$2,540.00
Surprise extras shipped with every book ordered on our webshop!
The Monster Edition of Frankenstein is the Monster from the story in both its size and details. It’s an oversized edition, bound in finest marbled leather, meant to resemble the colour and texture of Monster’s skin. The spine is blocked in black, while the title is written in shimmering ink by hand by the illustrator. There are nine illustrations inside (two spreads) that are sensitive to heat, so they transform upon touch, which means each illustrations has two phases. It comes in an aluminium solander box that was inspired by The Doctor Edition covers, thus making the connection between the Monster and its creator.
We expect to ship this book in the fall 2022.
FREE 7-10 business days shipping worldwide via DHL! (liable to your country’s customs-related delays and fees; some customers were able to reduce these by opting to do the import documentation themselves at the customs office instead of letting the courier (DHL) do it for them.)
Please note that there will some slight improvements in the final product compared to this prototype at the time of a preorder. For example, marbled papers will have a diagonal pattern to make it more dynamic.
For more information on this edition, please read below or read more about our handmade production methods here.
NOTE: If you’re from USA or UK, the price will be automatically converted from EUR to your domestic currency either right away or at the checkout when you enter your shipping address.
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The Monster Edition is truly a Monster (from the story) in both shape and design. Oversized and limited to only 26 lettered and signed copies, it is packed with numerous features that embody the Monster from the story. We wanted to create two distinct editions that still share a deep connection, just like the character of the Monster and its creator.
The covers represent the Monster’s skin and that’s why it’s done in marbled leather by the legendary Freya Scott, who also did the tissue-like marbled endpapers inside. The aim was to create a representation of the Monster in form of a book, so you can get drawn into its perspective. When you reach the title, you will notice it is written by hand in shimmering ink with golden-yellow shades, again, mimicking the colour of the Monster’s skin.
But the creative concept for this title is where the book truly shines. It is based upon our insight that this is a story about connection, or rather the lack thereof. The Monster is constantly trying to connect with people. He is smart, caring, hungry for companionship. Yet, despite this desire, he is constantly denied all of it. Each of the illustration in its original state represents the moments in story where the Monster interacted with humans and how it was chased and cast away. But each of these illustrations are screen printed by hand and is only the first phase of the illustration. Once you touch the monster, the ink becomes transparent and reveals the real offset printed illustration below, that gives you a glimpse into how the story could have ended then and there if people in question accepted the Monster. The two phases of the illustrations were quite challenging to do, because the overlap had to make sense in both phases, and the extremely talented illustrator Yana Adamović did a stupendous job in achieving that.
As you go through the chapters, you’ll see there are beautiful drop caps designed for each chapter and once you need a break from reading, you can use the bookmark shaped like a scalpel to “cut” into the monster and mark your spot.
The book comes in a case that is made in materials used for The Doctor Edition covers, as to make that connection between the two. The book is bound by a belt to symbolically represent doctor’s oppressive disposition towards its creation.
As previously mentioned, the whole run has only 26 lettered copies, with a few additional publisher’s copies for the key participants of the projects that will never go to sale, making this a true rarity.
You can see more pictures of the book and the illustrations in our gallery.
Photography: Dino Šertović.
For this edition of Frankenstein only the best materials were used in order to truly bring out the Monster from the story, while numerous handmade details only add to complexity of this edition.
The solander box is made out of aluminium with laser engraved details. The book itself is bound by leather belt and metal buckle, while its casing is bound in a material made of 85% genuine leather fibres and it rests on black velvet as to keep it safely and comfortably tucked away.
The book is bound in the finest yellow goatskin leather, hand marbled to make it resemble Monster’s skin. The spine is blocked in black foil.
Marbled endpapers were handmade using numerous colours, some of them metallic, to achieve a visual of muscles, tissue, tendons and bone, as a counterpart to the leather “skin” outside. The book was printed offset on Fedrigoni Savile Row 140g paper, giving it a rich feel full of texture. After printing each illustration had thermochromic ink screen printed over the illustrations to give it two phases that react to warmth. The ink is set to react at 25 degrees celsius, so bear in mind that in extremely cold conditions it will hardly react to human warmth (or if you have cold hands). Likewise, should the temperature in the room run high, the ink will react by itself. However, as soon as conditions change, it will return to its original state so it is completely reversible. In any normal circumstances (living temperature conditions) the book should look as intended and react to human touch or gentle rubbing since friction will generate heat. When the heat dissipates, it will revert back to black. Also worth noting is that since each of these were screen printed by hand, the overlap is not always perfect, nor is it intended like that. Instead, we wanted to achieve this blend of situations, giving you glimpse into an alternative story that portrays the power of human touch. It is important to note that this edition boasts one bonus illustration compared to the numbered edition.
Finally, the book was smyth sewn with black thread, then glued afterwards to provide for maximum durability. As always, to ensure the best reading experience, we used the beautiful and versatile Brioni typeface.
The scalpel bookmark was produced from a special metallic paper with embossing on both sides.
All of these details make this perhaps an ultimate edition of Frankenstein.
Since we put a lot of effort into creation of our books, we like to see them delivered safe and sound (and fast!) straight into your hands. That is why we ship with DHL Express, which means the books will be trackable at all times and they’ll arrive straight into your hands (unless you state otherwise). This also means they should arrive within 7-10 business days at the latest, but they’ll usually arrive within five business days, depending at what time of the day you made your order.
Please be aware that although books are not subject to customs fees in many countries, they might be in yours. This may mean they’ll be held at customs for inspection, delaying the delivery time, and you may be charged a customs fee or import tax or similar. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about customs clearance – customs rules of each country make the importer (the buyer—you!) responsible for these fees. Some of our customers have managed to reduce these fees by opting to do the import documentation themselves at the customs office instead of letting the courier (DHL) do it for them.
Weight | 4.4 kg |
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Dimensions | 38 × 27 × 6 cm |
hs_code | 4901.99.00.91 |
country_of_manufacture | Croatia |
I am biased when I come to review Amaranthine Books as I’ve been a massive fan ever since “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” was published in both black and white editions.
Following this, I’ve since obtained Dracula, Alice in Wonderland, Dorian Gray and now the recent editions of Frankenstein.
The Monster edition of Frankenstein is without equal, retaining Amaranthine Books design concept and publishing ethos.
The leather cover is very tactile, reflecting the skin of the monster; the paper in which this is printed is so rich and deep that you would think there were multiple layers to each page (perhaps there are, based on how the paper is created); I adore the drop capitals and the thermochromic images are so moving to see them change before your eyes, representing the dual layer of the creature.
Amaranthine Books are the class leader in book manufacturing as far as I’m concerned, being utterly creative and beautiful in their finished artwork.
They exceed every art edition and I’m a fan for life.
Congratulations Marko et al, for being truly amazing.
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