The Star Wars Archives 1977-83 Taschen 40th Edition Review
The Star Wars Archives 1977-83 by Paul Duncan (Taschen) Like me you may have had book envy over The Star Wars Archives 1977-83 since it’s release in 2018 but not been able to justify the cost. So imagine my delight when I stumbled across this smaller version in my local bookshop when we came out of lockdown. The Taschen 40th Anniversary edition was published in February this year and costs just twenty pounds, but how does it compare to the original XL version? Where the original is 33 x 48cm and 620 pages, this new edition is 22 x 16cm and 512 pages, so what is missing I hear you cry? Well according Paul Duncan himself, the opening chapter about George Lucas early life has been condensed and added to the Episode IV chapter, some appendices were removed and there are only around 500 images compared to 1,200 in the original. I say only, but the number and breadth of color plates is stunning, from Ralph McQuarrie concept art and design sketches by the costume and prop departments...