Folio Press Fine Editions Collecting

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Folio Press Fine Editions Collecting

1scholasticus
Août 11, 2015, 8:27 pm

I thought I'd set up this thread to go in tandem with Michael (Conte's) wonderful resource on this series.

All I can say is that I am absolutely snookered. I received my copy of the Anglo-Saxon Elegies and I am honestly stunned that I only paid about $130 CAD for this book - admittedly one of the more expensive to obtain in this series! Even then, wow. Just...wow.

And down yet another rabbit hole I go...!

Incidentally, Michael and cronshaw, my bank account has declared you two to be personae non gratae for an indefinite period of time as a result of this purchase and all the ones that will likely follow in time as I start on this series.

2EclecticIndulgence
Août 11, 2015, 8:34 pm

Ce message a été supprimé par son auteur

3gmacaree
Août 11, 2015, 9:02 pm

I'm not listening I'm not listening etc etc etc

4scholasticus
Août 11, 2015, 9:10 pm

>2 EclecticIndulgence:

Nope! A couple of books in this series - the Elegies being one - command much higher prices than the rest of the series. Well worth it as far as this medievalist's concerned! I know what I'm reading this weekend now.

>3 gmacaree:

Then your bank account may be best served by blocking this thread, unless it wants to be subjected to what surely must be a beatific vision of these books sitting in maiestam upon your bookshelves? ;) (Profuse apologies to the Doctors of the Church, particularly Aquinas!)

6terebinth
Août 12, 2015, 8:19 am

I'm not completely sure, but I think a copy of the Anglo-Saxon Elegies was in Fossgate Books of York when I was there on Saturday, about Fine but minus glassine for £30. Certainly a few titles in the series were there and £30 was the price of each.

7cronshaw
Août 12, 2015, 10:59 am

>6 terebinth: That would be a bargain if it were indeed in fine condition.

8EclecticIndulgence
Août 12, 2015, 12:07 pm

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9housefulofpaper
Modifié : Août 12, 2015, 1:11 pm

>8 EclecticIndulgence:

I'd agree that the Dickinson seems to be the most expensive of these volumes. I gave up waiting for a bargain and paid £95.00 for my copy last month. This seemed to be about the going rate on Ebay or AbeBooks.

10EclecticIndulgence
Août 12, 2015, 12:41 pm

Ce message a été supprimé par son auteur

11cronshaw
Modifié : Août 12, 2015, 1:14 pm

>8 EclecticIndulgence: Congratulations, that was a great find. The Folio Press Woman In White is typically £100 or more on the secondary market, the most expensive of the series!

12ultrarightist
Août 13, 2015, 3:58 pm

It appears that all of the copies of the Anglo Saxon Elegies on Abebooks have been purchased!

13scholasticus
Août 13, 2015, 7:17 pm

>5 busywine:

Ahh, get thee away from me! Truth be told, I saw these reviews some time ago, so you're preaching to the choir as far as I'm concerned!

>10 EclecticIndulgence:

I think you hit the sweet spot, most likely.

>12 ultrarightist:

Now why doesn't that surprise me? ;)

14HuxleyTheCat
Mar 1, 2016, 12:05 pm

Any Amount of Books in Charing Cross Road has a copy of The Life of John Donne for £10. I didn't examine it with a microscope but the condition seemed nice.

15xrayman
Mar 2, 2016, 4:54 pm

That's a little annoying, I've just returned from a trip to the smoke, during which I picked up a folio fine press edition of War Poems by Owen. Although I already own the Donne, I would have happily paid a tenner for another copy, especially as mine has evidence of an ex libris sticker.

16kermaier
Mar 12, 2016, 9:47 pm

If anyone in the USA has a spare copy of "The Aspern Papers" by James, I'd trade for a copy of "The Tower" by Yeats....

17folio_books
Juin 7, 2016, 9:20 am

Received by post today, all the way from Black Rock, Victoria, a copy of Love Poems by Robert Graves. And that, ladies and gentlemen (tara tara!) completes my set of the Folio Press Fine Editions. It has taken me over twenty years. And now I'm going to sit down, have a rest, and gaze lovingly upon them. Photos (of a meh!/average sort) will appear eventually but for now I'm basking.

18coynedj
Juin 7, 2016, 11:25 am

>17 folio_books: - And bask you should! I eagerly await the photos.

19NYCFaddict
Juin 7, 2016, 11:30 am

Congrats on the completion! Must be satisfying!

20folio_books
Juin 7, 2016, 1:59 pm

>18 coynedj: I eagerly await the photos.

Photos this week, pending arrival of new battery for my lawnmower. It's complicated ;)

>19 NYCFaddict: Congrats on the completion! Must be satisfying!

Thank you! I'm ashamed to be as happy as I am about it. They're only books, after all. YESS!!

21xrayman
Juin 8, 2016, 3:37 am

>17 folio_books: Congratulations, you seem to have picked the pace up in the last couple of months.

