Suntup editions ranking

A comment in the F451 thread got me thinking about this. What are the best/worst books by Suntup so far in your opinion? I don't have many, but by far my favorite Suntup is I Am Legend. The worst I have is probably F451, but the ones I really didn't like I didn't even buy so there's some bias there. I'm curious how someone who has most (all?) Suntup books would rank them.

I would rate the three I own thus :-
1. Horns (see here.)
2. Rosemary's Baby (see here.)
3. Red Dragon (see here.)

I'd probably say The Road is my favourite. Of course, there are many that have been sold but not yet delivered, so still many more to come. But in my opinion, many of the books published in the last six months or more do not match up to some of the originals. And what's worse, the prices have all increased.

The Road is such a beautiful book, on great paper, beautiful endpapers, with artwork that really complemented it. And it cost $395. Now we have quarter plastic leather books for almost $600.

The Road is my favorite. I have five Suntup books. I am actually pretty pleased with all of them except Fahrenheit 451 because of the printer error in my copy. I prefer the LEC Fahrenheit 451 but I'm keeping the defective Suntup edition because I like the supplementary information.

I'm not impressed by Suntup. His latest book is in principle intriguing - poetry of Charles Simic. It's printed letterpress! The book is $550, so not cheap, but then again it is letterpress. It's... 77 pages. It's also 6x9 in (meh)... What about the paper quality? Suntup tends to use archival paper, but not anything special beyond that. It's not like it's hand-made paper, although truth be told I found no mention of the paper they are using for the Simic volume. Still, this is something that interests me, although I'm in the minority here, and this is certainly not something that interests Suntup fans (the book has not even sold out despite reduced limitation)!

Suntup fans... yeah, "fanatic" is definitely appropriate. Suntup has certainly built enough of a following that for whatever reason his books sell out super quickly. His latest book, A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick, was NOT letterpress and yet the numbered edition was still $575!! Apart from the clamshell, how is this better than say a Folio Society edition book? It's a whopping 6x9 inches (sarcasm), and what's special about it? Compare it to the Folio Society's beautiful Stranger in A Strange Land

The FS edition is 10˝ x 6¾˝ includes a slipcase instead of a clamshell. Has 8 original illustrations by Donato Giancola whom I have known for years (amazing artist). Oh, and the price is $125. The Suntup books is 4.6 times as expensive! You do get the artist's signature with the Suntup book, but I can't justify the price. Now, if the Suntup book was say $325 or so, I could justify that. All that said, if people purchase such overpriced books without a second thought, I can't blame Suntup for charging such prices. He has no incentive to change his practice. He says "we will be increasing our Numbered edition print run to 350 copies for select titles over the next year and a half." This of course is very different than the LEC who for most of their lifetime printed 1500 copies of their works, enough to meet demand and beyond that. It's clear that Suntup wants his books to remain "difficult to find". I guess that adds to the supposed "mystique"?

I will say that I think the art on Scanner Darkly is good, although still in no way justifies the crazy price. Some of the other books such as Haunting of Hill House (I had that edition), 1984, Fahrenheit 451, in all of those the art is uninspired. Not bad, but certainly far from memorable. Furthermore, I will add that I think the LEC editions of Fahrenheit 451, War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, are superior to Suntup in pretty much every way. I do think Suntup has the capabilities to become a great publisher of "fine" press editions. What I think needs to happen is

1)Prices need to go way down, at least for non-letterpress books
2)Production needs to meet demand
3)Books need to stop being so cookie-cut

So anyway, I did not yet answer the question, the "best" book he has published? In my opinion, probably "Brother". Why? Signed by author. Signed by artist. Slightly larger than his latest books (6.25 x 9.25), illustrations were very good. The author is not as well known as Stephen King, or Philip K. Dick, which in my mind is a good thing - I like exploring new writers! This is the FIRST fine edition of this work, and perhaps even the first fine edition for the author! And the price for all this? $275.

