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Farshore unveils 25th anniversary edition of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Farshore has announced a 25th anniversary collector’s edition of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events featuring new covers by illustrator Emily Gravett, due this spring.
A spokesperson for the HarperCollins children’s imprint said: “If you have had the misfortune to stumble on this news today, then I am afraid that you have been the victim of a grave injustice. Farshore is reluctant to announce that A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket has undergone a terrifying transformation in 2024, commiserating 25 years of tragedy and gloom inflicted on young readers.
“These capricious collector’s editions feature brand new covers illustrated by the obscenely talented Emily Gravett, perfectly capturing the misery and despair experienced by Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire. The new collection celebrates a quarter of a century of one of the most successful and lamented children’s book properties of recent times.
“If readers insist on purchasing these new anniversary editions – the first six of which will be available on 25th April 2024 – then the publisher cannot be held responsible for any emotional distress caused. For those who are truly gluttons for punishment, the remaining seven anniversary editions will be published on 15th August 2024.”
Publishing director Lindsey Heaven said: “I have to admit to feeling horrendously guilty – despite our very best efforts over the last 25 years to protect the nation’s children from untold misery brought down on them by the elusive Mr Snicket, it appears we’ve failed miserably. And now in cahoots with the terrifying genius of illustrator Emily Gravett, whole new generations are at risk – as well as those poor original deeply-troubled readers. I think I might just resign now and be done with it.”
As the original editor responsible for inflicting Lemony Snicket on readers in the UK, Farshore m.d. and publisher Cally Poplak said: “I’m so sorry.” Gravett, who is based in Wales and won two Carnegie Medals for her illustration, said: “Despite my better judgement, I agreed to illustrate the covers of A Series of Unfortunate Events in a period when my defences were low, and the skies were grey. It rained every day that I worked on them, which is as much as I care to say about the experience.”
The publisher said that Daniel Handler, Snicket’s legal, literary, and social representative, managed to procure this rare quote from the elusive author: “Since 1999, I have found my partnership with HarperCollins to be the best way to warn people away from my work, by placing my dreadful books on the shelves of libraries, bookshops, and private homes so that people would not read them. After 25 years, I am getting the sinking feeling that we are doing something wrong.”
The series has been a global bestseller and also been adapted into a Hollywood film starring Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep, and Netflix series starring Neil Patrick Harris.