22folio_books
Juin 8, 2016, 5:01 am

>21 xrayman: Congratulations, you seem to have picked the pace up in the last couple of months.

Thank you! You are absolutely right. I made a conscious decision to pursue the remaining four, while remaining (broadly!) within my price criteria. What spurred me on was the increasing interest being shown in the series on this forum at the time. It occurred to me that it would likely lead to an increase in demand and make completion harder unless I put some effort into it. I hope you heard the sigh of relief ...

23xrayman
Juin 8, 2016, 7:07 am

>22 folio_books: I suspect you're correct, everytime I make a comment on one of the threads relating to this series, I worry that I'm making my search harder, or at least more expensive.

Recently I've only managed to acquire one of my outstanding three,. The remaining two are available but relatively expensive. Not being blessed with your patience I'd be tempted to splash out, if not for the fact that I've already spent my annual book budget in the last month!

24folio_books
Juin 8, 2016, 9:40 am

>23 xrayman: The remaining two are available but relatively expensive. Not being blessed with your patience

Well, I did say "broadly" within my criteria ;) I will confess that the second last volume required me to double the height of the ceiling, nearly. Patience saved me a bit of money over the years but had I still been collecting I would have to re-think the limit if I seriously intended to complete the set. I won't instigate a curse by asking you to reveal your obstinate two :)

25frostymaxim
Juin 10, 2016, 10:24 am

Is there actually a List of Fine Editions available anywhere?

27coynedj
Juin 10, 2016, 12:04 pm

Given that I only have one of the Fine Edition volumes, I am quite envious of anyone who has managed to acquire all of them. Beautiful books.

29frostymaxim
Juin 10, 2016, 12:16 pm

Thanks all

30xrayman
Modifié : Sep 10, 2017, 4:34 pm

Ce message a été supprimé par son auteur

31xrayman
Juin 12, 2016, 5:43 pm

>25 frostymaxim: There are several threads which list them all, with photographs. You'll find them if you search the site using 'folio fine press series' or similar. Take care, they can cause severe FAD.

33Rodomontade
Juin 17, 2016, 4:50 am

>31 xrayman: Take care, they can cause severe FAD.

Tell me about it. There I was a couple of days ago, successfully ignoring them, and now I've somehow got six of the things.

34xrayman
Juin 17, 2016, 5:20 pm

>33 Rodomontade: It's a slippery slope.

35EclecticIndulgence
Juin 20, 2016, 3:42 pm

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36housefulofpaper
Juin 20, 2016, 4:34 pm

>35 EclecticIndulgence:

I try not to think about it, but I believe I paid over £100 for the Emily Dickinson volume. That was the most expensive. The others (of the volumes I've bought recently) ranged between £30 - £80.

Kipling was under £10, but I bought it a long time ago!

37Rodomontade
Juin 20, 2016, 5:08 pm

>35 EclecticIndulgence:

I paid 12-35 pounds each for the following:

Anglo-Saxon Elegies
On the Morning of Christ's Nativity
The Rape of the Lock
The Life of Dr John Donne
A Memoir of Sir Walter Scott
Poems from the Greek Anthology

Hint: search "Folio Press" and not "Folio Society", as the colophon states the former.

38xrayman
Juin 20, 2016, 6:03 pm

>37 Rodomontade: Well done on finding The Anglo Saxon Elegies, it's one of the two I've repeatedly searched for in recent years, in order to complete the series (the other being These Things Also Are Springs).

The most I've paid is £50, the least £5. Prices seem to be on the rise recently, but they're still considerably cheaper in real terms than they were originally.

39housefulofpaper
Juin 20, 2016, 6:17 pm

>38 xrayman:

These Things Also Are Spring's - there are four copies on AbeBooks at the moment.

40EclecticIndulgence
Juin 20, 2016, 6:36 pm

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41xrayman
Juin 20, 2016, 6:37 pm

>39 housefulofpaper: Thanks, but I should have said that £50 was the most I was ever willing to pay, and that was for the Emily Dickinson.

42housefulofpaper
Juin 20, 2016, 6:40 pm

>40 EclecticIndulgence:

So I did! I feel like I've saved £5.00!

43xrayman
Juin 20, 2016, 6:43 pm

If anyone has spares of the two I'm chasing, I have spares of some titles in the series, I'd be happy to trade.

44EclecticIndulgence
Juin 20, 2016, 6:46 pm

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45EclecticIndulgence
Modifié : Juin 20, 2016, 6:58 pm

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46EclecticIndulgence
Juin 23, 2016, 5:32 pm

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47Rodomontade
Juin 23, 2016, 5:48 pm

>46 EclecticIndulgence: All the unread ones, apparently. A few of mine were towards the end, and the Anglo-Saxon Elegies is completely uncut (insert your own jokes about Old English ribaldry here).

I'm not ecstatic about undertaking this, or indeed any other task requiring manual dexterity - producing as it does flashbacks to middling attempts at the same with the LEC Volpone.

