection of stories, essays, and art, much like Stigmata, and again, with no explicit underlying theme related to the title. The limitation page states that 540 total copies were printed, but once upon a time the Centipede Press website listed 200. I’m inclined to believe the limitation page over the website, but this is one of the rarest Centipede Press titles out there, so I’d be pretty amazed if there were a full 500 copies. There were still copies of Stigmata for sale a decade after the release but this book pretty much never sees the secondary market. However, it’s also a more beautiful book than Stigmata IMO, so maybe there really are 500 copies out there and all are in happy homes.

The limited version came with a slipcase, and some number of the initial customers (not sure how many) got to choose which art from the book they wanted printed and affixed to the slipcase, so there are an unknown number of different slipcases out there. You can see a little bit of rubbing to the sides of the print on my slipcase – this is one of a number of CP titles that I couldn’t turn down because it comes up so rarely, but that I ultimately hope to upgrade one day.

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72581.jpg

I don’t know if the same was true for the traycase for the leather bound version – I’ve never seen one, or heard of one for sale.

The spine of the book is stamped “CHIMERA I”:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72671.jpg

The book is bound in a fine German cloth – I’m not sure what the style is called, but it’s shot through with lighter threads and has a more interesting and distinctive look than the plain black cloth. It’s also two-tone and has a chimera stamped on the front board, in black!

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72591.jpg

The two-tone cloth is hard to pull off, logistically, and in the close-up of the chimera you can see some minor fraying.

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7260.jpg

I think that this is a cool technique and an early example of how Centipede Press was willing to experiment with bindings. There is at least one more book that has the two-tone cover, but it’s the rarest state of that book because Jerad didn’t like how it turned out and had most of the batch rebound. Hint: it’s not Chimera II. I don’t know if Chimera II is two-tone or not. At this point I have only even seen one picture, and it’s just the spine in a collection of CP books. I’ve never seen Chimera II for sale. But that’s a topic for a future post…

Here is a shot of the contents – you can see that it has quite the range of topics, ranging from an essay by Freud, to a Flannery O’Connor story (one of my favorite authors, so this was a treat), a Robert Bloch piece, and a number of artist’s portfolios. David Curtis, who wrote the introduction to the previous CP book (Two-Handed Engine contributed a piece about Arkham House. Helmut Wenske would later be featured in the CP release of The Golem. Michael Shae’s story “The Autopsy” would become the feature piece in a collection of his work, appropriately titled The Autopsy and Other Stories. The artist portfolio of John Stewart would also later be expanded into a book.

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7262.jpg

Here is the title page and a couple of shots of the interior artwork:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7261.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72641.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7263.jpg

The limitation page lists all the editions that were created. Note that the limitation number was printed on the page – this is the first book where the limitation number was printed rather than handwritten.
This technique became the standard for all later CP books. There are a couple of advantages to this. One is that some of the numbering can become very creative (we’ll see examples of that in the future; one of my favorites is for the Kane series, which is a while away, but in the meantime we’ll cover several entries in the Studies of Horror Film series, which also has some good ones). The second advantage is that there are no unnumbered PC copies. For almost all CP books, the full print run is known and is stated on the limitation page. The contributor copies of Centipede Press books are designated by Roman numerals, and are listed on the limitation page as well. There are usually 20-25 total, sometimes in red, sometimes in black. The disadvantage to this system is that if a book is damaged in transit, it’s a big deal to get your number replaced. The limitation page has to be excised from your book and tipped into another copy, which in turn has to have its limitation page first excised. Fortunately, CP books are packaged very well – I have only had one book arrive damaged, and that was because the outside packaging was pierced with a long skinny rod of some sort (fortunately only the slipcase was damaged).

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72651.jpg

Here is one last shot, of the endpapers – the same textured black as Two-Handed Engine.

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_72661.jpg

Up next is the very first Studies in Horror Film, a neat idea for a group of books that are still being published today.

Studies in Horror Film: Nosferatu

NOTE: IF YOU HAVE A VERSION OF THIS BOOK THAT I DIDN'T POST PICTURES OF OR THAT I'M NOT AWARE OF, PLEASE POST IT HERE AND/OR PM ME SO THAT I CAN UPDATE THE BIBLIOGRAPHY. I WON'T MENTION YOUR NAME OR PUBLICLY POST YOUR PICTURES (WHICH ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED) WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION. THANK YOU!!

[Lurker]

That's the one pictured in PostMortem 2. Do you have those?

[lotuz]

That's the one pictured in PostMortem 2. Do you have those?

I have no idea what that is! Please enlighten me :) :)

EDIT: Also, do you mean this book in general, or this copy?

[Lurker]

PostMortem was his early brochures. Then he sent out ones called Centipede. I'll have to see if there was another after that. He also sent out just e-mail info. At some point he went to the newsletters. Not sure when - have almost 300 emails from Centipede. I don't think I can attach to a PM, but if you PM me your email, I will send what have to you bit by bit. I think you will enjoy - some not just his books, but articles, book reviews, etc. Also do you have Rue Morgue, issue 76, March 2008. If not, pick one up!

[Father Cody]

Hey thanks, Lotuz, for starting this thread. Very informative.

[lotuz]

Longtime member and fellow CP aficionado Lurker has been sending me some of the earliest Centipede Press newsletters, and this has allowed me to make some updates to the very earliest entries. I'll add a short post about each update.

Note: the rest of the month is really busy for me so the updates will come over time and also I reduced my goal (temporarily) to one book per week for the remainder of September.

[PennyUnwise]

Longtime member and fellow CP aficionado Lurker has been sending me some of the earliest Centipede Press newsletters, and this has allowed me to make some updates to the very earliest entries. I'll add a short post about each update.

Note: the rest of the month is really busy for me so the updates will come over time and also I reduced my goal (temporarily) to one book per week for the remainder of September.

This is the most impressive thread on the site in my opinion take your time! You already blew me away.

[lotuz]

Glad to see there are some steady readers :)

Update 1: Stigmata

It turns out that although there are some limitation pages that mention a "deluxe state" but are bound in cloth (see original post here (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?21661-The-Centipede-Press-Thread-(Including-CP-Book-by-Book-%96-An-Incomplete-Bibliography)&p=1121491&viewfull=1#post1121491)), an unknown number of those pages were bound into actually superior bindings: leather bound and in traycases.

Based on information from Post Mortem #2, from February 2007 (kindly supplied by Lurker), there were at least 5 of them (because that's how many were left for sale at that point), originally priced at $750. And there was even an option to purchase a large (4' tall) framed print of the inset artwork (Oedipus and the Sphinx) with the book for a total of $3000. Needless to say, I would love to see pictures of this edition and/or the print.

I've added the deluxe state as "1.a" and moved the other states down a letter (the cloth states with limitation pages are now 1.b.i and 1.b.ii and the cloth state with no limitation page is 1.c). The print doesn't warrant a separate state because the book is presumably the same, but is now mentioned in the post.

Fortunately for me, there is an amazing amount of information about the next release ('Salem's Lot) on this site, and I don't think I missed any official states of that book. Also it was definitely sold out by the time the newsletters I now have started (November 2006).

But I'll have updates to Two-Handed Engine (an additional state) and Chimera I (some confusion with Chimera II on my part, as well as a tyographical innovation that I missed but that plays an important role in a later CP release (interesting I know :cool:)) in the next few days, as well as the next entry at some point this week.


:rose:

[Clegane]

I own all but a handful of Centipede Press titles (including about 10 Deluxes) and am looking forward to seeing what surfaces in this thread. Thanks. And feel free to let me know what Deluxes you don't have decent photos of; I can provide them if they're ones I actually own.

[lotuz]

I own all but a handful of Centipede Press titles (including about 10 Deluxes) and am looking forward to seeing what surfaces in this thread. Thanks. And feel free to let me know what Deluxes you don't have decent photos of; I can provide them if they're ones I actually own.

Welcome!!

I'm so glad that there are a number of CP collectors coming out of the woodwork, as well as some folks who are more generally interested in chronicling an awesome small press. And I hope that some new people will check them out because of this thread :)

My goal is to post pictures of every state that I own, so if I add a new post and it doesn't have pictures of the same book(s) that someone has in their collection, please feel free to add them to the thread or to PM me!!

The deluxe states are where I really fall short. Most of the earliest titles have deluxe states, and all of the "gothic novels" have them, but I only have a handful...

Also, I don't include them in the bibliography (maybe I should), but ARCs/proofs of CP books are also exceedingly rare, so anybody with those copies, please stand up :clap:

[biomieg]

As a former proof collector I'd be very interested in seeing CP ARCs/proofs - never knew they existed!

[Father Cody]

As a former proof collector I'd be very interested in seeing CP ARCs/proofs - never knew they existed!

+1

[jhanic]

Same here.

John

[mikeC]

I am looking forward to see if you post pics of Don Brautigam book if you have it.
I have only seen the listing from the newsletter and one review of it from a google search and nothing else.

[Clegane]

I am looking forward to see if you post pics of Don Brautigam book if you have it.
I have only seen the listing from the newsletter and one review of it from a google search and nothing else.

I can take photographs of that one if the OP does not own a copy. The only two I am actually missing (deluxe variants notwithstanding) are Chimera and Chimera II. :/ Both have eluded me for years.

[Br!an]

Nice thread, Tim. :thumbsup:

[Ari_Racing]

I don't know if anyone noticed it: in the last newsletter Jerad mentioned he found 6 pages signed by Don Brautigan and Dean Koontz and he'll put up a deluxe edition of the porfolio that'd be around 1.5K.

[becca69]

The first set of 3 books in Moorcock's Elric series is available at Centipede Press today.

http://www.centipedepress.com/fantasy/elric1.html

[Hunchback Jack]

Signed copies of Elric sold out!

Unsigned sets are still available.

[Patrick]

While I appreciate the quality of Jerad’s productions, I don’t collect Centipede in particular (aside from ‘SALEM’S). However this thread is making me rethink that position. Thanks for all the research and thought you are putting into this thread. It is fascinating, informative, and entertaining. I look forward to reading more.

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

All I have are his HELL HOUSE, ENDER'S GAME and one of the SALEM'S editions (I don't even know which one as only the Hell House is not in shrinkwrap), with CHILDHOOD'S END coming soon to a bookshelf very near me. They are all beautifully done books I am proud to own.

[Kingfan24]

Moorcock is such a terrible writer.

[lotuz]

That was a pretty quick sellout! But these books have been in the pipeline for quite some time, have excellent design, and some top-notch contributors, so I'm not totally surprised.


While I appreciate the quality of Jerad’s productions, I don’t collect Centipede in particular (aside from ‘SALEM’S). However this thread is making me rethink that position. Thanks for all the research and thought you are putting into this thread. It is fascinating, informative, and entertaining. I look forward to reading more.

I am woefully behind where I thought I would be by this time! I have pictures lined up for the next few books but it takes awhile to put the posts themselves together. But that's no excuse for not having a new one up in almost three months :doh:

Stay tuned and I will try to get a couple of posts up this week :thumbsup:

Next up is the first Studies in Horror Film book, though that title wasn't in use yet. Instead, it is called Nosferatu: History, Criticism, and Interpretation.

[swintek]

Looking forward to your post(s)!

Ron

[scarface]

This is a fantastic thread Lotuz! Is there any way of keeping track of unsigned deluxe editions? I haven't been a long-time CP collector, however I know there are usually overruns of the deluxe editions which are sold for less than the signed ones. As far as I know the only place to get hold of these copies is the newsletter/emailing Jared but that does not tell you how many copies were made available for sale (although I imagine these will be very few in number).

[swintek]

This is a fantastic thread Lotuz! Is there any way of keeping track of unsigned deluxe editions? I haven't been a long-time CP collector, however I know there are usually overruns of the deluxe editions which are sold for less than the signed ones. As far as I know the only place to get hold of these copies is the newsletter/emailing Jared but that does not tell you how many copies were made available for sale (although I imagine these will be very few in number).

Yes, as much as we all love Centipede- their "Complete" bibliography will be a nightmare to compile- for the above reasons among others (i.e. published price fluctuations, changing cover art, etc.), which is why the work you are doing here, Lotuz, is important, and will- no doubt- prove invaluable to current and future researchers.

[lotuz]

This is a fantastic thread Lotuz! Is there any way of keeping track of unsigned deluxe editions? I haven't been a long-time CP collector, however I know there are usually overruns of the deluxe editions which are sold for less than the signed ones. As far as I know the only place to get hold of these copies is the newsletter/emailing Jared but that does not tell you how many copies were made available for sale (although I imagine these will be very few in number).

Are you sure that there are overruns of the deluxe editions (which are mostly limited to Millipede Press titles, the Gothic series, and the giant art books)? I know that there have been regular overruns of the regular S/L titles for a number of years - pretty much every title published since 2013 has had a small number (generally impossible to verify exactly) of unsigned overruns, but I have not heard of a deluxe title with overruns. When there is an unsigned overrun title that I can verify I will include it as a published "state", though mostly without specific print runs, since they are largely unknown.



Yes, as much as we all love Centipede- their "Complete" bibliography will be a nightmare to compile- for the above reasons among others (i.e. published price fluctuations, changing cover art, etc.)...

THIS x1000.

I don't think it's even possible to publish a 100% complete bibliography. But I'm hoping I can get maybe 90% there - and a little more if people chip in if they have a state or information for a book that I don't put in a post!

