Talk about interesting times! I’m beginning to feel a bit stretched to say the least. At least I will be having a four day weekend to catch up with some of the blogs on Anarchist World!
I try to follow my inner guidance with these things and am amazed at how well things can and do work out if I have the courage to keep on going on my idiosyncratic path. Chuckle. Last post I mentioned my excitement about finding the complete set of Der Orchideen Garten, the world’s first fantasy magazine.
Well, it seems that was just the beginning! There were 51 issues of Der Orchideen Garten, and it just so happens to be equal to the weekly publications for the first year of Jugend and Simplicissimus! I have previously toyed around with the idea of translating the first year of these two major art and literary magazines. In fact, they are on Anarchist World and preliminary work is already being done.
So, take a deep breath. Hopefully by the end of August I will have the first in a series of limited edition signed and numbered issues of:
Der Orchideen Garten Volume I, No. 1
Simplicissimus Volume I, No. 1
Simplicissimus Volume I, No. 2
Jugend Volume I, No’s. 1&2 (the first issue is a combined issue, that’s why two issues of Simplicissimus are offered)
These magazines can not be bought individually. They are part of a limited edition set limited to 300 copies. Each magazine will be signed and all three will have matching numbers! A new set of all three magazines will hopefully come out every two months until the entire series is complete. (51 issues!) We are talking a four to eight year project here! I’m pumped for it!
Each magazine will have original full color front and back covers with black and white interiors to keep the cost down. Each will be translated into English for the first time. Artwork will follow the original as closely as possible. This means contrasting the faded paper to pure black and white/greyscale for photos; airbrushing all the old German text out and inserting clean English text with format changes as needed. Simplicissimus will need the most format changes since it was printed in newspaper format.
Each set will cost $30 plus postage and handling. That comes out to about $10 per signed and numbered, limited edition magazine! This is a collector’s dream and I’m certain that once word gets out, each set will go quite fast!
I’ve posted the links for Jugend and Simplicissimus below so you can see what all the excitement is about! There are no plans to print more issues, only to offer them as ebooks. In fact, they will be available as ebooks as well. Currently over half my book sales are ebook sales and that is the future. This limited edition is simply for us old timers that like holding the real thing in our hands. This is an important literary event and of great consequence. I feel proud to be able to do this.
I will post more information as the set becomes ready for shipping. You may preview the stories on the blogs as before. Consider them rough drafts. As the collector editions go on sale the blog posts will be deleted to make room for the next issue. In this way the quality and content can be sampled far ahead of time as needed before each magazine is completed.
I’ve currently finished Simplicissimus Volume I, No.1 and half way through No. 2. Lots of work still to go on Jugend and Der Orchideen Garten although it is progressing. Feel free to keep an eye on my progress with these projects!
-joe
Anarchistbanjo's World 
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