>5 astropi: Interestingly enough, from the hints he gave... I think Stranger in a Strange Land & Starship Troopers will be made by Suntup later this year.

I bought that FS edition btw just because of its look... I've never read the actual book but other people's excitement over its release got me to buy it.

Also, the lower print run probably just will increase the price for secondary market mostly. Selling 350 copies @$600 vs. Selling 1500 copies @350 would be more than doubling your profits.

>5 astropi: Basic information on the paper selection for the Simic volume (and most editions) is listed on the product page. For this release, it's a Zerkall mould made for the lettered edition and Teton for the numbered version.

>6 Soup811: Indeed! if he lowered the price and printed more copies, he could make much more money, which in turn could help the company and produce more beautiful books. Alas, I suspect that for Suntup the "mystique" of having a low limitation number trumps other considerations.

>7 jeremyjm: ah, good ol' Teton :)
Look, just saying "Teton" doesn't mean much. I assume it's 100% cotton, but that's not a given - could use that bit of info. What is the weight of the paper? Where is it milled? All such details were always given by the LEC and many other fine press publications. If you ever hold thick hand-made paper in your hand, you know it's truly lovely and makes a huge difference in the quality of the book.

>8 astropi: Fair point, but it is a starting point - google search indicates that Teton is a Neenah product, 100% cotton, felt finish, part of their 'Design Collection' and possibly discontinued.

It's at this point I start to wonder about how much collectors (especially myself) should know about paper (and type, binding, etc), and which papers best fit which applications. I know it's an area that I don't know nearly enough about. I certainly agree that there is a large difference in the experience of reading a book printed on a high-end paper vs a lower-end paper.

I recently acquired a book printed on Somerset Book paper. The tactile feel of it and the crisp detail it afforded both the text and etching was really impressive. But I certainly didn't necessarily know that prior to seeing it in person, nor know what other papers would be similar when looking at specs of other books.

Not that I want to become an expert in paper, but may be worth getting an understanding of the qualities of common papers used in small press/fine press publications.

>9 jeremyjm: I would strongly recommend you indeed familiarize yourself with papers used in fine press books, so that when you read "Zerkall mould-made" or "Richard de Bas" or "Southworth Antique Laid" paper, you have a pretty good idea of what they are. In the examples given, the first two are definitely fine press papers and the last is not so much. It is a nice paper, but it is a commercial stationery product readily obtainable in several office supply stores. The other two come from specialty paper suppliers. A good place to start is right here: https://www.talasonline.com/paper-and-board

Follow the links to whatever section interests you. They have sample books you can purchase for some of the types.

Also check out Twinrocker Paper Mill. They have a swatch bundle that would be worth purchasing.

That's just scratching the surface. Happy researching!

Btw I find it kinda interesting that of the recent books, three of them still haven't sold out (1984, Auctioneer, and Let the right one in). Sure, only AGEs are still available, but this speaks to one of few possible explanations:
1) Recent titles aren't as interesting to Suntup's base
2) Quality has gone down lately, making the value proposition of the books questionable
3) Buyers can't keep up with the recent pace. With one book per month, Suntup is probably the most prolific fine press out there right now.

Maybe there are other explanations that I'm missing. But the fact that they haven't sold out everything also means that increasing the limitation for the numbered edition should be done with care. IIRC, Paul said they would only increase it a bit, I think maybe to 450 or 500 (can't remember). It's clear that they could not sell 1000 numbered copies of everything they publish.

Anyway, back to the original topic, I also have Brother and have to say I really like the book, it's my second fav after IAL. It's amazing that that one is still available as numbered edition while something average like F451 sold out immediately.

I’d say the Suntup bubble has certainly burst. After the anemic quarterly announcement, sales of rights flooded the Facebook group.

I’ve also spoken to many people, both current and past customers, and unanimously they feel there’s very little value for money with the prices being charged for these books.

>12 U_238: I completely agree. I have to admit.. it crossed my mind that Suntup could go bust before delivering all backlog orders - I can't emphasize enough that this is my very own, paranoid, thought and does not reflect Suntup's commitment to service so far.