48frostymaxim
Juin 23, 2016, 7:05 pm

>46 EclecticIndulgence:
Excusing my ignorance but was following this thread. By uncut do you mean pages are literally stuck together at edge

49kermaier
Juin 23, 2016, 7:10 pm

>48 frostymaxim:
I think the typical terminology for this is "unopened", whereas "uncut" refers to the page edges/deckle being untrimmed.

50frostymaxim
Juin 23, 2016, 7:19 pm

>48 frostymaxim:
Ah right cheers

51EclecticIndulgence
Juin 24, 2016, 11:51 am

Ce message a été supprimé par son auteur

52xrayman
Juin 24, 2016, 3:28 pm

>51 EclecticIndulgence: At least this indicates your copy is unread. If you wish to read it, you'll need a blade and a steady hand. If you're a little unsteady, the pages will have an uncut appearance; the terminology is confusing!

53kermaier
Juin 25, 2016, 11:50 pm

>51 EclecticIndulgence:
I bought a paper knife from Talas (bookbinding supply house), which i plan to use on my unopened copy of the LEC Iliad & Odyssey, once I've gotten it suitably rebound. Others have suggested using a stiff playing card or similar -- seems like it could work....

54N11284
Juin 26, 2016, 6:16 am

Why not leave it as it is. I have an uncut copy of The Tower by WB Yeats and I have decided to leave it as it is. It will not diminish it's value, while damaging it by careless cutting will certainly do so.

55frostymaxim
Juin 26, 2016, 6:19 am

I assume that should one receive a book in such a state then fs woukd replace? Just wondering

56terebinth
Modifié : Juin 26, 2016, 6:52 am

>55 frostymaxim:

I suppose they would replace in the unlikely event of someone receiving an accidentally unopened volume, and as far as I know none of their currently available books is being sold unopened by design. For myself I've never quailed at opening previously unopened books or been disappointed by the results of opening pages with the blunt side of an ornate old bone-handled EPNS bread knife I keep for the purpose. Many a book from around the beginning of the 20th century has come to me with pages still unopened, as have the 37 volumes of the Limited Editions Club Shakespeare which I'm opening one by one as I read them.

>54 N11284:

The Tower is the only volume of the series I have, and if I'd been asked "Why not leave it as it is?" my answer would have had to be that most of the worth to me of owning any book comes from the experience of reading it.

57xrayman
Juin 26, 2016, 9:29 am

Many of this series that I acquired have had unopened pages. Some volumes have a variety of unopened, cut and uncut page edges. I presume FS supplied them with unopened pages. It seems that the years in which mould made paper was used seem to have uncut (rough e,dged pages) others have cut pages. For example all the copies I have had of Dorset Poems have cut edges, Lays of Ancient Rome have uncut.

Unless I already have a reading copy of a volume with unopened pages, I open them in order to read the book , otherwise what is the point of owning them? This is not an issue which seems to affect value.

58N11284
Juin 26, 2016, 11:06 am

> 56 Ah but the poems contained in the Tower are also published in the Yeats Folio Poets edition and I also have them in other editions. The beauty of the Fine Press editions (for me) is in the workmanship and design.

59EclecticIndulgence
Modifié : Mai 2, 2019, 6:08 pm

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60Niurn
Avr 18, 2019, 12:25 am

Oh god, wasnt aware of that serie .... must .... resist ....

61wcarter
Modifié : Avr 22, 2019, 12:21 am

>60 Niurn:
Fabien
Resistance is futile, and 1603 is a lovely book.
Go to-
http://www.librarything.com/topic/288021
and scroll down to Folio Press Fine Editions to see the full list of books in this series.
Go to -
http://www.librarything.com/topic/281118
to see a review of 1603.

62garyjbp
Modifié : Avr 21, 2019, 12:28 pm

>60 Niurn:

as Warick said, Resistance is futile, as I had to get the full series, a picture of which is in my member gallery:

http://www.librarything.com/pic/5261250

The columns are the years they were published. The rows are the order in which they came out each year.

63wcarter
Modifié : Avr 22, 2019, 12:21 am

>60 Niurn:
Good grief Fabien, have you bought all these in the last week?
Must have cost you a fortune, but a beautiful set.

64garyjbp
Modifié : Avr 22, 2019, 12:18 am

>63 wcarter:
No Warwick, and forgive me for misspelling your name, it wasn't Fabien who bought the whole series, but me, a long time ago. I did get a large bunch of them at one time, as a bookseller that I bought two from sent me a list of the others that he had, and I took advantage. And not a fortune, but a lot of money. I am glad to have the whole set.

65wcarter
Avr 22, 2019, 12:44 am

>64 garyjbp:
Sorry Gary. Mea culpa.

66EclecticIndulgence
Mai 2, 2019, 6:10 pm

I now have a second copy of the Folio Press (Fine/Letterpress edition) of The Tower by Yeats. Willing to trade it for something else. Please note it does have an affixed bookplate. If you're interested, please PM me.

