A year and some changes since crowdfunding their Pinocchio Kickstarterit seems that the long-awaited release of PINOCCHIO: THE ILLUMINATED EDITION is finally hitting stores. A rework of the original classic, this dream of a team-up between HELLBOY creator Mike Mignola and A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS author Lemony Snicketpresents a unique collectible of a PINOCCHIO story from Beehive Books. One fans won’t want to miss.
The illustrated and annotated edition of Carlo Collodi‘s classic novel PINOCCHIO features a deluxe hardcover edition with over 50 exquisite original illustrations from Mignola. If that was n’t enough, the collectible also has 100 full-text annotations by Snicket – all presented as slipped-in typewritten sheets depicting his descent into madness.
“For many years I have been curious to see if I, too, will join the tradition of readers completely transformed into lunatics from a reading of PINOCCHIO, and although Carlo Collodi died long ago, I like to think that somewhere, somehow, he is interested in seeing what I might have to say as I read this book and likely lose my mind,” Snicket writes. “Perhaps you are too.”
“This is not just a new edition of Collodi’s classic—it’s both a celebration of a classic work of children’s literature, and a strange Borgesian experiment,” said Beehive Books Editor Josh O’Neil. ”Mignola and Snicket have invented an entirely new way to read this beloved Italian fable. Covered with coffee-stains and ink-blots, Snickett’s notes are more than text annotations——they’re missives from the brink of literary agony and ecstasy, and in their strange conceit they walk us through the wilds of Collodi’s fabulous tale, and reintroduce “us to its odd, wonderful music.”
The project is part of Beehive Book’s acclaimed Illuminated Editions imprint, the Philadelphia-based company’s distinctive line of book art editions of literary classics which reimagine literary masterworks with all-new covers and illustrations from the world’s greatest graphic artists, including the Balbusso Twins, Rebekka Dunlap, Brecht Evens, Dave McKean, Paul Pope, Yuko Shimizu, Bill Sienkiewicz, Kent Williams, and Jim Woodring, alongside original essays from the likes of Academy Award-winning filmmakers Guillermo Del Toro and Darren Aronofsky and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Cunningham . The Beehive Books Illuminated Editions feature singular design sensibilities, the highest production values, and a special emphasis on comics and graphic art.
PINOCCHIO: THE ILLUMINATED EDITION is due out on Tuesday, August 27.
