Rejoice! Little, Big 25th Anniversary Edition to be published in 2007.

I greeted with joy and relief the news, today, that the 25th Anniversary Edition of John Crowley’s Little, Big is now certain to be published.

I subscribed several years ago to the numbered edition and would have been terribly disappointed had the venture not gone ahead.

Little, Big is up there with my all time favourite novels. It is a sublimely written, exquisite fantasy that tells the tale of the Drinkwater family and Edgewood, the house they inhabit. It’s a fairy story of remarkable originality and is considered a classic work of fiction these days.

John Crowley is a wonderful writer whose career I have been following for many years. I have purchased all his books and have enjoyed reading them as well.

Little, Big was first published 25 years ago. I bought it then and have a well-thumbed first edition - the trade paperback edition, that is the true first edition.

When I heard about the 25th Anniversary edition I was immediately interested and as details on the publication were revealed, I decided to lash out and subscribe to the numbered edition. What convinced me in the end was the proposed inclusion in the book of the art of Peter Milton. Little, Big is an uncanny book. It's almost as if it has a life of its own. The Peter Milton engravings are so consummately appropriate it is like he was illustrating the book, without realising it.

It really does appear that it will be a beautiful and valuable edition. Though I am primarily a reader of books, I have an interest in collecting fine editions as well, but only of novels I love.

The edition was originally going to be published this month, but it was put back to spring 2007 owing to insufficient subscribers. I feared that it would not be published at all, so today’s news is excellent. I can hardly wait to see the finished product.

Check out the Little, Big site and see if you can resist.

John Crowley has an entertaining Live Journal which is where I read the news today.