26 Reply by caractacus potts

  • caractacus potts
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Re: Colonel Sun

I saw a hardcover of Colonel Sun today, you know with the Dali inspired dust jacket...
why I report this to yall:

That hardcover edition has a handdrawn map as the endpapers, showing the series of islands off the coast of Athens, with a detailed inset of the fictional island of Vrakonisi.

Why would this map not be included in the paperbacks? it would certainly help to make sense of the various characters movements over the island (which Amis describes in detail but is still confusing).
Like I'm sure I've never seen an edition of Tolkien without the maps. These sort of supplements are an essential part of the text!
I wonder Amis' map has been scanned and uploaded on line anywhere?

27 Reply by Golrush007

  • Golrush007
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Re: Colonel Sun

I have never got my hands on the Jonathan Cape hardback edition of Colonel Sun, but a couple of years ago I found the Companion Book Club edition and I must say I thought it had a decent looking cover so I snapped it up. The most pleasant surprise of the whole thing turned out to be the endpaper map and illustration of Vrakonisi island which I thought was a marvellous addition to the novel. Having never seen the first edition I don't know if this is the same image (perhaps you can let me know, Mr Potts)

https://i.postimg.cc/0zZ5LxQH/CS-Map.jpg

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28 Reply by caractacus potts

  • caractacus potts
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Re: Colonel Sun

thanks Golrush, I believe that is it!
yes, its the real islands that are in the inset for context, and the imaginary island is the detailed main map. That makes more sense than how I remembered it
I know I'm going to print it out on Monday and add it into my PAN paperback.

29 Reply by 00sleven

  • 00sleven
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Re: Colonel Sun

Hi guys, if you are interested I have a nice copy of the book for sale on EBay.
A first edition with a nice dust jacket.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Colonel-Sun- … SwGyZeIyxJ

30 Reply by Golrush007

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Re: Colonel Sun

Looking at the pictures in that eBay listing it would appear that the endpaper illustration is the same on the first edition, apart from being printed a different colour. It would be great to get my hands on a first edition, but its beyond my budget at the moment. Hopefully I'll make a lucky find in a little used bookshop sometime in the future. I've managed to find a couple of bargain priced Fleming hardbacks over the last few years.

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