• Books|
• authors|
• genres|
• Contact|
• Cart

synopsis

With unparalleled delicacy of line and bold use of color, British fantasy, horror and science fiction artist John Stewart’s intricate black & white drawings and color paintings have embellished some of the most important publications in the modern fantasy field, such as Nyctalops, Shayol, and Whispers, as well as Arkham House. Literally hundreds of Stewart’s grotesque drawings have also graced the pages of significant works by top luminaries in the horror field, most notably Ramsey Campbell, Peter Straub, Stephen King, Richard Matheson, Fritz Leiber, and Clark Ashton Smith, to cite only a few.
       Unfortunately, since many of the originals of Stewart’s brilliantly bizarre drawings and paintings are currently locked away in private collections scattered around the world, much of his best work is still virtually unknown, not to say unseen, by most of his many avid fans and even connoisseurs in the field. No book has been written about him, nor has there ever been any serious attempt to collect and preserve the best of his work for posterity.
       Until now, for with this publication, a representative collection of his best and rarest work, Centipede Press is determined to confirm this artist’s stellar status in the gallery of elite contemporary fantasy illustrators. Amply so, for this volume includes not only the complete illustrations for Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, Fritz Leiber’s Our Lady of Darkness, and Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend, but also the suite of illustrations from Robert E. Howard’s The Palace of Bast, previously issued in an edition of only ONE copy!
       In addition, this collection contains both a preface by Ramsey Campbell and an illuminating biographical introduction by artist Andrew Smith, one of Stewart’s long-term friends, in which Stewart’s work is discussed from the vantage point only another artist can have and also discusses the man himself, focusing on the inner demons which haunted his work and spurred on such creativity.
       This edition is printed on thick, acid-free art paper, with the works reproduced at the impressive high resolution standard usually reserved only for production of museum quality art books. The print run is limited to 250 copies, each one signed by Ramsey Campbell and Andrew Smith.