Out of This World: How Do You Make the Greatest Ever Editions of the World's Most-Loved Chronicles? By Being a Fan.
Imagine it. You go into work one day and are handed something immensely precious: a story. And not just any story, either. A story loved by millions. One that has spawned countless fan websites. Inspired fan fiction. Featured in Twitter spats that threaten to break friendships, if not the internet. And now you are in charge of it.
This is the intimidating challenge that faces Folio's publishing team as they approach some of the world's most successful fantasy and sci-fi titles. 'It's a huge responsibility,' says James Rose, Folio's Head of Editorial. 'We have embraced sci-fi and fantasy more than ever over the past decade, and we understand that these worlds and characters are beloved.'
Take The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany, arguably the first fantasy novel. Despite its huge influence, the novel’s importance was not recognised until it was reissued by Ballantine in 1969. ‘And that’s when it made a splash – after Tolkien, the era of people being interested in fantasy worlds,’ says Norah Perkins, co-head of Curtis Brown Heritage, which represents the Dunsany literary estate. ‘Right now, everyone on BookTok is talking about “romantasy”. The King of Elfland’s Daughter fits beautifully into that space.’
The new Folio edition, limited to just 500 copies and now sold out, takes Dunsany’s vision to a new level. Quarter-bound in leather, it features a stunning binding design and a slipcase containing a special print of Lirazel – the King of Elfland’s eponymous daughter – with endpapers depicting the Hunt of the Unicorn. ‘Our chosen illustrator, Julie Dillon, is at the top of her game,’ says Rose. ‘Her illustrations are both beautiful and melancholic, capturing the atmosphere and the feel of high fantasy absolutely perfectly.’ Best-selling author Erin Morgenstern has contributed an introduction which, says Perkins, has all the magic and mystery of Lord Dunsany’s own story. ‘Her introduction is so beautiful: it shines a light down the path to the story. She considers what it is like to read and reread a book that you love and find new ways into – and what that means for both the book and the reader.’
The genre, of course, continues to spark extraordinary new work, such as Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell – now widely recognised as a fantasy masterpiece. Ten years in the writing, it is what Neil Gaiman calls in his revised introduction for the Folio edition, 'the finest work of English fantasy written in the previous 70 years'.
The Folio edition divides the book into its three separate volumes, each with gorgeous frontispieces featuring the main characters created by legendary fantasy illustrator Charles Vess. The Raven King sweeps around the box, and Vess has hand-lettered all the additional text, including the specially commissioned headings for illustrations, introduction and table of contents.
In fact, Vess’ astonishing illustrations hark back to the lore of how the book came to be written, according to Clarke herself. ‘A long time ago, when I first began to write Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, I was attempting to describe one of the characters, a rather unusual person who came to be known as “the gentleman with the thistledown hair”,’ says Clarke. ‘For inspiration I studied a portrait of a fairy – a picture of Titania in Neil Gaiman’s The Books of Magic, I think – by Vess. So, it is a special and unexpected pleasure to see my character portrayed by Vess in the Folio edition of the book. I very much feel as if something has come full circle.’ Folio’s Fiction Editor Sinéad O’Callaghan says that it’s the ‘absolute escapism’ that makes fantasy so special. ‘You disappear into another world. Folio’s craft lends itself perfectly to that escapism. We’re creating books that allow the reader to dive straight in – amazing box sets with everything you could possibly need to further insert yourself into the narrative world.'
But strange new worlds, of course, are not merely the province of fantasy. William Gibson’s Neuromancer is the definitive cyberpunk novel, first published in 1984, and ‘its influence on both literature and film cannot be overstated,’ says Rose. ‘We worked with William Gibson to choose the right artist – Anna Mill, whose work shows the cyberpunk world in all its glory. ‘We are so very lucky and grateful to have had Bill Gibson’s personal input to this,’ says Rose. ‘The introduction is a unique insight into the relationship between the author and Malcolm Edwards, his UK editor. We’ve printed, in call and response form, Malcolm talking about the evolution and creation of the novel, and then Bill’s reaction to that. Furthermore, each copy will be signed by the author and the artist.’ And Gibson himself says: ‘I wouldn’t have expected to see my work in a Folio edition, but I’m absolutely delighted. I can’t wait to see Anna Mill’s brilliant design work in person!’
Like fantasy, sci-fi has many branches – from cyberpunk to hopepunk, as represented in Becky Chambers’ The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, which is now out of stock. Chambers self-published the book following a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014: it was picked up by a major publisher in 2015 and is now published as a limited edition by Folio. ‘The Long Way represents our ambitions in science fiction and fantasy to bring readers the very best of literature. That doesn’t have to be an established novel: it can be a fresh, new, beloved one,’ says Rose.
Chambers has been involved throughout the process, and each of the limited edition’s 750 copies is signed by her and by artist Zoë van Dijk, whose artwork features throughout. ‘Becky has been kind enough to comment on every single one of the illustrations,’ says Rose. ‘She said that she has seen a lot of representations of her work, but she has never before seen images that match so closely what was in her own head. That’s a huge compliment, and we’re very lucky to have had Zoë on board. She’s created mind-blowing visuals for the box: it opens as a diagonal clamshell; the printed page edges have the ship – the Wayfarer – travelling through space; and the stunning endpapers show a series of portholes from the ship looking out into space.’
From the lands of faerie to a Victorian England suffused with magic, and from grimy city dystopias to a peaceful, far-of corner of the galaxy, each of these very different Folio editions offers something new and jaw-droppingly beautiful to even the most devoted of fans. As Rose remarks: ‘It’s a symbiotic partnership between the editorial and production teams, the art directors, the artists and the authors (or the estate of the author) to fulfil the promise of each book, a partnership that brings that promise to the readers in as beautiful and as timeless a way as we can possibly manage.’
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Explore the realm of English magic with Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in this Folio Society edition of Susanna Clarke’s masterpiece. Introduced by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Charles Vess.
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Explore the far future with the first illustrated edition of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. The groundbreaking debut novel of Hugo Award-winning author Becky Chambers, one of the most imaginative voices in contemporary science fiction, is a truly galactic limited edition.
