Orion sculpts 20th anniversary releases

Orion will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2012, marking the milestone by re-releasing 20 of its most distinctive titles with a united cover look using specially commissioned sculptures.
The books will be released on 20th February 2012, priced between £4.99 and £9.99. The 20 titles are: The Copper Beach by Maeve Binchy, The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser, The Black Ice by Michael Connelly, Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon, Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, Black and Blue by Ian Rankin, The Reader by Benhard Schlink, A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer, Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds, Tell No One by Harlan Coben, Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Shadow of the Wind by ­Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Himalaya by Michael Palin, Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver, Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday, No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay, Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris, Life by Keith Richards, and The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht.
The publisher took inspiration from china, which is the traditional 20th anniversary gift, with the team—including designer Loulou Clark and creative director Lucie Stericker—working with sculptor Ben Twiston-Davies to create physical sculptures of a central motif or character for each of the titles. Each sculpture was then photographed to provide the cover image for the books.
Stand-out covers include sculptures of an open copy of War and Peace, with real German text inscribed into it, for Schlink's title; a jumping salmon for Paul Torday's novel; and a topographically accurate mountain for Palin's Himalaya. The Roman numerals XX will be embossed on the inside front covers, alongside the cover images from the entire 20 titles.
Orion m.d. Susan Lamb promised the titles would be collectable, and said of the list: "It had to be quite balanced, but it was the books we think defined this company over 20 years, whether they've been with us since their first publication, like Maeve Binchy and Antonia Fraser, or not. The Tiger's Wife, which was only published this year, was very defining for us, because we hadn't had an Orange Prize winner before."

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