3 New Illuminated Editions from Beehive Books

Kickstarter for a new trio of "Illuminated Editions":

* The Great Gatsby, illustrated by the Balbusso Sisters
* Kwaidan & Shadowlings, illustrated by Kent Williams
* A Voyage to Arcturus, illustrated by Jim Woodring

Upgraded Signed & Numbered editions available, as well as Remarqued Lettered editions.

All the details are here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/beehivebooks/illuminated-editions/descripti...

We all have different tastes and preferences, and there are many who find these books attractive and desirable and I have no complaint against that.

These books do not appeal to me, however. For those to whom they do appeal, enjoy!

I really, really want to like this. Living in Japan, I’m a huge fan of Japanese folklore and Lafcadio Hearn and would love a fine press, or even a higher quality version of Kwaidan. That said, I just can’t justify it—mostly because the sample illustrations from Kent Williams go so far as to turn me off. To each their own, but it just doesn’t seem to fit the tenor of the work. If it had been Yuko Shimizu, who’s brilliant illustrations of Folio Society’s Japanese Tales were modern but had the right tone for the subject, I’d have snapped it up. I really hope others will enjoy this, but I’ll be sitting on my wallet this time around.

I snapped up a lettered edition of A Voyage to Arcturus. It's probably going to be the nicest copy of that particular book on the market for years and years, and I love the illustrator they chose for it. Is it really worth what they're charging for it? Probably not. I'd much rather they had put that money into the book materials than knick-knacks like artist prints. But it'll still be the best copy of A Voyage to Arcturus around.

>3 mnmcdwl: Have you looked at the LEC edition of Kwaidan?

I'll probably get a standard copy of 'A Voyage to Arcturus' at some point, and maybe 'Kwaidan & Shadowings' for the Kent Williams artwork. Regarding the lettered editions, aside from the price (which is more than double what the previous sketch editions cost), putting the slipcovered volume into a clamshell has to make it an absolute monster sized volume. It doesn't make a ton of sense to me either from a usability perspective. I feel the same way about what Arion did with 'Frankenstein' - a book inside a sleeve inside a slipcover.

I’ll def get the Kwaidan and Arcturus standard editions when they come up on Amazon (for much cheaper). I generally only like these for titles you can’t find a nice edition of elsewhere or for short stories, but the Balbusso illustrations for Gatsby are intriguing...

>7 RRCBS: I'm going to get the Gatsby at some point myself. I would have considered a signed version if they had shown which piece of art they were going to do the print of AND if the print was signed, which does not seem to be the case. Can't really justify the extra $150 otherwise. Also, it will be nice if the standard editions show up at a discount on Amazon eventually, but that could take as long as a couple of years, and it may not happen at all. As this line gets better known, they very well may more easily sell through their runs without having to resort to Amazon.

>7 RRCBS: I’m actually considering getting the lettered Gatsby solely for the opportunity to get an original drawing from the Balbussos. But when it comes down to it, it’s basically $550 for a clamshell box, the original drawing, and 2 additional foil prints for artists I’m not interested in. And I’m not sure I can justify that.

Really love the callback to the classic first edition Gatsby cover illustration. Page size great too. Will probably get the regular edition. There's just not enough extras on the limited to go +$150.

>10 MobyRichard: Yeah, same here. Also, hoping that the Balbusso sisters might do some LE prints on their own later on as they did for the Handmaid's Tale art for the Folio edition.

>5 kdweber: I had forgotten about that one—thanks for the reminder! Sadly with its age and delicate binding, it will be a hard one to find in fine condition. I will add it to hunt though and maybe I'll be lucky someday.