Okay, here goes!
Like I said, I ordered a copy of the Scholomance Edition on Sunday night. It was dispatched the following morning and in my hands by Tuesday afternoon. Less than forty hours from order to delivery; I know some companies that can learn a thing or two from that. *cough cough*
I bought this book to replace my copy of the Centipede Press edition. That allowed me to cover some of the cost of this edition, which is admittedly quite high. Is the book itself worth €299? Are the upgrades of the Scholomance Edition worth another €450? I don't know... It is certainly a unique book and I feel like I got my money's worth - but for me, it was not €749 for a new book, but rather around €200 for an upgrade from the CP edition.
This is the most expensive book I ever bought directly from a publisher. Even Suntup's
Rosemary's Baby was cheaper. Although that book has fewer gimmicks, it does have a couple of signatures, letterpress printing and high-quality paper. I guess what I'm saying is this: this book is undeniably very expensive, but also a joy to (be)hold. Everyone thinking of buying a copy should ask themselves how much unicity is worth to them. Then again, that goes for all the books we collect. Hell,
Dracula is in the public domain, which means any amount you spend on it, no matter how small, is "wasted" to some extent.
I'm rambling... On to the pictures!
Here's the book in its case:
Here's a close-up of the clasp used to close the lid. It's remarkably intricate:
The publisher's logo on the front of the box (it also appears like this elsewhere), with a bat hanging upside down. A nice touch, I think:
The plexiglass window with the dirt behind it. I was surprised to see that they didn't pack it tightly in there. I would say it's about a centimetre deep and when you move the box, the dirt shifts around. Pretty cool!
(By the way, I did some research on Google and Wikipedia. Turns out the place where this dirt is from, Bran Castle in Romania, has no real connection whatsoever with
Dracula or Bram Stoker, other than tourism. The book's description of Dracula's castle does not match the design of Bran Castle and it's unclear if Stoker even knew of this place's existence. However, it
is located in Transylvania, so for the stated purpose - letting Dracula rest on his native soil - it "counts," as it were.)
The material used for the cover of the book itself is incredibly soft and has a lovely vibrant colour. It's the kind of fabric you can draw on, if you know what I mean:
Endpapers:
The title page with the bloody calligraphy. This was a major selling point for me. I love the creepiness of it. I got number 6/50 (stated here on this page and engraved into the side of the box's interior):
Table of contents. The afterword contains pretty much the same information that is already available on the publisher's website. They explain their creative process clearly, which I enjoy reading about. Another nice touch: the book's text ends on page 666. That cannot be a coincidence...
Another nice touch: whenever there is an illustration, the respective piece of text is highlighted in bold, so you know what you're looking at. Small detail, but I like it.
I
love the illustrations in this edition. The ones in the Centipede Press edition are nice, but I was never a fan of the faces of the human characters. They look too happy and upbeat, considering their situation. The illustrations in this edition are far more gritty.
Last batch of pictures to illustrate another nice touch. Seeing as how this is an epistolary novel, it consists entirely of diary fragments, letters, etc. They included little illustrations next to each section. There are dozens of these throughout the book:
Overall, I am very impressed with Amaranthine Books' quality of service and the book itself. I'll be keeping a close eye on what they do next.
That's all, folks!