[lotuz]

This is a placeholder post - there is an update to the Chimera I post that I need to make. It is the first book to experiment with an alternative printing technique that is really very clever. Some of the text was altered to be less legible and more scribbly/wavy. I'm not sure how it was done but it was part of the printing process and not a font change because the letters are inconsistent throughout those chapters and don't conform to a type block. The technique was used to its full potential in Jeckyll & Hyde, for which I will include pictures. I don't have pictures of the Chimera I pages but I will try to take them and update the original post.

Nosferatu: History, Criticism, and Interpretation is coming in the next hour.

[scarface]

Ok so I am talking about the recent Deluxe editions, for eg. the one made for Swords and Deviltry for instance. Perhaps that was a one-off, but I have a copy of one of the overruns, an unsigned edition of the oversized, slipcased copy. Are Deluxe editions different than "oversize" editions?

[lotuz]

Nosferatu: History, Criticism, and Interpretation
Various Authors

5.a Leather binding in cloth traycase: 22 - $1000 [MAY NOT EXIST]
5.b.i Cloth two-tone binding in cloth slipcase with deluxe limitation page signed by Herzog: 22 or fewer – unknown price (red roman numerals)
5.b.ii Cloth two-tone binding in cloth slipcase: 300/400/500 – $250 (unnumbered)

Published as Centipede Press; Halloween 2005
Original price: $1000/unknown/$250


This is the fifth book in the bibliography, though as the limitation notes it is actually the fourth Centipede Press book, with Stigmata published under the Cocytus Press imprint (the only Cocytus Press book). This book is important because it established very early that the interests of Centipede Press are not just literary, but historical. This book is about the movie Nosferatu, an unauthorized adaptiation of Dracula and the first(?) “German expressionist horror film”, released in 1922, directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Shreck. It’s a defining film in the horror film canon, and much has been written about it.

This book is the predecessor of the “Studies In Horror Film” books, which have been continuously, if intermittently, released since (the latest was The Howling, around Halloween of this year). These books engage with horror films from the past 100 years in a very serious way, collecting critical essays about the films along with reminiscences from actors (when possible), and lots of commentary from people involved with, adjacent to, or seriously interested in the film at hand. These books are solidly academic! They are well sourced, highly informational, and are serious reflections on some of the key films of the horror genre.

This book sets a high bar for the series, both in terms of its production quality and content.

Here is a shot of the book and slipcase:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7610.jpg

The slipcase is not super exciting, as was typical at the time. But here are some closer shots of the book itself. The cloth binding is luxurious – it’s not silk, for it’s much too thick, but it’s hearty and tactilely pleasant:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7611.jpg

The spine is typical of the more minimalist style of a number of Centipede Press books:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7612.jpg

The endpapers are both printed and textured – a rare combination in Centipede Press titles and also more generally:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7614.jpg

The title page is covered with a red translucent overlay:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7615.jpg

The colophon states that it was released on Halloween 2005, and the wording at the bottom suggests that Jerad was not able to get in touch with all of the potential rights holders for the various essays:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7616.jpg

This book, and all of the following books in this series, does a great job of pulling from the available stills of the films to present some striking images!

From the description: "This book features the largest selection of stills from the original film, printed as duotones, ever published in one volume."

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7618.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7617.jpg

The non-deluxe version of this book isn't signed or numbered. The printed limitation is 500, though this book is scarcer than that would suggest. The newsletter says it's 400 copies, and the webpage for it listed 300 copies. Because the individual copies aren't numbered, it's hard to tell.

The limitation page also has some more information about the text used. The typefaces in Centipede Press books are generally carefully chosen and sometimes, as in this case, you get to read why:

“The book was composed in Pontifex, designed by Friedrich Poppl (1923-1982). More popular in Europe than the United States, Pontifex is an exceptional specimen of Mannerist type design, with robust angles and a superb set of numerals."

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_7619.jpg

The old newsletters (thanks again to Lurker for these) indicate that there was a deluxe edition of this book available, and show what may have been a mock-up with a black leather spine, red front boards, and an inset close-up of the vampire:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/Nosferatu_-_Newsletter_pic.png

I have never seen one of these for sale, or even any pictures of the actual book.


Thanks, everyone, for your patience!

Up next is the very first title in the Gothic series, another neat idea for a group of books, which were published between 2006 and 2013. The Gothic series also all have deluxe editions, which are uniformly amazing and some of the best deluxe books out there.

Frankenstein

[lotuz]

Ok so I am talking about the recent Deluxe editions, for eg. the one made for Swords and Deviltry for instance. Perhaps that was a one-off, but I have a copy of one of the overruns, an unsigned edition of the oversized, slipcased copy. Are Deluxe editions different than "oversize" editions?

Ah, yes.

There are both "oversize" and "deluxe" books. Sometimes they overlap (the Gothic deluxe series is also oversize), and sometimes they don't (the Millipede Press deluxes are not oversize and the Fafhrd series is oversize but not deluxe). The deluxe books have different materials - usually leather and heavier paper - and also generally come with a traycase and extras. The oversize Fafhrd books are gorgeous though - the double-stamped slipcases and the large art are wonderful!

[ym2000]

My Nosferatu is in the same cloth slipcase as yours with same red boards and numbered XIII with Herzog signature. Any thoughts on this?

[lotuz]

My Nosferatu is in the same cloth slipcase as yours with same red boards and numbered XIII with Herzog signature. Any thoughts on this?

Interesting! Here's my guess: for some of the earlier books, there wasn't enough interest in the deluxe version at the price point he offered, and so rather than make the deluxe editions, the limitation pages were repurposed and inserted into the standard editions. This happened with the Don Brautigam book, for example. There was supposed to be a deluxe edition signed by Dean Koontz and marked with roman numerals, but it never materialized, so instead there are ~20 copies of the standard edition that have the limitation page meant for the deluxe.

The question still out there, is: were there any deluxe editions made, or were all the limitation sheets repurposed. My guess, based on your copy, is that there are not actually any deluxe editions of this title or Don Brautigam, but that all the sheets were repurposed. Every once in awhile I bug Jerad with questions like that and sometimes he remembers and sometimes not. I'll add this to my list of things to try to hunt down, and I'll change the original post to reflect your state.

Thanks!! It's helpful stuff like this that's going to make this as complete as possible :)

[Lookwhoitis]

Fortunately, CP books are packaged very well – I have only had one book arrive damaged, and that was because the outside packaging was pierced with a long skinny rod of some sort (fortunately only the slipcase was damaged).


If coming in the mail from Colorado that was probably from a random package test for weed. That is how they do it... pierce packages with long skinny rods to try and break the bags so the canines can smell it

[scarface]

So I came across this over at Cemetery Dance forums, it is a personal collection with a few fantastic Deluxe editions of CP. I am sure lotuz will get to these and do them justice with a nice juicy post but enjoy the pictures in the meantime!
https://forum.cemeterydance.com/showthread.php?2786-Daninsky-s-Collection

[Clegane]

So I came across this over at Cemetery Dance forums, it is a personal collection with a few fantastic Deluxe editions of CP. I am sure lotuz will get to these and do them justice with a nice juicy post but enjoy the pictures in the meantime!
https://forum.cemeterydance.com/showthread.php?2786-Daninsky-s-Collection

Oh, those are mine. Just a note that you probably need to be logged into the CD forums to actually view the images.
I had planned to add those deluxes to this thread when he got to them, but I suppose you just saved me the trouble.

[scarface]

That is one hell of a collection!

[Clegane]

That is one hell of a collection!

Most of the Centipede pics in that thread are two years old. I haven't updated the thread in ages. I've picked up about 4 or 5 more Deluxes since then that I'll add here when appropriate. Still looking for Chimera I and II, by the way...just sayin. *cough*

[peripheral]

Signed by Herzog - amazing!

[Tkstone]

Hello,

I have collected a few of the Masters of the Weird Tale editions published by Centipede Press and think for “looks/presentation” they are impressive. However, I have never read any at this point.

I have read some reviews where some Master of the Weird Tale editions contain numerous typos and other issues (i.e. incomplete sentences, wrong Contents page numbering, etc.).

For me, these editions are not cheap, and if the William Hope Hodgson edition does indeed contain incomplete passages of text, this would certainly reduce the enjoyment of the reading experience.

I was interested in getting the William Hope Hodgson edition, but was hoping to get feedback from other collectors on if incomplete sentences do exist in this edition. I have already confirmed that in the book I was looking at to potentially purchase that the page numbering on the Contents page has wrong number entries.

I am also curious how prevalent typos, incomplete sentences, etc are in any of the other Masters of the Weird Tale editions as I was planning to collect other authors.

Also, in later editions by other authors, has the editing improved?

Any feedback would be most appreciated.

[lotuz]

Hello,

I have collected a few of the Masters of the Weird Tale editions published by Centipede Press and think for “looks/presentation” they are impressive. However, I have never read any at this point.

I have read some reviews where some Master of the Weird Tale editions contain numerous typos and other issues (i.e. incomplete sentences, wrong Contents page numbering, etc.).

For me, these editions are not cheap, and if the William Hope Hodgson edition does indeed contain incomplete passages of text, this would certainly reduce the enjoyment of the reading experience.

I was interested in getting the William Hope Hodgson edition, but was hoping to get feedback from other collectors on if incomplete sentences do exist in this edition. I have already confirmed that in the book I was looking at to potentially purchase that the page numbering on the Contents page has wrong number entries.

I am also curious how prevalent typos, incomplete sentences, etc are in any of the other Masters of the Weird Tale editions as I was planning to collect other authors.

Also, in later editions by other authors, has the editing improved?

Any feedback would be most appreciated.

Some of the earliest Centipede Press titles have some editing issues, including a few early Masters of the Weird Tale books. They are mostly limited to small things like uncorrected typos, or slightly more irritating things like incorrect page numbers in the Table of Contents. I vaguely recall one book that may have had an incomplete story - I believe it was HPL-related.

Looking through my copy of the William Hope Hodgson book, I don't see any mis-numbered entries. If you do end up purchasing the book and it does contain mis-numbered entries, please let me know! That could indicate a separate printing and I'd be very interested to know that.

Overall, the quality of the editing improved after the first couple of years and I haven't noticed any issues with any of the books I've read over the years. As far as the earlier books with the issues, I still think that they're worth it, both as collectibles and as reading copies. For example, the Hodgson book has ~1100 pages of his work and contains a lot of good reading material! Overall, the Masters of the Weird Tale books are excellent buys, given both their shelf presence (I agree that the look/presentation is impressive) and the sheer volume of stories that they contain.

I'd also keep an eye out for the Library of Weird Fiction titles, which are pretty much cheaper versions of the Masters of the Weird Tale titles. They don't have the same production values but they do have hundreds and hundreds of pages of stories, and they list at $50. Some of the first ones are getting harder to find (the Algernon Blackwood LWF book commands similar prices to the Algernon Blackwood MWT book, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but hey :shrug:) but there are more due out this year and next. In fact, the Machen one is still available on the Centipede Press site for $40 - http://www.centipedepress.com/masters/machenlwf.html (you can ignore the unsigned note on the page - none of them were signed).

[becca69]

I'm looking for a copy of Centipede's Koko by Peter Straub if anyone has a lead :D

[Munnecom]

If anyone is looking for a copy of Centipede Press’ recent The Woman in Black, Jerad might have one available.

I asked him to reserve one for me at the time of release, but he laid two copies aside by mistake. The confusion was cleared up last night, but the extra copy might still be available if you are quick enough.

(I already posted this in the Other Authors section, but I figured it’d fit here as well. Hope it helps one of you out!)

[Tkstone]

Thanks for the reply to my Masters of the Weird Tale query.

For the William Hope Hodgson edition, for the wrong page numbering, I was referring where in the Table of Contents the book I looked at stated the following:

The Searcher of the End House 839
The Haunted Jarvee 825 (a lower page number than the prior story)
The Thing Invisible 839 (a second story with the same starting page number)

Thanks also for the reminder about the Library of Weird Fiction editions. I would love to get the Machen edition; unfortunately shipping to Canada is $50 which for me is more than I am willing to spend.

[lotuz]

Thanks for the reply to my Masters of the Weird Tale query.

For the William Hope Hodgson edition, for the wrong page numbering, I was referring where in the Table of Contents the book I looked at stated the following:

The Searcher of the End House 839
The Haunted Jarvee 825 (a lower page number than the prior story)
The Thing Invisible 839 (a second story with the same starting page number)

Thanks also for the reminder about the Library of Weird Fiction editions. I would love to get the Machen edition; unfortunately shipping to Canada is $50 which for me is more than I am willing to spend.

I just checked my copy and it has the same error - I missed this when I looked through it yesterday! I was flipping through the book and all the listed stories are indeed in there, if that helps.

$50 shipping to Canada is ridiculous. But I do know that he will often hold titles and bundle international shipping for multiple books. Alternatively, there are a number of people here (including me) who are generally happy to purchase books and ship internationally at cost (though I can't promise what "at cost" will be to a particular location).

[WeDealInLead]

Unfortunately, $50 [I]is[I] the cost for such a big package. Shipping prices have slowed down my collecting. Or rather, slammed the brakes on it. That isn't a bad thing in itself, but if I want to buy a $40 book and it's $30 to ship, I just get the e-book. That said, it's true that Jerad is willing to combine shipping with forthcoming books. You could also try getting future CP titles from Camelot. They do layaway and will get a "hold box" set up for you.

