| We find it hard to believe, but we first started work on Lud-in-the-Mist nearly five years ago. Now, finally, it’s ready for pre-sale. We’re pleased to tell you that the pre-sale will open at 5pm BST on 2 June. It will follow on from the pre-sale for Patrons’ rights holders, and any rights that have not been taken up will be offered to non-rights buyers of Lud-in-the-Mist on a first-come-first-served basis.The text and Scott McKowen’s forty-five illustrations are currently on press at Hand & Eye, who are working their way through the three pallets of paper needed for the book’s 360 pages. They are printing type and images separately to allow both to appear at their best. Once printed, the sheets will go to Ludlow Bookbinders, who expect to ship finished books this autumn. The Roman Edition is being printed on Liber Charta White 170 gsm paper.It will be bound in a chocolate brown full calf binding. The leather will be coloured and sprinkled with dark brown and black dye and foil blocked in gold across the entire cover.There will be four raised bands on the spine, with hand tooled gold lines either side, together with title and author foil blocked in gold.The endpapers will be T6 Old Dutch Seventeenth to Nineteenth Century by Payhembury, makers of traditional and historical marbled papers.The book block will be gilded on all three edges.The book will come in a solander box, the case of which is bound in a charcoal cowskin and foil blocked to the front and spine in gold. The trays will be covered in black silk cloth and lined with Payhembury marbled paper. The Roman Edition is limited to thirty copies plus eight copies hors de commerce, and its price is £2250.00 plus carriage. |
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| The Numbered Edition is being printed on Mohawk Superfine 148 gsm paper. It will be bound in quarter black goatskin leather, with front and back boards covered with Payhembury E17 French Curl marbled paper, a seventeenth century pattern.There will be two raised bands on the spine, with hand tooled gold lines either side, and the title foil blocked in gold.There will be a gold foil blocked leather label on the front board, and endpapers foil blocked front and back on the flyleaves.The top edge of the book block will be gilded.The slipcase will be lined with soft black suedel and covered with black buckram ends and a blue/grey Colorado cloth wrap. The front of the slipcase will be foil blocked in black.The Numbered Edition limited to 225 copies plus fifteen copies hors de commerce, and its price is £545.00 plus carriage. |
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| Binding will be by Richard Tong at Ludlow Bookbinders, who designed the bindings with Scott McKowen. |
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| First published in 1926, Hope Mirrlees Lud-in-the-Mist has come to be recognised as a classic of fantasy literature, revered by leading writers of the genre. Michael Swanwick called it “one of the least known and most influential of modern fantasies… that rarest of creatures, the fantasy novel of ideas.” Mary Gentle said “A Shakespearian tragi-comedy, a murder mystery, and a multi-faceted allegory all in one, and a damn good story too.” And Neil Gaiman called it “one of the finest [fantasy novels] in the English language… It is a little golden miracle of a book.” He said that Mirrlees’s writing was “elegant, supple, effective and haunting: the author demands a great deal from her readers, which she repays many times over.” We hope you’ll agree that our edition, the first by a fine press, is a fitting celebration of its centenary. |
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| Brave New World |
| Brave New World is currently being bound, and we expect that shipping will begin in July. If you have one on order, thank you for waiting so patiently. Meanwhile, work progresses on Alice in Wonderland and A Princess of Mars. More soon! |