Question about EP - Lovecraft

Ok what exactly is Etsy.com

is it an auction site like eBay?

>1 Bob_Reader: I’ve never personally bought a book on Etsy, but I have purchased odd art items from all over the world without issue. If I were you, with 2 available, go for it now and not worry too much-maybe stay in contact with the seller throughout.

Just so that people are aware, these type of books are NOT published by Easton Press, it's basically a cheap book that is bound by Easton Press. The binding will be wonderful, but the interior will not. So just keep that in mind. There is some truly exceptional Lovecraft that has been published, but it is very pricey - worth it, but still very pricey.

If you're looking for an excellent Lovecraft compendium, the best you can do at the moment is get the Folio Society edition - it's out of print, likely very expensive.

If you're looking for truly fine Lovecraft, there are some of those as well. The most recent press do publish fine Lovecraft is Pegana Press
https://peganapress.com/h-p-lovecraft
If you're not used to fine press prices, you'll probably be shocked, but the price is really the same as an EP DLE - remember it's all printed and bound by hand!

>6 astropi: the Pagana Press editions are lovely. Yes, EP does slap leather on cheap books. That fact motivated me to search elsewhere for a good edition. For those unwilling to pay steep prices for Lovecraft, consider the complete works in a lovely Barnes and Noble edition in bonded leather. That’s what I did.

There is also the Library of America edition for $28.00. https://www.loa.org/books/223-tales

>6 astropi: re: "NOT published by Easton Press"

While I think I understand what you mean, as far as I can tell, this edition (Easton item number 3334 on the web site) is "published" by Easton Press just as much as any book is published by anyone.

The texts of all of these stories are, I believe, in the public domain now, so anyone can typeset the text in any way and sell it with any binding. At least some of the other elements of this edition probably are still in copyright, however (such as the frontispiece by Dennis Lyal). I haven't seen this particular edition in person, so I can't offer an opinion based on personal experience. That said, Easton Press does not generally focus on typography or layout, but instead on binding and materials up to a certain durability standard, so my guess is that the printing is satisfactory but unremarkable, the paper is acid-free, the binding is stitched, and so forth.

The Easton volume is just as much published by Easton Press as the Pegana editions are published by Pegana Press. Personally, this particular Easton volume does not appeal to me (I much prefer the style of the Pegana Press volumes), but I understand why the Easton volume might be attractive to others.

>9 abysswalker: This book is published by Easton Press (put together and bound in leather); however, the text block has not been printed by Easton Press. Paper is not acid free and pages are extremely thin. I do own a copy.

Features:
- Bound in genuine leather.
- Accented in 22kt gold.
- Gilded page ends.
- Moiré endsheets.
- Satin ribbon page marker.
- Pages that are Smyth-sewn into the binding.
- Bound in the USA. Imported materials.

>3 Bob_Reader: Etsy is very much like eBay these days even with some of the well-known eBay Easton Press sellers peddling their volumes there as well. Etsy is no longer a site for crafts people with majority of hand made items. If you buy on Etsy, remember that just like in case of eBay, you have to rely on the reputation/feedback of each individual seller.

I have FS limited edition of Lovecraft. Highly recommended if you can afford secondary market prices. I think one is listed on eBay for $1999

>10 EPsonNY: are you sure? This is what the page on the Easton site says:

H.P. Lovecraft's powerful stories of “Cosmic Horror” are preserved on archival-quality paper that will not yellow or fade with age – and the pages of this large and impressive volume are not merely glued into the binding, as is standard for ordinary books, but Smyth-sewn with sturdy thread, a traditional technique that ensures easier reading and greater longevity.

>12 abysswalker: Information from the publisher's page in the book: "This edition published by Easton Press by arrangement with Quatro Publishing Group USA Inc. Bound in the United States of America." I have not been able to locate any information regarding the paper quality in the book itself. Also, it does look like other Complete Works published by Easton Press - O. Henry and E.A. Poe - with ~9/16" bottom and side margin and ~3/4" top margin; in other words; complete but hard on the eyes and possibly tedious to read (similar to B&N volumes).

>13 EPsonNY: based on some comments about other titles elsewhere, it does seem like the Easton Press description page might be inaccurate. For example, here is an Amazon review of an Easton edition of Musashi's The Five Rings, the text block of which was also printed by an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group:

