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Instead of disappearing, books have morphed into exciting new forms of publishing. Topping the pile are the coveted super-size titles

Instead of disappearing, books have morphed into exciting new forms of publishing. Topping the pile are the coveted super-size titles, which are flying off the shelves at thousands of dollars each

The 21st century is a fascinating time for books. In Japan, novels composed on mobile phones, using text-messaging abbreviations, are making it on to the bestseller list. More locally, a Melbourne branch of Angus & Robertson recently installed Australia’s first Espresso Book Machine, capable of printing, trimming and binding out-of-print books in minutes. And on New York’s subway system, commuters can be seen reading with an electronic device called a Kindle, which has the capacity to store in excess of 180,000 ebooks.

Yet in the midst of all of this technological innovation, one section of the publishing industry has remained firmly focused on traditional ideas of book production, and in the process has created a new marketplace where craftsmanship and exclusivity are paramount, price is rarely an issue and size really does matter. For most, it began in 2000 when German publisher Benedikt Taschen decided to create a retrospective of Helmut Newton’s work, in honour of the photographer’s 80th birthday. The book that ensued measured 50cm x 70cm and weighed more than 30kg.

At the time it was described by Taschen as the biggest, most costly book ever produced. Printed in a limited run of just 10,000 copies, all of which were signed by Newton, the tome was aptly titled Sumo and came with its own stand designed by Philippe Starck. Sumo was, in fact, so large that Taschen struggled to find a bindery for it. After searching the world, it finally went to the Vatican, where the book’s 464 pages, which included some very provocative pictures of women, were hand-bound by Catholic monks who usually worked on oversized editions of the Bible.

Taschen’s distributor in Australia is Tower Books, and Michael Rakusin, the company’s director of sales and marketing, says that when he first heard about Sumo he wondered if Benedikt Taschen had gone mad. “How the hell do you expect us to sell this?” he thought. “It doesn’t even fit on a bookshop shelf.” As Sumo was part of the publisher’s list, Tower Books had no choice but to distribute it. Rakusin willingly concedes the experience shook him out of normal bookselling mode and into selling books as quasi art or investment objects.

“When we started selling Sumo in Australia,” Rakusin says, “it went on sale for $2700, which was the rough equivalent of £1000 at the time. And as Taschen reduced its stock, they kept putting up the price as it became rarer and rarer. So the people who bought the original ones for $2700 did remarkably well because, by the end, the last few copies we were able to get in Australia we were selling for $15,000. There are now no more available through the publisher or any retail outlet in the world. But you can, I believe, get them on eBay and I’m told the last one went for $25,000. That gave legitimacy to the whole concept of a book as collectible.”

Since Sumo, the demand for large, exquisitely produced books has continued to grow. Phaidon, Assouline, teNeues, Nazraeli and Kraken Opus are just a few of the publishers who’ve forged their own style in the marketplace, and broadened the range of topics to include advertising, architecture, sport and various aspects of popular culture (Playboy centrefolds and American circuses, for example). And the more varied the books, the more inventive their packaging has become. While most large-format editions come in at least a protective cardboard slipcase, some have arrived in clamshell boxes covered in Luxor book cloth, others in black leather briefcases, or with an S&M rubber cushion. For limited editions, the books will also be signed and include additional items such as exclusive photographs.

Of course, Taschen has set a benchmark in this area as well. In 2004 the company published a tribute to Muhammad Ali entitled GOAT (Greatest of All Time). Taschen not only created a Collector’s Edition of GOAT, limited to 9000 copies, they also published a Champ’s Edition of just 1000 copies. Again bound at the Vatican, the Champ’s Edition measures 50cm x 50cm, with two gatefold sequences extending to 200cm x 50cm. It weighs 34kg, comes in a box designed like a boxing ring and includes four gallery-quality silver gelatine prints signed by photographer Howard L. Bingham and Ali.

All this, as well as an inflatable sculpture created by American artist Jeff Koons. “The (GOAT) Limited Edition started life in Australia at $10,000,” says Rakusin, “but the Champ’s Edition was $25,000. When we heard about this, again we looked at each other and said, well, on the basis of what we know about Sumo, there are probably people out there who’ll spend $10,000 – but $25,000, nah. We didn’t order any of the expensive one. So what happened? We took more orders for the expensive one than the cheaper one. It was clearly the wrong decision. If you’re buying exclusive, you want exclusive; you don’t want the cheap $10,000 job. In the end we sold 52 copies of the $10,000 one, and 37 copies of the $25,000 one.”

