Suntup Editions has some exciting news to share with those who have purchased the Artist Gift edition of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and for those who haven’t there are still a few available for purchase HERE.
You may know artist Michael Whelan from the incredible work he has created for book covers over the past 30+ years. Fans of our Covers Collection will undoubtedly know him for his iconic first edition cover art for Stephen King’s The Gunslinger.
For the Suntup edition of Fahrenheit 451, Whelan spent a long time researching the book. He read the novel several times, looked at as many previous jacket covers as he could find, and then subsequently spent many months creating this painting.
As part of his study, there was a sentence from the novel which he focused on the most. It was a description of Captain Beatty’s slicker.
“…his massive black slicker flapping out behind, so that he seemed a great black bat flying above the engine…”
He took this as representative of what all the firemen wore because elsewhere the author describes all firemen as looking alike.
This description, along with Whelan’s vision of the firefighter’s military greatcoat as a symbol of dark and unforgiving governmental authority, combine to create what we believe is one of the most stunning covers of this book to date.
The Artist Gift edition of Fahrenheit 451 is $95, and is housed in a printed paper covered slipcase. The edition includes an introduction by Neil Gaiman, six full color illustrations by Julia Griffin, Ray Bradbury’s short story The Pedestrian and his novella The Fireman, which later evolved into Fahrenheit 451, and a 77-page bonus section on the history, context and criticism of the novel edited by Jonathan R. Eller. All copies are signed by Michael Whelan and Julia Griffin.