Your New Pride and Joy!

[dnemec]

Agree with above, Gerald. You post the most amazing things! Keep them coming!!

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

Thank you all for your kind words. I hope I am not posting too much now. I can stop if it's better. Don't want to overstay my welcome. I only post because people ask me to continue. I was very inactive for several years, so I have a lot of catching up to do.

I'll slow down.
Gerald

Another beauty Gerald. Great to see this prototype of the Lettered Firestarter. On the other hand, you have too many Lettered Firestarters. You should sell me one.

[Dan]

Gerald, I love seeing these books I will never own. The story behind them is equally fascinating. I agree a collection thread would be great to keep them all together.

[bdwyer19]

Wow! That is simply amazing Gerald! I can't even imagine having that in my collection.

[Merlin1958]

After enjoying the discussion I had with Peter Schneider concerning his involvement with the limited editions of The Regulators and The Stand, I got to thinking about one of my favorites, Firestarter.

I personally believe that with the attention to detail found in the Lettered Regulators, it is one of the most beautiful signed limited editions out there. However, there is something about opening Firestarter and hearing the spine crack each time, combined with the smell of the paper and boards that is quite intoxicating.

By today’s standards, it is minimalist in design, and I think that is why it is one of the few King limited’s that is sought after by non-King collectors around the world. Two of my copies were located in Japan and not in locales you would expect. One copy was purchased from a monk in Kyoto, before he started his training. He was not a King collector, but he purchased rare Western books that had designs not commonly found in Japanese society. He was an artist and from what I can gather, that was his only Stephen King book. He bought it at auction in New York when he lived there in the 1980s and kept it ever since at his home.

The other copy was purchased in Osaka from the estate of a man that had ties to Japanese organized crime. The book was in his office, displayed between two samurai swords, in a glass cabinet. Photos from circa 1990s show it there, and was sold by his family upon his premature demise. Rumors, and that is all they ever will be, say that when he brought people to his office, he would tell them that if they ‘messed up’, they could choose punishment by fire or the sword. I will never know which ones were dealt out, and I will never try to find out.

My other copy belonged to the late Charlie Fried, and while I never had the pleasure of meeting him in person, our email correspondences, and stories from others, show him to be a true gentleman. I am proud to have a few small pieces from his vast collection in my library, and they are well looked after.

My final copy is something rather unusual. It was purchased in London, probably 15 years ago from a publisher, who also happened to be a big Stephen King fan. I am not sure if you would call it a prototype, or a publishers copy, but the leather label on the cover is not the standard red rectangle, but an orange die cut in the shape of flames. I rather like this design because it’s brighter and gives you an indication of what is inside. For unknown reasons, this design was not chosen in place of the red label. Correspondences between Alex and Stephen discuss the Lettered edition in great detail. Alex had designed a rather unique tray-case for this edition, but it would have pushed the issue price to $325, so it was decided that the 26 copies would be issued sans tray-case.

I hope you enjoy.
Gerald

Simply awesome, Gerald. Thanks SO MUCH for sharing!

John

Words fail me!!! Thanks for this post!!!!

[T-Dogz_AK47]

A truly stunning set of Asbestos Firestarters!!!! Simply AMAZING!!!!

[herbertwest]

New addition to the collection, a massive French hardcover containing DT1-2-3:

And they also published the #4 which is, in itself, the same size of the collection of #1-2-3 !

[herbertwest]

I received a book today.. in fact one of my personnel "Holy Grails". It came from a very good friend of mine... he did not notice a flaw and took care of me. 100%. He is as straight up a dude as one could possibly be. There are members here that I love dealing with and talking to and Tim you sure are one of the good guys He is a true asset to this community and thanks for helping me make a dream come true brother Here is my new P&J!

I dont really know much, but... I believe that this is the first "black copy" that I have ever seen of this book.
Are there others?

[herbertwest]

After enjoying the discussion I had with Peter Schneider concerning his involvement with the limited editions of The Regulators and The Stand, I got to thinking about one of my favorites, Firestarter.

I personally believe that with the attention to detail found in the Lettered Regulators, it is one of the most beautiful signed limited editions out there. However, there is something about opening Firestarter and hearing the spine crack each time, combined with the smell of the paper and boards that is quite intoxicating.

By today’s standards, it is minimalist in design, and I think that is why it is one of the few King limited’s that is sought after by non-King collectors around the world. Two of my copies were located in Japan and not in locales you would expect. One copy was purchased from a monk in Kyoto, before he started his training. He was not a King collector, but he purchased rare Western books that had designs not commonly found in Japanese society. He was an artist and from what I can gather, that was his only Stephen King book. He bought it at auction in New York when he lived there in the 1980s and kept it ever since at his home.