I live one hour from the border so I have my packages sent to a PO Box. UPS offers the same service.

[Tkstone]

$50 shipping to Canada is ridiculous. But I do know that he will often hold titles and bundle international shipping for multiple books. Alternatively, there are a number of people here (including me) who are generally happy to purchase books and ship internationally at cost (though I can't promise what "at cost" will be to a particular location).

The combined shipping is a good idea. When I looked into ordering a Masters of the Weird Tale edition from Centipede press in the past, it was $50 to Canada. I checked the Machen book and it would be $35 for shipping; however ordering two Machen editions would be $40. Thus $20 each. I will have to keep that in mind. I won’t order duplicates, but if I can find two or more books at one point, the shipping is better. Not as good as the $6 for the Machen to the US, but better than I initially thought it would be.

[Lurker]

I just got the Eldrics. The first volume was not in shrinkwrap, but the other two were. Is it just me that thinks that is odd...

[swintek]

That is a little odd. As long as the book is fine. And, all of the numbers match. Assuming you were going to open it anyway? Speaking of which- The ELRIC books are stunning. Probably the nicest set of books that I've seen since the Wandering Star REH books. Jerad has finally done this important series justice.

[Hunchback Jack]

Mine came that way too - volumes 2 and 3 were shrinkwrapped, but 1 was just in a plastic bag.

I've yet to sit down and go through them; I'll post pics to my non-King thread when I do.

HBJ

[Lurker]

Mine came that way too - volumes 2 and 3 were shrinkwrapped, but 1 was just in a plastic bag. HBJ

Thanks. I was a little worried, the label was ripped and I thought maybe the PO had looked at the contents. And no shipping notice. Was shocked to see box on porch today.


That is a little odd. As long as the book is fine. And, all of the numbers match. Assuming you were going to open it anyway?

I probably will open them later. I need to cull the herd and make shelf space, probably by selling all the SK proofs I have. Really not into proofs. I'm thinking of putting some shelf liner on the shelves and then I'll open all the still shrinked or bagged books.

On another note, just looked at the drawings done for the Dune books. Wow is all I can say. Really hope I can get a copy of those.

[Hunchback Jack]

I didn't get a shipping notice, either, and was considering a post to this thread to ask if anyone had theirs yet. Mine arrived today. I've yet to crack the seals on 2 and 3, but 1 looks amazing. I will open the others to check the numbers and sigs, tho.

I also hope to get a copy of Dune - the series has a lot of personal significance to me - but it's going to be very popular, I think.

[lotuz]

FWIW none of my volumes were shrinkwrapped. My guess is that he was checking numbers or maybe got a bit mixed up during all the packaging (which he does most of himself!) and wanted to make sure that everything was matched.

They're damn beautiful books!! I'm loving the art. And he got some big names for the introductions so I'll definitely give them a good read.

I'm also super excited about Dune! It's gonna sell out on the release day, for sure :panic:

[WeDealInLead]

No mention of Dune in the newsletter today. Where's this information coming from?

[Hunchback Jack]

It was in some of the newsletters from last year. Last I heard it is planned for May.

[WeDealInLead]

Ah, OK. Thanks.

[lotuz]

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

6.a Quarter leather binding over pictorial boards, with a folder of prints, presented in an oversized cloth traycase: 22 - $1000 (Red roman numerals)
6.b.i Quarter cloth binding over pictorial boards in cloth slipcase, with numbered limitation page: 175 – $225
6.b.ii Quarter cloth binding over pictorial boards in cloth slipcase, without numbered limitation page: 325 – $225

Published as Centipede Press; 2006
Original price: $1000/$225

Hello again, everyone!

Welcome back to the next entry in the (slowly) ongoing series Centipede Press: An (In)complete Bibliography. Today we are going to take a look at the sixth book (well, technically the fifth, as Stigmata was published under the Cocytus Press imprint, but that’s a distinction that I’m probably not going to keep mentioning, especially as one of the next books is going to introduce the other, and longer lived, spin-off imprint Millipede Press, and there’s only so many times I’m going to type “the tenth book, which is actually the seventh book under Centipede, etc.”).

As with the last book (Nosferatu: History, Criticism, and Interpretation), this is an important book in the Press because it too introduces a whole “series” of related books that would be published over the next seven years (so far). The book is Frankenstein, and it is the first book in what Centipede Press refers to as the “Gothic” series.

[Two side notes here! Hope you enjoy spelunking in rabbit holes :lol:
The first: this is the first version of Frankenstein to be published by Centipede Press. The second version would come the following year, under the Millipede Press imprint. Confusingly, the early Centipede Press newsletter, Post Mortem (big thanks again to Lurker, a member here who sent me many old newsletters), mentions the later Millipede Press version of Frankenstein as the first book in the “Millipede Press Gothic Novels series”, but the format of the subsequent Gothic novels mirrors the Centipede Press release. Confused yet?
The second: The rest of the books (so far), for those interested, are: Dracula (also 2006), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2012), The Golem (2012), and The Monk (2013).]

The titles are all oversized books, and until The Monk, they retained the same look (The Monk is very similar, but was made after Jerad started using dustjackets for most books). All of the books in the Gothic series have Deluxe versions, which all have the same format: quarterbound leather books using the same art on the front board, placed in an extra-oversized traycase (the books are annoyingly hard to shelve, but totally worth it), and accompanied by a suite of (usually signed) prints from the book.

Onto the book itself!

Oversized and slipcased, with gold stamping on the spine:
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8491.jpg


Unfortunately, and for reasons I don’t know/understand, this particular book was especially susceptible to flaking on the spine. For this and many future books, the spine is a black faux-leather looking cloth, with printed boards. I don’t know why, but this book (and only this book, in my experience) has a lot of issues with the material on the spine flaking off. Mine is no different :(

It’s harder to see in the picture, but the edges of the spine that are a lighter gray is because the material is flaking off. One of my goals is to get a better copy of this, but there are some other rare state-based issues to consider (which we’ll get to in a minute).
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8493.jpg


Pictorial front and back boards (this is the front):
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8492.jpg


Ribbon marker:
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8500.jpg


Simple black endpapers – no patterning or anything on these:
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8494.jpg


Title page with red-printed woodcut and translucent sheet:
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8495.jpg


The inner beauty of this tome is largely due to the amazing woodcut illustrations by Lynd Ward. They’re gorgeous! Here’s the title:
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8497.jpg


And here’s one of my favorites:
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8499.jpg


You probably noted that there are two separate states listed for the non-deluxe version of this book: 6.b.i and 6.b.ii. This is because not all of the books were bound with a numbered limitation page! (Only the deluxe version has signatures – the non-deluxe does not have any in either state).

There were 500 copies of this book produced, but only ~175 had numbered limitation pages bound in. I believe it was because the others were damaged in some way, but that’s my half remembered recollection of “why”, recounted to me from some other collector, so take that for what it’s worth.

I have #12:
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8498.jpg


Given the smaller number of limitation pages, and the propensity for damage to the spine, it’s really rare to find a F/F version that has the numbered limitation page. I’m hoping to come across one some day, as well as the deluxe version, which I do not possess. I highly encourage anyone who has the deluxe version to post pictures here!

I don’t think I have any other notes on this one, but please feel free to comment if you do!

The next title up is the second book in the Gothic series, which I unfortunately do not own. I’ll put up a holder post, with the prices/publication info/etc. and leave it up to others to post their pics.

Dracula

[Hunchback Jack]

Fascinating stuff! Thanks so much for documenting this book in such detail. I love reading about this sort of publication history.

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

That really makes me want to pluck petals off a daisy! Nice work.

[Munnecom]

I have a copy of Dracula, as well as some email correspondence with Jerad I could share about why my copy does not look like the image on the website.

Once the next post is up, I’ll figure out how to add pictures.

[CyberGhostface]

'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' is getting a Centipede release soon. I asked and Jared said the announcement should be out in February.

Example art from Thomas Ehretsmann (http://www.thomas-ehretsmann.com/works-en/books/):

https://abload.de/img/we-have-always-lived-0rjg9.jpg

[Lurker]

I just went through my email and saw this from Camelot - "Well I guess the feeding frenzy is afoot - we have a customer that purchased the first 3 volumes, signed, of the Elric Series being published by Centipede and when they saw what a set sold for on E-Bay they asked us to list their set in our next newsletter for $1,500.00." And it's already sold. I'm speechless.

[RC65]

I just went through my email and saw this from Camelot - "Well I guess the feeding frenzy is afoot - we have a customer that purchased the first 3 volumes, signed, of the Elric Series being published by Centipede and when they saw what a set sold for on E-Bay they asked us to list their set in our next newsletter for $1,500.00." And it's already sold. I'm speechless.

I saw that as well. Tough to believe and understand, but apparently I made a poor choice of Centipede books to skip. I'm not a fan of sword-and-sorcery, but I could've taken the profits from those books and applied them to other forthcoming Centipede Press books I have my eye on. Ah well, tough to predict what's going to really catch fire and which won't.

[PennyUnwise]

I just went through my email and saw this from Camelot - "Well I guess the feeding frenzy is afoot - we have a customer that purchased the first 3 volumes, signed, of the Elric Series being published by Centipede and when they saw what a set sold for on E-Bay they asked us to list their set in our next newsletter for $1,500.00." And it's already sold. I'm speechless.

They SOLD?! I'm shocked. There are multiple cheaper options on eBay right now...

[swintek]

Re: Elric: Honestly, the high selling price doesn't really surprise me: The books were pricey to begin with, uber limited (sold out in hours with hardly any promo), are considered a cornerstone of S & S, and most importantly- they are absolutely stunning examples of just how beautiful books can be. Jerad worked hard on these for years, and he really hit it out of the park. What did surprise me, though, is seeing a set sold on ebay for "$695", the same day as the earlier mentioned "$1600" set (both prices in quotes because both sold for an undisclosed "Best Offer Accepted"). So, perhaps the market price will settle down to a "happy" medium? Regardless, I can't state enough how great these turned out.

And, RC65: I really don't read S & S either. I did a bit in my formative years, and have no real care to revisit most of it- except for Elric, which is S & S of a different stripe. I highly recommend you (as a paperback guy!) hunt down those iconic DAW 70's Elric pb's (6 books) with the awesome Whelan covers and give the sickly, existential albino a try. Fun stuff!

[Hunchback Jack]

Right now, rights to the following six volumes is baked into the price. So although $1500 is the current market price for the first three, I would expect that on completion, a complete set of 9 will not fetch $4500. But they could fetch $2000-$2500, easily.

HBJ

[PennyUnwise]

Be cautious buying THIS (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Elric-of-Melnibone-SIGNED-Michael-Moorcock-Centipede-Matching-HCs-IN-HAND-NOW/273676432937?hash=item3fb862f629:g:wnoAAOSws7VcT2B n:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true) set of Elric books. The seller will let you have first refusal for future volumes, but for 1.5x retail so just realize that before buying! I picked up a different set because of that.

[Hunchback Jack]

Huh? Doesn't rights to future volumes pass with the books, not the stay with the original buyer?

[PennyUnwise]

Huh? Doesn't rights to future volumes pass with the books, not the stay with the original buyer?

I would have thought so, but this seller seems to think otherwise and I am not taking the chance to be suckered into paying an extra $200 each time for no reason! Maybe you can just buy and then email Jerad with photos or something that you are the owner of that given number?

The only time I have purchased where rights can't transfer is from a dealer of Sub Press books. I don't mind as I have purchased a ton through the individual, and they were offered at retail. They had some exclusive deal to a letter that couldn't transfer. Maybe this is similar, I don't know?

[Hunchback Jack]

Oh, I certainly wouldn't take the chance either. I was just confused because I didn't think the seller would have the option to keep future rights unless (as you say) they were a dealer or have an agreement with Jerad.

[swintek]

That seems.. wrong. Prob a question for Jerad, as to which he would honor for that number- the original purchaser, or the current owner.

[lotuz]

Dracula
Bram Stoker

7.a.i “Printed on mouldmade Arches paper, quarterbound in leather with printed silk panels, oversize traycase bound in cloth, printed endsheets, extra suite of color prints housed in their own folder, ribbon marker, signed by Patrick McGrath and Greg Hidebrandt”*: unknown number of 22 total - $1500 (Red roman numerals)
7.a.ii “Printed on mouldmade Arches paper, quarterbound in leather with printed silk panels, oversixe traycase bound in cloth, printed endsheets, extra suite of color prints housed in their own folder, ribbon marker, signed by Patrick McGrath and Greg Hidebrandt”, slightly different size, with differently oriented front boards, and different limitation page: unknown number of 22 total - $1500 (Red roman numerals)
7.b.i “Printed on Mohawk Superfine, bound in cloth, enclosed in a cloth traycase [actually, a slipcase], ribbon marker” with numbered limitation page. Bound in black cloth with pictorial inset on front board: 50+ (unknown) of 300/500 – $250
7.b.ii “Printed on Mohawk Superfine, bound in cloth, enclosed in a cloth traycase [actually, a slipcase], ribbon marker” with numbered limitation page. Bound in black cloth with pictorial printed front boards: 250/450- (unknown) of 300/500 – $250


*Postmortem 7 (December 2007)

Published as Centipede Press; 2006
Original price: $1500/$250

The next title from Centipede Press is Dracula, which is also the next title in the Gothic series. This is the closest that two books from the Gothic series were released to each other.

