Tintin Forums

Tintinologist.org Forums / Curious about Tintin? (Non-album specific) /

Tintin books: the UK publishers

varun0883
Member
#1 · Posted: 15 Jul 2005 13:23
I would like to know which publisher or publishers produce the books in the UK?
Is it the Egmont or Mammoth - or any other?
Karaboudjan
Member
#2 · Posted: 15 Jul 2005 14:09
The old ones tend to be Mammoth, but all my new editions of Tintin albums are published by Metheun (not sure of spelling).
snafu
Member
#3 · Posted: 15 Jul 2005 14:53
Methuen (Metheun-almost there!! :D ) has been publishing for a fairly long time; I bought two books from them around 1994 at a place that sold used books, and they were not in a great condition. The pages were rougher and were more yellowish than the same books from other publishers (namely "The Black Island" and "King Ottokar's Sceptre"). I think that Methuen has published a lot of the old ones too, and I'm surprised that they are still in business (haven't seen much of them since)...
Karaboudjan
Member
#4 · Posted: 16 Jul 2005 12:18
The older Methuens are pretty crummy quality but the newer ones, printed on better, shinier paper, are great. Mammoth weren't too bad but they tended to print only hardbacks (which are naturally much more expensive).
jock123
Moderator
#5 · Posted: 16 Jul 2005 12:20
Methuen are very much “still in business” - they just don’t publish Tintin any more. You can see information about the company here.

Some of this subject has already been covered in a previous thread English publishers who aren't Methuen.
Harrock n roll
Moderator
#6 · Posted: 16 Jul 2005 13:54
snafu Methuen (...) has been publishing for a fairly long time

To be precise: since 1889. I thought people might be interested in seeing a picture of the company founder so I’ve scanned one. (If the link below doesn’t open in your browser you may have to save the jpeg to your hard disk)

Sir Algernon Methuen with his wife Lady Emily Methuen.
jock123
Moderator
#7 · Posted: 16 Jul 2005 14:47
Karaboudjan
The older Methuens are pretty crummy quality but the newer ones, printed on better, shinier paper, are great.

Huh? I don’t have a problem with any of my old Methuen’s - and remember they aren’t printed by Methuen, so they are the exact same “crummy” quality as any other version the period.

I actually dislike the shiny paper used now, as it was not the finish for which the colouring was designed, and I think it detracts from the over-all look of the page - give me the matt-finish any day! (Just personal preference, mind you, I’m glad you like it…)

Harrock n roll
I am impressed (but not surprised) that you had a picture of Sir Algy and Lady Em so readily to hand - thanks for that!
snafu
Member
#8 · Posted: 18 Jul 2005 21:14
Like jock123, I never had a real problem with my old Methuens, except that, as used books (this could have happened with any other book from any other publisher), they were more vulnerable to wear and tear than were books that just rolled out of the presses. But there were no differences between the print quality of the actual pictures and the newer books (I had a copy of "The Black Island", don't remember the publisher, and later had a three-in-one containing "The Black Island" and "King Ottokar's Sceptre", both of which I originally had in the Methuen form)

This topic is closed.