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

[amd013]

The cool thing about the printed number is you don't have to worry about sloppy penmanship.
Aren't the 'Salem Lot books hand numbered?

And you don't have to worry if someone wrote a number in a blank (PC) copy.

[Munnecom]

Also, this has been mentioned in a longer post before, but "PC" copies for contributors are designated by red Roman Numerals. There is no such thing as an undesignated Centipede Press limitation page 8)

I have copy I of Paul Cain’s The Complete Slayers, but it is printed in black, not red.

[lotuz]

Also, this has been mentioned in a longer post before, but "PC" copies for contributors are designated by red Roman Numerals. There is no such thing as an undesignated Centipede Press limitation page 8)

'Salem's Lot printer copies?

I have copy I of Paul Cain’s The Complete Slayers, but it is printed in black, not red.

I should definitely know better than to make a post like that about Centipede Press without about a dozen qualifiers and caveats

Not only have a lot of things changed over the life of the press, but some things were never really consistent to start with! Which is why trying to put together a bibliography is a long, and large, group endeavor.

That said, here's what I have seen as far as limitation pages go:

In the earliest days, the first dozen books or so (with exceptions!) were printed blank, and by "blank" I mean with no limitation designation, which were later added by hand. The designations for the standard books were Arabic numerals written black ink and the designations for the deluxe books were Roman numerals written in red.

An aside about Salem's Lot: this is one of only two books I've seen that have some other designation - the numbered "Printer's Copy" books, which have both black and red versions, and the four blank deluxe copies that just started circulating more widely in the last couple months.

I have never seen another book with the "Printer's Copy" designation, or "Publisher's Copy", or just "PC", or literally anything besides an Arabic or Roman numeral (with one later exception, to be discussed). I am not sure how PC/contributor copies were labeled for other early books. Perhaps there weren't any! Or maybe they just got regular numbers? Or maybe there really are "PC" copies out there and they just never show up! I'd love to see if someone has a pre-2008 book that's not Salem's Lot that has anything other than a printed Arabic or Roman numeral.

Keep in mind that at this point in the press (up until ~2008 ) there were deluxe editions being printed for most books, with the convention of using a Roman Numeral (usually (always?) red) for the designation, and again, printed on the page.

At this point, he pretty much stopped doing deluxe editions for awhile (there are exceptions, of course), but the few that I've seen in this interim period still use red printed Roman numerals to designate (I'm thinking of the Gothic Series but there are a small handful of other deluxe editions during this time period too). Things are a bit muddy regarding how contributor copies were designated. I have a copy of a book from 2011 (Our Lady of Darkness) in which the limitation page says: "This copy is unnumbered." I have no idea if this was, for awhile, the de facto designation for contributors copies, or if this is a one-off case.

Somewhere between 2012-2015, red printed Roman numerals (and sometimes black, I guess!) became the designation for contributors copies. This is still the currently the case. The most recent deluxe books produced - the Elric books - now have black printed Roman numeral designations.

So, as usual, this was probably mildly informative but also raises more questions! Such is the nature of the CP biblio, and such it will remain

[kingfan2323]

Also, this has been mentioned in a longer post before, but "PC" copies for contributors are designated by red Roman Numerals. There is no such thing as an undesignated Centipede Press limitation page 8)

'Salem's Lot printer copies?

I have copy I of Paul Cain’s The Complete Slayers, but it is printed in black, not red.

I should definitely know better than to make a post like that about Centipede Press without about a dozen qualifiers and caveats

Not only have a lot of things changed over the life of the press, but some things were never really consistent to start with! Which is why trying to put together a bibliography is a long, and large, group endeavor.

That said, here's what I have seen as far as limitation pages go:

In the earliest days, the first dozen books or so (with exceptions!) were printed blank, and by "blank" I mean with no limitation designation, which were later added by hand. The designations for the standard books were Arabic numerals written black ink and the designations for the deluxe books were Roman numerals written in red.

