DRACULA
BRAM STOKER

Now Available to Pre-Order

Publication Estimate- September 2027

About this Edition

Consisting of only 426 copies in three states, Artists Edition, Deluxe Edition and Lettered Edition. Dracula has been illustrated by Santiago Caruso with twelve full colour illustrations including three double page fold outs all of which have been tipped-in by hand. The book also contains black and white pen and ink pieces by Elijah John printed letterpress, typography, design and layouts by Elijah John. This edition will feature a brand new introduction by Bram Stoker Award winning author, Nathan Ballingrud.

Page Count: 340 pp approx

Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm (uniform size of our other titles.)

The book will be printed letterpress by Pat Randle and Ellen Bills of Nomad Letterpress on their Heidelberg Cylinder.

The text will be printed in two colours, red and black. The typefaces are set in 11pt Caslon types, with Arhaic for display which is based on an ancient Hungarian font.

The next title on the signature track is Traumnovelle by Arthur Schnitzler, Illustrated by Dave McKean. Traumnovelle aka 'Dream Story' was also adapted for film by Stanley Kubrick as Eyes Wide Shut.

DRACULA by BRAM STOKER

There were vampires and vampire fiction before Bram Stoker conceived of Dracula but it is without question that this book is truly the most beloved and revered of them all, it is for want of a better world, immortal. When I was very young my parents took myself and my brother every year to holiday in Robin Hood's Bay near Whitby on the Yorkshire Coast, and it was these trips throughout my youth which infused the story of Dracula into my blood stream. I now take my family there and tell my children stories of The Demeter washing ashore, of the ruined Abbey on the hill, the black dog running up the 199 steps and old man Swales in St Mary's Graveyard, I hope they take their kids there.

We all think we know the story of Dracula. Whether you were crushing on him in the form of Gary Oldman in Francis Ford Coppola's lavish 90s production or like my mother you were terrified by Christopher Lee's blood-shot eyes in the Hammer Classic of 1958, you think you know this story.

When I founded Nepenthe Press a few years ago, Dracula was top of the list of books I wanted to produce, but felt I needed to earn some publishing scars, make mistakes and get some titles under my belt before taking it on. Santiago Caruso was our number one choice for illustrating Dracula as we knew that his relish of the subject matter and his deep understanding of the symbolist and occult elements of the text would take this edition to another level - he surpassed all expectation. His painting of Harker being taken in the carriage to the castle isn't just a sublime, technical piece of work, it is rich in Stoker's detail of local folklore, of the traditions of St George's Eve. Of the regional superstition of a flickering blue flame that signals buried treasure on a night when evil spirits and the undead walk freely. In Caruso's illustrations for Dracula you see the novel afresh and with a new and fevered excitement.

I have tried to design the editions of Dracula I always wanted to exist and to do so I needed help. The dream team which brings my vision of this edition to life as well as Santiago Caruso include Pat, Ellen and Theo at Nomad Letterpress for their passion and expertise on all things typography, ink and paper.

This is Jacek Tylkowski's third title with us and he has somehow navigated my Art Direction again to go way above and beyond to create something that has the clearly defined Nepenthe design stamp on it, whilst remaining wholly his own. We are delighted to continue our long running collaboration with Roger Grech who will bind the Deluxe edition. Roger is a meticulous craftsman of enormous skill and a modern, clean design aesthetic and we are proud that he alone binds each and every deluxe signature edition, when you receive a deluxe edition from us, you know exactly who has bound it. We are also very excited to be working once again with Nathan Ballingrud who is working on a new introduction to this edition for us. Nathan's short story Sunbleached from his award winning collection North American Lake Monsters is one of my personal favourite Vampire Stories and he was delighted to write something for this in-between finishing the final instalment of his Lunar Gothic Trilogy.

The Production Team

SANTIAGO CARUSO

THE ILLUSTRATOR OF DRACULA

Santiago Caruso was born in 1982 and lives in Quilmes,  Argentina. He is a symbolist and surreal artist dedicated to the fantastique, horror, suspense, essay and poetry.  He has illustrated books for Dark Regions Press, Libros del Zorro  Rojo, Ex Occidente Press, Tordesilhas, Tartarus Press, Random  House Mondadori, Planeta and Penguin. A member of  the Beinart Surreal Art Collective since 2010, Caruso’s artwork is  well represented in the galleries and museums of Buenos Aires, the  USA, Mexico and Spain.

NATHAN BALLINGRUD

INTRODUCTION

Nathan Ballingrud is the Bram Stoker Award winning author of Cathedral of the Drowned which forms part of his Lunar Gothic Trilogy.

He is the author of Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell, and North American Lake Monsters. He is a two-time winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, and has been shortlisted for the World Fantasy, British Fantasy, and Bram Stoker awards. His novella “The Visible Filth” was adapted into the movie Wounds, written and directed by Babak Anvari; and North American Lake Monsters is in development as an anthology series at Hulu. In 2027 Nepenthe Press will publish a fine press edition of his Novella 'The Butchers Table' . He lives in Asheville, NC.