I have a number of Easton Press books and have been used to extremely high quality in their publications, from the richly textured paper to fine type setting to beautiful illustrations by renowned artists. I have come to respect what Easton Press does and appreciate the sensation of holding such finely crafted works in my hands while I read. I received my copy of The Five Rings today. The binding is impressive enough and the pages have the gilded edges that I've come to expect and the familiar cloth pages as you open and close the book. But then the Easton Press touch ended. On opening to the title page, I see the book is published by Chartwell Books, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group. No mention of Easton Press or even "published by Chartwell Books on behalf of [or in partnership with] Easton Press." There is no indication on or in the book, whatsoever, that it is an Easton Press book. Yet I thought I was buying an Easton Press book. Beyond the title page, I was further disappointed to find the pages were not the fine quality paper I was used to from Easton Press, but were stiff shiny pages with glossy illustrations and photographs, not dissimilar to what is standard fare in $19.95 coffee table variety mass produced publications. The content of the book is fine. I have no problem with this translation. My problem was with the appearance of the interior pages of the book and the fact that it is sold as an Easton Press book, but it is not. It was a big disappointment to me for the $135 I paid for the book. In fact, you can get exactly the same Chartwell published book, minus the leather binding, for $14.99 on Amazon -- brand new, hardcover, exactly the same pages, exactly the same illustrations and photos. I am so very disappointed in Easton Press over this.

Maybe the misstatement on the Complete Lovecraft Easton Press description page is due to reliance on boilerplate text?

Considering that, after the leather binding, durability is probably the main selling point for Easton Press titles, if it is an inaccurate description, this would be a rather large misstatement, possibly rising to the level of false advertising.

In principle, I don't think there is anything wrong with Easton selling rebound editions (though it seems like unwise brand dilution), but in any case it should be transparent in the product description. Someone should probably contact Easton to see what's up.

>6 astropi: I may have been wrong in my response to you above.

>11 fancythings:
And I have the FS standard edition, currently offered on eBay for a mere $1,572. These prices are obviously silly and will collapse as soon as the “Lovecraft Country” TV series ends. The standard edition is nice enough but nothing very special, and FS could reprint it at any time for the original $140.

>14 abysswalker: If you are interested in Lovecraft's work from the scholarly perspective (footnotes and all :D), Hippocampus Press has a decent edition of Lovecraft's fiction (3-volume Variorum Edition edited by S.T. Joshi):

https://www.hippocampuspress.com/h.p-lovecraft/fiction/variorum-lovecraft?zenid=...

>15 jroger1: recent sales on the Facebook Folio buy/sell/trade group for the standard edition Folio Society Lovecraft since December of last year have been $275, $350 (obvious under market price, since this copy was sold using a preset price and strange lottery method), and $450 (most recently).

Still silly prices (or at least way more than I would pay if I didn't already own a copy of the Folio standard edition), but the $1500 looks like a high anchor rather than a realistic valuation.

The Folio Society standard edition of this is actually my preferred edition, even over the limited edition, as the limited edition is bound in imitation leather and the standard edition is bound in a very interesting shimmery cloth which changes color from green to purple depending on the viewing angle. (Apologies for getting a bit off-topic.)

>16 EPsonNY: thanks for the pointer; I hadn't seen these before.

Do you know if Hippocampus Press prints on archival paper?

Edit: I just answered my own question:

H. P. LOVECRAFT'S COLLECTED FICTION: A VARIORUM EDITION will be limited to just 750 hardcover sets, featuring Smythe-sewn signatures and illustrated dust wrappers, with each copy individually shrink-wrapped. All Hippocampus Press limited editions are printed on 60# white offset paper, acid free and elemental chlorine free.

>9 abysswalker: The Easton volume is just as much published by Easton Press as the Pegana editions are published by Pegana Press.

To my understanding the book was not originally published by Easton but rather they slapped on a leather binding. I know they have done that for quite a few similar books.

>20 Bob_Reader: I wasn't trying to dissuade you, merely to point out that the book is likely bound by Easton and not printed, and there are other options, but yes, they are expensive. If you get the book definitely enjoy it and let us know what you think of it :)

>10 EPsonNY: "This book is published by Easton Press (put together and bound in leather); however, the text block has not been printed by Easton Press..."

I thought that was the case. Is there an introduction? If so, between the title and the author of the introduction it would be pretty easy to find the exact version of this book in trade hardback or paperback.

>22 treereader: Good call!

1. Introduction by Eric Carl Link
2. Google search yields edition by Race Point Publishing, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group USA, from the Knickerbocker Classics series:

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Fiction-Lovecraft-Knickerbocker-Classics/dp/1631...

>23 EPsonNY:

Looks like the physical size and page count are close matches, too. They're small enough to account for binding differences, possible blank/filler pages, and the EP publisher page. Not only that but the 2014 publishing date aligns well with EP's release, given the normal timing one sees when a publisher collaborates with EP to give a book the leather binding treatment.

A couple of months ago I purchased Hothouse by Brian Aldiss published by The Easton Press from a bookseller (The Bookstore on Pluto) on Etsy. It arrived in fine condition.

>25 Neil_Luvs_Books: any reason you purchased through Etsy versus EBay? The past selling price for this title is usually under $30.

>26 HugoDumas: At the time I purchased Hothouse it was cheaper on Etsy than anywhere else. Just a matter of right place at the right time for me with this book. When I saw the price on Etsy I grabbed it right away. I was just lucky.