67N11284
Mai 17, 2019, 8:45 am

Picked up Love Poems by Robert Graves today. And that fellow devotees, completes my set of the Folio Press Fine Editions. Took about 7 years searching to get them all but it was well worth it.

68cronshaw
Mai 17, 2019, 9:27 am

>67 N11284: Congratulations! It's perhaps the most exquisite set the Folio Society has ever produced and which you'll enjoy all the more for your seven years' dedication. How are you celebrating? :)

69folio_books
Mai 17, 2019, 10:06 am

>67 N11284: Picked up Love Poems by Robert Graves today.

Congratulations! Now just bask in the knowledge awhile. It was my last one, too (see >17 folio_books:).

70N11284
Mai 17, 2019, 2:15 pm

>67 N11284:
Tonight with a glass of 15 year old Redbreast and a re-read of De Profundis and of to France tomorrow with my bike for a weeks cycling in the Dordogne.

71cronshaw
Modifié : Mai 17, 2019, 2:43 pm

>70 N11284: an impeccable, deserved tipple indeed. Cheers! May your breast glow appropriately. Oscar would heartily approve.

Enjoy your trip to the Dordogne and best of luck finding your Simenon Omnibus Centenaire edition :)

72N11284
Mai 17, 2019, 3:27 pm

73U_238
Modifié : Jan 31, 2021, 10:37 pm

About what would it cost to acquire the entire set? I stumbled upon them from the Books and Vines articles, and have been contemplating acquiring them, though I imagine they must be getting harder and harder to find.

74affle
Fév 1, 2021, 6:58 am

>73 U_238:

I acquired mine over a couple of years, finishing about seven years ago, with an average price paid of just over £30. I think prices have gone up, but probably not double; I think patient hunting is part of the fun, and some are scarce enough not to come up all that often, so the cost gets spread out. They are very rewarding books.

75Hrodberht
Fév 1, 2021, 9:21 am

>73 U_238:
I collected mine over an eighteen month period from early 2019 into 2020 (I finally managed to capture The Tower in November).

I agree with >74 affle: the hunt is an enjoyable challenge. They're lovely books and I'm very pleased to have them. I purchased all mine in fine condition, individually, in the UK at an average cost of about £26 so I think prices may not have moved much since affle acquired his. The transparent covers are often a bit crinkly with age but the books themselves age very well. If you're patient you can find some lovely copies at very reasonable prices. Good luck!

76cronshaw
Fév 1, 2021, 10:56 am

>74 affle: I was a similar patient hunter to you, Alan, and probably around the same time. I can't believe how ridiculously cheaply we were able to to find these beautiful letterpress limited editions back then. When you see now how ordinary standard Folio editions, like I, Robot and The Great Gatsby sell on eBay for £120 and £95 respectively (in the past week) you wonder how on earth these fine press editions aren't selling for £300 rather than £30. But then, a few of the titles are (delightfully) eccentric, there's nothing in the way of sci-fi or fantasy, and F. Scott Fitzgerald will always have a bigger market than Henry James.

>75 Hrodberht: Bravo, you're average price is remarkable, especially given the significant price-rises of Folios on the secondary market over the past year or so!

I believe the original prices of the fine press letterpress Folios were around £85-£100 in today's money, so paying less than that could well be regarded as reasonable, particularly given that there are by now likely to be fewer than 1000 of each still in fine condition.

With regards to the recent crazy prices on eBay for perfectly ordinary Folio editions, compared to the fine press Folios for example, perhaps a yet unrecognised effect of Covid-19 is loss of taste for fine editions and a willingness to pay through the infected nose for ordinary ones.

77Hrodberht
Fév 1, 2021, 11:40 am

>76 cronshaw: I think I was pretty fortunate although I did spend a lot of time scouring the market (online). The highest price I paid was for The Tower £50 and the lowest £2.50 for On The Morning of Christ's Nativity in an ebay auction.

78U_238
Fév 1, 2021, 11:44 am

Thank you for the feedback everyone. I do think these go under the radar somewhat, but for sure the counter to their production details are the content.

>76 cronshaw: I don't usually have appetite myself for comments about the demand and high prices people are paying for their books, but I love your final paragraph. Very clever.

79RRCBS
Modifié : Fév 1, 2021, 12:11 pm

This post inspired me to place an order for The Rape of the Lock! I have wanted it for a while! Love this group but costly!

ETA: paid $120 CAD, not sure if that was reasonable.

80Cat_of_Ulthar
Fév 1, 2021, 12:18 pm

>76 cronshaw:

'With regards to the recent crazy prices on eBay for perfectly ordinary Folio editions, compared to the fine press Folios for example, perhaps a yet unrecognised effect of Covid-19 is loss of taste for fine editions and a willingness to pay through the infected nose for ordinary ones.'