Unfortunately, I don’t own either version of this book, and so I don’t have any pictures to share. But here’s what I know about it based on the old newsletters, what I’ve seen online, and what I’ve seen personally.

There were probably 22 copies of the deluxe edition printed. One of the newsletters states “XXIII” but all of the deluxe limitation pages that I’ve seen state 22. There are two different states of the lettered. The printed picture on the front boards shows two different orientations, one in which Dracula is facing right and the other in which he’s facing left (this copy is also about a half an inch longer!). There are also two different versions of the limitation page: one of them mentions the regular numbered state, the other does not. The version that mentions the numbered state is also somewhat smaller than the rest of the pages and is perhaps not mouldmade Arches paper – it appears to be attached to a larger page.

WHAT?!?:wink1:



This is why a complete bibliography will be impossible. I only know of these differences because a collector shared images with me of the two books next to each other! Had I seen them one at a time, and possibly years apart, I would probably have never noted the differences (maybe the limitation page) and would thus have no idea that there were different states of the deluxe version (and potentially of the numbered version!).

[Sidenote: To some extent, there are also definitely various opinions on what exactly constitutes a different “state” of a book. I think something big like a different binding would definitely count. But what about slightly different limitation pages? What if a book is identical except for some have sprayed edges? I’m probably erring on the more radical side in this bibliography in the definition. To me, all of these previous things, or any combinations thereof, would constitute a different state.

And yes there are books with all of these characteristics, including a book that differs only by stained vs. unstained top edge.

But the pitfall of such a radical definition is that cataloguing the complete set of different states from the inception of the press until about 2013 is impossible. Some of the differences are so subtle that you might not notice unless you see them both at the same time. Some are really rare: how many different copies of the right-facing Dracula exist? At most 21! At fewest – 1. There are a couple of numbered edition states that have 25 or fewer copies in existence.

However, I think it’s all super exciting to try to track down! At the very least, it makes every early (pre-2013) Centipede Press book that comes up for sale of possible interest. And some books haven’t ever been spotted in the “wild” (for public sale), so there’s a bit of mystery there as well :rose:]

Back to Dracula:

The regular version has either 300 or 500 copies – newsletters say different things. I believe that the limitation page for the regular version is the same as the smaller, non-Arches paper deluxe version, but I can’t say for sure. If so, that page states that there are 500 copies. As with some of the earlier books, it certainly doesn’t seem like there are 500 copies out there…

Someone mentioned earlier in this thread that s/he has a slightly different numbered version – I’m not surprised and would love to see it!

I wish I had more on this, but I don’t. As far as the overall deluxe editions are concerned, there is at least one more deluxe out there that has two possible states – it has to do with the number of signatures on them, but there may be more title like this, where you can’t tell unless you have more than one copy in front of you. Or maybe only one version has ever been photographed :ninja:

I hope that folks will feel free to post their pics of this title, and enlighten us! I hope even more that I can find a copy out there sometime – I had an opportunity for the deluxe edition that I had to pass on over the holidays and I think I’ll be kicking myself over that one for years to come… :doh:

Up next - the first title from the Millipede Press imprint:

Some of Your Blood

EDIT to fix numbering error and add details from Munnecom's post.

EDIT 2 to add a link to pictures of the limited version, complements of Munnecom - thank you Munnecom! See them here. (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?21661-The-Centipede-Press-Thread-(Including-CP-Book-by-Book-%96-An-Incomplete-Bibliography)&p=1136898&viewfull=1#post1136898)

EDIT 3 to add a link to pictures of the deluxe version, thanks to Clegane! It even includes a bonus pic of some of the prints that are included. See them here. (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?21661-The-Centipede-Press-Thread-(Including-CP-Book-by-Book-%96-An-Incomplete-Bibliography)&p=1137593&viewfull=1#post1137593)

(I know they're both on the same page but for continuity's sake, I'll try to add links to posts that expand upon any of the information/pictures that I provide in the original posts.)

[Hunchback Jack]

Fantastic stuff! Thanks so much for posting this info.

By the way, why do you say pre-2013 titles are hard to catalog exhaustively because of variations? What happened in 2013 that prevents it from being a problem since?

[Munnecom]

I picked up my copy on eBay late last year. I had never seen one come up before, so I jumped at the chance to get this. I suspect I overpaid a bit, but such is the life of a collector sometimes.

Before hitting “Buy It Now,” I contacted Jerad to ask about the listing, because the book does not look like the images on CP’s website. Here’s what he told me:


The edition of Dracula you are seeing is one of the earlier bindings. This actually might be a better printed book. I don't remember honestly. At some point I changed the bindery style over to the one shown on the Centipede Press website.

It is a legit copy. The limitation page was a misprint on each copy. Some of my earlier books were bound in different stages, so there are always some differences between the books!

On to the pictures!

Here’s the limitation page:

https://ilw8ma.db.files.1drv.com/y4mY8skK9Sc507mMEgPBpWE-_-WUqLWDmyaFEzMCKNLeflv3B5dZye2pCJY5EWgS2kr3bv6fLrar p-Fa-Er4rlmKbuLP4kLVjwEAAWrFo1rZ1SOAQ7MYy-I_jVIKHo_VgsJdyOIE0irLeGS_3Z5jsX92nId04VLBAEdLJDx8 D3GC9YmZrP1_ShP7O4b1FIpatjNlMtmDZGyakXPwKRz3euDzw? width=4730&height=2660&cropmode=none

It mentions 525 copies, but 500 numbered plus 22 deluxe only makes 522. What about the remaining three?

Here’s what made me contact Jerad in the first place. My copy is bound in black cloth with a small image pasted on the front board, instead of having full printed boards like what is shown on the CP website. Based on what Jerad told me, there must be at least 50 other copies that look like this (made before the switch to a different binding style).

https://ilxdma.db.files.1drv.com/y4m73vTJtbw7abhtDAMmqSsfPBgDqxwvwchCqjxlzbIw3HlqVZ VBlJyiWMJTgc8KzbbOycke3BTfx72DFYEP9a_dikLG1EAz8jv-jwReSr5optHPW6BMK_8UNLq3bMC2SrRO_Cyu0DbVTpeCDueyDB PNHT9jQ1-DmiWMuYcVr_GJwvW04MTfeqsqODzvUqOmJtnKLbASrJo_AFhYy 9qUnlIWg?width=5312&height=2988&cropmode=none

Here’s the slipcase:

https://l7wqma.db.files.1drv.com/y4mhe5t9Fw4KBFw1n7sjOqnWuONhkgG5tj5_C7qy21m0AZIqOh bM8u5lJm7oPfMwKLDWYrQQj2rHCqcDa9vfHb9thdJyeSka9QZc EqvsTNr81hml_4juBzQVuCMcmZMxVWERpG18f63u_05Z-VLt2Tr-NnXgVmiTtlscjKBejvXhwejESlvmHjjIJgKj_KXa-6ItT0h3wty5-_kO5xEukh4qA?width=5312&height=2988&cropmode=none

Here’s a few more shots. The red D is actually the first thing you see when you open the book, which I think is a nice touch. The book contains a lot of colour and black-and-white illustrations, as well as an author photograph of Bram Stoker and three of his best-known short stories. They appear in the back of the book, separated from the main text and each other by sheets of thick, textured paper.

https://ilxema.db.files.1drv.com/y4mMK-Gj-E4Nn0yxukBXfiAisicEDpZ0VJBo92SVGCLzOtN4Q4VImrANsna Hbu1Pm5vK4UCBESszJl93XFNOK9TVmOGhT_sKO8IR-hsYl9ec1wY99pgwHddUM_dU6t90w6Linwylafpsnj3lXwGY9Px 70zJ1-16V9nei6nXlEUXP1voN5Yvl4KElUElgatxmPCahN4dGsAfyrrh XW-10S-xsg?width=5312&height=2988&cropmode=none

https://l7w7ma.db.files.1drv.com/y4msF4PWLIDuFEUO5KGdoKxWFYlNVSudAbldCfythRUIK2k2bo vFPhMQbGM1YmEhyc80K0F0KQj94Ik2EXx4W1um_zpgq7H9xrKz fpgIXU9jDTEepyg1xMvk-Qrgn6EU0HjM0gdcB0K1hjYao2lHCXrikymdBlVRKTL4V6aqQWz O0wcAqfofFPOIt1K-gPTnfHY2A7NmxrbfVcrdcQEJyFPTg?width=5312&height=2988&cropmode=none

https://l7w8ma.db.files.1drv.com/y4mnB2N8nr6s9eV0YYyOjJesl9s-mRBGr50XVt4LHtSL5B7LHVr6dXK8cYTXJAFrhjq-0vU9I8bTh5tBpp8rz9w2oTQ2OnKRPw9MSwyYlqosb2VVcJy5Wu qO6KfmXwDAblKAHshpDIM8jfPDylRqOmO_wCopuD7fA_-5OuARoJo3FjOUKGHcb7bHR1Gd13wgDCPXEgxVQ7MmepZds9qng 0k1A?width=5312&height=2988&cropmode=none

https://l7xbma.db.files.1drv.com/y4msY1NzuSWYbZcXw3DZd1WHxuwtdhLOXrqWkurSsBx4ryvBAs XRFp0kdJSlOMHZqTW3UglsZMyqp-OV28qjHUabC7A55KG45R0VPMu21-Jq5ISc0PeIFiumEueKrvKxwob_vYNv_jJLTTU90YkgQAxE1f8o yDlITcreTdvlp5560ij46ShBiLgnUbasSKRjMebLiHhKY7MLz1 uWc11mgzT8A?width=5312&height=2988&cropmode=none

https://ilxgma.db.files.1drv.com/y4mfOGe2howQ5pkUvpXG-7oP6NpJYR0yDTXmnDTyoV9Ur2h5uyf7Kb8EGWd2ZLkd2vrpKHl 3kzyuqHFHdRBvl2otYw4uCvGV6ZoL4sI1n0YXG62YSGXs3MsnG AZxXzVsRY3wef2k4ScbS1RRNVhRcDEjrt8b151VB9EkdvM8TKf O2yE16pt9ad2lnAA1gUpE5_bPelDHeVIMGWx7VtQPWsFCw?wid th=4730&height=2660&cropmode=none

https://ilxcma.db.files.1drv.com/y4mv51FuCJwx754T27QsSgI9_pADhRH087PhFOCs_rt4wvDe-EyUBq5JIF7fktH-nD5Xr39AZyviB-so1FKwTx4ExeGYeokpaDYvUg-b5isCrOX1fd1UBvAcntuPE4FziFa8jQ3np9espoKTqn7cTcBjH AsJVPhRJKoGFE6nQ8f4k7tZS4c9iPyPjVTbul3BFyNnxsFEeXj 6Y5bD6WtJyQo7Q?width=4730&height=2660&cropmode=none

https://ilwqma.db.files.1drv.com/y4m0JnseCu9rBSWwgj-w_X2JiedIuLY0iopT_aQeqZImFdhtFBC1IZwtApc3505ASBTC8 sqjmMG3IBgd9n4_n5VnJihrjJSZUZ53pSQp3QGd--USqRww_mwV-hoXSp-GGSrIKi_LUPC6_M4YID3uJLxNv1DWoC1XpTiCS1hnNHj0F8AVN o7d8OvFhcpAlh31viF0W5ZJYUWbPUsCzG5E-IUWw?width=4730&height=2660&cropmode=none

[Munnecom]

Lotuz, I just noticed that you misnumbered this listing. It should be 7.x, not 6.x.

[lotuz]

Lotuz, I just noticed that you misnumbered this listing. It should be 7.x, not 6.x.

Thank you! And thank you for sharing your pictures :) Really neat to see this one. I like the yellow title page and the "D"!

I've updated the post to both reflect the fixed number as well as the addition of the extra state that you brought to our attention. I appreciate it!

[lotuz]

Fantastic stuff! Thanks so much for posting this info.

By the way, why do you say pre-2013 titles are hard to catalog exhaustively because of variations? What happened in 2013 that prevents it from being a problem since?

This is a great question!

And because I'm feeling long-winded tonight and have some free time, I'm going to give you a too-long response that touches on some other stuff as well. I'll start with the caveat that this is all based on my personal opinion and speculation as a collector of the press - any other info/opinions are welcome :)

I would broadly lump Centipede Press productions into four time periods:

2001-2005: This first time period is what's used on the Centipede Press page because it represents the very beginning of the press, and over this 5 year period, only 5 books were produced. The first was in 2001 and the next wasn't until 2004, so my guess is that this wasn't a full-time press until then. In 2004 came 'Salem's Lot, which Jerad has credited in the rare interview as having helped get the press off the ground. Four books were released in 2004 & 2005.

2006-2010: I would consider this the "experimental" stage of the press. Experimental in two different ways: first off, Jerad pushing the envelope on some of the design - trying different bindings, different materials, producing deluxe editions, etc. Secondly, experimenting with different printers (definitely) and different binders (maybe). The combination of these two lead to various states of multiple books.

2011-2013: By 2011 a lot of the materials and techniques had started to become more consistent. Between 2011 and 2013 dust jackets were used more and more often, after being previously relegated to the rarer Millipede Press titles.