Added features certainly contribute to the individuality of a limited edition book – which increases its desirability – but this isn’t always a foolproof strategy. Sharon Tredinnick, owner of Sydney store Published Art, which specialises in books about art, architecture and design, says she didn’t stock Sumo because she didn’t think it was a very attractive book. In addition, the Philippe Starck stand that came with it didn’t work. “The book fell off the stand,” she says.

“I don’t know whether they corrected the problem, but it was a huge problem. If the book comes with a stand because it’s just so unwieldy, and the stand isn’t designed well enough to support that object, that’s just crazy. “There was also a three-volume set that came out (Phaidon Design Classics),” Tredinnick says. It was a big, cumbersome thing and I was infuriated by the packaging. I thought it was environmentally irresponsible. It was a hard plastic case, and for me to display one I had to rip that thing apart, so whoever bought it basically had to break the packaging to get it
out. In this day and age I think it’s wicked to do something like that.”

Tredinnick, who is also a book collector, says that in the past five years she has noticed more big books coming out. She believes there is a degree of competitiveness between publishers – especially Taschen and Phaidon – to create the biggest book. But she deems it essentially an exercise in futility. “Maybe printing processes have made this all possible,” she says. “Or publishers are trying to grab people’s attention. There are so many things to distract people now; publishers think they need something big to do it. I don’t necessarily love big books. I love a well-crafted book. It doesn’t have to be big, it doesn’t have to be heavy. Limited things are interesting, but it doesn’t have to be limited. It just has to be an incredibly well-crafted book to press all the right buttons for me.”

Julia Banks, the buyer for Sydney’s Ariel Booksellers for the past 10 years, agrees that price and exclusivity are not enough to make a book a hot seller or something that will appreciate over the years. She stresses these are long-term investments and some are definitely better than others. “The book does have to be beautiful and worth the money that you’re investing in it. So, the paper quality, the production quality – everything has to be pretty fabulous. I don’t think you can skimp on any area.”

Ariel was one of the few bookstores in Australia to stock the Vivienne Westwood Opus when it was released in February. Measuring 90cm x 64cm and weighing 25kg, it was limited to just 900 copies. However, there were nine different cover designs, each limited to 100 copies, giving collectors the chance to buy nine different copies of the same book for more than $3000 each. Kraken Opus, the British publisher of Vivienne Westwood Opus, has only been in existence since 2006 but in that time has forged a definitive style with subjects such as the Super Bowl and Manchester United football team.

Kraken Opus is also poised to release its first art book, Saatchi Opus, which will document the Saatchi Gallery’s exhibitions, as well as its role in the development of global contemporary art in the past 20 years. The book will measure half a metre square and weigh 40kg. Seemingly determined to publish some of the biggest, most exclusive and expensive books in the world, Kraken Opus will no doubt make headlines when it publishes Formula One Opus in March. Weighing 30kg and measuring 50cm x 50cm, a regular limited edition will set you back a mere £3000. But there will also be a Champions Edition that will arrive in a special carbon-fibre clamshell box and be signed by each living winner of the F1 World Drivers Championship. Limited to 100 copies, the Champions Edition’s pre-ordering price is £20,000.

Even our local industry is getting in on the act. Millennium House, a publisher based in Sydney, has just released Earth Blue, which weighs 35kg and measures 61cm x 47cm (it comes with its own case and stand). Limited to 2000 copies worldwide – with only 200 copies set aside for the Australian marketplace – Millennium House claims it is the most detailed mapping of the planet ever undertaken. More than just geographic information, it is a photographic record of the comprehensiveness of our flora and fauna, on a scale that has never been produced before.

Tower Books is distributing Earth Blue and Michael Rakusin believes it will act like a time capsule of the world today, something that can be passed on to children and grandchildren. While he concedes that some collectors will buy the books as status symbols or investments, with an eye to selling them on later, he hopes that most people buy because they like to look at them. “The overriding feature of large books is the impact an image makes when it’s blown up in size. In other words, one sees the same image in a reduced size and it’s pretty, but somehow when you blow it up it has double the impact – more than double the impact.”