>12 U_238: I wouldn't say the Suntup bubble burst, but it's definitely deflated a bit. I think whoever got the early Suntup books (Misery, RB, Road...) should be fairly happy because I don't think that level of quality will be coming back.

It's funny you mention the bubble burst because I was actually considering purchasing my very first Suntup book! The World Doesn't End by Simic is intriguing. The numbered edition has quite a lot going for it and the price isn't out of bounds for this sort of thing.

>13 bacchus.: Lots of weird speculation with absolutely no data to back it up. Suntup is pretty good about showing the status of all their books under production. One of the two remaining Wells in completely done and the other printed. I believe 1984 is printed (numbered and lettered) but not bound etc. They have been consistently delivering their books. Their prices have edged up as demand has warranted. Not nice for buyers but a fact of life. Eventually a balance for number of copies and price will be found. This point will almost certainly be at a price point that many/most people believe is too high but that is human nature. If anyone doesn't like the quality of Suntup's books or thinks their prices are too high they're welcome to not purchase them. We all purchase books that fit our value proposition. Personally, I'd love to purchase Chateau Mouton Rothschild to drink but I think grand cru Bordeaux is over priced for what you get and I buy cheaper wines that are still a delight to drink. Amazingly enough, the Chateau has no problems selling all of their wines at the astronomical prices at which they choose to sell. The only books that haven't sold out are a few copies of the Artist Gift Edition. The odds are high that even these books will sell out relatively quickly unlike the Arion Press backlog. Now, as to whether Suntup's quality has gone down, that's a personal judgement issue. I don't think it has although I do think the value has decreased.

>16 kdweber: I don't disagree - such a loose position is not one I can stand by seriously and I wouldn't want it to reflect on Suntup, hence my disclaimer. I could as easily argue with myself.

I think it’s far fetched about them not delivering books. And even with the disclaimer, it’s not a nice thing to say about an enterprise that seems to be doing very well and practically minting money. As much as we may criticize the value proposition, we don’t have anything to question it’s ability to be a going concern.

>16 kdweber: >18 U_238: In which case I sincerely apologize - it was an unsubstantiated post that offers no constructive feedback and, understandably, could mislead one to a wrong conclusion. Mea culpa.

This isn't entirely on topic, but I hope it fits somewhat since a ranking is involved:

I only have two gift editions so far, and would like to ask how they generally compare to the numbered editions? I've already ordered the Heinlein set as a gift edition and am unsure if I should enter the lottery to try for a numbered edition. I'm actually not that taken with the paper used on the boards (I don't see a real connection to the novels there), but I like the cloth. Is the inside of numbered editions generally very different from gift editions with regard to the quality of the paper or the illustrations?

>20 SF-72: I ordered the numbered editions mainly to be able to purchase the next books he's preparing (I know. It doesn't make sense, since I have no idea what the next one is going to be). I think that the difference in price between the numbered and the artist edition is not justified by the materials (I fully agree with astropi's thoughts on the matter). At the moment, I suppose that Suntup is overcharging for his numbered editions. Of course, my opinion is not very popular with Suntup fans.
To answer your other question though: I own Fahrenheit 451 (both numbered and AGE), I am Legend (numbered and AGE), Red Dragon (numbered and AGE). The quality of the numbered edition for "Fahrenheit 451" and "I am Legend" is quite superior to the AGE edition. But that is mainly because those numbered editions were printed letterpress. This is not happening for Heinlein's collection.

>21 tkellici:

Thank you very much for your thoughts on this.

Would you say that the illustrations are printed in a better quality in those numbered editions than in the gift editions? As you say, the print of the text probably won't differ in a way that is very noticeable.

>22 SF-72: Interesting question that might be answered better by someone more careful to details. In my humble opinion, I'm not seeing any huge differences (at least not enough to pay $200 more for them). But, I also have read complaints about the illustrations in one of the AGE editions because of some white spots (I think it was Fahrenheit). Of course, in the end, it also depends on how careful you are to details. Differences that seem as quite unimportant to me, might look like a big issue for you.

