Centipede Press Salem's Lot art portfolio

[kpwalters]

I recently purchased Salem's Lot Art Portfolio by Centipede Press. There are 7 prints on heavy paper measuring 17" x 22". I have not been able to find any information on this portfolio, even contacting Jerad Walters from Centipede Press. Anyone have any information on this art portfolio?

[mulleins]

Hope the following helps:

When Jerad of Centipede Press created Salem's Lot Lettered/Limited, he contracted with photographer extraordinaire Jerry Uelsmann (June 11, 1934 – April 4, 2022) for permission to use some of his most famous pieces.

Jerry was known for his photo manipulation and pushing the boundaries of photography.

The selection by Jerad was amazing and each one matched Kings story very well.

When the project completed, Jerad had a few sets of the photographs left over. Rumor has it around 50 sets (maybe even less like 35). The sets sold out in record time.

Our very own Tomas wanted to create a tray case that would not only house the gift edition, but also the set of 7 Uelsmann photos. Tomas didn't disappoint.

Edit: FYI- The tray case has become a limited edition in its own right. Once it sold out, it was never made again.

The completed Salem's Lot gift edition set is highly sought after by collectors.

Ralph Mulleins

[kpwalters]

Thank you very much Ralph for the information, very helpful.

I guess the value of this set is what the buyer is willing to pay.

Now I wish I had/could find the completed Salem's Lot gift edition set by Tomas!

Ken

[TheCollector]

Congrats on that purchase Ken! You just need to pair it with a copy of the gift edition and traycase. Then you can house them safely with the book.

There's one for sale now on ABE, the seller has pretty good photos so you can see the case and where the the photos would slot in.
https://skcollector.com/buy-uslimited/s ... t-buy.html

[kpwalters]

I have the gift ed but the really large prints (17" x 22") will not fit in the tray case.

[mulleins]

Are all the Uelsmann prints you have that large?

If so, that's not the same prints we're discussing that work with the traycase.

Can you share photos of the others?

Ralph

[kpwalters]

All 7 are the same 17" x 22"

attached are 4 of the 7. I will have to send another post to add the other 2 due to limitations of maximum attachments.

Total prints = 7

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

These are not the original prints. I suspect someone has made these prints themselves from the original. They even have white borders.

[kpwalters]

They do not have white borders. Appears that way due to the way the pictures were taken. These are from a very reputable SK dealer: “Salem's Lot prints done by Centipede. They are a special run on high quality paper.” Paper is of a cream color.

[TheCollector]

Hmm, I'm sorry to say that I don't know anything about these larger sized photos. I was lucky enough to get a few sets of photos back in the day. There were 7 photos in each set and they are all roughly 13x9" and (at least for the ones folks are used to seeing up until now) these were extras that would otherwise have gone into a book, so it makes sense that they would have to share the same size as the books.

They also don't have a white border around them, but even if your copies had their borders trimmed they would be significantly bigger than the book.

I would guess that they were probably printed by Cemetery Press (or the printer they contracted with), that didn't make it into production. It's difficult to upsize smaller photos and not loose the detail, and why would someone go thru the effort of creating a one off set of larger than life unbound set of photos in the first place if they weren't the publisher? Maybe a test print at actual size of the artwork, or for a folio that never came to be? (Certainly CD would make a folio out of it these days).

Just spitballing random theories. But between the sets I had, and the sets I know David over at Betts had for sale at one point, I think it must have been at least 15-20 between the two of us, and they were all like what I'm including in the photos.