Heh, the human race is an ongoing puzzle to me. I thought I might understand it as I got older.

I live in hope ;-)

81dlphcoracl
Modifié : Fév 2, 2021, 3:44 am

>73 U_238:

LOL.

I re-introduced the FS faithful to this sorely neglected set of books nearly five years ago to the day on Chris Adamson's now-lamented (dormant) Books and Vines website. Astute FSD-ers snapped up these little gems in 2015 at unfathomable bargain prices. They have now, of course, been discovered and prices have risen appropriately.

The weakness in this set of books, i.e., the reason they were poorly received when first offered by the FS - is that many of the titles are relatively obscure and uninteresting. For my part, I could not rationalize owning the entire set. However, there are definitely a number of titles worth acquiring and the prices are still quite reasonable when compared to the prices for current standard FS fare. These are, in every respect, private press books of a high standard, all printed letterpress. In particular, I recommend:

1. The Anglo-Saxon Elegies translated by Kevin Crossley-Holland

2. Poems of War by Wilfred Owen

3. Poems from the Greek Anthology.

4. De Profundis by Oscar Wilde

5. Woman in White by Emily Dickinson

Bon appetit.

82affle
Modifié : Fév 1, 2021, 5:05 pm

>81 dlphcoracl:

'.. many titles are relatively obscure and uninteresting.. ' is an exaggeration, and I seem to recall making a similar comment at the time of the original articles. The Aspern papers (James), The Tower (Yeats), and These things also are Spring's (Thomas) are at least the equal of any of these five and better than some; and On the morning of Christ's nativity (Milton) and Love poems (Graves) as good as some. Beyond these, Macaulay, Kipling, the Brontes, and Mr Pope are hardly obscure. I will concede that William Barnes and James Hogg may not easily cross the Atlantic.

Edited to add that, for those new or newish to these books, there is a publishers series with a full list of the titles here:

https://www.librarything.com/nseries/260288/Folio-Press-Fine-Editions

Edited again for typo

83cronshaw
Fév 1, 2021, 4:59 pm

>79 RRCBS: perfectly reasonable for the quality, congratulations! Rape of the Lock is one of my favourites of the twenty Folio fine press titles.

>82 affle: absolutely, Alan. The Yeats, Milton and Graves volumes are a must for anyone with an appreciation for verse. I'd also mention Peter Grimes: The Poor of the Borough, by George Crabbe. Along with The Rape of the Lock and The Aspern Papers, it carries some of the most beautiful artwork of the series. Having patiently and lovingly collected all twenty, I couldn't part with a single one; the glorious bindings make for a magnificent whole.

84DMulvee
Modifié : Fév 1, 2021, 5:35 pm

>79 RRCBS: I picked up Rape of the Lock for £50 in September and think it was a bargain. After this I then picked up Life of John Donne for £15 and was underwhelmed with it, so unsure if I wish to hunt out others in the set or not

85U_238
Fév 1, 2021, 6:32 pm

>81 dlphcoracl: Quoted by the oracle himself! While I momentarily have your attention, I’d like to say thank you for all the contributions you, and many others as well, have made to this and the Fine Press group. I always enjoy reading your posts.

86RRCBS
Fév 1, 2021, 6:41 pm

I’ve now been further enabled and ordered:

Bronte Poems
Walter de la Mare Poems
Hogg on Sir Walter Scott
Peter Grimes
Rape of the Lock

I would love to acquire the Anglo-Saxon Elegies, as well as the Milton and The Aspern Papers, but I’ll have to wait until there are affordable copies available. I personally think most of them look interesting and eclectic.

87Felixholt
Fév 2, 2021, 12:48 am

>81 dlphcoracl:
"I introduced introduced the FS faithful to this sorely neglected set of books nearly five years ago to the day".

I beg to differ - those in the know were aware of these editions long before.

88cronshaw
Modifié : Fév 2, 2021, 5:26 am

>87 Felixholt: It was Conte_Mosca's thread dedicated to the Folio Press Fine Editions marketing in 2012, with images added by him, and a detailed list of each title year by year kindly supplied by phoenixmemnon, which brought this wonderful series to my attention and set me off a-sniffing. One of many tunnels of Folio bliss discovered through FSD.

89folio_books
Fév 2, 2021, 7:18 am

>82 affle:
>83 cronshaw:

(nodding vigorously). Very happy to full endorse these opinions. It took me a long time but I was delighted when I finally completed the set. The last two cost more than the £30 limit I had given myself for the others but well worth it.

90N11284
Fév 2, 2021, 8:56 am

I see from my records that I bought De Profundis in 2009 , followed by The Tower in 2010. It took me quite a while before I had all 20. The last was Love Poems in 2019.

But it was an enjoyable hunt. They really are an exquisite set and take up very little space on the shelf.
The most expensive was Poems of War at £75

91Conte_Mosca
Modifié : Fév 8, 2021, 12:30 pm

>88 cronshaw:

Ah those innocent heady days in 2012, when we were members of something great, before Folio Society became Fantasy Society.