>23 tkellici: I believe the white spot issue was with the artist gift edition of I Am Legend, and was mentioned in another LibraryThing conversation (so you should be able to find it if you search). I remember reading that the issue did not affect the more expensive editions, and so was probably a quirk of the offset printing of that book, but I have not seen any version of this book in person so don’t quote me on that.

>24 abysswalker: I own both versions of I Am Legend. I didn't notice an issue. But as I said I'm not that careful to details.

>23 tkellici:

Thank you very much, I appreciate your help. I wouldn't hesitate if the outside was done in a way that worked for me as specifically suitable to Heinlein, but unfortunately that's not the case so it would really be about the interior having that much more to offer. There are editions where I felt they were spot on, for example Red Dragon - very creative - but I really don't know why that paper was chosen for the books. The cloth looks nice, but again, there's no real connection to the content there. It doesn't sound like the interior will be considerably better, so I tend towards leaving it at the gift editions. However: I am really into the illustrations being printed well and it looked in some photos I saw like they might be more intense for Red Dragon and I am Legend, but photos can be misleading. If someone told me that this is actually so and a general thing for Suntup, that would change things for me.

The white spots were in the gift edition of I am Legend and seem to have been connected to the paper not being entirely clean at the printers, so the illustrations developed spots. It wasn't as pronounced in all copies, but I had the bad luck to get one where there was a large white spot on the vampire's nose as well as his clawed hand. It really jumped out at you there, and most other illustrations were also spotted, though in less eye-catching ways. The replacement I got was much better, though.

I've been purchasing numbered Suntup Editions directly from the publisher since The Haunting of Hill House. I missed out on Misery at publication but purchased it later on the open market. My ratings are based on my subjective assessment of three criteria: 1) the binding, the internal design and artwork, and the value at publication price. I didn't consider paper quality except as part of value as for the most part, there's not a lot of distinction there between the books.

I have a lot of respect for anyone producing fine press books and greatly appreciate what Paul Suntup is doing. I believe that a lot of fine press publishers could learn from his approach to customer engagement as he has given a master class on how to create raving fans.

I'm worried about the trend I'm seeing with less detail in the internal design, higher prices, and less quality. The upcoming publications are mostly offset but priced as high as letterpress publications were in the early days of the press. There seems to be more of a focus on the bindings and cases than on the internal design and artwork. Again, that is one guy's opinion. His business certainly seems to be doing very well and growing. I guess my worry is that the expansion of titles has caused a loss of attention to detail of the internal design of the books and by extension, the overall quality. Suntup Editions is still a new publisher and I'm hopeful that they improve quality over time and go on to have long term success.

My ranking of numbered editions:

1) Misery- at the publication price an outstanding value that may never be equaled
2) Horns- I really love this one from the artwork to the binding.
3) The Haunting of Hill House- minimalist design that fits the story and writing style, great value at publication price
4) Brother - really cool binding and a solid value
5) The Road
6) The Lottery
7) (Tie) Rosemary's Baby
7) (Tie) I am Legend- there's a lot to like about this edition but at the end of the day, I believe the Folio Society limited edition has a much better design at a much lower price. The FS is not letterpress.
9) Red Dragon- many people rate this much higher. I'm not a fan of the binding. The cloth looks dirty in person like it's dusty. The internal design is basic. It's the only book I have where I think the case is nicer than the binding of the book. My opinion on this one is in the minority.
10,11,12) Time Machine/War of the Worlds/Invisible Man- minimal design, not a fan of the art, printing errors in Invisible Man where the text is crooked (block is angled like the paper was cut wrong) on some pages.
13) Fahrenheit 451- More crooked/angled type. One of the lower values in the Suntup Editions catalog, in my opinion.
14) The Auctioneer- minimal design that left me feeling like it's the most I've ever overpaid for a book.

