The Forgotten Fiction is all about revering and studying the art of story, and sometimes illustration helps brandish that story in a way that is starkly powerful and meaningful. So my favorite character from THE STAND, The Trashcan Man was once envisioned by one of my favorite artists, and I dared to dream of building something with this work.

“The Trashcan Man” illustration by Bernie Wrightson for Stephen King’s UNCUT book The STAND has been rendered in a fully-fledged engraving in the wood of the TFF Rune Works Rare Book Case. His line work remains some of the most detailed and vibrant I’ve ever seen.

The use of the original piece was personally approved of by Liz Wrightson, as was the final carving of the art in the wood, so that the integrity of the art remains true to Bernie Wrightson’s original vision of the Trashcan Man. I am all about attention to detail, which is why I used a scan of an inscribed copy of The Stand to use to engrave Sai Stephen King’s signature in the front of the RW Book Case.

I am making 19 of these book cases (+1 PC copy), by hand.

The artwork is stunning in person.

I cannot photograph it well enough to show it, but all of the lines of the original are engraved in the wood.

As an example of a natural unstained engraving I am picturing that here as well alongside the case – it is important to note in the pictures it is harder to see the details of the hundreds if not thousands of Bernie’s lines from the art, but they are there and they shimmer in the light with the stain and the clear coat for a remarkable sight.

Each TFF Rune Works Rare Book Case comes with a limited edition number and a limitation page, and this one includes the image of the art that certifies that this particular piece was personally approved of by Liz Wrightson and it has been officially licensed.

You pick a theme: light or dark.

You pick an edition to base the design off of, from the US Doubleday first edition to the Uncut, to the UK Nel first edition.

I will hand paint elements, like I did for Flagg’s crows.

You choose between a light natural color, a middle ground (shown here) light oak, or a dark walnut shade for the case.

You get to work with me to decide on fun details such as the hinges and knob selections for the case (or you can leave it to the dealer’s choice).

This first case was commissioned to choose the side of The Dark Man, Randall Flagg, and so it is being shipped with one of the Smiley face buttons for his – courtesy of Paul Michael Kane of 19^th Edition’s crafting.

It is also built for the US first edition, though it is pictured with the UK edition because that is my baby modeling the art.

The roman numeral “V” is taken but all others, 1-19, are up for grabs, first come, first serve.

The first batch of 5 will take about 30 days to complete and then 30 days from the last date of the clear coat application to ensure that no off-gassing can harm your book.

I will do my best to do those and anyone’s on the wait list after ASAP – the ETA may be 30-90 or 30-120 days if you are not one of the first five.

Rest assured by taking my time and doing each aspect of this build by hand, you will be happier if I do not rush the process.

I literally choose the poplar wood boards myself and try to use the same board for all sides and then match the wood grain, side by side, for an unbelievable effect that you can see pictured here.

This case’s wood was darker than typically is found and it came out really wild.

If you want to read all about my process in producing archival safe woodworking and book traycase techniques, please check out the main page here.

The price, because of the size of the book and the licensing is $400 and I have to charge NYS sales tax (because of the licensing), but to offset that I will include shipping for free to anywhere in the lower 48 states (COTUS) and for the world at cost (-$10 USD).

The dimensions are based on the book held within and each one is often different, but this book can fit on shelves with 11″ of height and if you need more space please reach out to me.

Take your Stand, folks!

   Sincerely,

   ~R.J. Huneke