Stu is the result of two years’ collaboration at the private press Out-Take. Stu is privately published. It has no ISBN and will not be available from high street or online bookstores. It is a private collaboration between its contributors. This small edition of just 950 copies hand-bound in leather is only available direct from the publisher, Out-Take Limited. Each copy of the book includes an accompanying signed and numbered edition screen-print of Stu especially drawn for this tribute by Ronnie Wood. A slipcase houses this book & folio set.

This is a landmark collaboration between an all-British team of publisher, designer, printer, bookbinder and screen printer, employing state-of-the-art technology coupled with traditional skills and expertise.

The 432 pages of Stu feature 85,000 words by 80 different text contributors. These include, for the first time alongside each other in print, all six surviving members of the Rolling Stones. They recall Stu at length in extensive and revealing interviews, which were carried out especially for the book throughout 2002.

Additionally the voice of Ian Stewart himself is heard, in the form of an unpublished interview transcript conducted by Robert Greenfield after the 1972 US Tour. Over 6,000 words long, this fascinating and unique document was only rediscovered by Robert Greenfield in December 2002 during the process of compiling this tribute book.

The wonderful array of illustrations are similarly exhaustive in scope and are reproduced to the very highest specifications. Stu’s own photographs and memorabilia form a major part of the visual content. Stu was an accomplished amateur photographer. Some of his early images of the band were used in the early Rolling Stones fan magazine; apart from that, his work is almost entirely unpublished.

He captured many intimate moments to which no professional photographer had access, such as the Stones’ legendary first concert behind the Iron Curtain. In addition to Stu’s own photos, some of the world’s most celebrated rock'n'roll photographers have contributed many unpublished or rare images. Additionally, many of the other contributors to the book have also provided photographs and unique memorabilia.

In addition, an artwork section features paintings and drawings of Stu specially provided by Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood.

No account of Ian Stewart would be complete without acknowledging the full range of his musical accomplishments, and to this end Stu contains an exhaustive Ian Stewart discography specially compiled and verified for this book.

"A wonderful book for a wonderful chap " Keith Richards

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