>27 SDB2012: Appreciate your considered thoughts here. You're working with a much larger dataset of Suntup books than I have.

Setting value aside, 'The Auctioneer' is a book I was prepared to be underwhelmed by. I wasn't sure the title would appeal to me and the binding looked pretty basic in mockup. However, this was a book that really grew on me while reading it, not only the book itself but the binding, slipcase and typeface. Pretty sure the wheatstraw paper used for the cover is by Andrea Peterson, who did the lovely walnut dyed cotton rag used on the 'Brother' cover. The introduction is by Grady Hendrix is really excellent as well. And I liked that they reproduced the gorgeous Wendell Minor artwork in this edition, I do think the paper used for 'The Auctioneer' is nicer than the glossy paper used in 'Brother'.

>27 SDB2012:
Which form of edition are you reviewing her - lettered, numbered or artist gift?
Huge price differences between them, and I have only purchased Artist Gift editions, with which I am very pleased.

>29 wcarter: That's something I should have noted. Numbered editions. Added that to the post, thanks! I should add that I keep buying the editions and my post is not meant to say that any of them are bad but some are much better than others which is to be expected in a new publisher.

Just what I've always wanted, and only about 25 times the cost of a normal tote bag...

>31 astropi: You follow Cemetery Dance? It's not just tote bags, but also shirts, coffee mugs, pins and whatnot.

>32 filox: So, Cemetery Dance offers T-shirts, gift cards, and a Book Club where the latter is "out of print" -didn't see any pins, mugs, or "whatnot". And, their shirts are 100% cotton and $18 which is basically the going rate for such specially printed shirts. On the other hand, I received a free canvas tote bag from my local grocery a few weeks ago.

I'm a bit of a fine press newbie, so maybe this is a dumb question: Is there a place I can find photos of the finished Suntup books? Most of the photos on the Suntup website look like computer generated prototypes to me and not the actual things. They look pretty glossy and faux-everything. I'm really interested in obtaining a few Suntup books, but would love more of an idea of what they actually look like than the website provides. Any suggestions on where to look?

>34 punkrocker924: eBay sellers sometimes provide original photos of the actual copies they're selling. Also, many collectors like to show off their new acquisitions in the private Facebook group for Suntup fans. It's also fairly common for group members to try selling their unwanted copies to other members before hitting eBay, etc. These postings also often include photos of the actual physical copies for sale. https://www.facebook.com/groups/427078627977561

I agree the publications over the last six months or so have seen a greatly diminished value proposition compared to the prior six months. From what's been teased, the upcoming books appear to be pretty popular, and not as obscure as some of the recent ones.

Apparently the March numbered edition will be "produced at the level of a Lettered edition." Not sure about the price point.

>34 punkrocker924: Search on YouTube for "Suntup unboxing" and you will find videos of people showing off their brand-new books and giving commentary.

>35 whytewolf1: +1 to the suggestion to check eBay listings. Especially for rarer titles, the images are often of the specific object. (Really, they should be, if the seller is serious and reliable. Often, the seller will also take additional pictures of specific details, though I wouldn’t make a request unless there was some nontrivial chance I might actually purchase the item in question. When I sell things on eBay, I’m always glad to take additional pictures for interested buyers.)

I’d also add: check the listings on Abe, which also often have original photos.

>33 astropi: If you're not seeing it, you're not looking hard enough:

http://letmegooglethat.com/?q=cemetery+dance+pin

The coffee mug is unfortunately gone by now. There was also the desk calendar and other things I can't quite recall.

>34 punkrocker924: Sometimes there's also pics of Suntup books on this forum. I posted some pictures of I Am Legend, numbered edition: https://www.librarything.com/topic/326083

nvm

>39 filox: Perhaps at one point, but
https://www.cemeterydance.com/other-items.html
Basically the only thing they have left along those lines now are t-shirts. Back to the point, considering the prices of Suntup books, I would think the tote bag would be a free gift. NOT a $25 item :/

>35 whytewolf1: >37 AMindForeverVoyaging: >38 abysswalker: >40 filox: Thank you all!

