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

[WeDealInLead]

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?

What were you expecting? I mean, how would you improve it? I'm not trying to start a fight, I'm genuinely curious what you think needs improvement.

[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?

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.

Elric was $150 per book. This one is $325. You can trust Jerad to blow your mind away with production quality at this price level.
This is from the newsletters "The book has five color tip-in illustrations, tri-tone color endpapers, stamped slipcase lined with imported patterned paper and inlaid with a dye-infused aluminum print, Mohawk Superfine paper, embossed dustjacket, and other goodies"

We won't have to wait very long as it ships at the end of the month. When I get my copy I'll post my pictures

[Black Miau]

Childhood’s End Signed Edition is Sold Out! For now, unsigned editions available.

[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?

What were you expecting? I mean, how would you improve it? I'm not trying to start a fight, I'm genuinely curious what you think needs improvement.

That was not my point, exactly. I meant that it sounds like most other CP books, so I fail to see why this one deserves all the hype. I'm sure the end product will be amazing, but will it be "$200 extra and months of anticipation" levels of amazing?

[cit74]

the book will reportedly ship in about 3 weeks - so we won't have to wait months to see the final product

[scarface]

I would say the hype is more around the book rather than the specific individual details in the limited edition. I believe Childhood's End is one of the most well known books of Arthur C. Clarke and just getting a "limited" edition of that would ratchet up the hype factor IMO. Also I am unaware of a pre-existing limited edition for this book (although I could be wrong about this) which could drive up the hype train another notch.

As far as production quality goes we all know Jerad does a fantastic job consistently and I have learned that even if the description might sound lackluster, the actual book will surpass my expectations.

[Lurker]

I know most people don't count them as limited, but Easton Press has done Childhood's End.

[WeDealInLead]

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?

What were you expecting? I mean, how would you improve it? I'm not trying to start a fight, I'm genuinely curious what you think needs improvement.

That was not my point, exactly. I meant that it sounds like most other CP books, so I fail to see why this one deserves all the hype. I'm sure the end product will be amazing, but will it be "$200 extra and months of anticipation" levels of amazing?

Roughly 2.9 seconds after the first time Jerad in passing mentioned he'll be publishing the limited of this book, I knew I was getting it. It's one of the most famous science fiction books getting the Centipede treatment. That's hype right there. This was before any details whatsoever were announced. Clearly I wasn't the only one, the book sold out in less than 24 hours.

I checked the Centipede website and in the top two rows didn't notice any books with this many bells and whistles. Keep in mind that one thing Centipede excels at is underselling their descriptions. The last sentence of the book description says, "...and all the usual extras you expect." I like that nonchalant approach but I can see why others wouldn't. It also goes to show his customers trust his judgement and those on the fence missed out.

[lotuz]

I think it can often be hard for people to picture a book before release based only on the description from the publisher. This is one of the reasons that I think Paul's use of mock-ups can be helpful, bthough still limited in their ability to convey some features. Often actual post-release pictures don't do a nice book justice compared to holding it in your hands (the exceptions being Yegor's pictures, which are fan-fucking-tastic)! The worst publisher in this regard is Subterranean, who make some of the most amazing and beautiful books, but whose descriptions are always exactly the same and totally lifeless...

It also helps if you carefully parse the description and compare it to previous books. If you have a few Centipede Press books, you know that all the books are very high quality, but some are above and beyond. Take the recent release of Magic, for example. I would describe it as a "slightly-better-than-usual" release (remembering that a "usual" release is going to have high quality paper, be Smyth-sewn, have a ribbon marker, a blindstamped front board, new art, and lots of extras). Magic is described thusly:

"Limited to 300 copies for sale, the book is bound in cloth, Smyth sewn, with a deckled edge, top-edge stain, ribbon marker, and custom printed endpapers."

So as you can see this parses to a "usual release" plus printed endpapers, a deckled edge, and top stain. And that is exactly what the book was.

In this case the book was described as:

"The book has five color tip-in illustrations, tri-tone color endpapers, stamped slipcase lined with imported patterned paper and inlaid with a dye-infused aluminum print, Mohawk Superfine paper, embossed dustjacket, and other goodies."

This parses as a "usual release" plus nice patterned endpapers, a fancy slipcase, and an embossed jacket (which, while we haven't gotten far enough along in the bibliography to even get to books with a dustjacket, is unusual for Centipede, so probably interesting).

The price point says the rest. $325 is on the higher end for CP. It is almost never the case that a high price point book from CP fails to hold the value on the secondary market. But again, if you are not a hardcore CP collector, this might not resonate with you. (Back to Sub Press - I've said this plenty, but price point is the only way to differentiate quality for lettered books and works every time). If you've seen the Elric books in person, you can peg the quality as "at-least-this-much-and-likely-higher".

