Fine Press edition of Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart

Published by Suntup Press as a chapbook.

https://shop.suntup.press/products/the-tell-tale-heart-by-edgar-allan-poe?mc_cid...

>1 ultrarightist: That seems quite expensive for what you're getting

>2 Joshbooks1: no kidding.

Part of me is wondering why there was so much demand for the chapbook -- in theory, the compilation should already include the Tell-Tale Heart so a separate letterpress chapbook does not have as much appeal for me. But then again, maybe people want the complete package. It's worked out pretty well for Pegana Press, but it's personally not my thing.

>2 Joshbooks1: Compared to other letterpress printed chapbooks with handset type, I’d disagree :).

>4 BlackDeslagoon: Personally, I opted to only go for the chapbook. I already have the same main text in the much more practical (readable) LOA edition. The new Suntup illustrations aren’t to my taste at all, however I’m quite fond of the wood engraving for The Tell-Tale Heart. I figured the chapbook would be a nice fine press accompaniment to my LOA edition, with hand-set type no less.

>2 Joshbooks1: Where can you find similarly produced chapbooks for much less?

Pegana Press’ newest chapbook is twice the price, though admittedly a bit more extravagant.

I’d be happy to scoop up the chapbooks you’re thinking of that are printed with hand set type and woodcut illustrations and which cost much less than $125.

Or was the comment more about the domain the chapbook was selling on, rather than the actual merit?

>7 What_What: Haha deep breaths - there are so many assumptions and accusations for one simple comment. Why all this anger on a book forum? Life is so finite maybe there are more important things to get upset about?

I don't collect chapbooks nor do I have any desire to in the future. Foolscap has similar books for $25 each, although maybe not as long as The Tell-Tale Heart. For $125 you could find a lot of other letterpress productions for similar prices and, in my opinion, a far better deal.

As for Suntup I have never purchased a title from them nor do I plan to do so in the future. None of their titles really interest me but to suggest my comment was a jab about, which i presume a publisher who you hold dearly, is quite silly. I would not purchase a similar chapbook from any publushing company.

As someone whose fine press collecting is heavy geared towards chapbooks, I think this is a fair price and I'm sorry I wasn't able to order it. It appeals more to me than the offset book. That being said, it also seems like an attempt by Suntup to move into a space they have not traditionally occupied. In this case I would hope it's not motivated by monetary cynicism ("look what fine press collectors will pay for this stuff!"), but a genuine desire to branch out. I cannot say, as I do not know their heart.

>6 Nightcrawl: I'm completely on the same page. I initially was going for both but reconsidered on the AE - it was just too bulky and I questioned if I really wanted to sit down with that chonker and read all 1300 pages. As a reading experience it would be awkward.

I got the chapbook only as the illustration was cool (I love monochrome block prints), the type looked lovely, it is certainly a readable length, and I am resolved to buy fewer books but go for the best quality I can afford. This will probably be more likely to hold its value, too.

>10 NoBueno: Exactly. And might I suggest the Library of America edition of Poe’s complete works if you don’t already have it? It is the same exact text, but in a much more readable format.

>9 Shadekeep: Suntup's recent offerings of chapbooks and prints (although they've sold prints before) is I suspect a way to respond to changing market conditions where their books are selling much more slowly and most have lost value, often a significant amount, on the secondary market. Right now there are some Suntup books selling near the 50% range, which isn't something generally seen from other publishers books. This (losing secondary market value) seems to have affected Suntup more than other publishers as they publish substantially more and there is a lot of buying and selling which occurs. From Suntup's perspective this is likely a worrisome trend as more and more potential buyers will likely chose to purchase from the secondary market rather than buy direct from Suntup, further decreasing their primary sales. If it's fairly easy to predict that any non-famous release (and there are going to be many given how much Suntup publishes) will be available for less, often a lot less, to the patient buyer, why not wait?

The prints and chapbooks can be sold at prices accessible to the substantial majority of Suntup collectors, and in small enough limitations that they retain their collectibility. The AEs are accessible, but they publish too many copies in many cases for the current market. I do think that Suntup has tried to keep AE prices low, compared to say SubPress where there has been substantial price inflation. This is also likely a market response - SubPress knows that certain books will sell out easily and can raise prices accordingly, while the Suntup AEs need to be priced competitively to sell reasonably well. Looks like the Poe AE is selling fairly well, as the $150 price point is a good value.