New LE: 1984

Coming June 2024. Limited to 750 copies. No other details yet.

"With 2024 set to be the biggest election year in history, where countries with more than half the world’s population will send their citizens to the polls, Orwell’s eerily prophetic novel is given the Folio Limited Edition treatment. Celebrating 75 years of its first publication we’ll be limiting this edition to 750 copies launching in June 2024.

We’ll be revealing illustrator, introducer and imagery of this edition in the coming weeks."

I like the style of the image they included. Doubt I'll like the price though.

I don't know how popular this will be. There seems to be a selection of editions from different publishers out there so FS would have to do something really special and different with this one.

>3 assemblyman: I agree. A bit odd choice for the LE as "1984" has got already a solid SE, competing with many high quality publications using premium materials on the market. Instead, I would love to see Folio's LE approach for instance to McCarthy

Where are the pictures?
One of my favourite books of all time.
Next I wanna see animal farm with more darker, adult illustrations, like Suntup did.

>5 Pax_Romana: Only one picture showcased by Folio so far:

>6 drizzled: thank you :)
I hope this will get heavy illustrated, otherwise I will have trouble to justify the investment. My Artist Suntup Edition is really nice. (The Dustjacket has some issues though...)

>6 drizzled:

That's a powerful picture.

I’m so excited about this news!! I haven’t been able to find a 1984 edition I liked (Folio, Suntup, trade editions, etc.) and I was wondering if I should give in and get the meh Easton Press edition or just read the ebook but now I have something to look forward to! I hope it’ll be gorgeous.

Not a title that I feel an instant desire to buy in LE form but the art may sway me if it's good enough to help get over missing the St James Park edition.

>10 wongie: Same. Though that's a high bar to match.

>10 wongie: >11 Shadekeep: Agreed. Wish I had the $2500 or so dollars it cost, but it was truly a magnificent edition that I doubt will EVER be matched. For those who are not aware, here it is --
https://www.stjamesparkpress.com/1984

I doubt this will happen, but if the FS edition is letterpress it might very well be a strong second-place contender. FYI here's the letterpress Suntup edition --
https://shop.suntup.press/products/1984-by-george-orwell-numbered-edition

>6 drizzled: No slam on the artwork, I like it and hope the rest of the book utilises a similarly strong aesthetic. But for people like me who grew up with the earliest videogames, it does look a bit like a box cover for "Activision presents 1984 for the Atari 2600". 😄

>13 Shadekeep: haha, oh wow, you're so right

>6 drizzled: The SJP edition has an illustration utilizing a boot print as well. He literally used a boot sole to print the image.

>13 Shadekeep: >14 astropi: Hey, I still have my Atari 2600 with two doze cartridges in the back of the closet.

>13 Shadekeep: >14 astropi: There's definitely a hint of the repeating elements typical of that era of cover art for game packaging and manuals when ctrl+c ctrl+v was all new and funky (or whatever the shortcuts/commands were back then), along with the colour palette!

>13 Shadekeep: Ha ha. Well, it is set in the 80s.

>16 wongie: I miss my Commodore 64! That was a great machine.

>16 wongie:

I had a Radio Shack TRS-80 (black and white version!) back in the day. I remember wondering how I was ever going to utilize the whole of that 16K memory.

>18 HonorWulf: Loved the C64! My first was the TI-99/4A, which was terrific fun. But my greatest love was the Amiga.

Anyway, I've digressed enough. It will be interesting to see how this one comes out, might be my first FS LE purchase.

A friend of mine was reminded of posters from the German Democratic Republic, which fits quite well to 1984.

>21 SF-72: Good point. There are certainly elements of Soviet-era Constructivist art at play in the revealed image, hopefully more of that to come.

Just want to make sure all you C64 fans know that this exists, and it's super inexpensive :)

>6 drizzled: I'm really digging this. It's some combination of propaganda poster art with the visual leanings of 80s graphic design. It's also a great way to illustrate the "boot stomping on a human face forever". If the rest of it is in this vein I'll jump on it.
In general I like the bold designs more than most. I think the PKD books many think are just garish are beautiful. Strong colours, bold design, right into my heart.

I’d also consider looking further back for influences: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:La_musica,_Luigi_Russolo.jpg

>25 GusLogan: +1 for Luigi Russolo -- absolutely wonderful. I would LOVE for someone to do a truly fine press (letterpress) illustrated edition of The Art of Noises
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Noises

>25 GusLogan: Indeed, strong Futurist influences as well. Futurism was pretty much simultaneous with Constructivism, starting just a bit after it, and had even more energetic properties. Constructivism captured space, Futurism captured motion.

I hope they drop another image soon, though also keep some secret for the folks who buy the book.

>26 astropi:
Sign me up! (I used to live near the Estorick Collection in north London, a good way to develop an interest in Futurism.)