The Sense of an Ending | Man Booker Shortlist Leather Bound (Author’s Copy)


Notes on this edition: Each author shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize receives a specially bound edition created by a Designer Bookbinders Fellow. The bookbinder designs and completes the edition in 4-5 weeks, and authors are presented with their special editions on the evening of the Man Booker award ceremony.

Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2011, and this special edition was bound by Philip Smith. Photographed from Julian Barnes’s personal collection.

For more information about the Designer Bookbinders, please visit their website.

England, England | Man Booker Shortlist Leather Bound (Author’s Copy)


Notes on this edition: Each author shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize receives a specially bound edition created by a Designer Bookbinders Fellow. The bookbinder designs and completes the edition in 4-5 weeks, and authors are presented with their special editions on the evening of the Man Booker award ceremony.

Julian Barnes’s England, England was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 1998, and this special edition was bound by Ann Thornton. Photographed from Julian Barnes’s personal collection.

For more information about the Designer Bookbinders, please visit their website.

Arthur & George | Man Booker Shortlist Leather Bound (Author’s Copy)


Notes on this edition: Each author shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize receives a specially bound edition created by a Designer Bookbinders Fellow. The bookbinder designs and completes the edition in 4-5 weeks, and authors are presented with their special editions on the evening of the Man Booker award ceremony.

Julian Barnes’s Arthur & George was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2005, and this special edition was bound by Lester Capon. Photographed from Julian Barnes’s personal collection.

For more information about the Designer Bookbinders, please visit their website.

Candide, or, Optimism (Folio Society, 2016; Signed Edition)


Notes on this edition: Voltaire. Candide, or, Optimism. London: Folio Society, 2016. Pp. 202. 26.6 x 22.6 cm.

Translated by Tobias Smollett. Introduction by Julian Barnes. Illustrated by Quentin Blake.

Leather edition signed by Quentin Blake in an edition of 25 copies (not for sale to the public).

The limitation page states:

“THIS EDITION OF CANDIDE HAS BEEN TYPESET IN GARAMOND AT THE FOLIO SOCIETY, AND PRINTED ON MODIGLIANI PAPER BY GRAMMLICH, PLIEZHAUSEN, GERMANY. THE BINDING BY BELTZ FINE BOOKS, BAD LANGENSALZA, GERMANY, IS IN FULL NIGERIAN GOATSKIN LEATHER BLOCKED WITH A DESIGN BY THE ARTIST. THE EDITION IS LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES FOR SALE TO MEMBERS OF THE FOLIO SOCIETY, AND 25 LETTERED COPIES WHICH ARE NOT FOR SALE.”

ФЛОБЕРОВИОТ ПАПАГАЛ | Flaubert’s Parrot (Magor Publishing, 2013; Macedonian)


Notes on this edition: ФЛОБЕРОВИОТ ПАПАГАЛ | Flaubert’s Parrot. Skopje: Magor Publishing, 2013. Pp. 201 + [7]. 20.7 x 14 cm. Translated by Марщ а Цонс. ISBN: 9786082231457. (Macedonian).

The Only Story (London Review Bookshop, 2018; Limited Edition Leather)


Notes on this edition: The Only Story. London: London Review Bookshop, 2018. The book itself measures 22.2 x 14.8 cm. The slipcase measures 23.1 x 15.3 cm.

This is the full leather edition of the signed, limited edition in slip case. The London Review Bookshop also issued a quarter-leather and cloth limited edition. The limitation pages reads:

A special signed limited
First Edition
of
The Only Story
printed on
Longan Book Wove 150gsm paper.
Numbers 1 to 75 have been quarter-bound
in Harmatan Green 16 goatskin with
Dubletta cloth sides and contain one
facsimile page from the author’s notebook.
25 copies (i to xxv), plus 3 hors commerce,
have been fully bound in the same leather
and contain a portfolio of six facsimile pages
of early draft passages and notebook entries.

The book presented here is number 3 of the hors commerce edition mentioned above. It is identical to the full leather edition, except for the “hors commerce” designation.

The Noise of Time (London Review Bookshop, 2016; Limited Edition Full Leather)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. The Noise of Time. London: London Review Bookshop, 2016. Limited Edition Full Leather.

Julian Barnes’s novel The Noise of Time was published in 2016, concurrently with the London Review Bookshop’s limited edition. The edition featured here is one of three hors de commerce copies signed by the author. Outside of this designation on the limitation page, the hors de commerce edition is identical to the full leather copy limited to 25 copies.