An aside about Salem's Lot: this is one of only two books I've seen that have some other designation - the numbered "Printer's Copy" books, which have both black and red versions, and the four blank deluxe copies that just started circulating more widely in the last couple months.

I have never seen another book with the "Printer's Copy" designation, or "Publisher's Copy", or just "PC", or literally anything besides an Arabic or Roman numeral (with one later exception, to be discussed). I am not sure how PC/contributor copies were labeled for other early books. Perhaps there weren't any! Or maybe they just got regular numbers? Or maybe there really are "PC" copies out there and they just never show up! I'd love to see if someone has a pre-2008 book that's not Salem's Lot that has anything other than a printed Arabic or Roman numeral.

Keep in mind that at this point in the press (up until ~2008 ) there were deluxe editions being printed for most books, with the convention of using a Roman Numeral (usually (always?) red) for the designation, and again, printed on the page.

At this point, he pretty much stopped doing deluxe editions for awhile (there are exceptions, of course), but the few that I've seen in this interim period still use red printed Roman numerals to designate (I'm thinking of the Gothic Series but there are a small handful of other deluxe editions during this time period too). Things are a bit muddy regarding how contributor copies were designated. I have a copy of a book from 2011 (Our Lady of Darkness) in which the limitation page says: "This copy is unnumbered." I have no idea if this was, for awhile, the de facto designation for contributors copies, or if this is a one-off case.

Somewhere between 2012-2015, red printed Roman numerals (and sometimes black, I guess!) became the designation for contributors copies. This is still the currently the case. The most recent deluxe books produced - the Elric books - now have black printed Roman numeral designations.

So, as usual, this was probably mildly informative but also raises more questions! Such is the nature of the CP biblio, and such it will remain

Ughhh. You are always far from thorough and your research is ALWAYS lacking. How do you live with yourself????



Ha! Great stuff again. Thanks!

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[cit74]

FYI - as for recent Roman numeral books - I have XII for Peter Watts books - Blindsight & Echopraxia - and they are black printed...as well

[kingfan2323]

Knowing Darkness: Artist Inspired by Stephen King

$400 shipped to the U.S. PP F.F
Common issue of Very slight paper peel to corner of slipcase. Otherwise great shape. (pics available)

seeking: anything DT related #246

[scottb]

To cap this all off: Honestly, weirdly, I wish that this wasn't such a rare occurrence - the same book being produced by two different top-tier publishers. It was super fun to look at both of them and really interesting how dramatically differently they turned out. If anything, having both of them makes me like them both more, because you can even better appreciate design choices (or I can at least) when you have something to compare and contrast to. And both of these are interesting and awesome in just completely different ways. I'm actually a little sad that this might be a once-in-a-lifetime post! I had lots of fun looking at and talking about them both, even if it turned out a little longer (and a lot more time consuming) than I was planning. Especially now, it was an enjoyable escape into bookland and a fulfilling outlet for my bibliophilia. I hope you enjoyed it as well! Thanks for hanging in there

Hi guys,

I'm Scott and a little late to the Haunting of Hill House discussion. Great essay and discussion, Lotuz. I enjoy these posts, particularly for the Centipede Press books I don't own.

I'm a fan of Suntup Editions and Centipede Press and own both editions of the book. I enjoy both of them but I think that the Suntup Edition captures not only the spirit of the work but also the formality of the writing in its design. The physical form of the book is an extension of the author's work which is something that the Suntup Editions do as well as any books I own.

My only complaint about the Centipede Press edition is that it is too big. Does anyone else feel that way?