>34 punkrocker924: Suntup has now posted an extensive photo gallery on his website - no AGE but many (not all) lettered and numbered editions are there.
https://suntup.press/photo-gallery/

>44 bacchus.: Mostly lettered editions. Four numbered editions and one AGE (Misery).

I especially like the stitching on The Road. I don't know much about their books, printings, or illustrations themselves, but Suntup does some pretty neat bindings.

>44 bacchus.: Thank you, this is perfect! Some of their books look amazing to me (The Invisible Man and The Lottery in particular) while others look sort of tacky. Just my opinion of course, but I don't think I know another press where I like or dislike each book as extremely on a case by case basis. Some of the presses I've been collecting suffer from each book being a little too much the same, though, like Thornwillow, so overall I really admire their stuff.

Just got the email that Suntup is doing Johnny Got His Gun. First time I've been tempted by Suntup but only because of the scarcity of nice copies of this important book. Might go for an Artist edition...

Looking forward to read this book, never read it. I like when Suntup publish some different titles from all the rest.

>48 jveezer: Not the first Suntup book for me, but certainly the first in a long time that has really caught my attention. AE is the best looking of the three in my opinion - at least judging from the covers.

I have all the Numbered editions from The Road onward (or I should say « had », I sold those that didn’t interested me or I wouldn’t re-read). Here is my ranking, solely based on production values :

- I Am Legend (such a beautiful book all around. Definitely underrated imo)
- The Road (would be #1 if letterpressed)
- The Lottery (those marbled boards are stunning in person)
- 1984 (great design)
- Red Dragon (those endpapers and slipcase! Shame the printing isn’t letterpressed)
- Bibliomysteries (there’s something understated about this production)
- H.G. Wells set (feel really good in hands. Letterpressed illustrations)
- Brother (really nice cover material)
- Fahrenheit 451 (would be higher if it didn’t have so many small issues…lacking foil stamping on the spine and top edge gilt, curved boards, etc)
- The Auctioneer (really nice boards material)
- Heinlein set (nice feeling boards…that’s about it)
- Seed (ugh that paper…nice boards though)

I’m only truly bummed I missed out on Misery and Haunting of Hill House. Horns seems like a magnificent production, but I didn’t enjoyed the story enough to buy it.

>51 Nerevarine: where would you put the numbered Silence of the Lambs and Exorcist on this ranking?

>52 punkzip: I’d rank Silence of the Lambs just below Red Dragon. I prefer the Japanese cloth on Silence of the Lambs, but Red Dragon still gets to be above because of its beautiful marbled endsheets.

The Exorcist would sit right beside 1984, maybe just a tiny bit above. They’re both awesome productions.

I agree that the letterpress editions hold a little extra for me. I`m not a letterpress junkie, but it is a different experience for sure. I fully understand when letterpress fanatics feel the way they do. My first one was Rosemarys Baby, so that one holds the biggest place in my heart for that thing alone, and the best smell of a book I have ever smelled. To my knowledge a complete production. Maybe the story is somewhat outdated for some and to classic for fans to hold onto the book - is it cool enough ? But most impotantly. I love it. I am Legend, Illustrations, paper, that letterpress bite, vellum, it`s a wonderful production besides from the tight binding, it snaps. The book literally need to be fought, at least my volume. Lottery, lovely illustrations and that it is a family production is nice ! It is a little gold chunk that book.

The Road and Red Dragon have other assets I appreciate. Highly collectible and class publications, and as Nerevarine mentions, if they had letterpress (and thus maybe a different paper) that would be icing on the cake for these books, and that would probably be needed to go all the way. Besides from that the only numbered I have from there on, are Brother, a cheaper, higher limitation, but still it holds something different, cover material and illustrations. Somewhat glossy paper, but the book opens up and really wants to be read, which is important for a book ! Glad I bought it.

