H.R. Giger’s Alien Diaries is a new book that just caught my eye. It contains various sketches, Polaroids and hand-written diaries from when H.R. Giger was working on Ridley Scott’s Alien. He, of course, was responsible for creating the creatures, derelict spacecraft and space jockey. The book was originally released some time last year in Switzerland/Germany but now a company called Section 9 has brought it to America. At 660 pages, most of it is brand new material that we’ve never seen before and Giger’s notes are written in German, and have been transcribed as such but there are English translations there too. You can check out the official website at gigersaliendiaries.com and can be ordered here for a pricey $135 (£80). Check out the promo trailer and images below:
Can’t say I’ve ever heard of it before now. I’m sure a lot of collectors would love to get their hands on it. Thanks to AliensCollection for the news.
Gigers work and words always inspire. But for making something else or further, this one was not necessary. But....
Did it inspire you to get back to work making awesome 3D models?
Here's some copies offered of the original printing on Amazon U.K.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/3905929457/ref=nosim/1557
and here is the "new" edition from the link on Darkness topic
http://www.s9shop.com/collections/books/products/h-r-giger-s-alien-diaries
Absolutely. How much is it selling for?
Especially it is funny to me as a German speaker, to dechifrer his hand written text.
It´s a must have for all fans, even though that it is a bit pricey. Well, it is an Art book.
It reproduces the diary and then provides a translation. You can read it no problem.
While being narrow as you would expect a diary to be, it is thick and weighty with all of Giger's notes present in his native language in handwritten notation. This is a true facsimile of the man's actual written record of his involvment int he film and also contains an abundance of rare and previously unseen sketches and concept art. Unless you can read Swiss, you won't be able to glean much from the written facsimile documents that are the bulk of the book's content but along with a Swiss translation, an English version is also present. All this content means that 'ALIEN Diaries' possesses the dimensions of house brick, and almost weighs in as much as one.
It's a pricy book, sure, and the original wasn't any cheaper for me to purchase and have it shipped to Australia. Damned expensive, actually. Was it worth it? Oh, Hell yeah! At over 650+ pages, this sturdy an rigid hardcover tome features a cloth spine and a pair of ribbon bookmarks. It's not the kind of thing I would have anticipated to be reprinted but I am glad that other people will get a chance to appreciate this item.
It's a great book, and an absolutely essential item to anyone seriously interested in the first 'ALIEN' movie. It more than adequately supplements other existing books like 'Giger's ALIEN' and complements that one in particular, filling in many, many details that were simply outside the scope of that book to accommodate.
This is one of those items you will look back on in years to come and say, "Yeah, it was expensive but I am so glad I have a copy now!" because it will sell out and vendors will seek even higher prices in years to come on Ebay.
-Windebieste.
I wonder if the quality of the book is the same from the different publishers? I bought this last year. Maybe Barnes & Noble will have a copy on display so I can compare them.
The shape of the book is weird, though -- it's massively thick but super narrow in shape, which means getting through the pages is a bit of a pain.
http://gigersaliendiaries.com/
http://www.s9shop.com/collections/books/products/h-r-giger-s-alien-diaries
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYLtQST718s