I Am Legend (54/54) - PC copy of the letterpress Suntup Lettered Edition (2020)

For this final entry for I Am Legend in this series, I wanted to pick out something special to highlight. 

While not the most important copy of I Am Legend in the archive, this is definitely the most expensive, and as a result, was looking to be the only publicly offered version of the book that the Archive would have to forego owning. For better or worse, all 26 copies had been spoken for (at a $3500 listing price!) before I could even given it consideration...

From the Suntup Press website:

The Lettered edition is limited to 26 copies and is a full goatskin binding featuring a handcrafted wooden stake affixed to the cover which is laser engraved with the title. The spine is foil stamped, and endsheets are hand marbled on acid free Fabriano Ingres. The edition is printed letterpress on Hahnemühle Biblio mouldmade paper featuring a deckled fore edge. Title, chapter and section pages are printed with an additional spot color, and the edition is housed in a quarter leather clamshell enclosure with a marbled paper cover.

It certainly is a beautiful book, very nicely designed, and all the more unique due to the laser-etched 'stake' mounted on the front of the leatherbound cover. 

So you might be wondering, how did I come to own the copy you see here — it was through a surprising twist of fate. I happened to see a listing in a Facebook group for a PC (Publisher's/Presentation Copy) of the lettered edition, and it was offered well below the lettered editions retail price. While not inexpensive, it was likely the most affordable copy I would ever find, and so for the sake of the archive, I pulled the trigger. 

While it would have been nice if this edition been able to include a Matheson signature (the author passed in 2013, but existing signatures are sometimes incorporated to allow for posthumous signed editions), the fact that it was printed letterpress makes it a unique piece of art.

A number of premiums shipped with the book, including an Art print, bookmark, and in this specific case, a note from the publisher thanking the recipient for their support of the press. 

Here's one last look at the hand-marbled endpapers (and traycase wrap).

Check back Wednesday for our final Godzilla post, and Friday for our final Creature from the Black Lagoon post. Whether you followed the blog as each new post was made, or if you discovered it after the fact, I hope you will enjoy reviewing the items shared from my collections!