The Shining Stephen King Subterranean Press Unknown Edition at Camelot Books

[Martin]

Way out of my league. Frankly, even as an ardent bibliophile, I don't get the lure of this book at that price. Then again, I'm not a King collector in the strictest sense..they truly are a different breed.

I am a King collector and if I had 12,500 to spend on books I could put it to much better use. I respect the choice of those who choose to buy this but it is not for me.

[Brian861]

Does it qualify for lay-a-way

[slayn666]

Apparently some people are salty over this edition. Enough accusations have been thrown around that Bill had to make an official statement.

[Sock Monkey]

Apparently some people are salty over this edition. Enough accusations have been thrown around that Bill had to make an official statement.

Yeah, I saw some of this and I don't see what the big deal is. Kind of a bummer to have this cloud hang over the situation.

[mhatchett]

Why would people be salty?? Other than not being able to afford it LOL!! I mean, have Y'all seen the prices on the GRRM stuff or Steven Erikson's Malazan Empire series, holy crap! I look at things wistfully at times, but that's the way it goes. Or is this one of those, you said there were only going to be X number of editions??

[Sock Monkey]

Why would people be salty?? Other than not being able to afford it LOL!! I mean, have Y'all seen the prices on the GRRM stuff or Steven Erikson's Malazan Empire series, holy crap! I look at things wistfully at times, but that's the way it goes. Or is this one of those, you said there were only going to be X number of editions??

It seems to be centered around a couple of items:

1. That this was an "unknown edition" that was not previously announced during the original publication of Sub Press's edition of THE SHINING. This isn't accurate as it was notated on the TDT.Org site. Also, even if it wasn't, this edition does not impact the other editions listed (ie. finding out there are 52 copies made instead of 26 as listed on a limitation page). Publishers make rare editions all the time that the general public is not aware of and are announced to their "members", "subscribers", or "inner circle" customers. Centipede does this routinely, so does Thunderstorm. Even CD had a Roman Numeral edition of Gideon's Corpse that was not made public. As long the publisher and the author are on the same page, then "no harm, no foul".

2. The donation issues with The Haven Foundation no longer accepting public donations and this transaction between Sub Press and Camelot is such an occurrence. To me, this was clearly the agreement between King and his agents and Sub Press for this particular edition and neither Sub Press nor Camelot would be involved if that wasn't the case.

I just don't see what the issue is or what the public outcry is about.

[dannyboy121070]

Can you expand on what the controversy is....? Genuinely curious, since I haven't heard anything.
(Never mind! Sock Monkey posted the answer to my question just as I was posting the question....)

[slayn666]

For the sake of posterity, here's Bill's response:

Hey all. A number of questions and accusations have cropped up regarding our signed limited edition of Stephen King’s The Shining, specifically the ten copies specially bound, traycased, and limited to ten Roman numeral copies.

The “Room 217” edition was produced years ago, when we published the signed limited edition of The Shining. (I’ve seen conjecture that the edition was created more recently.) The edition, and our intention to donate the proceeds to The Haven Foundation, was approved by Steve’s agent. I made the decision to sell the books recently because I felt I’d been offered a fair amount for them, more than I would have thought to ask for them myself. Earlier today, I received an email acknowledgment of the donation from The Haven Foundation, with the promise that a hardcopy would be posted.

I hope that clears up various questions.

[dannyboy121070]

It's hard to believe that anyone familiar with Subterranean or Camelot could suspect them of doing anything financially shady. They're both well-established and well-respected pillars of the small-press community. (And if they WERE trying something underhanded, I would assume that they know enough high-end collectors personally that they could have just done it completely undercover, and not drawn any attention to themselves.) Hopefully, Bill's statement will be the end of it, and he, as well, as Kim and Tony, will be done with this nonsense.

[RonClinton]

It's hard to believe that anyone familiar with Subterranean or Camelot could suspect them of doing anything financially shady. They're both well-established and well-respected pillars of the small-press community. (And if they WERE trying something underhanded, I would assume that they know enough high-end collectors personally that they could have just done it completely undercover, and not drawn any attention to themselves.) Hopefully, Bill's statement will be the end of it, and he, as well, as Kim and Tony, will be done with this nonsense.

Well said. Can’t believe some of what I read from those who’ve been around a while and should know better. Why they even see it as an apparent personal outrage in the first place baffles me.

[Sock Monkey]

It's hard to believe that anyone familiar with Subterranean or Camelot could suspect them of doing anything financially shady. They're both well-established and well-respected pillars of the small-press community. (And if they WERE trying something underhanded, I would assume that they know enough high-end collectors personally that they could have just done it completely undercover, and not drawn any attention to themselves.) Hopefully, Bill's statement will be the end of it, and he, as well, as Kim and Tony, will be done with this nonsense.

Well said. Can’t believe some of what I read from those who’ve been around a while and should know better. Why they even see it as an apparent personal outrage in the first place baffles me.

Nailed it.

[Ben Staad]

Both are good people and I would have trouble believing they are intentionally doing anything shady.

[jeffingoff]

What bothers me most about this line of speculation is that no one granted Bill or Kim the benefit of the doubt. It seemed to immediately move toward presumption of guilt. Bill and Kim deserve better than that.

I understand that many people were insulted and outraged that The Haven Foundation accepted money from the sale after they declared they would no longer accept donations. That's not something I can really comment on other than to say that those who are mad about the sale of this very limited state of The Shining should maybe redirect their confusion and skepticism to The Haven Foundation instead of Bill and Kim.

[St. Troy]

Does this new edition use the same page block of the commonly known SP Shining?

[dannyboy121070]

Why is The Haven Foundation no longer accepting donations?