2014+: Dust jackets became the norm during this period. Several different ongoing sets were debuted, each with a consistent theme (e.g., the R.A. Lafferty series, Vintage Horrors, the Library of Weird Fiction). Almost all books during this period differ only by the limitation page (no limitation page, numbered limitation page, and roman numeral limitation page (PC)), and fewer deluxe books are being produced.

So, overall, the most variation exists within the 2006-2010 period, and then much less during 2011-2013, and almost none between 2014 and now. Dracula turned out to be a great example of this - different states for both the limited and deluxe editions!

[Munnecom]

I just realised the title page is possibly a reference to the first edition of Dracula, which had boards in just that shade of yellow.

https://k7yxlq.db.files.1drv.com/y4msGqDN6LZKx-h5vEZE1JHW1PCxYS-ms1ove3WdYDK17qj8jrMyLDlS9NL8JjAAQPF8chS5H3V0PzKqo-OWMoMHojLxY6VaASQmhJvgp88DOIvybP9ol98Tq57UB60xB_ZV tZUY2eLFTTodThadkrcrkKdhG_J1BrM9d4gHJbe4KVXWoZqsJk OC18_QPb9-E_Ka0OJEKXL3YWKhPUqDRGbTg?width=306&height=450&cropmode=none

[lotuz]

I just realised the title page is possibly a reference to the first edition of Dracula, which had boards in just that shade of yellow.

https://k7yxlq.db.files.1drv.com/y4msGqDN6LZKx-h5vEZE1JHW1PCxYS-ms1ove3WdYDK17qj8jrMyLDlS9NL8JjAAQPF8chS5H3V0PzKqo-OWMoMHojLxY6VaASQmhJvgp88DOIvybP9ol98Tq57UB60xB_ZV tZUY2eLFTTodThadkrcrkKdhG_J1BrM9d4gHJbe4KVXWoZqsJk OC18_QPb9-E_Ka0OJEKXL3YWKhPUqDRGbTg?width=306&height=450&cropmode=none

Amazing! I'm sure you are right!!

[swintek]

Digging out my copy- the regular, full board printed image edition- I was surprised to see that the limitation page in my copy is unnumbered. It doesn't even have the "This is copy number..." line. I did buy it (direct from Jerad) a bit after release- at least a year or two- so maybe he was out of numbered copies by then and this is one of those.. 'reserved for the press' copies. No big deal to me.

It also omits the line "numbered in black with Arabic numerals" from the limitation statement. That must be the misprint Jerad mentioned.

I also remember remarking to him that I liked the "original" cover better than the "Romantic" cover (his term): The original design had the illustration of Dracula crawling down the side of the castle- much better. I always assumed that the book was done in (at least) two batches, and the first states had that crawling image and the later states the "Romantic". I could swear I saw a copy of the earlier on ebay years ago... Can anyone confirm it's existence?

Ron

[lotuz]

Digging out my copy- the regular, full board printed image edition- I was surprised to see that the limitation page in my copy is unnumbered. It doesn't even have the "This is copy number..." line. I did buy it (direct from Jerad) a bit after release- at least a year or two- so maybe he was out of numbered copies by then and this is one of those.. 'reserved for the press' copies. No big deal to me.

It also omits the line "numbered in black with Arabic numerals" from the limitation statement. That must be the misprint Jerad mentioned.

I also remember remarking to him that I liked the "original" cover better than the "Romantic" cover (his term): The original design had the illustration of Dracula crawling down the side of the castle- much better. I always assumed that the book was done in (at least) two batches, and the first states had that crawling image and the later states the "Romantic". I could swear I saw a copy of the earlier on ebay years ago... Can anyone confirm it's existence?

Ron

This has got to be the cover that you're remembering (this pic from the October 2007 newsletter, then titled Post-Mortem):

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/Untitled1.png

I agree that this one is cooler!

My guess is that this was just a mock-up for the newsletter and that none were produced. But just because I haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist! That's just what I'm thinking based on the fact that a lot of the early newsletter mock-ups, and even a lot of the mock-ups on the final product pages, were changed in production. I'd love to see one of these in the wild and be shown wrong, I definitely like it better :)

[Tony]

Be cautious buying THIS (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Elric-of-Melnibone-SIGNED-Michael-Moorcock-Centipede-Matching-HCs-IN-HAND-NOW/273676432937?hash=item3fb862f629:g:wnoAAOSws7VcT2B n:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true) set of Elric books. The seller will let you have first refusal for future volumes, but for 1.5x retail so just realize that before buying! I picked up a different set because of that.

Nothing nefarious is happening here. The listing points out that you'd be getting the books at publish price from Camelot books. What I've learnt along the way is when publishers like Subpress, Centipede, etc. sell some of their books through Camelot (and perhaps other third part sellers), the rights of the number remain with Camelot. Subpress/Centipede won't sell that number to you directly even if you have the previous volume in the series. Of course, you're buying it at publish price, so no great loss really.

Kim/Tony will reach out to those with the previous matched volume and let you know they have it for you and confirm you'd like to buy it. They even put mylar over the dust jacket for you.

[PennyUnwise]

Be cautious buying THIS (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Elric-of-Melnibone-SIGNED-Michael-Moorcock-Centipede-Matching-HCs-IN-HAND-NOW/273676432937?hash=item3fb862f629:g:wnoAAOSws7VcT2B n:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true) set of Elric books. The seller will let you have first refusal for future volumes, but for 1.5x retail so just realize that before buying! I picked up a different set because of that.

Nothing nefarious is happening here. The listing points out that you'd be getting the books at publish price from Camelot books. What I've learnt along the way is when publishers like Subpress, Centipede, etc. sell some of their books through Camelot (and perhaps other third part sellers), the rights of the number remain with Camelot. Subpress/Centipede won't sell that number to you directly even if you have the previous volume in the series. Of course, you're buying it at publish price, so no great loss really.

Kim/Tony will reach out to those with the previous matched volume and let you know they have it for you and confirm you'd like to buy it. They even put mylar over the dust jacket for you.

You are looking at the wrong listing I believe. I am discussing the one from badmoonbooks. I contacted him and asked about rights. He said he would sell them to the buyer for a little less, but said no less than 1.5x retail. The set I linked isn't through Camelot and already sold to someone. Another set on eBay is though, which I am guessing is the one you are looking at [seller: thebookviking (who is actually a member here)].

[PennyUnwise]

Also, does anyone have a Dracula copy available for sale. I have been looking but they don't seem to pop up often as of late. Not too bent on holding out for deluxe to complement my Jekyll & Hyde. Would go after just limited if there are any out there! Thanks.

[Clegane]

Uploading a handful of photos here of the Deluxe edition of Dracula that Centipede put out, limited to 22 copies. Some exteriors of the traycase, the book itself, the limitation and title pages, and a sample of some of the glossy, high-quality art prints included.
I'll provide photos of the Deluxe Frankenstein later when I dig them out or take new ones.
(Haven't included photos in a post here before, so bear with me if I get jammed up with it)

https://i.imgur.com/qyK26pv.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hffYwgQ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tvVqc8N.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/yDN9Y2S.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/9QIUnPK.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/FAFPOkg.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ekJzG5g.jpg

[Lurker]

Very nice.

[lotuz]

Uploading a handful of photos here of the Deluxe edition of Dracula that Centipede put out, limited to 22 copies. Some exteriors of the traycase, the book itself, the limitation and title pages, and a sample of some of the glossy, high-quality art prints included.
I'll provide photos of the Deluxe Frankenstein later when I dig them out or take new ones.
(Haven't included photos in a post here before, so bear with me if I get jammed up with it)


Awesome - thank you for sharing! And thanks for taking the prints out and taking pictures of them as well :)

[ym2000]

Tim,
I'm adding photos I posted elsewhere - this seems like the place for CP collectors on DT.

Dracula

https://i.imgur.com/t1uVTLP.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/RhLuQiL.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YtVqDcZ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zvrpEOY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/w8KofHs.jpg


Frankenstein

https://i.imgur.com/onFQb4a.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BbUEXt4.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lIDIFco.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cHT5oya.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8ru3qbb.jpg

[Frondz]

Hi all,
I'm letting go of a couple harder-to-find books from Centipede press, both in fine condition. Please PM me with questions/interest or if you need references.
The Well by Jack Cady (2008 ), limited to 250 copies signed by Tom Picicrilli. Asking $300
The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore (2009), limited to 250 copies signed by Thomas Tessier. Asking $400
(I'm also posting in classifieds, so if this is inappropriate for the thread, let me know and I'll delete.) Thanks!

[Munnecom]

A sealed copy of the unsigned version of Stigmata is being sold here (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stigmata-Centipede-Press-Hardcover-Limited-Edition/254131538524) for less than the publication price, if anyone’s interested.

[Munnecom]

I’m looking for a hardcover copy of Cornell’s Woolrich’s Speak to Me of Death. All that is being sold online at the moment are paperbacks. Can anyone help me out?

[lotuz]

Some of Your Blood
Theodore Sturgeon

8.a Quarterbound leather and cloth, traycased, signed by Steve Rasnic Tem and Harry O. Morris: 20/22 – $225 (Red roman numerals)
8.b Clothbound with dustjacket, signed by Steve Rasnic Tem and Harry O. Morris: 300 – $50
8.c Trade paperback: 3000 – $12

Published as Millipede Press; 2006
Original price: $225/$50/$12

Hey! It’s been awhile!

I should probably face the facts – unless otherwise motivated, or I retire early (I’m not yet 40 now so if you see me mentioning retirement in one of these posts anytime soon I should probably buy you a beer because I must be doing alright), I’m probably not going to update this nearly as much as I thought I would. Given Jerad’s current output, I’m not even going to pace more entries per year than titles he produces… However, the early output from Centipede Press is much more difficult (but fun!) to catalogue. We’re at 2006 currently, and around 2010 things are going to get much, much easier. By 2013 it’ll be a lot of pictures and much more about my thoughts about the particular book at hand and less about describing different states of it.

But for now – onward and upward!

WORDS ABOUT THE MILLIPEDE PRESS IMPRINT

This is the first book under the imprint Millipede Press. The rest of the 2006 releases were put out under this imprint.

The Face That Must Die, Here Comes A Candle, and Falling Angel

Some of Your Blood was the first title from this imprint, which was featured on and off until about 2010. For all of these books (that I’m aware of), there were deluxe, numbered, and trade paperback editions.

The deluxe versions are quarterbound with black leather, and generally have red cloth front and back boards. I know of at least one with black leather boards, but I’m not sure if there are other colors (I haven’t seen them all), or if there are other materials (see: “I haven’t seen them all”), so I’ll take them one-by-one. They are traycased in black cloth cases with foil-stamped spines, and, something that I think is cool: the interiors of the traycases have the art that’s on the dustjackets (since it’s not on the books themselves). The numbered books are either clothbound or faux-leather bound or very slightly possibly real-leather bound (later note on this), with dustjackets done in the same style.

Generally, the endpapers are plain for the numbered version, and the deluxe version has the textured black swirly paper that first showed up in Two-Handed Engine and which I promised was going to make many future appearances.

The composition of the numbered editions changes, though, and there are often multiple states based on differences in the spine, binding materials, stamping, ribbons, etc.

On to this particular title!


As has happened previously, there is some disagreement about the exact number of copies. The limitation page says 20 deluxe copies, but there are some early newsletters that say 22. However, there’s also a caveat at the end of the limitation page that says “All other copies are reserved for the press.” This may mean that there are more than 20 deluxe copies but that some of them (2 perhaps…) were not publicly available when printed. There is an upcoming book for which this occurred but I haven’t confirmed it in this particular case.


Top view: deluxe, numbered, paperback
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8877.jpg


Spines and side of traycase: deluxe, numbered, paperback
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8878.jpg


The spine of the actual deluxe edition is black leather and is blindstamped with the title, a small decoration, and the last name of the author. This particular configuration of spine is going to come back multiple times in the future, on both lettered and numbered editions. Blindstamping on this material was an interesting choice – I like it – and makes it hard to read unless at an angle.
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8886.jpg


Here’s a shot of the front boards. The deluxe is on the left – quarter black leather and red cloth. The numbered is on the right – faux-leather (I believe) for the spine, and the same material in red for the front board. It’s often referred to as “leather bound” in auctions and online but I don’t think it is actual leather. I’m not positive though – I could be wrong!
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8884.jpg


Inside of the traycase for the deluxe:
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8879.jpg


Endpapers for the deluxe. Textured, black, and swirly. You’ll be seeing plenty of these babies in the future but I think it’s a nice default choice!
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8881.jpg


Limitation page for the numbered. Note the hand-written black number, which is very unusual and soon phased-out completely.
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8883.jpg


Limitation page for the lettered, again with the hand-lettering, this time a Roman Numeral in red.
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8882.jpg


Title page (all editions). Nice author pic here!
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8887.jpg


Interior page (all editions). The limitation page notes that this is the “Fleischmann” font and a random website says this: “ The robust typeface consists of text and display cuts making the font incredibly flexible for editorial design. The font features attention-getting ornate serifs and a large selection of ligatures that gives it’s characteristic form.” Sure!
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_8888.jpg


Up next - the next title from the Millipede Press imprint:

The Face That Must Die

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

That is a nice book. Or, I should say, those are nice books.

I was in the same room with Sturgeon once, at a convention. He gave a talk in so low a voice I couldn't hear a word he said, and when I tried to get him to autograph the convention booklet with KILLDOZER featured on it I couldn't even get near him, he was hustled out so fast. Shortly after that, he was gone. Seeing that SOME OF YOUR BLOOD brought that memory back.

