The illustrations are often original prints by significant artists. They have printed 93 books to date, mostly by letterpress. I am intrigued by this book every time I have the opportunity to look at it.Īrion Press was founded in San Francisco in 1974 by Andrew Hoyem and has been called the Nation’s leading publisher of fine-press books. Hoyem’s design is a creative expression of the plane of existence for the two dimensional story that Abbot tells. Each panel of the book is 7 by 14 inches. The panels for Flatland unfold to a length of 33 feet with text printed on each side, making this a 66 foot long book. The illustrations and 10 mounted die-cut panels were done by the printer, Andrew Hoyem, based on designs by the author.
The introduction was written by Ray Bradbury and he has signed and numbered the book. This edition was limited to 275 hand-numbered copies, of which our copy is 72. The title is stamped on the covers in black. The book is bound in aluminum covers and is housed in an aluminum frame with a hinged top that closes with a clasp.
In 1980 Arion Press published Flatland in an accordion-fold format of 56 folded panels. We also have a flat copy, our Arion Press edition. Special Collections has a first edition copy of this book.
One book publisher referred to Flatland as a precursor of modern science fiction. Flatland has been in print continuously since it was first published in 1884. The story was narrated by A Square, which also happened to be the pseudonym that Edwin Abbott Abbott used to disguise his identity when he published this satire on class and social problems in 19th century Britain.
I do remember that I was captivated by the idea of a two-dimensional world inhabited by geometric figures and their struggle to comprehend worlds of one-dimensional and three-dimensional beings. I read Flatland so many years ago that I don’t remember most of the details of the story.
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