The Colour Out of Space H.P. Lovecraft

The Colour Out of Space is H.P. Lovecraft’s masterpiece of cosmic horror. When a meteorite lands on a secluded farm, something begins to spread through the surrounding countryside. The vegetation flourishes grotesquely. The water turns foul. The very atmosphere seems altered. Lovecraft builds a slow, growing dread as the natural world gives way to something wholly alien.

Lovecraft wrote the story in March 1927, in the midst of finalizing his landmark essay Supernatural Horror in Literature. Dissatisfied with the all-too-human aliens populating much of the fiction he had been surveying for the essay, he set out to imagine an entity so foreign it could scarcely be described—a presence beyond comprehension, beyond category. The story appeared that September in Amazing Stories and remained, by Lovecraft’s own account, his favorite of his short works.

The Colour Out of Space stands among the most influential stories in Lovecraft’s canon, and one of the purest expressions of his vision of a universe indifferent to human understanding.

About The Edition

Our edition of The Colour Out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft is presented in three states. The edition measures 6” x 9.85” and features seven wood engravings by Sally Hands, which are printed from the block in all three states, and an introduction by S.T. Joshi. The text pages are set in ITC Golden Cockerel, and are printed letterpress by Pat Randle & Ellen Bills at Nomad Letterpress on a Heidelberg Cylinder in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. Interior design and typography by award-winning designer Misha Beletsky.

A Note on the Typography

For a story of quiet menace working beneath a pastoral surface, a restrained and classical typographic treatment felt right. Golden Cockerel Type was designed by Eric Gill for Robert Gibbings’s eponymous private press, and first used in 1931. The letterforms bear the distinct character of having been engraved rather than drawn, with a slight irregularity that keeps the page from feeling too composed, and a sturdy body that pairs beautifully with wood engravings.

The Artist edition is limited to five hundred copies. It is a full cloth binding printed with a detail from one of Sally Hands’s wood engravings featured in the interior. Endsheets are Colorplan paper and the edition is housed in a cloth covered slipcase with end caps in a complimentary color. It is printed letterpress on Fedrigoni Arena Natural 140gsm, with the wood engravings printed from the block, and is signed by Sally Hands.

The Numbered edition of two hundred fifty copies is a quarter leather binding with hand marbled paper by Renato Crepaldi, created for this edition. The marbled “tiger eye” pattern is intended to align with the story’s central presence, and to evoke the alien force itself—something pervasive, watchful, and beyond clear comprehension.

The spine leather is sourced from J Hewit & Sons; the historic leather merchant which was founded in 1823 and continues to manufacture the finest quality leathers for bookbinding. Head and tail bands are handmade with leather and endsheets are Hahnemühle Bugra.

The edition is printed letterpress on mouldmade Liber Charta, developed by John Purcell Paper as a high-quality alternative to the now-discontinued Zerkall paper. It offers a smooth finish suitable for letterpress printing and wood engravings. Each volume is housed in a clamshell enclosure with cloth-covered boards and velour-lined trays. The edition is signed by S.T. Joshi and Sally Hands.

The Lettered edition is limited to twenty-six copies and is a full marbled goatskin binding with a blocked leather label onlay. The leather is hand marbled by Freya Scott, with endsheets in black Hahnemühle Bugra, backed with marbled paper in a Tiger’s Eye design that appears only when the flyleaf is turned.

This state is printed letterpress on handmade Velké Losiny paper from the historic Czech paper mill founded in the late 16th century, which continues to produce exceptional handmade paper to this day. Made specially for this edition, the paper features a custom watermark. The book is housed in a cloth-covered clamshell enclosure with velour-lined trays, and is signed by S.T. Joshi and Sally Hands.

About the Author

H.P. Lovecraft

H.P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) was an American writer whose groundbreaking blend of horror, fantasy, and science fiction gave rise to the term “Lovecraftian,” now synonymous with cosmic terror and the unknown. Born in Providence, Lovecraft published primarily in pulp magazines during his lifetime and died in relative obscurity, though his work would go on to influence generations of writers. Today, he is regarded as one of the most important and enduring voices in twentieth-century science-fiction.

About the Collaborators

S.T. Joshi

S. T. Joshi is a leading authority on H.P. Lovecraft, Ambrose Bierce, H.L. Mencken, and other writers, mostly in the realms of supernatural and fantasy fiction. He has edited corrected editions of the works of Lovecraft, several annotated editions of Bierce and Mencken, and has written such critical studies as The Weird Tale (1990) and The Modern Weird Tale (2001). His award-winning 1996 biography, H. P. Lovecraft: A Life was so successful, it was later expanded and updated into the book, I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H. P. Lovecraft, published in 2 volumes in 2010.

Sally Hands

Sally Hands is a printmaker and wood engraver whose career spans more than three decades. Originally trained in drawing and painting in Edinburgh, she later turned to woodcuts, linocuts, etching, and screenprinting before developing a distinctive approach to large-scale wood engraving. Based in South Wales for more than twenty-five years, Hands draws much of her inspiration from the Valleys and industrial landscapes of the region. In 2015, she was elected to the Society of Wood Engravers, and in 2017 she received the John Purcell Prize at the National Original Print Exhibition.

Matching Numbers & Letters

A Matching Pre-Order email is sent to owners of our previous publication, Under the Volcano at 9:00 A.M. PT on the day of announcement. If you did not receive the email, contact us here. If your order is not received before the deadline, your designated number or letter will be assigned to the new owner.

Six of Seven Wood Engravings by Sally Hands Printed from the Block