[Hunchback Jack]

Ooh, those are pretty. Particularly the Deluxe state.

Thanks very much for posting! I'm loving this thread.

HBJ

[swintek]

Another great post, Lotus! We are all waiting for the next one!

[lotuz]

Just FYI Jerad's got up a signed copy of Stigmata on the scratch and dent page right now: http://www.centipedepress.com/scratchanddents.html.

It's version 1.b.ii - the "standard" numbered copy, 1 of 300 with five signatures.

What he's asking is a nice price ($175).

[lotuz]

Another great post, Lotus! We are all waiting for the next one!

Thanks! I'm really enjoying compiling this and we're getting closer to the really fun ones :)

[lotuz]

Just FYI Jerad's got up a signed copy of Stigmata on the scratch and dent page right now: http://www.centipedepress.com/scratchanddents.html.

It's version 1.b.ii - the "standard" numbered copy, 1 of 300 with five signatures.

What he's asking is a nice price ($175).

Somebody got it quick! Hope it was someone here.

Also I have two CP books for sale:


Hell House S/L #67 - Richard Matheson | Centipede Press | F in F slipcase | $900 | Note: one of the rarer Centipede titles, as only 100 copies were produced; a pretty book!

The Werewolf of Paris S/L #122 | Centipede Press | VG- with rubbing on the edges of the front board (pics available upon request) | $125


PayPal F&F (or add 3%) and shipping included.

[swintek]

That HELL HOUSE is a pretty book. And super rare. Hardly ever see that one up for sale. Good luck!

[cit74]

If you are keeping track of Stigmata books - I too have one of those "20 copy" deluxe versions with the signature page of 10 signatures. Lovely book. I actually got mine a few years back. I asked Jerad if he had any more signed copies and he actually had 1 more with all of the signatures...cannot remember how much he charged me at the time - but it wasn't much at all - maybe even the original issue price.

If you could check and see if your sigs are different from the ones I posted, that would be much appreciated!

sorry for late reply - but my stigmata sig page is the same as posted - notes its one of 20 deluxe copies - with all 10 signatures...same colored ink as well

[cit74]

I know that you have not gotten to Forever war yet...but:

CP - Forever War - unsigned version (not sure exactly how many of these were available for sale after signed versions sold out) - PM if interested.

Honestly have no idea how many unsigned versions were sold after s/l sold out

[Munnecom]

The Forever War #84 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Forever-War-Joe-Haldeman-Signed-3-Ltd-Numbered-Slipcase-Centipede-Press/392318579939?hash=item5b580274e3:g:iigAAOSwIiRdDmO t)

BIN of GBP 525 ($670) or best offer. Based on others I've seen on eBay, this is quite a good price.

Surprise, surprise, it's gone.

[lotuz]

If anyone's looking for a copy of Jeckyll & Hyde, there's one up on eBay now that's a steal:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Barry-Moser-STRANGE-CASE-OF-DR-JEKYLL-AND-MR-HYDE-Limited-1st-Edition-2011/153559852061?hash=item23c0e1641d:g:MhEAAOSwaSddJNb 0

It's sealed, and the BIN of $110 is about half the price that this should go for.


Also, if anyone else here was bidding - that Hallahan went for a crazy price! I put in a really good bid because it is the rarer state of that book (probably 20-30 copies in that state, possibly more), even though the condition was imperfect. It far exceeded my expectations.


Also also, posting here now makes me realize how long it's been since I did a biblio entry... should probably put the next one together soon...


EDIT: Gone!

[knightmare]

I've got a couple of Millipede Press that I'm looking to value for sale on consignment. I can't find where anyone is selling them so I'm coming to you guys.

I've got:

Some Of Your Blood by Sturgeon Roman Numeral VII

https://pic8.co/sh/rOM9vA.png
https://pic8.co/sh/cUZNdk.png

The Auctioneer by Samson Roman Numeral VI

https://pic8.co/sh/D2uvA1.png
https://pic8.co/sh/vQtl4v.png

Sorry about picture size, tinypic was crashing....

What do you think is a good price range on these? Thanks!

[knightmare]

While I'm at it, could use insight on the limited Auctioneer as well:

https://pic8.co/sh/9jmA3k.png
https://pic8.co/sh/3eFAHp.png

[lotuz]

I PMed knightmare with my thoughts on these, but if anyone else is interested in keeping abreast of CP sales, the last public sales that I have noted for these books are:

Some of Your Blood - Roman Numeral: $305 (#XIII) (this is the most common Millipede Press Roman Numeral I've seen, but I still think this was way underpriced)
The Auctioneer - Roman Numeral: Not seen for sale publicly
The Auctioneer - Limited: $99.99 (#83), $195.00 (#120), $252.50 (#unknown), and $227.50 (#unknown)

[knightmare]

I PMed knightmare with my thoughts on these, but if anyone else is interested in keeping abreast of CP sales, the last public sales that I have noted for these books are:

Some of Your Blood - Roman Numeral: $305 (#XIII) (this is the most common Millipede Press Roman Numeral I've seen, but I still think this was way underpriced)
The Auctioneer - Roman Numeral: Not seen for sale publicly
The Auctioneer - Limited: $99.99 (#83), $195.00 (#120), $252.50 (#unknown), and $227.50 (#unknown)

Thanks a ton for all of your help. This forum has some seriously knowledgeable and helpful people. A breath of fresh air.

For the record, the Auctioneer books are now SOLD

[stiffdoc]

I purchased your copy of Some of Your Blood; I was really happy to see it. I collect Centipede Press books, and I am always on the lookout for the very limited production run books that Jared put out occasionally, which usually disappeared very quickly. I have been fortunate in recent years, though---I joined his subscriber program, and now he notifies me of special editions that are going to be published. He makes beautiful books. If you happen to have any others you may wish to part with, let me know. Thanks.!!

Stiffdoc

[Lurker]

The highly elusive sought after POSTMORTEM Issue 1, Fall 2005. :smile:


https://i.ibb.co/xjpFmBX/Post-Mortem-Issue-1.jpg

[lotuz]

https://i.ibb.co/xjpFmBX/Post-Mortem-Issue-1.jpg

WOW!!!!

I had no idea that any of these even had a physical edition...

That is super cool :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[lotuz]

I purchased your copy of Some of Your Blood; I was really happy to see it. I collect Centipede Press books, and I am always on the lookout for the very limited production run books that Jared put out occasionally, which usually disappeared very quickly. I have been fortunate in recent years, though---I joined his subscriber program, and now he notifies me of special editions that are going to be published. He makes beautiful books. If you happen to have any others you may wish to part with, let me know. Thanks.!!

Stiffdoc

Welcome!!

This is a great site with a lot to offer, and if you love beautiful books there are a number of threads to check out :)

First and foremost is probably the thread about Suntup Editions - if you have not heard of this publisher, you will want to!

Otherwise, stay tuned - I have been remiss in updating this thread with bibliographical information and plan to remedy that shortly...

[stiffdoc]

Yes, very cool. I have never gotten interested in ephemera too much---having wrestled the collecting bug for 60+ years, I learned long ago where to (usually) draw my lines. I'm a retired pathologist, also, and I have to admit that things entitled "Postmortem" are just too close to work for me. I have been downsizing for several years now (it took me 3 years to sell ~40,000 comic books), and I don't avidly (rabidly??) collect the way I used to. Finding the occasional little treasure is good enough these days. Thanks for sharing that.

[knightmare]

I purchased your copy of Some of Your Blood; I was really happy to see it. I collect Centipede Press books, and I am always on the lookout for the very limited production run books that Jared put out occasionally, which usually disappeared very quickly. I have been fortunate in recent years, though---I joined his subscriber program, and now he notifies me of special editions that are going to be published. He makes beautiful books. If you happen to have any others you may wish to part with, let me know. Thanks.!!

Stiffdoc

Hey, you bought it from me. Feel free to reach out here if there's anything else you want. I can sell direct (lotuz can vouch) and money can be saved. I'm glad you're happy with it! That was the last of my Roman Numeral books, but I should have future editions...

[knightmare]

Oh, and I'll concur that if there's anyone making books that are art along the lines of Centipede it is now Suntup. It really illuminated just how stale something like SubPress is.

[Black Miau]

Magic by William Goldman up for pre-order!

http://www.centipedepress.com/horror/magic.html

[St. Troy]

Cool to see that Centipede is tackling Peter Straub's Ghost Story ("publication date of around early 2022"):


...archival artwork, plus a new dustjacket by artist Douglas Smith and several two-color linocuts by Vladimir Zimakov, plus bonus archival materials. The edition will be 500 copies, printed on mouldmade paper with natural deckled edges.

Sounds great, but unfortunately (for me) "the anticipated price will be around $400" (outside my budget).

[lotuz]

Cool to see that Centipede is tackling Peter Straub's Ghost Story ("publication date of around early 2022"):


...archival artwork, plus a new dustjacket by artist Douglas Smith and several two-color linocuts by Vladimir Zimakov, plus bonus archival materials. The edition will be 500 copies, printed on mouldmade paper with natural deckled edges.

Sounds great, but unfortunately (for me) "the anticipated price will be around $400" (outside my budget).

I think there's a decent chance that the price will come down before publication... $295 is usually his highest price point and that's for double volumes or editions with capped slipcases or the like. Especially at 500 copies. I could be wrong (and often am), but my fingers are crossed :)

I am also excited to see this book get a good limited treatment! He's been doing Straub titles here and there for years and I was happy to see that he's finally tackling this one, next to Koko, it's my favorite of the ones I've read.

[Clegane]

I don't really post here often. But I got directed to this thread tonight and thought I might share a couple of photos of my Centipede collection. I'm still short two books, Chimera and Chimera II. And I'm rather motivated to buy if you happen to have or find one for sale. But here's the rest...oh and I have a few fairly unique and hard to find editions in there, but I'll save close-ups of those until lotuz gets to them in his bibliography.

https://scontent.ffsd1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/60229410_10157286320267774_9211510569838837760_o.j pg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_oc=AQkH-f_EV9P91hhRd9ShA-i1VvgbRAkh-QAnkcP7-90zcvXPjGyh_ekqYzv3iHBfk6U&_nc_ht=scontent.ffsd1-1.fna&oh=ce7a7d2d80fe7ea0fc8aaea267283cbe&oe=5DE3366C

https://scontent.ffsd1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/60284764_10157286324907774_3847069569294270464_o.j pg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_oc=AQk8C3Jt0yRETW4_lICTm2cSXqrhR86MnXN6uq1YnVL YwUmqRVQrvi0tS_Aznw5-q4M&_nc_ht=scontent.ffsd1-1.fna&oh=16dd7a4b30db3c4c95efc1e279a14b1d&oe=5DE199F0

[The Library Policeman]

Man, that library looks fantastic.

[Hunchback Jack]

Thanks so much for posting! That is truly amazing. Congrats - and well done!

[Joe315]

Holy hell! We need more pics of your library. Is it 2 stories?


I don't really post here often. But I got directed to this thread tonight and thought I might share a couple of photos of my Centipede collection. I'm still short two books, Chimera and Chimera II. And I'm rather motivated to buy if you happen to have or find one for sale. But here's the rest...oh and I have a few fairly unique and hard to find editions in there, but I'll save close-ups of those until lotuz gets to them in his bibliography.

https://scontent.ffsd1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/60229410_10157286320267774_9211510569838837760_o.j pg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_oc=AQkH-f_EV9P91hhRd9ShA-i1VvgbRAkh-QAnkcP7-90zcvXPjGyh_ekqYzv3iHBfk6U&_nc_ht=scontent.ffsd1-1.fna&oh=ce7a7d2d80fe7ea0fc8aaea267283cbe&oe=5DE3366C

https://scontent.ffsd1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/60284764_10157286324907774_3847069569294270464_o.j pg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_oc=AQk8C3Jt0yRETW4_lICTm2cSXqrhR86MnXN6uq1YnVL YwUmqRVQrvi0tS_Aznw5-q4M&_nc_ht=scontent.ffsd1-1.fna&oh=16dd7a4b30db3c4c95efc1e279a14b1d&oe=5DE199F0

[Lurker]

Whew!

[Black Miau]

Splendidus!

[Alec]

What a beautiful design and space.
Remarkable collection and an equally marvellous library.
Thank you for the images.

[herbertwest]

What a room !

[Rooster]

That library has the same stopping power as it did when I first saw it. Gorgeous. And you're a fan of Inspector Morse? Splendid.

[St. Troy]

Holy hell! We need more pics of your library.

No shit. More please.

(How pitiful is my "library" situation? My "victory" is that I finally replaced my old 30" wide bookcase with a slightly more attractive 36" wide bookcase (yes - I have ONE bookcase), and got my wife to remove a few of her books and several of her knickknacks that had been blocked my books from view. And building it only fucked up my back for a few days! At least I get to display 4 more hardcovers...so, yes - I am here to live through others.)

[lotuz]

This is literally my dream library, both the construction and the contents! Simply beautiful.

And you've probably noticed that I've been just horrible about keeping up with the bibliography. I haven't given up (by any means!), but it's going to be much slower going than I thought. Don't let my lax updates prevent you from sharing books! Especially those deluxe beauties that I see there, a number of which I'm missing anyway...