The book itself measures 20.6 x 13.7 cm. The slipcase measures 21.3 x 14.2 cm.

From the limitation page:

A special signed limited First Edition of
The Noise of Time
printed on Longan Book Wove 150gsm paper.
Numbers 1 to 75 have been quarter-bound
in Harmatan Yellow 30 Goatskin
with Atlantic Cloth sides and contain one
facsimile page from the author’s notebook.
25 copies (i to xxv), plus three hors de commerce,
have been fully bound in the same leather
and contain a portfolio of six facsimile pages
of early draft passages and notebook entries.

The edition featured here is numbered “Hors Commerce 2/3” and is signed by Julian Barnes to the limitation page. (Note: The image has been modified to remove the name of the recipient to whom Barnes inscribed the book.)

The facsimile page is contained in a paper folder with the following letterpressed to the front:

  1. Notebook entry of possible titles.
  2. Middle-of-the-night jotting from bedside notepad.
  3. Possible epigraphs, neither of them used.
  4. Draft of section when the opening episode returns as a memory in the second part of the novel.
  5. Early draft of opening of first part.
  6. First notes on novel, from notebook.

JULIAN BARNES (c) 2016

Levels of Life (London Review Bookshop, 2013; Limited Edition Full Leather)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Levels of Life. London: London Review Bookshop, 2013. Limited Edition Full Leather. The book itself measures 20.6 x 14.0 cm. The slipcase measures 21.3 x 14.4 cm.

In 2013, the London Review Bookshop issued a limited edition of Julian Barnes’s Levels of Life. One version was quarter-bound in leather (35 copies), another was full leather (15 copies), and a special hors série edition identical to the full leather version was produced for the author and select recipients (unstated on the limitation page, but limited to 3 copies, as noted in the image).

The limitation page of all editions is identical:

A special signed limited first edition of
Levels of Life
of which thirty-five copies have been
quarter-bound in Harmatan fine leather
numbered 1 to 35 and fifteen copies
full-bound in the same leather
numbered I to XV.

The bindings have been designed by
Andrew Stilwell and Patrick Roe and produced
by The Fine Book Bindery, Finedon, Northants.

This is number
[# in red followed by Julian Barnes’s signature in black ink]

Note: The limitation page of this example has been digitally altered to remove the personalized inscription from Julian Barnes to the edition’s owner.

Levels of Life (London Review Bookshop, 2013; Limited Edition Quarter Leather)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Levels of Life. London: London Review Bookshop, 2013. Limited Edition Quarter Leather. The book itself measures 20.6 x 14.0 cm. The slipcase measures 21.3 x 14.4 cm.

In 2013, the London Review Bookshop issued a limited edition of Julian Barnes’s Levels of Life. One version was quarter-bound in leather (35 copies), another was full leather (15 copies), and a special hors série edition identical to the full leather version was produced for the author and select recipients (unstated on the limitation page, but limited to 3 copies).

The limitation page of all editions is identical, excepting the numbering:

A special signed limited first edition of
Levels of Life
of which thirty-five copies have been
quarter-bound in Harmatan fine leather
numbered 1 to 35 and fifteen copies
full-bound in the same leather
numbered I to XV.

The bindings have been designed by
Andrew Stilwell and Patrick Roe and produced
by The Fine Book Bindery, Finedon, Northants.

This is number
[# in red followed by Julian Barnes’s signature in black ink]

Note: The limitation page of this example has been digitally altered to remove the personalized inscription from Julian Barnes to the edition’s owner.

The Sense of an Ending (London Review Bookshop, 2011; Limited Edition Full Leather)


Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. The Sense of an Ending. London: London Review Bookshop, 2011. Limited Edition Full Leather. The book itself measures 20.6 x 13.8 cm. The slipcase measures 21.5 x 14.2 cm.

In 2011, the London Review Bookshop issued two limited editions of Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending, one quarter-bound in leather (75 copies) and one full leather (25 copies). The text block of both editions is tinted green, as pictured.

The limitation page of both editions are identical:

A special signed limited First Edition of
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
comprising 100 copies housed in a cloth slipcase
of which 25 have been full bound in leather
numbered I to XXV and 75 quarter bound in the
same leather with cloth sides, numbered 1 to 75.

The bindings have been designed by
Andrew Stilwell and the books have been bound by
The Fine Book Bindery, Finedon, Northants, under
the direction of Patrick Roe.

This is number
[# and signature by Julian Barnes]

Note: The limitation page of this example has been cropped to remove the personalized inscription from Julian Barnes to the edition’s owner.