I am fine enough with owning artist editions from here on for different reasons .. to much stress to collect, mainly, would have made me need to offload books, and there is no market for crazy pricing for these books in my country, at least much smaller.

I am one of those that would have wanted to hold a number until and for Blood Meridian, after that book I could have stepped of this train, as intended, but at least I got a taste. I am also one of those who believes that the first books are often those most special. Less demand, fewer customers, less blest, less limitations, not as well known, before facebook group opened the gate to a new and large bunch of customers. So (in my mind) I have Goodfather part one, missing the part two. Part three is good enough as an artist edition. At least it`s comforting to think that way.

The Road numbered is probably their best one so far. My only issue with The Road is Joyce Carol Oates. I wish, they would of gone with someone else. The Exorcist isn't interesting looking at all. Only reason I really bought it was, because Friedkin was involved. Horns, Silence, and Red Dragon are also very impressive. Though I ain't a huge fan of the cases.

Brother is really striking, but not something I really want in my shelves.

>55 Undergroundman: Brother is one of the Suntup titles you can look at but never touch. The walnut paper is very attractive but very fragile and will pick up noticeable rubbed spots if you take it out of the slipcase more than a handful of times.

>56 donaldmcobb: I do have this book and I read it, but I did not notice it to be particularly fragile. Seems to me to be in the same condition as when I originally received it. That said, I am fairly gentle with books so there's that :)

>57 astropi: Take a look at the bottom of the boards; that's where my copy developed the most notable problems.

You can usually also see the rubbing on copies sold on Ebay, provided the seller does a good job documenting the book's condition. Look at photos 8, 9, and 10 on this auction to see what I mean: https://www.ebay.com/itm/124648191126?hash=item1d059c7496:g:4ocAAOSw6D1gWQ3-

>58 donaldmcobb: I honestly could not see any blemishes. That said, I noticed the seller listed them as "very good" so I'm sure you're right that there is some blemish, but I really could not make them out...

>56 donaldmcobb: The book is going to develop cracks. Especially around the spine. I ain't a fan of the paper used in Brother, and 1984. I wish they would stick to leather, or cloth like Silence of the Lambs. I love how the lighting changes the color of the Silence boards. Reminds me of the FS version of Cthulhu.

If paper must be used it should at least be in a clamshelll case.

>60 Undergroundman:
I’m holding Silence of the Lambs right now and don’t see any color change with the lighting. Mine is the artist edition.

>61 jroger1: The numbered changes color.

This note comes with 1984

"shake the case up and down" ...or perhaps make a better case? I'm sure it wasn't a cheap slipcase to make, but someone obviously messed up!

>63 astropi: I forgot about that note. The size of the slipcase is unfortunate as this is one of the better overall Suntup Editions.

>63 astropi: This edition reminds me on the LEC Looking Backward, in ten years, one won't be able to remove it from the slipcase. Bad design!

I'm just reading Centipede's edition of Childhood's End. Talk about a snug slipcase... I just left the book out until I'm done, otherwise I'm afraid the cloth will be seriously damaged.

>66 filox: Strange, my slipcase of Childhood’s End isn’t snug.

It’s indeed a shame about 1984’s extremely snug acrylic slipcase. I just tossed it aside and won’t ever put the book back in it. Definitely a design flaw from Suntup (well technically from the slipcase maker, but ultimately from Suntup who had the final word).

>63 astropi: Over the years, I've encountered many snug slipcases and have extracted the book using the method described. Never thought of it as a problem. But then, I'm not constantly extracting the book. Pull it out to read, then put it back in when done. I keep it in a safe spot in the interim.

Now, I've had two or three which were not just snug, but too tight and had the devil of a time getting the book out. In fact, I had to cut one apart to get the book out and made a replacement for it myself. Those were definitely poorly done.

>68 Glacierman:

My Knickerbocker Classics edition of Le Morte d'Arthur had a slipcase that was ridiculously tight. If they had painted the book like The Sword and painted the slipcase like The Stone they could have turned this bug into a feature.