I don't really post here often. But I got directed to this thread tonight and thought I might share a couple of photos of my Centipede collection. I'm still short two books, Chimera and Chimera II. And I'm rather motivated to buy if you happen to have or find one for sale. But here's the rest...oh and I have a few fairly unique and hard to find editions in there, but I'll save close-ups of those until lotuz gets to them in his bibliography.

https://scontent.ffsd1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/60229410_10157286320267774_9211510569838837760_o.j pg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_oc=AQkH-f_EV9P91hhRd9ShA-i1VvgbRAkh-QAnkcP7-90zcvXPjGyh_ekqYzv3iHBfk6U&_nc_ht=scontent.ffsd1-1.fna&oh=ce7a7d2d80fe7ea0fc8aaea267283cbe&oe=5DE3366C

https://scontent.ffsd1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/60284764_10157286324907774_3847069569294270464_o.j pg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_oc=AQk8C3Jt0yRETW4_lICTm2cSXqrhR86MnXN6uq1YnVL YwUmqRVQrvi0tS_Aznw5-q4M&_nc_ht=scontent.ffsd1-1.fna&oh=16dd7a4b30db3c4c95efc1e279a14b1d&oe=5DE199F0

[swintek]

Holy hell! We need more pics of your library.

No shit. More please.

(How pitiful is my "library" situation? My "victory" is that I finally replaced my old 30" wide bookcase with a slightly more attractive 36" wide bookcase (yes - I have ONE bookcase), and got my wife to remove a few of her books and several of her knickknacks that had been blocked my books from view. And building it only fucked up my back for a few days! At least I get to display 4 more hardcovers...so, yes - I am here to live through others.)

Got a laugh out of this (sorry). Your struggle is real! Keep fighting the good fight.

And, yes- MORE PICS OF THAT GORGEOUS LIBRARY ABOVE!

[MikeDuke]

I don't really post here often. But I got directed to this thread tonight and thought I might share a couple of photos of my Centipede collection. I'm still short two books, Chimera and Chimera II. And I'm rather motivated to buy if you happen to have or find one for sale. But here's the rest...oh and I have a few fairly unique and hard to find editions in there, but I'll save close-ups of those until lotuz gets to them in his bibliography.

https://scontent.ffsd1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/60229410_10157286320267774_9211510569838837760_o.j pg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_oc=AQkH-f_EV9P91hhRd9ShA-i1VvgbRAkh-QAnkcP7-90zcvXPjGyh_ekqYzv3iHBfk6U&_nc_ht=scontent.ffsd1-1.fna&oh=ce7a7d2d80fe7ea0fc8aaea267283cbe&oe=5DE3366C

https://scontent.ffsd1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/60284764_10157286324907774_3847069569294270464_o.j pg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_oc=AQk8C3Jt0yRETW4_lICTm2cSXqrhR86MnXN6uq1YnVL YwUmqRVQrvi0tS_Aznw5-q4M&_nc_ht=scontent.ffsd1-1.fna&oh=16dd7a4b30db3c4c95efc1e279a14b1d&oe=5DE199F0
That, is beyond impressive. So you said you are missing two books. Does that mean that you have the numbered and lettered of ever CP book? If so, wow. Congrats on such a wonderful collection.

[Clegane]

That, is beyond impressive. So you said you are missing two books. Does that mean that you have the numbered and lettered of ever CP book? If so, wow. Congrats on such a wonderful collection.

Not exactly. My personal criteria for 'completion' is at least one copy of each book the press has published. I will typically settle for a single variant where there were multiples. I have 'numbered' copies of all Centipede books aside from the aforementioned Chimera and Chimera II. I have about 14 'deluxe' editions (since Jerad doesn't do proper 'letters', but rather 'deluxes', typically with roman numerals) on top of that and am always on the lookout for more.

Also, more broadly speaking, thank you all so much for your kind words about my library. I had posted the photos mostly to highlight my Centipede collection, as that is the focus of this thread. I'm happy to share additional images of the space, but am wary about de-railing a dedicated thread to do so. I'm not a frequent user of this forum, so I don't really know how stringent folks are about staying strictly on topic. But if y'all want more photos, I can share them.

The library itself was just finished earlier this year. It'd been under construction since 2017. And it was being constructed in my head as early as about 1985. It truly was the realization of a lifelong dream. Of all the things in my life for which I am thankful, among the very top of that list is a fantastic wife who doesn't collect anything and consented to my library space taking up damned near half the square footage of the entire house. :P

[webstar1000]

That, is beyond impressive. So you said you are missing two books. Does that mean that you have the numbered and lettered of ever CP book? If so, wow. Congrats on such a wonderful collection.

Not exactly. My personal criteria for 'completion' is at least one copy of each book the press has published. I will typically settle for a single variant where there were multiples. I have 'numbered' copies of all Centipede books aside from the aforementioned Chimera and Chimera II. I have about 14 'deluxe' editions (since Jerad doesn't do proper 'letters', but rather 'deluxes', typically with roman numerals) on top of that and am always on the lookout for more.

Also, more broadly speaking, thank you all so much for your kind words about my library. I had posted the photos mostly to highlight my Centipede collection, as that is the focus of this thread. I'm happy to share additional images of the space, but am wary about de-railing a dedicated thread to do so. I'm not a frequent user of this forum, so I don't really know how stringent folks are about staying strictly on topic. But if y'all want more photos, I can share them.

The library itself was just finished earlier this year. It'd been under construction since 2017. And it was being constructed in my head as early as about 1985. It truly was the realization of a lifelong dream. Of all the things in my life for which I am thankful, among the very top of that list is a fantastic wife who doesn't collect anything and consented to my library space taking up damned near half the square footage of the entire house. :P

Are you a Suntup collector? If you like these good folks... you will LOVE them (Suntup) even better!! I always wanted a library like that!!! WITH a secret door to get in.. but when we priced it out for our new home??? Wasn't gonna happen:( haha

[lotuz]

That, is beyond impressive. So you said you are missing two books. Does that mean that you have the numbered and lettered of ever CP book? If so, wow. Congrats on such a wonderful collection.

Not exactly. My personal criteria for 'completion' is at least one copy of each book the press has published. I will typically settle for a single variant where there were multiples. I have 'numbered' copies of all Centipede books aside from the aforementioned Chimera and Chimera II. I have about 14 'deluxe' editions (since Jerad doesn't do proper 'letters', but rather 'deluxes', typically with roman numerals) on top of that and am always on the lookout for more.

Also, more broadly speaking, thank you all so much for your kind words about my library. I had posted the photos mostly to highlight my Centipede collection, as that is the focus of this thread. I'm happy to share additional images of the space, but am wary about de-railing a dedicated thread to do so. I'm not a frequent user of this forum, so I don't really know how stringent folks are about staying strictly on topic. But if y'all want more photos, I can share them.

The library itself was just finished earlier this year. It'd been under construction since 2017. And it was being constructed in my head as early as about 1985. It truly was the realization of a lifelong dream. Of all the things in my life for which I am thankful, among the very top of that list is a fantastic wife who doesn't collect anything and consented to my library space taking up damned near half the square footage of the entire house. :P

Share away, please! Let us all revel in your dream come true :rose:

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

Speaking of hidden doors, are there any 'secrets' about the library that can be told?

[MikeDuke]

"I have 'numbered' copies of all Centipede books aside from the aforementioned Chimera and Chimera II. I have about 14 'deluxe' editions (since Jerad doesn't do proper 'letters', but rather 'deluxes', typically with roman numerals)"
That is still very impressive. The 14 deluxe ed are impressive as well. I hope you and Lotuz can find the missing books you are looking for. I did not know about CP at all and when I did, I saw that they were all sold out.
But there are some resonable ones on eBay so maybe one day I will have a mini collection. But I hope to see some pics as well.
P.S I also see a lot of empty space. That has to be filled at some point right :).

[Clegane]

Holy hell! We need more pics of your library.

No shit. More please.

(How pitiful is my "library" situation? My "victory" is that I finally replaced my old 30" wide bookcase with a slightly more attractive 36" wide bookcase (yes - I have ONE bookcase), and got my wife to remove a few of her books and several of her knickknacks that had been blocked my books from view. And building it only fucked up my back for a few days! At least I get to display 4 more hardcovers...so, yes - I am here to live through others.)

Take heart, sir. 25 years ago my entire book collection was stored in the trunk of my battered 1971 Mercury Montego. I had to stumble drunkenly out to the street and rummage around with a flashlight every time I needed to switch books in the middle of the night. Life takes many turns and situations change. I dreamt about this library for decades before finally having the opportunity to build it.


That library has the same stopping power as it did when I first saw it. Gorgeous. And you're a fan of Inspector Morse? Splendid.

Your remark implies that there are people out there who are NOT fans of Inspector Morse. My mind rebels at this notion.



This is literally my dream library, both the construction and the contents! Simply beautiful.

And you've probably noticed that I've been just horrible about keeping up with the bibliography. I haven't given up (by any means!), but it's going to be much slower going than I thought. Don't let my lax updates prevent you from sharing books! Especially those deluxe beauties that I see there, a number of which I'm missing anyway...


Thanks for setting this thread up, by the way. If you're cool with me going out of order on you then, I'll upload some pics of deluxes that might be a trifle tricky to find.

[Rooster]

That library has the same stopping power as it did when I first saw it. Gorgeous. And you're a fan of Inspector Morse? Splendid.

Your remark implies that there are people out there who are NOT fans of Inspector Morse. My mind rebels at this notion.

Then perhaps we could say that there are people who are fans of Inspector Morse, and then there are people who have yet to become fans of Inspector Morse!

Also, I join the choir, please, more pictures if you will!

[Joe315]

There is a dedicated “Bookcase” thread here: http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?6425-Bookcases

Feel free to post your library pics there.

[RC65]

Clegane, your library pics are the most wonderful thing I've seen today...and I've been having a pretty good day. Please do feel free to post more pics of your libary in this thread, as Lotuz suggests -- when discussing Centipede Press, we're talking about fine books of outstanding design and quality...it seems to me pictures of your library of similarly outstanding design would be right at home in that discussion.

[Clegane]

Okay, here are the photos of my library, to start with. Enough people have asked at this point that I feel like it is okay to post it here. It will all be rather cavernous and unadorned because these photos were taken by a professional the day before I moved 1.4 tons of books in by hand. I can add lower quality images later if people prefer to see the actual collection. But for those of you mainly keen on the space itself, these images highlight it beyond anything that I can conceive. Christ, it still blows my mind when I look at them. I designed the flow and decor of the room, then worked with an architect to make it functional, then scored a serious home run by getting together with a very talented carpenter who understood my vision and translated it perfectly into reality. He did almost all of the wood trim here by hand.

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[MikeDuke]

I think wow just about sums it up. Because beyond that, I can't find the words to describe what I am seeing. And you did say 1.4 tons of books?
OK. I still don't know how to react to this.

[swintek]

Stunning. No words just now. Thank you for sharing.

[Clegane]

I think wow just about sums it up. Because beyond that, I can't find the words to describe what I am seeing. And you did say 1.4 tons of books?
OK. I still don't know how to react to this.

That was actually a typo. It was 1.1 rather than 1.4. About 2200 pounds of books, mostly hardcovers. It was over 100 boxes, though that is largely a consequence of me being overprotective and not wanting to overstack and risk damage. Way too fastidious to trust them to movers, so I had to do them all myself. Way too old and broken down for that shit. Told the wife that the next time they're getting moved, it's so people can get to my body when I die in there. :) Got them all over with no damage, though!

[herbertwest]

Really an impressive library !

[lotuz]

Breathtaking. Simply beautiful.

[MikeDuke]

I think wow just about sums it up. Because beyond that, I can't find the words to describe what I am seeing. And you did say 1.4 tons of books?
OK. I still don't know how to react to this.

That was actually a typo. It was 1.1 rather than 1.4. About 2200 pounds of books, mostly hardcovers. It was over 100 boxes, though that is largely a consequence of me being overprotective and not wanting to overstack and risk damage. Way too fastidious to trust them to movers, so I had to do them all myself. Way too old and broken down for that shit. Told the wife that the next time they're getting moved, it's so people can get to my body when I die in there. :) Got them all over with no damage, though!
Oh only 1.1 and not 1.4 :rolleyes1:? Then what kind of collection is this? Joking of course. That is still a massive amount of books. And a wonderful collection.

[zelig]

Now this is a man who takes his books seriously. Incredible! What a dream library you have there. Well done.

[The Library Policeman]

Now that is library! Looks great, well done sir.

[Randall Flagg]

Simply splendid.

[RC65]

Good lord, that's even more stunning than I'd predicted. You, sir, are a very fortunate man to have that kind of soul-stirring beauty in your life each day.

I hope you'll add some add'l pics once you fill the shelves.

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

That's even better than having a real bowling alley in your basement!

Uhm, do you have a bowling alley in your basement?

[Joe315]

Clegane, that is an awesome library! Just....wow! Having something like that is a dream of mine as well. Hopefully I can get to that point.

And yes we want to see pictures of the books.

[amd013]

WOW!

I kept wondering what that was over the fireplace. It took awhile for me to figure out it was a mirror!

So, are you looking for a librarian?

Do you use the fireplace? I would be too paranoid to use it.

[Clegane]

WOW!

I kept wondering what that was over the fireplace. It took awhile for me to figure out it was a mirror!