So while I definitely understand the skepticism, I do believe that this will prove to be one of the better releases in 2019. I could be wrong, of course! We'll see in 3 weeks

I will also say, if you're ever on the fence for a CP book, know that almost all books hold their price on the secondary market, and that it's unusual for a high-price point book (>$150) to not increase.

[Munnecom]

I see what you're saying and I get that this will likely be above and beyond CP's usual quality.

I guess I'm just not the target audience for this, since I'm not a die-hard CP collector nor do I collect special editions of science-fiction books.

Since the beginning, I've been most curious about the slipcase, particularly that metal "print." From the description alone, I find it hard to visualise what it might look like, so please post your pictures when you get it.

[Rooster]

Centipede Press descriptions rarely give me a "wow" effect - I don't really know why, perhaps because the descriptions are so matter of fact and can blend in. But I find Centipede to have the best consistency in matching the quality of the production with its price point. I don't think I've ever received a book from them and went "I paid $x for this...?". I may not know exactly what I'm getting, but chances are exceedingly high that I'll be pleased with it.

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.

If the physical form factor is different (kind of like with Masters of the Weird Tale and Library of Weird Fiction releases) I'm OK with it, but if it's a physically identical release with new art (I love the old art, though) I'm not a fan. That said, I didn't answer the query because I have a huge bias in that I actually have a set, and have considered selling (not for anything reasonable, mind you) it, so obviously I'm not the most neutral party here. There's always a fear that a new release will undercut the not-insignificant investment you yourself put in to the old release. But on the other hand, it was only a 1/100 with the first book coming out 12 years ago, so like a zillion willing people missed out, soooo it's pretty hard to argue against a re-release either. It certainly makes me feel selfish about it.

[NiceM]

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.

If the physical form factor is different (kind of like with Masters of the Weird Tale and Library of Weird Fiction releases) I'm OK with it, but if it's a physically identical release with new art (I love the old art, though) I'm not a fan. That said, I didn't answer the query because I have a huge bias in that I actually have a set, and have considered selling (not for anything reasonable, mind you) it, so obviously I'm not the most neutral party here. There's always a fear that a new release will undercut the not-insignificant investment you yourself put in to the old release. But on the other hand, it was only a 1/100 with the first book coming out 12 years ago, so like a zillion willing people missed out, soooo it's pretty hard to argue against a re-release either. It certainly makes me feel selfish about it.

I have the exact same sentiment without currently owning a Centipede set. As long as the "original" set keeps it's special features and the re-run would be completely different, then I would love a re-do. I am not in collecting for making a profit, I collect works of art. So the argument of investment loss isn't a strong one for me, but I could see re-sellers ont the fence over this. However, that's a risk you run with investment of any kind in my opinion. The frist Centipede version will always have it's own unique art and a very limited run of 100 and Gene's signature.

[WeDealInLead]

Unsigned copies are now sold out too. If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that when Dune pre-orders go live, it's best not to be tardy to that party.

[cit74]

Unsigned copies are now sold out too. If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that when Dune pre-orders go live, it's best not to be tardy to that party.

If you are ever on the fence - just jump over with both feet...don't hesitate

[lotuz]

Unsigned copies are now sold out too. If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that when Dune pre-orders go live, it's best not to be tardy to that party.

I don't expect Dune to make it to public pre-orders, unless they do a larger-than-usual limitation - say 500. I would advise anyone who is interested in this one to carefully watch the newsletter - if he hasn't already, he'll likely do the same as Childhood's End and send out a Saturday pre-order to those who have previously expressed interest (which is requested via the typical Sunday newsletter).

For better or worse, this is also one that will probably crop up immediately on the secondary market (most do), and it would be advisable to eat the difference and buy a copy right away, so as to lock in the rest of the set.

I'm super excited about this one! Definitely one of the most anticipated titles in the history of the press.

Unsigned copies are now sold out too. If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that when Dune pre-orders go live, it's best not to be tardy to that party.

If you are ever on the fence - just jump over with both feet...don't hesitate

SO true

[NiceM]

Unsigned copies are now sold out too. If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that when Dune pre-orders go live, it's best not to be tardy to that party.

I don't expect Dune to make it to public pre-orders, unless they do a larger-than-usual limitation - say 500. I would advise anyone who is interested in this one to carefully watch the newsletter - if he hasn't already, he'll likely do the same as Childhood's End and send out a Saturday pre-order to those who have previously expressed interest (which is requested via the typical Sunday newsletter).

