The Faerie Queene

Does anyone have any more information about this proposed new title which seems imminent ?

Does it have the Walter Crane illustrations or is a new edition with fresh illustrations?

I already have the EP 3 volume Walter Crane edition, which I love. That's not to say that I won't get the FS edition - but if it's Crane again, this might present me with a dilemma.

I may have to take a lunchtime trip to the Members Room to investigate further.

I briefly looked at it in the shop and i looks to be a wooden box and in 3 volumes (containing all 12 books).

Due to the binding and paper and general old fashioned look of the set I'd be inclined to say it might be a facsimile of an older edition, but don't quote me on this.

It had illustrations which were not in colour but I did not look up who the illustrator was.

I wish I had spent more time looking at it now but I was in a hurry to get back to work :(

If you want more info I'd advise a trip to the member's room, it's sat on the table in the centre of the room and the guy in the shop said it will be 3 weeks or so before the website has any news of it. He also said there are only to be around 600 and it sounds like a fair few have already been preordered (though I imagine they won't sell out for a long time yet judging on the other LEs)

> 3

Thanks. Think I will go and take a look.

Know practically nothing about Walter Crane so found his memoirs on Google.

http://books.google.com/books?id=XQ0EAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source...

It is indeed the Walter Crane version, three volumes bound in white leather housed in what appears to be a silk covered slipcase.

I have the EP version so I am unsure what to do about this. The FS version certainly looks superior to the EP one - the print and paper quality look better. But I will probably keep my EP set ......I think.

White leather?? Oh that sounds so pretty!!! Can't wait to see them and QS please, what is there to consider; put your EP Faerie Queen on Ebay and the buy FS or (if you were me) keep them both!!

> 7

I am pondering both options, Texaco. Oh, the curse of bibliomania.

> 6, 7

I have to decide between The Fairie Queene and Folk Tales of Britain...

Other than this thread, I've not heard anything about a FS Faerie Queene.

>9 astropi:

It's sat on a table in the Member's room but the details won't be published on the site/in the mail until next month. don't think it will be available for some time yet.

I'm really thinking about getting this one. It'd be my first folio edition at over £100 *shudders*.

Following my visit to the Members Room I phoned the FS and they told me that it will be available in April and can not be pre-ordered until then. No information was given me on price or limitation as it was "still a bit too early". However, LipstickAndAviators was told £595.00 and a limitation of 600, which sounds like the lowest limitation number yet for an FS LE. But I don't think there will be a desperate run on it like there was on the Rubiat. The Faerie Queene is a difficult and esoteric work and not everyone's cup of tea.

QS, how big are the books, and is it original spelling (beyond the title, I mean)?

10,11: thank you for divulging your sources! So no pics yet... what is the approximate size? Is this something you can read in bed? Based on your estimated cost, I'm guessing this will amount to $1100+ here in the US. I'm guessing this will (likely) be a slightly "nicer" edition than the EP version, (which is beautiful) but I don't know if it's going to be worth an extra $700+ for slightly prettier paper! Will this be a facsimile?

http://www.eastonpressbooks.com/leather/product.asp?code=2097

> 12, 13

Leon and astropi -

The EP edition is indeed beautiful. The FS version is basically the same, with the same cover design, so both are facsimilies of the clasic Walter Crane edition but in 3 volumes (the original was about 12 volumes). Dimensions also look the same as the EP edition - about 9" x 11. It has the original spelling.

I am not sure that I liked the look of the slipcase which I thought just a touch too gaudy with, what looked liked, a shiny silk cover. But this is a minor quibble and would not put me of buying.

Yes - the only improvement on the EP edition is the gorgeous white leather, a slipcase and the better repro and paper. Quite important considerations - but worth the 50% price hike over the EP edition? Maybe !

For Folio Society Devotees who do not also frequent the EP Forum, we discuss the EP edition (with photographs) here. Looking at the EP edition will give you a pretty good idea of what the FS edition is going to be like -

http://www.librarything.com/topic/96818

14: see, here's the thing. If it was a 50% price hike over the EP edition that wouldn't be too pricey really. That would put it at $585. But from what I gather it's going to be priced at 600 pounds, which is currently equivalent to about $960. Furthermore, the FS always charges international folk more than the going exchange rate (you can of course ask the Australians about this) so likely it will be over $1100. So you're looking to pay around 3 times the EP cost. That doesn't seem so worthwhile if all you're getting is a slipcase and nicer paper, but of course I won't judge the final product until it's released.

> 15

That's true. I am in the UK and was judging on the basis of the reported UK cost. With the FS international mark up it might not make sense to "upgrade".

And anyone that wants this but is balking at the cost of the FS edition should certainly consider the stunning EP edition.

I think I'm going to wait until the full details come out for the Folio version, but you've got me thinkign I might be better off ordering the EP version and having it posted to relatives in the US. I keep eyeing up EP books but it doesn't seem like they make it very easy for us to order and get decent postage prices from the UK.

It's interesting that you say they aren't taking preorders yet, as I saw one of the staff take someone's credit card details while I was there for payment for his copy of the faerie queene. Maybe he's just a more important customer than little old us. He did say while I was in there that the royal family get copy number 1 of all the limited ed's gratis.

I'm glad they reprinted the Walter Crane version--I'm not tempted in the least by it. I'm very happy with my LEC edition with gorgeous wood engravings by Agnes Miler Parker, which cost less than a tenth of what the FS edition is likely to sell for.

As Quicksilver pointed out, it is an esoteric work, and in all my years as a literature major and an avid reader, I've never read more than the First Book--the story of the Red Cross Knight--and the Mutability Cantos.