So, are you looking for a librarian?

Do you use the fireplace? I would be too paranoid to use it.

It's electric. But yes, I do use it. The climate control in order to keep de-humidification at safe levels for the books sometimes requires it to be chilly as hell in the library itself, so I get some good mileage out of the fireplace in the late night hours. But yeah, it was electric by design in order to reduce paranoia about damaging the books with heat or scent, etc.

[Clegane]

Thank you once again for all of your heart-warming comments about my library. I love finding people who appreciate it for all that it is.

Moving back to the main focus of the thread, however, and as per lotuz's request, here are some images of a rarely-seen Centipede Press deluxe.

Gene Wolfe's "Shadow of the Torturer" deluxe, published in 2007 in full Chieftain goatskin leather, with deckled-edge Saunders Waterford paper and an accompanying traycase. Only 13 of this state (numbered in Roman Numerals) were created and I have never seen another one in photos or in person. Pardon the dust smatters visible on the traycase. I was far too excited to even bother wiping it down after unpacking it and shot these photos pretty much immediately.

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[Clegane]

Next one is rarer still. My weak camera work does a poor job of conveying all of the lenticular majesty of this beautiful set. This book existed in multiple states, from the Somewhat-rare-in-and-of-itself Trade hardcover to a limited with a case, to a deluxe (limited to 50) 3-volume set with the main book in a clamshell and the prints in accompanying slimmer volumes.

Artists Inspired By HP Lovecraft, published in 2008 by Centipede Press. Published in multiple states, of which this is 1/1, utterly unique and one of a kind.

Quarter leather and custom cloth binding with a lenticular image set into the cover, then housed in a massive, luxurious clamshell traycase.

Accompanying it is a second slimmer traycase, also bearing a lenticular piece on the exterior. Inside it houses three bound lenticular prints as well as 5 signature sheets signed by most of the living artists who contributed to the collection. Many of them provided rather intricate doodles to accompany their sig.

The traycases are matched in size and meant to be displayed together and this entire set is probably the pinnacle of Centipede Press's extant work in my opinion. I have some close seconds on my shelves, but I am not sure I own a single volume of any sort whose overall presentation exceeds this one. This is certainly the rarest single volume in my collection and possibly the most beautiful. I really need to get around to taking some clearer and fresher pictures of the set.

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https://scontent.ffsd1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/34123110_10156442784972774_6393528367395635200_o.j pg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_oc=AQmQuT6fOpaHs2REULIdmj19GKRrP_fun9Qy3rQ-0y-ueo0ZoTgXTtv7xVJGmBWjgLQ&_nc_ht=scontent.ffsd1-1.fna&oh=a8e429c6821e357d87d4ef25d066eda2&oe=5DEB33FE

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https://scontent.ffsd1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/34185517_10156442786587774_9204473326053883904_o.j pg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_oc=AQlEwoOK2hDJJjmzbtVGJnJP1--UR--5lKDEFeo63Sfld7yjId16suIW6M8QP3oACUs&_nc_ht=scontent.ffsd1-1.fna&oh=7bd2670d6770361d063d66d66a0c5784&oe=5DE3A9D0

[Tkstone]

Clegane,
Your Artist’s Inspired by HP Lovecraft looks amazing. Congratulation on such a wonderful book.
Congratulation on your outstanding library too! Thanks for sharing.

[lotuz]

Thank you so much for sharing! With your permission, I will link back to these wonderful pictures when I get to these books in the bibliography.

Speaking of, all the excitement in this thread (due mostly to Clegane's great shares) has inspired me to finish the next bibliographic post. I'll have it up sometime tomorrow :)

[Garrell]

Wow. Unbelievable library. Can’t wait to see pics when it is full.

[Black Miau]

Wonderful dream library. I congratulate you, it is a beautiful design.

[Hunchback Jack]

Magnificent library! Congratulations!

And congrats also on the deluxe Shadow of the Torturer. An edition I will always long to own, but accept that I never will. Enjoy it!

HBJ

[webstar1000]

Next one is rarer still. My weak camera work does a poor job of conveying all of the lenticular majesty of this beautiful set. This book existed in multiple states, from the Somewhat-rare-in-and-of-itself Trade hardcover to a limited with a case, to a deluxe (limited to 50) 3-volume set with the main book in a clamshell and the prints in accompanying slimmer volumes.

Artists Inspired By HP Lovecraft, published in 2008 by Centipede Press. Published in multiple states, of which this is 1/1, utterly unique and one of a kind.

Quarter leather and custom cloth binding with a lenticular image set into the cover, then housed in a massive, luxurious clamshell traycase.

Accompanying it is a second slimmer traycase, also bearing a lenticular piece on the exterior. Inside it houses three bound lenticular prints as well as 5 signature sheets signed by most of the living artists who contributed to the collection. Many of them provided rather intricate doodles to accompany their sig.

The traycases are matched in size and meant to be displayed together and this entire set is probably the pinnacle of Centipede Press's extant work in my opinion. I have some close seconds on my shelves, but I am not sure I own a single volume of any sort whose overall presentation exceeds this one. This is certainly the rarest single volume in my collection and possibly the most beautiful. I really need to get around to taking some clearer and fresher pictures of the set.

https://scontent.ffsd1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/34069136_10156442779287774_3358383594740383744_o.j pg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_oc=AQkHWmzAY2cezbVXMuCAEJ2va3DcL_X7H1EixgBQYhE i-3QGEmzkWCJZ5OE-ayOeZZE&_nc_ht=scontent.ffsd1-1.fna&oh=b595325ba4df2c6cffb65174a1fd7102&oe=5DC81794

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Again, I pose my question: you seem to like high end books... do you collect Suntup editions?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MikeDuke]

Wow. Those look great. And a 1 of 1. Again, fantastic. I hope to see more of this collection.

[Alec]

Kris, I believe that an aficionado of Colin Dexter would most certainly have done his homework on Suntup Editions.

[webstar1000]

Kris, I believe that an aficionado of Colin Dexter would most certainly have done his homework on Suntup Editions.

One would think... I asked though and he did not answer so I thought he may have missed where I did...

[Clegane]

Sorry. I loathe lengthy typing on my phone and was waiting to get back to a PC to address the Suntup question. Yes I am well aware of them. No, I do not collect them. The gist of it is that when Misery was announced, I felt that the price point was extreme for a fledgling press whose only real completed project prior was an art portfolio. The shockingly high up front cost of their lifetime buy in set off a bevy of red flags for me. So after much deliberation I chose to pass on adding them to the small number of presses I collect. In hindsight it appears my misgivings were not borne out. Suntup has put out some good products and they seem to be building a good reputation for quality work. But the secondary market prices for people selling their limitation slots are nothing short of predatory so I continue to pass.

In short, they were too fringe for me to justify the prices at the outset and they’re too trendy for me to justify trying to buy in now given the high secondary cost. But I do not disagree about the quality of their work and given my druthers I may have made a different choice on the day the Misery preorder was in my reach.

[lotuz]

The Face That Must Die
Ramsey Campbell

9.a Quarterbound leather and cloth, traycased, signed by Ramsey Campbell, Poppy Z. Brite, and J.K. Potter: 20 – $225 (Red roman numerals)
9.b Clothbound with dustjacket, signed signed by Ramsey Campbell, Poppy Z. Brite, and J.K. Potter: 300 – $65
9.c Trade paperback: 3000 – $14

Published as Millipede Press; 2006
Original price: $225/$65/$14

Hey! It’s been awhile!

That should be the official tagline of the bibliographical portion of this thread.

The Face That Must Die was the second title from Millipede Press, and the second book in a series that I’m going to make up a name for, right now: the “circle series” (you’ll see why in a second, and also that I’m not particularly creative). “Series” in this case means a collection of books that are typographically and stylistically similar or identical. The books themselves are not related.

The circle series books are well represented in the previous post (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?21661-The-Centipede-Press-Thread-(Including-CP-Book-by-Book-%96-An-Incomplete-Bibliography)&p=1145116&viewfull=1#post1145116) and so I’ll just document the cases in which a particular circle series book is different from its predecessors – usually just the dustjacket and limitation page.

I’m referring to this as the circle series because these books all share the same relatively-short-lived Millipede Press logo, a yellow circle/spiral on the top of the spine, like here:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_0168.jpg

Cover design for these books was generally a black upper band with art underneath.

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_0167.jpg

I like this particular limitation page (and this particular book) because it has some excellent contributors. Another thing to note about this series and early Centipede Press books in general: the signature page is generally a free-for-all. As in most cases that usually results in the same general order and placement of signatures, but not always. Later books introduce those nice lines that indicate to authors where to sign.

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/984/medium/IMG_01701.jpg

Folks here may recognize the bottom signature as JK Potter’s, artist and contributor to several limited King editions.

The middle signature is New Orleans author Poppy Z. Brite, who provides a fantastic and insightful introduction, as always. Unfortunately, having retired from fiction writing after a nice run of good gothic horror novels and countless chapbooks and shorter works, we hear from Poppy less and less these days. Poppy is now known as Billy Martin, though when he does intros or makes other contributions to books, he still uses his old professional name and signs as “Poppy Z. Brite”.

The top signature is of course the signature of the quite prolific British author Ramsey Campbell. I’m sure that most folks here have heard of him and probably read some of his stuff!

You’ll also notice the same type used and mentioned (Fleischmann).

Up next - the next title from the Millipede Press imprint and the third book in the circle series:

Here Comes a Candle

[Lurker]

Outta my price range, but in the scratch and dent section -

Artists Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft.This is the special traycased edition which has an extra folder of prints. The two items--book and extra prints--come in a large traycase (unstamped) and I am also including the three 3-D lenticular H.P. Lovecraft prints as well. Very very handsome item. $2,795 or best offer.

[jsmcmullen92]

Outta my price range, but in the scratch and dent section -

Artists Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft.This is the special traycased edition which has an extra folder of prints. The two items--book and extra prints--come in a large traycase (unstamped) and I am also including the three 3-D lenticular H.P. Lovecraft prints as well. Very very handsome item. $2,795 or best offer.

Man I would love that. I have been looking for the normal version for quite some time.

[swintek]

Outta my price range, but in the scratch and dent section -

Artists Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft.This is the special traycased edition which has an extra folder of prints. The two items--book and extra prints--come in a large traycase (unstamped) and I am also including the three 3-D lenticular H.P. Lovecraft prints as well. Very very handsome item. $2,795 or best offer.

Man I would love that. I have been looking for the normal version for quite some time.

Jeez, that sounds too pricey to me. I had a hard time selling that exact same edition on eBay (yes, several years ago, but still) for $500. Think I ended up taking $400. I'd put that edition at... $750. The book is the exact same as the "trade". Just comes with a folder of selected prints, and the blank traycase.

[Black Miau]

Magic is Sold Out! For now, no unsigned editions.

[NiceM]

If anyone is looking to sell matching numbers with future rights of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser then I would like to make an offer

[Rooster]

I have a set I've been looking to move, but I've been too lazy to do anything about it. I PM'd you.

[WeDealInLead]

Childhood's End pre-orders are live for the general public.

[Black Miau]

Childhood's End pre-orders are live for the general public.


Was there a private announcement like Suntup?

Ordered!

[NiceM]

Childhood's End pre-orders are live for the general public.


Was there a private announcement like Suntup?

Ordered!

Jerad informs pre public through his newsletter in which he asked last week if people were interested to reserve a copy. He always sends these on Sundays. They are my most favorite thing to read on a Sunday.

[WeDealInLead]

Childhood's End pre-orders are live for the general public.


Was there a private announcement like Suntup?

Ordered!

It wasn't exclusive, you didn't need to own the previous CP book or even the previous Arthur C. Clarke book. If you had emailed Jerad and expressed interest in ordering the book, he emailed you the private link one day before he sent out the newsletter (today) to everyone.

[Scoogs]

When I first received the newsletter this morning and looked at the Childhood's End listing it was "on sale" for $300.
Now it only shows up at $325.

[WeDealInLead]

That seems to be a common CP practice. He'll offer a discount price to early direct orders and then they go back to regular price.

[Scoogs]

That seems to be a common CP practice. He'll offer a discount price to early direct orders and then they go back to regular price.

Thanks, wasn't aware of that.

[scarface]

What do you guys think about the Book of the New Sun re-do? I for one would love to get a modern updated set, even if it will be an unsigned one. The old one cannot be found anywhere for a reasonable price and the mismatched heights of the books would probably drive me nuts even if I did end up buying one. Folio Society recently did a limited edition (of just the 4 books) but something about that art style put me off.

[WeDealInLead]

I responded and said I'm interested. I missed out on the first set and now they're impossible to find.

[Munnecom]

I don't understand what all the fuss is about with regard to Childhood's End (the physical book, not the story itself). The design specifications don't sound all that spectacular.

Am I missing something?

[NiceM]

I don't understand what all the fuss is about with regard to Childhood's End (the physical book, not the story itself). The design specifications don't sound all that spectacular.

Am I missing something?

I'm expecting Elric type of quality with the way it is presented. Love the art shots already

[Black Miau]

I don't understand what all the fuss is about with regard to Childhood's End (the physical book, not the story itself). The design specifications don't sound all that spectacular.

Am I missing something?

Yeah literally sounds like just a plain book.

Elric's design specifications didn't sound spectacular, of course I didn't buy it at that time. But in the end after printing. It was spectacular and beautiful.