OT: Neuromancer Gollancz 40th Anniversary Special

Not Folio, but given the recent LE I thought folks here might be interested in this one. It was released late 2024 in two "deluxe" states: signed/numbered (200 copies) and "special" (500 copies). The two states look identical from the build specs apart from a solander box for the signed/numbered (and, obviously, the signature and number) though I have only seen my "special" (limitation of 500, unsigned) copy. The MSRP for the special is £100 and for the signed/numbered is £250.

Below are some more details (according the web site), applying to both 500 and 200 limitation states:

Book interior printed in two colours
Dust jacket and endpapers designed by Daniel Brown
25 illustrations by Marco Luna
Chapter head artwork
Marker ribbon
Head and tail bands
Sprayed edge
Bound in foil blocked cloth
Printed on 140gsm Golden Sun acid free paper
Sewn binding

(Click images to enlarge in a new tab. Probably again to make even bigger.)



































Personally, I like both the design and illustrations of this Gollancz edition more than the Folio Society edition, and the build specs are comparable to a Folio standard edition (apart from the lack of any enclosure for the limitation 500 state).

Unfortunately this will not ship from Gollancz to North America, so you will likely need to take special steps to acquire a copy if you are outside of the UK.

Oh, I like that. A pity about the lack of international shipping.

Thanks for the review! Could I just check whether it is glued or sewn?

>3 BorisG: Pending confirmation from the OP, sewn. I can make out signatures from the page edges and photos of the pages indicate threads through 12 (I think) holes! :)

>4 mr.philistine:

You can see the threads themselves on the Chapter 1 pic.

>3 BorisG: it is indeed sewn (this is stated in the italic details section as well).

Thanks, all! I missed the “sewn” in the description, my bad.

>1 abysswalker: How’s the binding and the choice of the paper? Not too tight?

With regard to the international shipping restrictions, does anyone have a reliable workaround for this for the U.S.? I wrote the company saying I'd happily pay whatever fees but no dice unfortunately. They said it's a publishing rights issue. I really prefer the look of this edition to the folio. I see a few on ebay but they are the signed copies and demanding $500+

>9 L.Bloom: reshipping service. I used Forward2Me to get this book. I've used them for a few other things too and so far have had only good experiences.

>8 drizzled: sorry for the delay responding to this; I must have gotten distracted.

Paper is decent. Up to the quality of a Folio Society standard edition at least. My copy is not too tightly bound. I can post a photo of the backing hollow from above with the pages flared, if you are particularly curious.

>10 abysswalker: Thank you very much, I'd never heard of this service but it seems exactly what I was looking for.

The main thing holding me back is the lack of a slipcase compared to the FS edition.

Tough call between the Folio SE and this Gollancz edition. The Folio is paper-covered boards but comes with a slipcase. This has cloth-covered boards and dust jacket, but lacks a slipcase.

Typography is okay on this Gollancz, though I'll probably lean towards FS on that if it's anything like all my other recent Folios.

I should probably get both to settle the debate haha!

>13 Ibkay: the Gollancz is a rather standard size, so a slipcase from a cheaply available older Folio Society book bought at some secondhand bookstore would probably do the trick, and the resulting unsleeved Folio Society book itself could be donated or whatever.

Depending on whether you care about shelf bling, I'll also note that the Gollancz comes in a drop-front (is that the right term?) cardboard box with custom sized inserts which, while not pretty, does an excellent job of protecting the book.