> 17

EP books are very easy to order from the UK. Contact customer services by email. Postage is very reasonable if you opt for surface mail which usually takes about 4 to 6 weeks. Airmail is quoted at cost.

> 18

I wish I could be satisfied with one edition of something. The constant urge to seek out different or "better" editions is a curse. My desire to read all of the Faerie Queene at still remains an aspiration.

The first time I came across it was on a list of the '10 most underrated and overlooked fantasy books'. I forget where the list was but it came in at #1 and ever since I've really wanted to track down a decent copy to read it.

The more you guys say it's esoteric and not for everyone the more I think I'd probably be better off picking up a less pricey version from somewhere though.

>Quicksilver66
You mentioned you had the EP version? But you live in London? How do you find buying books from EP in the UK? I haven't tried it yet but the website seems a bit useless to the UK customer. If I were in America I'd love to join those a-book-a-month type schemes but the postage would just make it unfeasible here.

Thanks for the info, QS.

As for it being an "esoteric" book - well, yes and no. It affects an antique style, being 16th century but with pseudo-Chaucerisms. So it's quirky now and was so even in its day. On the other hand it's an important and widely influential text, so "esoteric" better describes its feel than its actual place in the canon. I read it through at University, a marathon undertaking, required but thoroughly worthwhile. My Penguin paperpack predictably fell to pieces.

I will say EP has a TERRIBLE website! However, great costumer service. You can always send them an email and they will reply back in 1-2 days. Usually 1 day. I've heard from many subscribers that international shipping is not particularly expensive. Certainly more expensive than if you were in the US, but considering that the exchange rate is 1.6 dollars per pound, I would think that more than makes up for the slighly more expensive shipping.

Like Django, I'm greatly relieved FS are using the Walter Crane edition. It's up there with the Kelmscott Chaucer in my pankakodaimones of least favourite depictions of mediaeval life. So no temptation there.
But I do like much of Crane's picture book work. At
http://www.archive.org/stream/bucklemyshoepict00cran#page/n5/mode/2up
there is an autoflippable version of some of his most charming illustrations.

pankakodaimones?

>24 kdweber: & 23

Find that word in your OED!

That has got to be the most obscure word I have ever seen used on a devotees thread. I'm guessing it's something to do with ancient Greek myth and legend - please help me out featherwate.

"Pantheon of demons"?

I presume
pan = all
kako = evil, bad
daimones : spirits, demons

>26 justjim: & 27

Cheers! Well, that's also got to be a first - describing books you don't like as a pantheon of/all evil demons. You've got an interesting, and entertaining, turn of phrase featherwate.

How does one pronounce that? I must find an opportunity to use it in conversation!

>25 celtic: I'm not daft celtic, I first googled it and then tried my OED to no avail before posting. One can get the drift from the etymology but I've never seen nor heard that word used.

Can't say I'm a fan of facsimiles. Much prefer it when FS go for something original.

>30 kdweber:

I don't 'get' your message. You seem to think I was saying something derogatory in relation to you- which I wasn't. I hadn't actually checked anything, including the OED before I posted. I was, in fact, supporting your comment in what, I thought was a mildly humorous way - what did you think I meant and why would you react like that?

pankakos comes for "scoundrel".. In civil strife honour befall even the scoundrel. .a proverb quoted by Plutarch in Parallel Lives

a scoundrel's soul...I guess

>32 celtic: Sorry celtic, I didn't really take offense.

>34 kdweber:

Cheers kdweber - I've got to admit that it's tough to interpret the 'gist' of written posts sometimes. All the best!

>24 kdweber: to 33

Er, no, it's not a dictionary word but my shot at, indeed, a temple of demons as opposed to a temple of gods. I was surprised there seemed to be no such expression already, tho' perhaps there is? ("Rogues' gallery" doesn't quite equate.)
Alarmingly, it now has one search-engine hit, making it, I suppose, a nonce-google...

> 29
"How does one pronounce that? I must find an opportunity to use it in conversation!"

I've no idea! But if you did use it, with luck no one else would want to admit they didn't know either, so how ever you said it would become the Received Pronunciation.

Does anyone know the exact dimensions (in inches) of the FS Faerie Queene in its slipcase? Looking for shelf space! I need to know height, depth, and width, in slipcase. Thank you!!

>38 Betelgeuse: By my measurements:

8 inches wide
12.5 inches high
9.3 inches deep

9 and three eights deep,8 and one eighth across, 12 and a half inches high.

>39 Rodomontade: Thank you! I made the plunge, already have it, and it looks great on my shelf. Thanks for the help.

>40 malc79: Thank you! As noted above, I made the plunge, already have it, and it looks great on my shelf. Thanks for your help!

>43 AlexBelair: I've flagged all of your post because they are against LT's TOS. You're not an existing user of this forum, joining today. Spamming the thread multiple times is annoying. Users usually look the other way if you're a regular, mention the book only once, and ask for a PM if anyone is interested where you can discuss the particulars.

>46 kdweber:

I've removed the offending posts and messaged him telling him why.

Glenn (admin)

>46 kdweber: as a caution for others here that may have followed the link before it was removed, the account on the other site referenced was also created today and has no history.

>47 folio_books: looks like there's still one remaining post that has been flagged but not removed (number 45).

>49 abysswalker:

I've now tried five times to remove the post but it keeps coming back. I can only assume it has something to do with it being hidden after being flagged multiple times. I'll try again ... (sigh)

(Edit) Nope, its still there. The system shows "Removed", but evidently not.