Rufus Publications has announced the third title in a new series of black-and-white books called “Portraits” featuring the legendary IRON MAIDEN and covering the years the band emerged as a major force in British Heavy Metal with singer Paul Di’Anno. It features hundreds of previously unseen, carefully restored black-and-white images of the band at play, rehearsing, recording and of course, playing live at a series of pivotal gigs (including the legendary Ruskin Arms) as they emerged as one of the U.K.’s most important heavy metal acts.
The book is 230mm square, casebound, 240 pages, printed on luxury 170gsm matt coated paper. The book comes with a fold out poster and is presented in a black slipcase with a gold foil logo. The main edition comes in 666 numbered copies. In addition to this a much larger, ultra-limited Leather And Metal edition measuring 375mm square and presented in recycled leather and a hand welded aluminum metal slipcase is also being prepared in a run length of just 66 numbered copies. This will sell for £500 and comes with a copy of the standard edition plus a limited-edition print. John Tucker has written a historical essay covering the period and Kerrang!‘s founding editor and Sounds writer Geoff Barton shares his thoughts as the band emerged from the ashes of the NWOBHM.
The book will go on sale on Friday, March 10 at 3 p.m. UK time and will feature a 10% pre-order discount if ordered before April 30, 2023. The books will ship worldwide in July 2023.
Di’Anno recorded two classic albums with IRON MAIDEN — a self-titled effort in 1980 and “Killers” in 1981 — before being fired and replaced by Bruce Dickinson.
