Wolf...We Think...This Time There Really Is a Wolf....

The wolf we've been crying about

I've been monitoring this one closely, and I can't tell you how many times I've put up a post like this only to yank it again, as yet another false alarm. Apparently the issue was that Pentti wanted to supervise the press run but either had health troubles, or family health troubles, or had too many commitments. At any rate he couldn't do it, so the second edition got postponed and postponed again and again.

However, I have it on good authority (from Dewi of Dewi Lewis Publishing himself)—it's on. Apparently the press run has been done and the books were in Dewi Lewis Publishing's warehouses as of mid-August.

The second edition of Here Far Away, the beautifully printed lifetime retrospective of Finnish photographer Pentti Sammallahti, TOP's Book of the Year for 2012, is now available to order for later shipment from Amazon.com (U.S.) (although they're not calling it a pre-order), and copies can be ordered from The Book Depository, too (with free shipping worldwide). Although (frustratingly!) you can't pre-order the book in the U.K. yet, the U.K. will be the first ones to actually get books to ship—the press release says the book will start shipping in the U.K. on Monday and that Amazon in the U.S. will get copies in mid-October.

If there are any left by then. As ever, one never knows with photo books. The lovely little Steidl book Saul Leiter: Early Color went through this same long and very uncertain interval between the first and second editions, and was scarce as hens teeth and got very expensive as the limited supply got fought over—and now it's still available new and has been easy as 1-2-3 to get for several years now.

So you just never know how this is going to go. The anxiously awaited Second Edition of Here Far Away could sell out pronto and never be reprinted, or the book could stay in print from now on for an easy tenure. The first edition sold out in record time, only a few weeks. Presumably that means they printed more on the second go-round. That I don't know.

At any rate, our "Book of the Year" is meant to say, in effect, "If you only buy one book this year...." So it should go without saying that this is one we think you shouldn't miss. Harrowing as the task may be to actually get your very own copy into your hot little hands.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2013 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Olli Thomson: "Delighted to see this back in print. I was lucky enough to get my hands on one from the first run.

"I think it's a real shame that so many photobooks have such small print runs. I understand that these are never going to high volume books but in the era of print on demand you would think it would be possible to continue to make them available.

"I understand too that limited print run plus high quality production standards equals high prices, but I do suspect that some publishers take advantage to push the prices even higher—beyond the budget of some of us.

"I still recall how excited I was when I first came across Bert Teunissen's work Domestic Landscapes and how disappointed I was to discover that the book/s had long sold out and cost hundreds of dollars from specialist shops."

Comments

[Rusty]

Every month or so I get an e-mail from Amazon.ca telling me that it's not available but they are trying...
I'm ever hopeful

[Ed]

Rats, I've been watching this on amazon.co.uk. I delayed and missed a copy from a non-amazon seller for about £31 this morning. Now you've told everybody.

[Dan Gerth]

Mike:

I've been eagerly awaiting this. I just placed my order, shipping dates were given as Oct 11 - Nov 19th. Thanks!

[jim]

I hope I get a copy, but I'm not sure I know how many I really have on order! Back when you very first reccommended the book I ordered through your Amazon link. And then when the British copy was announced I ordered again. Who knows? maybe yet another time? They keep telling me they are on order! At any rate I'm anxious to recieve one and maybe I'll have others for re-sale!At this rate maybe they will pay for my daughters college in six years! Please keep up the reccomemdations, so far they've all been great!

[Joe Boris]

I ordered a copy through your page the very day you first posted about this book last January when it was only available via Amazon UK. That UK bookseller (Charles Chapters Books) later told me my order had been 'lost in the mail' as this books' price skyrocketed to over 10x what I paid them. They said they wouldn't re-send my order, could not ship using certified delivery, and simply refunded my purchase price after much discussion turned argument. Extremely unpleasant vendors, whom I filed a complaint against with both Amazon UK and Amazon USA, neither of which responded. I've just placed another order today through your page link. Maybe this time...?

[D. Hufford.]