I still haven't completed the set! I have 18 of the 20, having patiently waited for prices I am happy to pay (and can afford!). I am patient. I bought my first one about 20 years ago, so can wait a few more years for the last two, but like Glenn, I may be prepared to pay a little more for them (my limit was also £30!). After all, my money is unlikely to be going towards Fantasy Society's coffers going forward.

92RRCBS
Fév 9, 2021, 6:03 pm

Received the first two of the Fine Press books that I ordered: The Rape of the Lock and the book on Sir Walter Scott. They really are beautiful, special books. I have three more on their way and may add a couple to my ABE wants list!

93U_238
Mar 8, 2021, 10:08 pm

I'm on the lookout for Love Poems; is it normally an expensive one? The only one I see is on Abe's for $107.

94Hrodberht
Mar 10, 2021, 5:56 am

Love Poems (Graves) is certainly dearer than most, I'd say it was in the top five or six. I paid £35 via Abe last summer but I've seen several sold for more. I know that Ardis was asking c.£74 last August which is probably a clearer indication.

95N11284
Mar 10, 2021, 7:01 am

>93 U_238:
I see that I paid £45 for mine in 2018. The most expensive for me was Poems of War at £65

96laotzu225
Mar 12, 2021, 12:49 pm

>91 Conte_Mosca: Well-expressed alternative name for the current FS!
I have a few of these, and based on these threads may acquire others, now that I know what to look for.

97jranstead
Mar 23, 2021, 6:34 pm

The Woman in White by Emily Dickinson - which I *think* is one of the rarer of the 20 titles - has appeared on eBay for £75. The seller (not me!) appears to be open to offers ... so might be a reasonable price ...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Woman-in-White-Poems-by-Emily-Dickinson-Folio-Press-F...

The same seller is offering a FS bookmark for £5 - I am less convinced this is a good deal (although again, open to offers!)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Folio-Society-The-Singing-Sands-Bookmark-Mark-Smith-J...

98Hrodberht
Mar 25, 2021, 3:10 pm

>93 U_238: A copy of Love Poems has just been listed on Abe for £40 apparently in mint condition. No connection with seller

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30878444518&searchurl=n%...

99U_238
Mar 25, 2021, 3:38 pm

>98 Hrodberht: Thank you very much! Ordered! This would complete my set, and it was $70USD all in shipped to Canada.

100Hrodberht
Mar 25, 2021, 3:54 pm

>99 U_238: Excellent. Glad to have helped. Congratulations on completing the set.

101Hrodberht
Avr 20, 2021, 10:52 am

A rather unusual rebound copy of 'The Wonderful Year 1603' listed on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Wonderful-Year-1603-by-Thomas-Dekker-Folio-Societ...

102folio_books
Avr 20, 2021, 11:15 am

>101 Hrodberht:

I do like the binding.

103Hrodberht
Avr 20, 2021, 11:30 am

That went quickly, was it you? >102 folio_books:

104folio_books
Avr 20, 2021, 12:00 pm

>103 Hrodberht: was it you?

No, sorry. I don't need another copy, even with a nice binding.

105Jayked
Mai 4, 2021, 7:54 pm

106wcarter
Modifié : Mai 4, 2021, 9:48 pm

>105 Jayked:
At C$110 per volume, that is very good value.
Will not post to Australia :-(

107folio_books
Mai 5, 2021, 5:06 am

>105 Jayked: For those who don't enjoy the chase

What, and miss twenty years of fun and excitement? ;)

108ChampagneSVP
Mai 5, 2021, 11:13 pm

>106 wcarter:

It could be worth sending the seller a message to ask if he’ll offer shipping to you. Sometimes eBay suggests shipping options itself and unless a seller changes the default, certain countries could be left out.

109RRCBS
Mai 6, 2021, 4:59 am

>106 wcarter: I remember reading in the description that the seller will ship anywhere, so might be worth asking.

110wcarter
Mai 6, 2021, 6:05 am

>108 ChampagneSVP: >109 RRCBS:
The seller and I have had a discussion, but I decided postage was too expensive and I already have some of these editions, so decided to pass.
Still a good deal, and seller will probably do a better deal if contacted privately. He goes by the tag canadian_lurker on this forum.

111U_238
Mai 7, 2021, 9:03 am

The seller aldersley has put up four of these editions for sale on eBay.

I'm not familiar enough with the prices to know how they compare to usual sales, but I can say most of the time the seller presents books in very good condition, with accurate descriptions, and at a price that reflects the market price.

112astropi
Mai 8, 2021, 12:02 am

So... anyone want to split the purchase? I need a few of those, but not most of those. Thought I'd ask and see if anyone here was interested in such a modest proposal :)

113ChampagneSVP
Mai 8, 2021, 12:44 am

>112 astropi:
Potentially. I’d be looking for the Bronte Poems, Lays of Ancient Rome, Wonderful Year 1603, Peter Grimes, and Aspern papers. Not sure if there is overlap with the ones you need.

