I am in total agreement with your excellent review. The Deluxe (numbered) edition of Flowers for Algernon is exceptional and likely to be my finest acquisition in 2024. The book design and execution are flawless - the binding design is beautiful and carefully crafted by Ludlow Bookbinders , the letterpress printing from Hand and Eye Letterpress / Phil Abel is sharp and crisp with a hint of impression into the page and the Madrid Litho 160 gsm paper is nicely opaque, thick and pleasing to the touch. Jacob Dhein's illustrations are a high point, however. The slightly impressionist art captures the wistful, nostalgic element of this novel perfectly. Regarding the limitation, although the colophon states that there are 200 copies of the Deluxe edition, that is incorrect. Tony Geer decided at the last minute to decrease the number of Deluxe copies to 175 but forgot to make this correction in the colophon. Finally, great news for book collectors. Although the Deluxe Numbered and Super-Deluxe Lettered states of 'Algernon' have sold out, copies of the Standard state are still available for the exceptional price of $275 US dollars. Anyone remotely interested in this title should not hesitate to purchase a copy before it goes OOP as well.
Consensus Press IS in existence and Flowers for Algernon (short story) was indeed the choice to become their first edition. However, while they were working to obtain the publishing rights they were scooped by Tony Geer, who acquired the rights to publish the full novel for his Conversation Tree Press. When this became known, the Consensus Press abandoned 'Algernon" and moved on to the second choice of the consensus group, the Tale of Sinuhe, an Egyptian tale dating back to 1800 BCE. Obviously, this avoided the problem with obtaining publishing rights and they then proceeded on to the nut and bolts, e.g., binding design, choice of typeface and printer, etc. Finally, all three states (Standard, Deluxe and Lettered) of Treasure Island have quickly sold out. The Deluxe edition with quarter goatskin leather binding and thick, weathered oak boards, to be done by Ludlow Bookbinders, will become an instant classic. it will be near impossible to find in the secondary market and will command a stiff premium over the publisher's original price.
I'm VERY excited about the Deluxe Treasure Island. It was going to be a nice book-neighbor to the Mission Edition of Catch-22 from Amaranthine. Unfortunately, I had ordered the latter from Dark Regions Press, so that might not be happening (I'll buy it directly from Amaranthine if I'm able to get the refund on the DRP order). And that's very exciting to hear that Consensus Press is still a thing! I saw that the website had lapsed, but maybe I had the wrong URL.