It must be real. The first turned-out-to-be-false announcement came to me from The Books Depository. I ordered it immediately, but within a day it was cancelled. This time I received no notice, so I take that to mean it's true.

[Chris Richards]

According to the Book Depository, mine was shipped yesterday.

[Ross]

Book Depository notification service is pretty much a pre order, with the advantage that when the book is available they notify you and you can then proceed with the expenditure.

It's always worked fine for me and I've found that if BD doesn't have the item most others don't either; BD is probably big enough to have first dibs from publishers.

[Marcelo Guarini]

Thanks for telling us. I placed an order yesterday through Amazon. They say the book will be shipped within 1 to 3 month. I hope the time doesn't multiplicate as the price in the first run.

[Godfrey]

I've had an order in with Amazon.com for this book since the second time it became available (around April or May ...). The order is still good and says:

DELIVERY ESTIMATE: MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2013 - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2013 BY 8:00PM

Hopefully soon now. :-)

G

[David Dyer-Bennet]

I don't believe print-on-demand technology is anywhere near up to the quality levels needed for at-all-serious photo books yet. Probably won't be any time soon.

Which is a pity for all the obvious reasons, etc.

And, which is why digital display is going to be the big breakthrough for "photo books" (quoted because it changes the whole concept). Have you looked at the quality of Apple's "retina display", or the new Nexus 7 tablet (or even the older Nexus 10)? Those things are up over 300 pixels per inch on the display surface. They look wonderful, far better than any book I've seen. There is the problem of the limited size of course.

[John Ironside]

Back in January, when it was unavailable on Amazon UK, I ordered instead from a small independent photo book specialist in Scotland, 'Beyond Words'. I've never used them before, and have no other connection. Maybe due to the TOP effect, they had too many on-line orders over the weekend for the stock they held, and offered to keep my order pending for as long as I wanted. I had an email from Neil McIlwraith very early this morning (31 Aug) to say my copy was in the post, and I should expect it by late Monday (not a public holiday, here in the UK). I'm all agog.

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

For those who miss this (or another) opportunity, don't forget there's a thing called the library!

Better, most good libraries will make inter-library loans for free, meaning that they will do their best to find you a copy. University libraries are stellar in this respect. If you're going to college, regardless of what you study, that's a great benefit you can never exhaust.

Case in point: about a year ago I put in a request for Johan Van der Keuken Paris Mortel. It's one of the scarcest, most sought after 1950s photobooks, and one that's never been reprinted since.

Well, it took them a whole year, but eventually, my university library managed not only to locate a copy in a library in Germany (I'm in Canada), but to photocopy the whole thing, so that it's now sitting on my shelf (and good thing it's black and white photo!) besides my other little treasures.

Do not despair if you cannot own; with the help of a library, at least you can experience!

[John Ironside]

My copy from 'Beyond Words' turned up on Monday, as promised. It's a lovely thing. Thanks, Mike, for the recommendation.

[Ade]

Amazon UK aren't currently offering it but, spurred on by the subtle aroma of unobtainium, I checked the Book Depository and found it there. And then added Abelardo Morrell and the new edition of Saul Leiter for good measure. (Yes, I ordered via your link.) Get thee behind me, Mike.

Still awaiting an updated release date for Trent Parke's "Minutes to Midnight" from Steidl...

[Mvblad]

I just received an order-update from Amazon UK stating a revised delivery date: September 10

[Geoff Morgan]

I heard from Amazon UK today. My order (from 5 January this year) has been sent out with an estimated delivery date of this Friday, 6 September. Eight months, almost to the day (if it arrives!).

[Steve Barnett]

I ordered mine from Ebay UK on Friday and it arrived Wednesday (yesterday), and my order from Amazon is still 'pending'.

I have seen many of the photographs individually before, but what is staggering in the book is the way they continue from page to page at such a stunning level of quality. Halfway through and I'm feeling like a complete jerk who can't use a camera, but you should never stop learning, and Pentti really does serve up some lessons.