For better or worse, this is also one that will probably crop up immediately on the secondary market (most do), and it would be advisable to eat the difference and buy a copy right away, so as to lock in the rest of the set.

I'm super excited about this one! Definitely one of the most anticipated titles in the history of the press.

Unsigned copies are now sold out too. If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that when Dune pre-orders go live, it's best not to be tardy to that party.

If you are ever on the fence - just jump over with both feet...don't hesitate

SO true

or become a subscriber!

[PennyUnwise]

Still copies of Childhoods End available at Sub Press just fyi.

[lotuz]

or become a subscriber!

Always a good recommendation (assuming he’s still taking them)!

For anyone interested, the current terms are that you agree to purchase all books, and in return you are guaranteed (a) the same number, (b) a 15% discount, and (c) 30-60 day invoicing after shipping. Also, very occasionally, there is a subscriber-only email in which you get updates.

[zachip]

if anyone interested, for sale is Centipede Press Signed Limited Edition of Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg
https://www.ebay.com/itm/153679660428

[swintek]

Did Jerad send out a Sunday newsletter today- 10/13/19?

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

I didn't get one either.

[Br!an]

Me neither.

[NiceM]

Did Jerad send out a Sunday newsletter today- 10/13/19?

Nope, sunday was a little empty without it.

[lotuz]

I'm not sure who this seller is, but I've noticed in the last day or so that they have put up a lot of Centipede Press books, most at very fair prices - right at market or under (there are a few exceptions):

https://www.ebay.com/usr/ppod1

Some especially good deals I think are The Nightwalker at $150 (it is the less common variant with the inset sticker on the front board instead of the printed boards) and Harvest Home at $110.

[lotuz]

Cross-posting this here because it includes a lot of Centipede Press tites:


Trying to raise some funds!

Everything here includes shipping to the continental US but I'm happy to ship anywhere in the world at cost.

PayPal F&F preferred but I'd take regular PayPal +3%, or, if you're really old school, a mailed check or money order (book to ship after it clears).

I'm open to payment plans (books to ship after complete payment), and also am willing to negotiate prices on some titles, especially if you want to make an offer on multiples.


Centipede Press

The Urth of the New Sun - Gene Wolfe | $???? [Matching numbered set of books 1-3, 5, and 6, but missing The Citadel of the Autarch; I would like to complete this set (!) but am open to offers from folks here; don't be shy to message me if you are interested]

Max Ernst: An Artist's Portfolio - Max Ernst | $400
The Hot Spot - Charles Williams | $325 SOLD
The Doll + The Parasite - Ramsey Campbell | $400 [Set of two books - matching numbers]
The Bestiary - Ann Vandermeer (ed.) | $40
The Werewolf of Paris - Guy Endore | $75 [Rubbing to the front board and edges; priced to reflect damage] SOLD
Stand on Zanzibar - John Brunner | $160 [Damage from removed sticker on front board; priced to reflect damage] SOLD
Hell House - Richard Matheson | $575 SOLD
The Dark - James Herbert | $375
The Agonizing Resurrection of Victor Frankenstein - Thomas Ligotti | $375 [Red numbered author's copy, shrinkwrapped, purchased directly from Ligotti (he used to sell on Amazon!)]


Subterranean Press

A Clash of Kings Lettered PC - George RR Martin | $2450 [Open to negotiation!!]

Golden Son - Pierce Brown | $80[List price]
Caliban's War - S.A. Corey | $75 [Slightly bumped corners] SOLD
Ancillary Mercy, Ancillary Sword, and Provenance - Anne Leckie | $200 [Matching numbered set of books, missing Ancillary Justice (the first title), but would include rights to future Leckie titles of this number from Sub Press, assuming that Bill continues to give priority (Provenance priority was given to Ancillary Sword owners)]

Provenance Lettered Traycase | $25 [Traycase only, fits both numbered and lettered copies]


Lonely Road Books
The Vampyricon - Douglas Clegg | $50 [Double stamping error]
The Fall - Del Toro & Hogan | $75 [includes rights to final book in trilogy]


Gauntlet Press
The Gauntlet Chapbooks of Richard Matheson - Richard Matheson | $350 [1 of ~15 copies, a set of 8 chapbooks (each signed by Matheson), bound together, with an artist's front board signed by both Matheson and the Harry O. Morris!]


Suntup Editions
Horns (Artist Gift Edition) - Joe Hill | $75 [There is some wrinkling in the paper on the spine of the slipcase, but it will be shipped in the original shipping box (with foam inserts)]


I'm happy to answer any questions about these!

EDIT to lower some prices