The other copy was purchased in Osaka from the estate of a man that had ties to Japanese organized crime. The book was in his office, displayed between two samurai swords, in a glass cabinet. Photos from circa 1990s show it there, and was sold by his family upon his premature demise. Rumors, and that is all they ever will be, say that when he brought people to his office, he would tell them that if they ‘messed up’, they could choose punishment by fire or the sword. I will never know which ones were dealt out, and I will never try to find out.

My other copy belonged to the late Charlie Fried, and while I never had the pleasure of meeting him in person, our email correspondences, and stories from others, show him to be a true gentleman. I am proud to have a few small pieces from his vast collection in my library, and they are well looked after.

My final copy is something rather unusual. It was purchased in London, probably 15 years ago from a publisher, who also happened to be a big Stephen King fan. I am not sure if you would call it a prototype, or a publishers copy, but the leather label on the cover is not the standard red rectangle, but an orange die cut in the shape of flames. I rather like this design because it’s brighter and gives you an indication of what is inside. For unknown reasons, this design was not chosen in place of the red label. Correspondences between Alex and Stephen discuss the Lettered edition in great detail. Alex had designed a rather unique tray-case for this edition, but it would have pushed the issue price to $325, so it was decided that the 26 copies would be issued sans tray-case.

I hope you enjoy.
Gerald

I prefer the flaming title !
Very nice copy. And you have 3 out of 26 lettered?

[TrueNorth]

At first I did too. But after the drool and tears left I prefer the straight lines. Looks clean like the book.

What is the cover made of? Can't be asbestos.

[stroppygoblin]

[I dont really know much, but... I believe that this is the first "black copy" that I have ever seen of this book.
Are there others?

It's not black, that's just a photo effect Kris has added

[Ari_Racing]

Congratulations, Kris and Paul!

Gerald, as usual, I'm speechless! Keep those posts coming!

On the other hand, I've just received these:




Thanks to Tim, Matt and Jim for these (except the promo moleskine, which was a gift I got from other source).

[Lot guy]

Congrats Ari!!!! I'm glad Cujo has gone to a good home!!!!

[Theli]

Very cool additions Kris and Ari! Love the pics and stories Gerald!

[TCCBodhi]

As I mentioned, I got to visit my husband's deceased aunt's collection a few weeks ago, and there were a handful of books that were still shrinkwrapped, though most weren't. His uncle had me open them and we found that Wastelands S/L was missing the King signature!!! I initially told him to contact the Grant Books "office" but now I'm wondering if that's the best choice.

Is Grant the way to go, or should he perhaps bypass them and try to deal with King's office? Or.....I can't imagine this is the case..... Is this desirable as a "faulty" edition at this point?

It really was strange to open this up, expect to see that classic signature and the spot was just empty? Those of you with contacts with King's office, is there any way of making a handshake here so I can help his/my uncle correct his Wastelands? It's a near-complete set (DT2 though TWTTK) so hopefully someone up the pipe would want to see that corrected. PM me if that is a better choice. Thanks for your opinions everyone.

OK, this isn't really MY Pride & Joy (at least not yet, I hope it will be in the future), but I feel a bit of ownership over dealing with the issue with the book being Unsigned. So I actually ended up working with Ms. Mod Marsha D on this and after she verified that I was in fact acting as agent for my uncle and all the information was correct, it was worked out to send the book out to Maine; this being the Exception that proves the rule. Also, we got a very kind word from Robert Wiener from Grant Books about my aunt, the original collector. All in all, it was a very gratifying experience to make this happen.

So here is a look at a proper numbered S/L of Wizard & Glass, where the Signature Page got signed 19(!) years after originally published! Sorry about the low quality, but that is what I got from my Uncle. I hope this story was of interest to at least SOME of you!

[carlosdetweiller]

Ari,
I have not seen the Finders Keepers promo moleskine notebook before. Congratulations!

TCCBodhi,
Really great story. So glad the book finally got signed!

[webstar1000]

As I mentioned, I got to visit my husband's deceased aunt's collection a few weeks ago, and there were a handful of books that were still shrinkwrapped, though most weren't. His uncle had me open them and we found that Wastelands S/L was missing the King signature!!! I initially told him to contact the Grant Books "office" but now I'm wondering if that's the best choice.

Is Grant the way to go, or should he perhaps bypass them and try to deal with King's office? Or.....I can't imagine this is the case..... Is this desirable as a "faulty" edition at this point?

It really was strange to open this up, expect to see that classic signature and the spot was just empty? Those of you with contacts with King's office, is there any way of making a handshake here so I can help his/my uncle correct his Wastelands? It's a near-complete set (DT2 though TWTTK) so hopefully someone up the pipe would want to see that corrected. PM me if that is a better choice. Thanks for your opinions everyone.