114astropi
Mai 8, 2021, 1:16 am

>113 ChampagneSVP: Bronte and Lays are also on my list, but I'm sure if there are enough of us we can reach a solution that would make everyone happy without paying a fortune.

115teppi2
Modifié : Mai 15, 2021, 12:03 pm

Rothwell and Dunworth just listed a number of the fine editions on Abebooks UK, including some of the harder to find ones. While not cheap, prices mostly look realistic (E.g. Poems of War for 60 GBP, Love Poems for 50 GBP)

116RRCBS
Mai 15, 2021, 1:05 pm

>115 teppi2: Really appreciate the tip! Picked up Anglo Saxon Elegies (had been hunting for a while) and the Owen poems.

117coynedj
Mai 19, 2021, 4:18 pm

If anyone is after The Poems of Edward Thomas as a standalone, drop me a PM.

118astropi
Mai 23, 2021, 8:53 pm

If anyone has any of the fine press books (from 1987-1991) for trade, please let me know. There are quite a few I'm looking for :)

119ChampagneSVP
Juil 4, 2021, 10:37 pm

>105 Jayked: For those who need a little enablement, it looks like price was dropped on that complete set of fine press books.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/255041451665

120affle
Juil 5, 2021, 5:08 pm

>119 ChampagneSVP:

Still quite expensive, and with one doubtful book included. The listing points out that the James Hogg book does not have a clear dust wrapper, and suggests it may not have been issued with one. My copy does have a wrapper, but more significantly has no spine titling - in other words it matches the three other books of that set. The book in the listing is shown with spine titling, actually the author's name, and unless there was a second impression, which I very much doubt, that's just not right. Anyone tempted by this set should enquire further about this book.

121Hrodberht
Juil 5, 2021, 5:56 pm

>120 affle:
I agree. My copy also has a wrapper and no spine label. I have never seen any of the twenty titles with a spine labelled with just the author's name.

122terebinth
Juil 5, 2021, 6:32 pm

>120 affle: Anyone tempted by this set should enquire further about this book.

Does seem very likely to be an unauthorised addition, then the book would hardly be a problem to replace as it's usually the easiest and cheapest of them all to find. I've only seven titles in this series, probably won't gain any more unless they turn up as extreme bargains, but I've currently two copies of the Hogg as the second one came at a price I couldn't bring myself to refuse: something like 5 GBP.

123boldface
Juil 6, 2021, 1:15 pm

>120 affle:

No spine titling on mine either.

124affle
Juil 6, 2021, 2:00 pm

>123 boldface:

I think Paul (>122 terebinth:) has the answer - someone has printed off a label and stuck it on.

125boldface
Juil 6, 2021, 5:37 pm

>124 affle:

Understandable but unfortunate. At least it wasn't the old embossed dymotape.

126mr.philistine
Juil 29, 2021, 4:16 pm

My first FPFE - De Profundis, arrived today after 1-month of waiting.

Bought for £9.39 plus £4.00 postage, within 10 minutes of listing on eBay. But the item (same ID no.) sold again after 40 minutes! A hasty email to the seller confirmed that MY order had gone through but I could not be sure until I received the book today.

The book is in excellent condition apart from the missing plastic dust-jacket and spotting to the gilt top edge.
The pages have a sweet fragrance or is it my olfactory system confusing a sweet deal?

The seller - a well known British used-book dealer, even described the book as missing a slipcase :)
But thanks to this forum, I knew better and couldn't believe my eyes!

Based on photos extracted from the recently expired listing here >105 Jayked:, De Profundis also appears to be the most voluminous of all the volumes. I counted about 130 pages of writing.





BTW I distinctly recall >123 boldface: mentioning an exceptional purchase in this thread but I cannot find the post.
I read his account a while back from another thread titled Best Buy of 2019 here:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/315637#7037286

For me, this is about as close as I can get to a 'back of the net!!!' moment.

But I look forward to many more listings with 'missing' slipcases!

127bookfair_e
Juil 29, 2021, 5:30 pm

>126 mr.philistine: The seller - a well known British used-book dealer, even described the book as missing a slipcase

The seller may have mistaken it for the recent Folio edition of De Profundis which was issued in slip case.

128mr.philistine
Juil 29, 2021, 6:49 pm

>127 bookfair_e: The seller may have mistaken it for the recent Folio edition of De Profundis which was issued in slip case.

Perhaps, but in the bookselling trade I believe it is more to do with specialist staffing. Large booksellers can let expensive titles go for far less than their worth and I have been a recipient on several occasions.

