Shirley Jackson "The Haunting of Hill House" Signed Lettered Edition "H" of 26 Traycased w/ Limited Edition Wooden Planchette [Very Fine]

“Shirley Jackson’s Hill House is as nearly perfect a haunted-house tale as I have ever read. [One of] the only great novels of the supernatural in the last hundred years.” —Stephen King

Personally signed by Stephen Gervais and Ruth Franklin. 

SIGNED LETTERED EDITION "H" OF ONLY 26 PRODUCED

Suntup Editions 2018. Shirley Jackson "The Haunting of Hill House" Signed Lettered Edition. The lettered edition is limited to 26 copies for sale, lettered A-Z. It is printed letterpress on Mohawk Superfine and is a handbound Bradel binding. The boards are covered with black Canson papers that are hand stamped with ferns in multiple iridescent colors, then marbled using a traditional small stone pattern. The design is an homage to the classic 1st edition dust jacket art by the famous book cover designer Paul Bacon, and is made exclusively for this edition. The spine is bound in leather. The book is housed in a custom handmade clamshell box, featuring wood grain paper and a brass key escutcheon. Includes the original laser-engraved wooden planchette.

“Shirley Jackson’s family welcomes this new, fine edition of our mother’s classic novel The Haunting of Hill House.” —Laurence Jackson Hyman

About the Edition

Approved and authorized by Laurence Hyman, Shirley Jackson’s son, the Limited Edition of The Haunting of Hill House is presented in two states: a Numbered edition and a Lettered edition. Both editions measure 6” x 9” and feature six new black & white pencil illustrations by Stephen Gervais as well as one full-color center spread illustration. Stephen’s critically acclaimed work includes the Donald M. Grant edition of Christine by Stephen King. This is the signed lettered edition state.

The editions include a new introduction by Ruth Franklin, author of A Rather Haunted Life, the award-winning biography of Shirley Jackson. Both editions feature reproductions of sketches by Shirley Jackson, entertaining and enlightening readers as to how she saw Hill House as she was writing it. The editions are signed by both Stephen Gervais and Ruth Franklin.

"The Haunting of Hill House"  - Signed Lettered Edition ("H")

THIS ITEM IS NOW SOLD OUT FROM THE PUBLISHER.

• Personally Signed by Stephen Gervais and Ruth Franklin.
• 6” x 9” trim size.
• Limited to 26 copies for sale, lettered A-Z.
• Six new black & white pencil illustrations by Stephen Gervais as well as one full-color fold-out illustration.
• New introduction by Ruth Franklin, author of A Rather Haunted Life, the award-winning biography of Shirley Jackson.
• Includes reproductions of sketches by Shirley Jackson, entertaining and enlightening readers as to how she saw Hill House as she was writing it.
• Printed letterpress Cranes Lettra Pearl White cotton paper.
• Handbound Bradel binding with a genuine leather spine.
• Front and back boards are covered with black Canson papers that are hand stamped with ferns in multiple iridescent and pearlescent colors, then
• marbled using a traditional small stone pattern, and are exclusive to this edition.
• Housed in a custom handmade clamshell box, with wood grain paper and a brass key escutcheon.

Limited Edition Planchette

When Mrs. Montague arrives at Hill House, she brings her Planchette with her. We have created a custom designed, laser-engraved wooden Planchette. All Lettered Edition orders will ship with this unique item, as well as the first 25 private pre-orders, and the first 25 public pre-orders for the Numbered Edition will also get one.

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE

“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”

— The opening paragraph from The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Since its original publication in 1959, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson has become the quintessential benchmark in American gothic horror. This classic novel has not only engrossed and enthralled millions of readers, but continues to serve as a source of inspiration for countless authors who hope to live up to even a fraction of its prose.

“I think there are few, if any descriptive passages in the English language any finer than this,” Stephen King once wrote, referring to the opening paragraph of The Haunting of Hill House. “It is the sort of quiet epiphany every writer hopes for: Words that somehow transcend the sum of the parts. Shirley Jackson’s Hill House is as nearly perfect a haunted-house tale as I have ever read. One of the only great novels of the supernatural in the last hundred years.”

Hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror, The Haunting of Hill House chronicles the story of four strangers who agree to stay at the notoriously unfriendly Hill House: Dr. Montague, a scholar of the supernatural and the occult; Theodora, a flamboyant artist; Eleanor, a fragile recluse who claims past experience with poltergeists; and Luke, the young heir to the 80-year old mansion. Inexplicable events occur as the guests struggle to disguise their mounting fears that Hill House too is more than the sum of its parts; more than mere brick, wood, and stone. As the hours turn to days, Hill House seems to be a kind of live, breathing organism. Having disturbed the house’s long hibernation of isolation, the guests begin to dread the inevitable – that Hill House will take one of them as its own.

About the author

Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer, known for outstanding literary achievement in her works of gothic horror and mystery. In a career which spanned over two decades, Jackson composed six novels, two memoirs, and over 200 short stories. After publishing her debut novel in 1948, a semi-autobiographical account of her childhood, The Road Through the Wall, Jackson would garner public acclaim upon publication of her short story “The Lottery,” which details a secret, sinister underside to a bucolic American village.

She would continue to publish numerous short stories in literary journals and magazines throughout the 1950s, some of which were assembled and reissued in her 1953 memoir, Life Among the Savages. In 1959, Shirley Jackson’s novel The Haunting of Hill House was published, widely considered to be one of the greatest ghost stories ever written. Jackson has been cited as an influence on a diverse set of authors, including Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Sarah Water, Nigel Kneale, Joanne Harris, and Richard Matheson.

About the Collaborators

Stephen Gervais attended the Art Institute of Boston, majoring in Fine Arts. While attending school he worked as a stage hand for the Boston Opera Company, which was staging Don Giovanni. After returning to Providence, Stephen began to build up a body of art, often choosing sights on Providence’s East Side as subject matter. A friend had learned of a local small press publisher by the name of Donald Grant, and suggested that Stephen bring his portfolio, and come with him as he was delivering art for a book project.

Grant immediately set Stephen to work on his first assignment, a young adult adventure book project The Wonderful Lips of Thibong Linh by Theodore Roscoe. Soon thereafter, Stephen was asked by the same publisher to illustrate the Special Limited Edition of Christine by Stephen King. That following fall, Stephen received the Best Artist of the Year Award (1983) at the World Fantasy Convention held in Ottawa, Canada. Other titles quickly followed. Authors like Stephen King, Peter Straub, F. Paul Wilson, David Morrell, Clive Barker and Dean Koontz were being offered by various publishers. Stephen has dreamed of illustrating The Haunting of Hill House for years as it is one of his favorite novels.