That is one hell of a collection!
WANTED:
Half the World Lettered "LL"
The First Law Trilogy (S/L)
George Martin set (S/L)
FOR TRADE:
Matthew Corbett (FF/W/X/Z) lettered set
Swan Song,
Crosstalk,
Broken Earth Trilogy (SubPress S/L),
Signed by Herzog - amazing!
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.
Wanted
A Mountain Walked by Centipede Press signed
The Light is the Darkness by Laird Barron (Lettered Edition) by Infernal House
Little Books Series I (15 Volume set by Borderlands Press)
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 ) 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).
I'm looking for a copy of Centipede's Koko by Peter Straub if anyone has a lead
Wanted: Human skin edition of The Book of the Dead. Will accept PC copy.
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!)
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.
Wanted
A Mountain Walked by Centipede Press signed
The Light is the Darkness by Laird Barron (Lettered Edition) by Infernal House
Little Books Series I (15 Volume set by Borderlands Press)
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).
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.
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.
Wanted
A Mountain Walked by Centipede Press signed
The Light is the Darkness by Laird Barron (Lettered Edition) by Infernal House
Little Books Series I (15 Volume set by Borderlands Press)
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...
Looking for FAB8 CD Number 439
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.
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
“If you don't know what you want," the doorman said, "you end up with a lot you don't.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
Looking for SubPress Lettered::
Angel's Game and Prisoner of Heaven (Zafon)
Ilium (Simmons)
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.
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.
Looking for FAB8 CD Number 439
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.
“If you don't know what you want," the doorman said, "you end up with a lot you don't.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
Looking for SubPress Lettered::
Angel's Game and Prisoner of Heaven (Zafon)
Ilium (Simmons)
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
No mention of Dune in the newsletter today. Where's this information coming from?
It was in some of the newsletters from last year. Last I heard it is planned for May.
“If you don't know what you want," the doorman said, "you end up with a lot you don't.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
Looking for SubPress Lettered::
Angel's Game and Prisoner of Heaven (Zafon)
Ilium (Simmons)
Ah, OK. Thanks.
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
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:
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).
Pictorial front and back boards (this is the front):
Ribbon marker:
Simple black endpapers – no patterning or anything on these:
Title page with red-printed woodcut and translucent sheet:
The inner beauty of this tome is largely due to the amazing woodcut illustrations by Lynd Ward. They’re gorgeous! Here’s the title:
And here’s one of my favorites:
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:
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.
Spoiler:
Fascinating stuff! Thanks so much for documenting this book in such detail. I love reading about this sort of publication history.
“If you don't know what you want," the doorman said, "you end up with a lot you don't.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
Looking for SubPress Lettered::
Angel's Game and Prisoner of Heaven (Zafon)
Ilium (Simmons)
That really makes me want to pluck petals off a daisy! Nice work.
I'm sure if there is intelligent life somewhere out there in the universe, they are wise enough to stay away from us.
And the people bowed and prayed, to the cell phone god they made...
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.