Artists Edition

Limited to 250 copies

Price: £220

Signed by Bram Stoker (Facsimile), Santiago Caruso, Nathan Ballingrud and Elijah John
Quarter bound in Dubletta black cloth over illustrated boards
Silver foiled and stamped designs and titles to the upper board and spine
Letterpress printed on Fedrigoni Arena 120gsm
Sewn binding with 12 full colour illustrations, 3 of which are double page fold-outs tipped-in by hand.
With black and white pen and ink illustrated designs printed letterpress
The text will be printed in two colours, red and black. The typefaces are set in 11pt Caslon types, with Arhaic for display which is based on an ancient Hungarian font.
Endpapers are Wibalin Natural Plum
The book will be housed in a matching black cloth slipcase with silver foil-stamped bat designs which re-echo Caruso's cover artwork
Accompanied by a bookmark and a limited edition print unique to this edition
Optional remarque (limited numbers)

PRE-ORDER THE ARTISTS EDITION

Deluxe Edition
150 Copies
Price: £595

Signed by Bram Stoker (Facsimile), Santiago Caruso, Nathan Ballingrud and Elijah John
Quarter bound in black Chieftain leather prepared by Hewit and Son. The boards are covered in deep red Dubletta cloth on which has been printed Santiago Caruso's painting of Count Dracula and Harker.
Sculpted leather end-bands
Scarlet foiled titles stamped to the spine by hand.
Letterpress printed on mould made Somerset Book, an elegant paper made by St Cuthbert's Mill who have been making paper on the same site in the Cathedral City of Wells since the 1700s.
Handmade marbled endpapers produced specifically for this edition by Jemma Lewis
Sewn binding with 12 full colour illustrations, 3 of which are double page fold-outs tipped-in by hand
With black and white pen and ink illustrated designs printed letterpress
The text will be printed in two colours, red and black. The typefaces are set in 11pt Caslon types, with Arhaic for display which is based on an ancient Hungarian font.
The book will be housed in a black cloth slipcase with matching black goatskin leather trim and red hand-foiled bat designs and titles.
Accompanied by a bookmark and a limited edition letterpress printed lino-cut of the Castle unique to this edition, signed and numbered.
Optional remarque (limited numbers)
NOTE: We do offer a vegan leather substitute for the deluxe binding, please contact us before ordering.

OUT OF STOCK

Lettered Edition
26 copies
£2200

The lettered edition of Dracula by Bram Stoker is designed and bound by Master Bookbinder Jacek Tylkowski

Bound in a Dorfner-style binding, more precisely Bradel à la Dorfner, where the boards are constructed separately from the spine and attached to the book block using six leather straps on which the book block itself was sewn.

Bound in full black goatskin which has the most beautiful grain. With vertical red blood designs stamped to the fore-edge which is mirrored internally on the boards. Red foiled titles to the spine, the block edges are stained black with red metallic pigment foil applied at the outer edges to continue where the stamped 'blood' effect on the upper and lower board. On the outer edges of the boards Jacek has applied the same red foil in small areas using a conservation iron. The endpapers are black natural suede.

The book is housed in a solander box, covered in matching black goatskin. The trays and sides are covered in black Japanese silk which has a subtle texture, the inside is lined with black natural suede. The front of the box has an inlaid panel of red leather upon which is stamped the striking design of Dracula's Castle which was used on the first US edition by Doubleday back in 1899. To the rear of the box stamped in black foil is a design for the Insignia of 'The Order of the Dragon' which dates back to the 15th Century. Although not mentioned in the book it is widely acknowledged that this family lineage was the inspiration for Stoker's immortal Count. Vlad II also known as Vlad Dracul was father of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) and a Knight of the Order of the Dragon. So the box was designed to encompass a sense of Dynasty and Historical lineage, the Castle (Place) the Insignia (Dynasty) in which Stoker's masterpiece is housed, further adding to the rich tapestry of this immortal book and it's genesis.

Signed by Bram Stoker (Facsimile), Santiago Caruso, Nathan Ballingrud and Elijah John
Bound in the Bradel à la Dorfner style in full black goatskin
Red pigment stamped designs and titles.
Black natural suede endpapers
Printed on our private stock of Velke Losin paper which carries the Nepenthe Watermark
12 full colour illustrations, 3 of which are double page fold-outs tipped-in by hand
With black and white pen and ink illustrated designs printed letterpress
Text printed in two colours, black and red by Nomad Letterpress on their Hydelberg Cylinder Press. The typefaces are set in 11pt Caslon types, with Arhaic for display which is based on an ancient Hungarian font.
The book will be housed in a black goatskin solander box with red leather inlaid and stamped panel. Suede lined with Japanese Silk
Accompanied by a bookmark and a limited edition letterpress printed lino-cut of the Castle printed on Velke Losin watermarked paper unique to this edition, signed and numbered.
Optional remarque (limited numbers)