Carrie: Anniversary Edition
Stephen King
Cover, Endpaper and All Interior Art: Glenn Chadbourne
Introduction: James Lovegrove
Afterword: Kim Newman
"It reminds me of a cookie baked by a first grader," Stephen King said of Carrie, his first published novel, many years after the book’s 1974 appearance. "Tasty enough, but kind of lumpy and burned on the bottom."
Well, that so-so confection led to a cordon bleu parade of some of the world’s most successful novels by, arguably, the most successful and beloved author in any field. Indeed, King has since gone on, in 2003, to receive the Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
But, in the spirit of mighty oaks from little acorns growing, Carrie, a brand-new blustering debut novel about a put-upon girl with menstrual problems written by a young wannabe writer, was indeed a humble beginning. And it was a big chance for its publisher.
Carrie was written on King’s wife Tabitha’s portable typewriter while the couple and their then two children were living in a trailer. It started life as a short story intended for Cavaliermagazine, but King dumped the first three pages. Fortunately, his wife noticed the pages in the trash and fished them out, advising her husband to go on and finish the tale . . . but he went one step better: he expanded it into a novel.
"I persisted because I was dry and had no better ideas . . . my considered opinion was that I had written the world's all-time loser."
At the National Book Awards, King did not speak about writing or success or money. He talked about the woman who rescued Carrie from the trash and insisted he keep going. “There is a time,” he said, “in the lives of most writers, when they are vulnerable, when the vivid dreams and ambitions of childhood seem to pale in the harsh sunlight of what we call the real world.
“In short, there’s a time when things can go either way. That vulnerable time for me came during 1971 to 1973. If my wife had suggested to me even with love and kindness and gentleness . . . that the time had come to put my dreams away and support my family, I would have done that with no complaint.” We should all of us give thanks that didn’t happen.
Limited to 974 copies signed by Glenn Chadbourne, James Lovegrove and Kim Newman, plus a facsimilie signature from Stephen King
Lettered Edition: “Contributor Copy” -
NOTE as to condition of Traycase: there is a bump to the top left corner of front of traycase, as pictured. You can also see that from the spine view, it is not noticable.
NOTE: there is artwork in the sealed envelope pictured.
These are identical to the lettered copies but they carry a number designation, typically on the front of the traycase, book, and/or dustjacket, and from the copies we have had, on all of the signature pages, except Skeleton Crew which does not appear to have a limitation space at all on the signature page.
Also included, with the exception of
- Night Shift which does include a piece of artwork in the envelope designated “This signed card is one of 9 numbered copies for contributors only /s/ Dave McKean” also numbered to match the book,
- Carrie which does include a piece of artwork, but is sealed in the envelope
they do not have the individual artwork piece contained with the actual lettered copies but in most cases do include the envelope in which it would be contained, which also carries the numbered designation (please look at the pictures, if the book has the art and/or envelope with it, it will be pictured above, with the exception of Carrie, in which case the envelope contains the art, but is still sealed).
The traycases of the six books we have are consistent in height and width 11 ¼ x 7 7/8, but differ in the width of the spine (depth) ranging from 2” (Carrie) to 5 ¼” (The Stand, which contains 3 books inside the traycase) and look very nice on the shelf together.
As for the quantity produced of each book we cannot say, but have seen numbers listed or referenced as high as 9 but really have no knowledge. Each title is traycased, includes the book(s) associated with the particular title, and a really nicely bound softcover book entitled “The Remarque Artwork” or with the newer titles, rightly called, “The Artwork.” This softcover book contains copies of all the artwork contained in the aforementioned envelope for the actual lettered books. I am confused as to why these were called “remarques” as I always thought remarques were drawn in the books themselves, and at least the lettered copies we have in our collection are not actually remarqued?
Finally, we did notice that the editions with the black leather binding, Salem’s Lot and Thinner, appear to have some small blue splotches in the material, visible in the pictures (didn’t notice it until we put them in the light box to photograph), if you want better pictures please ask.
NOTE: we get these are expensive, because of that extended layaway is available for any of the Contributor Copies we are offering for sale (Please note our threshold for payment to be made by wire transfer, yes even layaway payments if the book’s total meets the threshold.)
Remember in some cases these are the only limited editions produced of a particular title signed by Stephen King and a rare opportunity to own something which simply does not come up for sale very often.
| Publisher | PS Publishing |
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