At our last count, there have been more than 120 different editions of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman — if we’re counting right, ours is the 123rd. Of the many editions, our contemporary favourites, after this one, are American artist John Baldessari’s 1988 edition (which came out in a severe 400 copy edition) and Martin Rowson’s 1997 illustrated version. We also like British film-maker Michael Winterbottom’s irreverent 2005 film all about Shandy’s unfilmableness: A Cock and Bull Story.

The visual elements in this edition highlight and exaggerate what Laurence Sterne intended when he first wrote Shandy. We like to think that the designers at APFEL put Laurence Sterne’s jacket on and went for a little walk with it.

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“Now… ah, well, now. Now a book is published somewhere in the world every 45 seconds…Better stick to the Shandy Tristapaedia you’re holding.” -- Will Self

We wanted a contemporary writer who embodies the spirit of Tristram Shandy, to write an introduction for the book, so we asked Will Self and he said yes and everybody was happy, most of all Laurence Sterne.

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