[kingfan2323]

To cap this all off: Honestly, weirdly, I wish that this wasn't such a rare occurrence - the same book being produced by two different top-tier publishers. It was super fun to look at both of them and really interesting how dramatically differently they turned out. If anything, having both of them makes me like them both more, because you can even better appreciate design choices (or I can at least) when you have something to compare and contrast to. And both of these are interesting and awesome in just completely different ways. I'm actually a little sad that this might be a once-in-a-lifetime post! I had lots of fun looking at and talking about them both, even if it turned out a little longer (and a lot more time consuming) than I was planning. Especially now, it was an enjoyable escape into bookland and a fulfilling outlet for my bibliophilia. I hope you enjoyed it as well! Thanks for hanging in there

Hi guys,

I'm Scott and a little late to the Haunting of Hill House discussion. Great essay and discussion, Lotuz. I enjoy these posts, particularly for the Centipede Press books I don't own.

I'm a fan of Suntup Editions and Centipede Press and own both editions of the book. I enjoy both of them but I think that the Suntup Edition captures not only the spirit of the work but also the formality of the writing in its design. The physical form of the book is an extension of the author's work which is something that the Suntup Editions do as well as any books I own.

My only complaint about the Centipede Press edition is that it is too big. Does anyone else feel that way?

Hi Scott. Not sure you have seen this. Check it out since you are a Centipede fan. Go all the way to the top. The member rooster organized all the pics. ENJOY!

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

ym2000 Collection



seeking: anything DT related #246

[scottb]

Thanks! That's awesome.

[lotuz]

My only complaint about the Centipede Press edition is that it is too big. Does anyone else feel that way?

A little bit, yes! I appreciate when a publisher has a vision, and I like to see that vision played out, even if the result is a bit... cumbersome. But it definitely interrupts the "flow" on my shelves because I can't put books that large where I want to put them, I have to put them on the only shelf where they'll fit! The end result is pretty much a shelf of misfit books from several different publishers and it pains me a little bit because they are beautiful books that deserve to be displayed better but I can't make all of my shelves 16" tall or I won't be able to fit enough books on them. At least it's not the large version of Knowing Darkness which is pretty much impossible to put anywhere without it sticking out like a sore thumb (not sure how deep into Centipede you are but it's a good 20" tall, 5" wide, and weighs something like 40 pounds).

[Scoogs]

Dune, Speaker for the Dead and Ender's Way all potentially in August. Ugh, that's going to be an expensive month.
I've also been trying to resist the temptation of Something Wicked this Way Comes, but that's one of my favorite Bradbury books.

[kingfan2323]

Can I ask for feedback on the Studies in the Horror film series? Was considering the unsigned hardcover of the Carrie edition. How is the overall quality in regards to binding, size, paper, design, ect. What should I be paying?

Thx

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[kingfan2323]

Dune, Speaker for the Dead and Ender's Way all potentially in August. Ugh, that's going to be an expensive month.
I've also been trying to resist the temptation of Something Wicked this Way Comes, but that's one of my favorite Bradbury books.

Any word on Dune price yet?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[Black Miau]

If someone missed it...

https://i.imgur.com/zXlXqW1.jpg

[Black Miau]

Dune, Speaker for the Dead and Ender's Way all potentially in August. Ugh, that's going to be an expensive month.
I've also been trying to resist the temptation of Something Wicked this Way Comes, but that's one of my favorite Bradbury books.

Any word on Dune price yet?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Jerad a year ago announced it would be "$395 at least".
But many things have happened since those quiet days.

[lotuz]

Someone was asking about Punktown earlier this year I think and today confirms that it's in production:

"The Punktown Trilogy by Jonathan Jeffrey Thomas. Three volume set, heavily illustrated. Early November."

Given the ambitiousness of the fall lineup, with several long-awaited and very popular books coming up, my guess is that we won't see Punktown until 2021. But for anyone who's interested it's nice to have it confirmed that the production is underway!

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

I want the 2001 set!

[OldCrow88]

I want the 2001 set!

Ditto!

[Lurker]

Hm. Not Jeffery?

[Hunchback Jack]

I want the 2001 set!

Agreed! 2001 is not just a classic novel, but “lost worlds” is a little known gem of a book, recounting not just the parallel development of the movie and book, but many ideas and plot threads that didn’t make the final cut. A great idea to bundle them together.