OK, this isn't really MY Pride & Joy (at least not yet, I hope it will be in the future), but I feel a bit of ownership over dealing with the issue with the book being Unsigned. So I actually ended up working with Ms. Mod Marsha D on this and after she verified that I was in fact acting as agent for my uncle and all the information was correct, it was worked out to send the book out to Maine; this being the Exception that proves the rule. Also, we got a very kind word from Robert Wiener from Grant Books about my aunt, the original collector. All in all, it was a very gratifying experience to make this happen.

So here is a look at a proper numbered S/L of Wizard & Glass, where the Signature Page got signed 19(!) years after originally published! Sorry about the low quality, but that is what I got from my Uncle. I hope this story was of interest to at least SOME of you!

Can I ask why the number is blocked out?

[jon10g]

I have not seen the Finders Keepers promo moleskine notebook before. Congratulations!


Not heard of that either. May I ask where you got it from?
Thanks

[zelig]

Congratulations Ari and TCCBodhi great story there. Amazing how you got it signed eventually. Ari nice Mokeskin. I think it was only available to contest winners if I'm not mistaken. I think it will be well sought after.

[bdwyer19]

Congratulations Ari and TCCBodhi great story there. Amazing how you got it signed eventually. Ari nice Mokeskin. I think it was only available to contest winners if I'm not mistaken. I think it will be well sought after.

Wait... Ari won something?!? I'm shocked!!

[Kingfan24]

As I mentioned, I got to visit my husband's deceased aunt's collection a few weeks ago, and there were a handful of books that were still shrinkwrapped, though most weren't. His uncle had me open them and we found that Wastelands S/L was missing the King signature!!! I initially told him to contact the Grant Books "office" but now I'm wondering if that's the best choice.

Is Grant the way to go, or should he perhaps bypass them and try to deal with King's office? Or.....I can't imagine this is the case..... Is this desirable as a "faulty" edition at this point?

It really was strange to open this up, expect to see that classic signature and the spot was just empty? Those of you with contacts with King's office, is there any way of making a handshake here so I can help his/my uncle correct his Wastelands? It's a near-complete set (DT2 though TWTTK) so hopefully someone up the pipe would want to see that corrected. PM me if that is a better choice. Thanks for your opinions everyone.

OK, this isn't really MY Pride & Joy (at least not yet, I hope it will be in the future), but I feel a bit of ownership over dealing with the issue with the book being Unsigned. So I actually ended up working with Ms. Mod Marsha D on this and after she verified that I was in fact acting as agent for my uncle and all the information was correct, it was worked out to send the book out to Maine; this being the Exception that proves the rule. Also, we got a very kind word from Robert Wiener from Grant Books about my aunt, the original collector. All in all, it was a very gratifying experience to make this happen.

So here is a look at a proper numbered S/L of Wizard & Glass, where the Signature Page got signed 19(!) years after originally published! Sorry about the low quality, but that is what I got from my Uncle. I hope this story was of interest to at least SOME of you!

Can I ask why the number is blocked out?

I hope it's not number 464 - I'm missing wastelands from my set.

[EXPLORER]

Thank you all for your kind words. I hope I am not posting too much now. I can stop if it's better. Don't want to overstay my welcome. I only post because people ask me to continue. I was very inactive for several years, so I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll slow down. Gerald

PLEASE do not feel any nned to halt or slow down your posting. The items you show are fantastic and the stories that go with them are marvelous and I doubt there is one person following that would prefer you share less.
THANKS AGAIN FOR SHARING PICS AND STORIES

[George at C-Springs]

PLEASE do not feel any need to halt or slow down your posting. The items you show are fantastic and the stories that go with them are marvelous and I doubt there is one person following that would prefer you share less. THANKS AGAIN FOR SHARING PICS AND STORIES

What he said, Gerald. I collect vicariously through your posts.

[TCCBodhi]

Can I ask why the number is blocked out?

I hope it's not number 464 - I'm missing wastelands from my set.

Since I don't officially own it yet, and don't have specific permission from my uncle, I don't want to have the completed page posted. I'll be glad to post it once I work out the eventual deal that lets them become mine, hopefully sooner than later.

No, it isn't #464. This is a NEAR complete set just a touch above 600; everything DT2 though WTTK except Gunslinger is a match. Gunslinger is a flat-signed 2nd Edition for this set.

[webstar1000]

Can I ask why the number is blocked out?

I hope it's not number 464 - I'm missing wastelands from my set.

Since I don't officially own it yet, and don't have specific permission from my uncle, I don't want to have the completed page posted. I'll be glad to post it once I work out the eventual deal that lets them become mine, hopefully sooner than later.

No, it isn't #464.

I understand. Wasn't sure why it was "secret" haha