Archive for The Sorcerer’s House

Wolfe at the Door…

Posted in Close Up, Comparisons, Gene Wolfe, New Arrivals with tags , , on July 21, 2011 by Aaron

GENE WOLFE
The Sorcerer’s House, 2010
Home Fires, 2011

It arrived today.  Another very attractive addition to my signed Gene Wolfe first edition collection.  I’m now feeling like I’m wanting to pick up the first tome in this series, 2009’s The Very Best of Gene Wolfe.  These are getting pricey… I dunno…. but they are SO beautifully presented as I mentioned in the look we had at The Sorcerer’s House. I might succumb.

Well, lets have a look at them.  These aren’t super-detailed examinations like the regular Close Ups, just a quick look.  First is The Sorcerer’s House.  Click on the pics for a bigger view.

Beautifully tray-cased, and you can see the signature page there signed by Gene Wolfe and the author of the introduction, Tim Powers.

If we crack it open and have a look we can see how nicely its presented.  Unfortunately, you can see some nasty reflections there on the lower left of the jacket.  This is because of the jacket protector I put on it a while ago.

Having a look at my copy of Home Fires, note the identical presentation, though the signature page containing Mr Wolfe’s and Alastair Reynolds’ scribbles isn’t of the same high quality as that of Sorcerer’s.  Incidentally, I’m on an Alastair Reynolds fix at present having listened to Chasm City, The Prefect, Revelation Space and Redemption Ark over the past couple of months, and currently on Absolution Gap.

Although I mentioned consistency before, they aren’t consistent in one respect. The ribbon used to draw the book from the case is anchored on the left here, yet fixed to the right in the previous book’s case.  Check it out.

No reflections here – the jacket protector went on subsequent to this photo session. Back to the consistency thing, in the case of Sorcerer’s (pun intended..), drawing on the ribbon raises the spine end to be grasped whereas in this case (again, pun intended..), the open edge is elevated to facilitate withdrawal.

I’m very happy small independent publishers like PS Publishing can give us attractive editions such as these.  They are gorgeous editions from my favorite author and grand additions to my library.

Advertisement

Leave a comment »

The Sorcerer’s House

Posted in Gene Wolfe, Uncategorized with tags , on November 25, 2010 by Aaron

It’s very hard to find time these days.  I don’t finish work until 10pm, it’s after 10:30 by the time I get home.  I took this picture on Monday night using the new lightbox I made on the weekend in combo with my two flashes.  I’m not entirely happy with the results.  The problem being that I just can’t spend until after midnight messing around rigging up apparatus to vary lighting diffusion and so forth. I do have to get up at about 6:30 in the morning…

Actually, it’s not too bad for a rushed attempt.  I really want a pure white background with no shadows – I didn’t achieve that.  That aside, as I mentioned in the previous post, it really is a beautifully presented piece of the bookbinder’s art (though no doubt done by a machine..).  Once I get the lighting sorted we’ll have a closer look, but for now, here it is.

1 Comment »

Beautiful…

Posted in Gene Wolfe, New Arrivals with tags , , , , on November 21, 2010 by Aaron

The Sorcerer’s House arrived a couple of days ago.  It’s a fantastically presented book – the highest quality hardcover I have ever seen beautifully presented in a velvet (or something like it..) lined tray case.

Picked up a copy of Murray Leinster’s Colonial Survey a couple of days ago too.  Eagerly awaiting that.

5 Comments »

Mr Wolfe and other stories and other stories…

Posted in Gene Wolfe, Uncategorized with tags , , on November 14, 2010 by Aaron

No action around here lately.  However, I did buy a couple of flashes a couple of days ago.  I’m gonna do some experimentation and hopefully get some much needed Close Ups underway.  More importantly though, is the need to actually READ.  Almost finished Two Sought Adventure, so I’ve started a review and I’m threatening to have it up in a week or so… but we’ve heard that before.

Did something a bit different and bought a non-GP book for the first time in, well… almost two years.  I picked up a copy of the Limited Edition The Sorcerer’s House by Gene Wolfe – traycased, signed and one of only 200 copies.  A little pricey it was, and it seems to be a trend these days that when authors release a new book, they do a special limited special edition as well.  Maybe I’ve succumbed to a bit of marketing, but damn, it looks good and it’ll be a great addition to my collection of signed Gene Wolfe first editions.  It was cheaper than any others I could find on the ‘net.  There’s one crazily priced on Abebooks.com.

Leave a comment »