[lotuz]

Hm. Not Jeffery?

lol I just copy-pasted; when I saw this comment I didn't even understand it at first

good catch

[lotuz]

Can I ask for feedback on the Studies in the Horror film series? Was considering the unsigned hardcover of the Carrie edition. How is the overall quality in regards to binding, size, paper, design, ect. What should I be paying?

Thx

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

I will try to get to this later in more detail. There's a huge amount of variation here - some of the hardcover titles are among the hardest CP books to find. Even the more common ones aren't exactly "common" titles. Some of the paperback titles are really hard to find, too! And some of the paperback titles seem to be listed pretty often but usually at crazy prices. Quality of hardcovers is great, quality of paperbacks is also good - miles beyond the average paperback.

[kingfan2323]

Can I ask for feedback on the Studies in the Horror film series? Was considering the unsigned hardcover of the Carrie edition. How is the overall quality in regards to binding, size, paper, design, ect. What should I be paying?

Thx

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

I will try to get to this later in more detail. There's a huge amount of variation here - some of the hardcover titles are among the hardest CP books to find. Even the more common ones aren't exactly "common" titles. Some of the paperback titles are really hard to find, too! And some of the paperback titles seem to be listed pretty often but usually at crazy prices. Quality of hardcovers is great, quality of paperbacks is also good - miles beyond the average paperback.

Thanks for the quick summary. Look forward to hearing more info.

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[lotuz]

Can I ask for feedback on the Studies in the Horror film series? Was considering the unsigned hardcover of the Carrie edition. How is the overall quality in regards to binding, size, paper, design, etc.
What should I be paying?

Wow so I totally forgot about this! But not too long ago another member here PMed me to ask about this series in terms of paperback vs hardcover releases, since there is a mix across titles. I will share that reply below.

In addition, while all of the paperback titles are of very similar quality, construction-wise, and are all excellent content-wise, the hardcovers come in two flavors. The first is a black cloth construction typical of lots of early titles, but generally with more colorful stamping (i.e., red). The second is a higher quality treatment with a larger text block, sometimes nicer paper, slipcases, and neater materials and printing. These books are very rare and are expensive when they do show up.
For that matter, this is a pretty expensive series overall. There are more notes below, but the paperbacks of The Howling and Pan's Labyrinth are still relatively common and inexpensive, along with Carrie. The other paperbacks are findable but hard to get for <$300. The hardcovers range from Carrie (findable and reasonable) to everything else: hard to find and expensive.

~~~

For the sake of completeness, here's a list of the SHF releases in the order that they came out, and which editions each has (that I'm aware of):

Nosferatu: First, you're probably aware, but just in case, there are two Nosferatu titles. The first is the Studies in Horror Film version (though it wasn't called that yet). A second book, smaller and with pictorial boards, was released a couple of years later, this is the novelization of the movie. Anyway, this title was only available in hardcover. There was a signed edition and an unsigned edition. There might have been a deluxe edition, or it's possible that the signed version originally came in a traycase (I only have the unsigned version).

Videodrome: hardcover and paperback. Hardcover is rare. Paperback is uncommon but findable.

Night of the Living Dead: This one was hardcover only, I think (I do not recall ever seeing a paperback copy of this). Hardcover copies come up once in awhile on eBay for reasonable prices but have been going up as of late.

The Exorcist: Hardcover and paperback. Hardcover is rare and I haven't seen one up in awhile. The paperback is more common, but is overpriced (IMO) like everywhere. There are probably 5 copies for sale online right now, and the cheapest is $400.

Carrie: Hardcover and paperback. This is one of the easier titles to find, and probably the cheapest of the older titles in both the hardcover and paperback states.

Salem’s Lot: Hardcover and paperback. Both rare, the hardcover especially so.

Pan's Labyrinth: Paperback only. I think. I was pretty deep into Centipede Press collecting at this point and probably would have been on the email list if there was a hardcover. It is an oddball - the only release that I know of that was paperback-only - which makes me question a little if there's a hardcover copy out there. But I really don't think so. It's otherwise a little out of character for this series anyway.

The Shining: Hardcover and paperback. Like Salem's Lot, both versions of this are pretty rare. The paperback is findable but like The Exorcist the prices are too high (again IMO). Have not seen a hardcover copy for sale in awhile.

The Howling: Hardcover and paperback. From what I gather/remember he wasn't originally going to do a hardcover version of this one to begin with but it sold nicely and a lot of people asked him and so he eventually did a run of 100 hardcover copies. They were all sold to subscribers and the people who had expressed interest via email (like he does sometimes). The paperback is readily available but I don't recall ever seeing a hardcover for sale.

[kingfan2323]

Can I ask for feedback on the Studies in the Horror film series? Was considering the unsigned hardcover of the Carrie edition. How is the overall quality in regards to binding, size, paper, design, etc.
What should I be paying?

Wow so I totally forgot about this! But not too long ago another member here PMed me to ask about this series in terms of paperback vs hardcover releases, since there is a mix across titles. I will share that reply below.

In addition, while all of the paperback titles are of very similar quality, construction-wise, and are all excellent content-wise, the hardcovers come in two flavors. The first is a black cloth construction typical of lots of early titles, but generally with more colorful stamping (i.e., red). The second is a higher quality*treatment with a larger text block, sometimes nicer paper, slipcases, and neater materials and printing. These books are very rare and are expensive when they do show up.
For that matter, this is a pretty expensive series overall. There are more notes below, but the paperbacks of The Howling and Pan's Labyrinth are still relatively common and inexpensive, along with Carrie. The other paperbacks are findable but hard to get for <$300. The hardcovers range from Carrie (findable and reasonable) to everything else: hard to find and expensive.

