Let’s just start off with a lil’ education, if you are a book fanatic, then you probably already know of Arete Editions.  In ancient Greece areté was the notion of excellence of any kind. It was bound up with the act of living to one’s full potential and it is the root of the English word “art.”

Arete Editions aim is to make books to their full potential and once you see their work, we think you will agree, they are fantastic at what they do.

On August 12th at 5PM BST/ 12 noon EST they will be releasing two gorgeous editions of John W Campbell Jr’s story “Frozen Hell.”  “What is ‘Frozen Hell‘ you ask?”  Well in 1938, Campbell published the sci-fi classic, “Who Goes There.”  (Stay with us, this will REALLY get interesting in a moment.)

In 1973, it was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of ‘the finest science fiction novellas ever written.‘ It has been adapted for film, first in 1951 as “The Thing from Another World” by Christian Nyby and again in 1982 as “The Thing” by horror master John Carpenter.

In 2018, it was discovered that Who Goes There? was actually a shortened version of a longer novel that Campbell had written previously. The expanded manuscript, including an entirely different opening and titled ‘Frozen Hell,’ was found in a box of manuscripts sent by Campbell to Harvard University.  Arete Editions will present the full, unedited, novel version of FROZEN HELL with pre-orders opening on August 12th at 5PM BST/ 12 noon EST.

Here is a look at what you can expect.

Frozen Hell: The Roman Edition

When a group of scientific researchers, isolated in Antarctica, stumble across an alien spaceship buried in the ice, the alien pilot can just be seen – a shadowy frozen figure.

 

The team try to free the ship and alien from the ice – with disastrous consequences – but they preserve the alien. They transport the alien corpse imprisoned in ice, one of their greatest finds, back to their camp. But the nightmare is only beginning.

They are soon trapped in a scientific outpost in Antarctica, infested by a shapeshifting creature which is able to absorb and perfectly imitate any living beings, including humans.

Who is human? And who is not? All are trapped in FROZEN HELL.

The Roman edition is limited to thirty copies for sale and is half-bradel bound in white Harmatan Katsina goatskin leather with multiple cut-outs to the front board.

The ice cave structure on the front board of this huge edition is created with multiple layers of thin binder’s board hand cut and laminated together. The leather is then painstakingly moulded and formed by hand until the layers reveal themselves. Once the leather is set, the inside of the ice cave is carefully foil blocked in two colors. Both the front and back boards for this edition are around 10mm thick which creates a considerable and weighty book.

All of the plates are tabbed or sewn in, allowing the double, treble and quad plates to open out without a stitched gutter.

The endpapers for this edition are an original, hand marbled design by Freya Scott of Paperwilds.

The book comes housed in a half-bradel bound solander box, also covered with Harmatan Katsina goatskin leather. The front board is split to create a crevasse in which the buried flying saucer lies. The saucer is foil blocked in three colors and the edges of the crevasse are hand cut from board before the leather is applied and then carefully moulded around the jagged edges.

On the spine is a silk paper label, foil blocked in two colors. The solander box trays are double thickness and are covered in white Colorado cloth and lined with white suede and white leather. The large tray contains a foil blocked silhouette of the Thing. Inside the small tray, under the book, is a cloth-bound portfolio with a three-sided pocket containing a mounted original sketch by Gregory Manchess.

Binding is by Richard Tong and Sam Cartwright at Lyra’s Books/Ludlow Bookbinders.

Printed letterpress in two colors by Phil Abel and Robert Hetherington on a Heidelberg cylinder press at Hand & Eye Editions.

Typeset in 11 point Monotype Baskerville by Nick Gill at Effra Press & Typefoundry.

Printed on Magnani Pescia Edition 160 gsm

Trimmed page size 260 x 390 mm / 10.25 x 15.35 in

166 pages

16 color plates, of which two are four-page foldouts, four are double-page spreads and one is a three-page foldout.

Thirteen black-and-white, relief-printed illustrations.

Signed by the artist, Gregory Manchess

Limited to 40 copies of which 30 are for sale and 10 are hors de commerce

Price: £2950

Frozen Hell: The Numbered Edition

The numbered edition is limited to 300 copies for sale and is fully bound in baby blue lambskin nappa which is soft and smooth to the touch. The leather is blocked in four passes, in white and black pigment foil creating a snowstorm design across the front and back boards, with the title on the spine.

The cover is a square spine structure with a wide groove between spine and boards, allowing the covers to open more freely.

All of the plates are tabbed or sewn in, allowing the double, treble and quad plates to open out without a stitched gutter.

 

The book is housed in a sturdy, white suede lined slipcase and is covered in a light blue/grey Windsor cloth with the ‘thing’ silhouette foil blocked to the front.

Binding is by Richard Tong and Sam Cartwright at Lyra’s Books/Ludlow Bookbinders.

Printed letterpress in two colours by Phil Abel and Robert Hetherington on a Heidelberg cylinder press at Hand & Eye Editions.

Set in metal monotype Baskerville 12pt.

Cast by Nick Gill at Effra Press.

The paper is Liber Charta 170gsm

Trimmed page size –200mm x 300mm / 7.9 in x 11.8 in

Page count – 166

Number of illustrations – 16 colour plates, 2 four-page foldouts, 4 double page spreads and 1 three-page foldout plate.

13 black and white relief printed illustrations.

Signed by the artist Greg Manchess

Limitation – 320 copies of which 300 are for sale and 20 Hors de Commerce

Price: £585

 

The following are some of the spectacular paintings by Gregory Manchess which are reproduced in vivid color in both the Roman and Numbered editions of ‘Frozen Hell.’