Well my ranking is ...

#1 - The Lottery #'d

Then tied for last ... Well, everything else I've seen or handled from them.

I've owned six Suntups, now down to five after jettisoning Nineteen Eighty-Four (ditched to help fund the St. James Park Press edition, not because I didn't like it).

1. The Lottery
2. Nineteen Eighty-Four
3-5. The H.G. Wells Set
6. Fahrenheit 451

I can happily recommend all but the last as being well worth the price paid.

>72 gmacaree: What's wrong with F451? Thought of picking this up as it is letterpress..

The Lottery is often mentioned as one of the best, but it seems short for the price - what exactly makes it rank highly?

>73 punkzip: I'd be interested in an explanation about the opinion of F451, as well, as it looks like a very nice volume to me. Frankly, I find that one much more appealing, for instance, than the Wells volumes with their comic-style illustrations. Don't get me wrong; it's not that I feel the illustrations are bad, per se. I'm a fan of comic art. To me, the artwork is just a bit incongruous for fine letterpress editions.

>74 whytewolf1: >73 punkzip:

The main problem I had with F451 is the fact that my copy was riddled with small issues :

- The foil stamping on the spine wasn’t great. Some letters (of the author’s name, the title or the press) weren’t properly stamped in copper foil.

- The front and back boards weren’t straight, they were curved.

- The copper gilt on the top-edge had a scratch.

- I found the cloth they used for the quarter binding to be quite delicate (easily scratchable).

Then there were the illustrations which I wasn’t a fan of. But that’s only my opinion and it didn’t really affected my choice of selling it. I still ended up buying the Artist Edition (with that gorgeous dust jacket by Michael Whelan).

On the bright side, the text is printed letterpressed and the marbled boards look absolutely magnificent. There’s some sparkly golden dust in there, and it looks fabulous up close.

I didn’t asked for a replacement, because apart from the small scratch on the top-edge gilt, every issues I had with it seemed to be present on other’s copy as well.

As for The Lottery, it is a really beautiful little book. The mouldmade paper feels great (the best one used in Numbered editions, apart maybe from Teton), the printing is letterpressed, the marbled boards are simply stunning and the illustrations fits really well (especially knowing the illustrator is Shirley’s grandson). The book really is a joy to handled I’ve found. But…

Because it is a short story, I think they ‘artificially’ upped the number of pages by making the text size bigger than it should be. I really didn’t like how it looked. And also The Lottery was for me a one and done read (and a quick one at that), so you’d have to enjoy the story very much in order to have your money’s worth out of this book imo. That’s why I ended up selling it.

>75 Nerevarine: I'd add for F451 that there are places where the text is angled/crooked. It looks like some of the pages were cut wrong. It's not glaring or jarring but it's a quality control issue that was also present in Invisible Man.

>76 Nerevarine: It's a nice complement to the Arion Press Sundial which had the same artist and is still available a decade after publication.

I concur with the notes on F451 above, with the addition that my copy (like many others) was bound out of order. The illustrations in the Wells set might feel a bit cartoony, but they have the important benefit of being printable via letterpress, which I appreciate very much. I'm also a big fan of the paper binding of the numbered editions.

The paper used in The Lottery to elevate it past the others pretty easily.

The only Suntup books I own is the Wells set (number edition). I quite like them, and think that the illustrations are apropos. Like >79 gmacaree:, I like the quarter-cloth and letterpress printed paper boards binding. My one gripe with the set is that while the illustrations are printed from the block (or plate), they are printed on the same paper as the text, when a thicker, more translucent paper for the illustrations would have been more suitable. As much as I appreciate the Wells set, and intend to keep it, I have no desire to collect more Suntup books (at least those published so far).

>75 Nerevarine: Thanks for laying that out. I appreciate it.

Guess I got lucky, but my 451 text is perfect. The book is beautiful, but the slip is a bit tight. I am seriously concerned about it wearing down those marbled boards. Thinking of just putting thin mylar on the book.