~~~

For the sake of completeness, here's a list of the SHF releases in the order that they came out, and which editions each has (that I'm aware of):

Nosferatu: First, you're probably aware, but just in case, there are two Nosferatu titles. The first is the Studies in Horror Film version (though it wasn't called that yet). A second book, smaller and with pictorial boards, was released a couple of years later, this is the novelization of the movie. Anyway, this title was only available in hardcover. There was a signed edition and an unsigned edition. There might have been a deluxe edition, or it's possible that the signed version originally came in a traycase (I only have the unsigned version).

Videodrome: hardcover and paperback. Hardcover is rare. Paperback is uncommon but findable.
Night of the Living Dead: This one was hardcover only, I think (I do not recall ever seeing a paperback copy of this). Hardcover copies come up once in awhile on eBay for reasonable prices but have been going up as of late.

The Exorcist: Hardcover and paperback. Hardcover is rare and I haven't seen one up in awhile. The paperback is more common, but is overpriced (IMO) like everywhere. There are probably 5 copies for sale online right now, and the cheapest is $400.

Carrie: Hardcover and paperback. This is one of the easier titles to find, and probably the cheapest of the older titles in both the hardcover and paperback states.

Salem’s Lot: Hardcover and paperback. Both rare, the hardcover especially so.

Pan's Labyrinth: Paperback only. I think. I was pretty deep into Centipede Press collecting at this point and probably would have been on the email list if there was a hardcover. It is an oddball - the only release that I know of that was paperback-only - which makes me question a little if there's a hardcover copy out there. But I really don't think so. It's otherwise a little out of character for this series anyway.

The Shining: Hardcover and paperback. Like Salem's Lot, both versions of this are pretty rare. The paperback is findable but like The Exorcist the prices are too high (again IMO). Have not seen a hardcover copy for sale in awhile.

The Howling: Hardcover and paperback. From what I gather/remember he wasn't originally going to do a hardcover version of this one to begin with but it sold nicely and a lot of people asked him and so he eventually did a run of 100 hardcover copies. They were all sold to subscribers and the people who had expressed interest via email (like he does sometimes). The paperback is readily available but I don't recall ever seeing a hardcover for sale.

Wow! Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.

seeking: anything DT related #246