This seller has another FPFE also listed with 'slipcase missing' here:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/383685411293

129red_guy
Modifié : Juil 30, 2021, 6:49 am

>126 mr.philistine: Yes, I think I must have been the second buyer! Of course, my copy never arrived and when I eventually asked worldofrarebooks for tracking info. a refund appeared. I had been waiting a few weeks for it, and think I would prefer eBay to allow a 'listed in error' option in such cases rather than having to wait chewing my fingernails and imagining couriers throwing items over the hedge .... (Hermes once thought that under a tree in a rain-sodden garden was my 'safe place', so I am especially sensitive)

130terebinth
Juil 30, 2021, 8:28 am

>129 red_guy: ...when I eventually asked worldofrarebooks...

Ah, so it's them. I've once or twice placed an order that couldn't be fulfilled, always from their own website https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/category/rare-books? where prices are a little higher but UK postage is free, making for a lower overall cost especially if, as I nearly always do, you order two or more books to get a 15% discount. They seem to list their new arrivals almost simultaneously on their own site, on eBay and on ABE.

I'd guess the hypothesis is correct that the price was set with reference to the earlier standard Folio De Profundis. A while ago I bought from them a copy of the Four Gospels LE whose price, around £70, will have been chosen to match the current fine edition. Probably the staff are under considerable time pressure, and if a particularly scarce volume is only listed on ABE in print-on-demand form they typically match the price of that: sometimes a good thing for the prospective buyer, sometimes not. Their occasional listings of such rarities as J.B.Priestley, by Angel Pavement, and Mrs. Dalloway's Virginia Woolf, point the same way.

131mr.philistine
Juil 30, 2021, 10:15 am

>129 red_guy: Sorry for your loss... I will treasure this book for both of us!
I am always amazed at how trivial events from the past suddenly come together to make better sense. In fact, there is no room for doubt on the FSD :)

Our previous postman used to fling packages 10-feet across the fence to land on the front porch when we were not at home.

132TheEconomist
Juil 30, 2021, 11:09 am

>129 red_guy: "Of course, my copy never arrived and when I eventually asked worldofrarebooks for tracking info. a refund appeared."

It is decidedly unimpressive for the seller to do this but, in my experience, most of the large-scale dealers do this from time to time, and the websites tolerate it more than they should. I think that part of the problem is that the websites give sellers a demerit whenever a seller cancels an order, so it is in the seller's interest to pretend to have posted the book in the hope that the customer forgets about it.

133red_guy
Modifié : Juil 30, 2021, 1:40 pm

>130 terebinth: Yes, they are pretty good on the whole and their condition grading is OK, which is the important thing. I never thought to bookmark their website. Thank you for that.

>131 mr.philistine: I'm pleased that it was bagged by a Devotee, and I hope you enjoy it. I've had so many Folio bargains from eBay, I won't begrudge someone getting a good deal. And there are still bargains to be had, especially with older titles. edit: in fact a couple of minutes ago I bought the 2002 quarter leather Aurelius Meditations for £26 from worldofrarebooks!

>132 TheEconomist: In this case it was most likely the double listing that was the problem, although I did not know about the demerits. I'm an extremely experienced buyer, but have yet to attempt selling anything :)

134terebinth
Juil 30, 2021, 5:41 pm

>133 red_guy:

I think about half my book buying budget has gone their way in the past couple of years. When I lived near second-hand bookshops I would drop in every week or two to examine their new arrivals, read a page or two of anything that intrigued me, and generally purchase if I wanted to continue. I've developed effectively a similar habit with WoRB, scrolling through their new listings most days. Sometimes there's a book I've been looking for, if anything is just intriguing I can often go to read the first page or ten on archive.org, and if I'm tempted to buy I'll generally check the title or edition at ABE in case there's a more attractive offer, which very often there isn't. And, yes, their descriptions tend to err on the side of being over-critical, which is much more endearing in a bookseller than the opposite failing.

135TheEconomist
Juil 31, 2021, 10:35 am

>133 red_guy: "A couple of minutes ago I bought the 2002 quarter leather Aurelius Meditations for £26 from worldofrarebooks!"

If the description mentioned a slipcase, you will probably get what you ordered. Looking at abebooks, though, WoB is currently advertising two more copies of the same book at £15 each, with boilerplate description that doesn't mention a slipcase. My guess is that these books are non-FS hardback copies of Meditations, but to be honest they could be anything.

136red_guy
Juil 31, 2021, 10:58 am

Well, it says

No dust jacket, Folio edition with slipcase. Brown cloth and slipcase. Good clean pages with bright copy and firm binding. Light tanning to endpapers and page edges. Boards are a little rub worn with slight shelf wear to corners, spine and edges. Corners are a little bumped and spine ends are a mildly crushed. Slip case is scuffed in places with minor shelf wear to edges and corners.

As I mentioned above, worldofrarebooks usually errs on the side of caution with their condition grading, and there is a reasonable photograph of it, so I have high hopes. When (I'm not saying if...!) it arrives, I will report back.

137terebinth
Juil 31, 2021, 11:45 am

>136 red_guy:

Will be interesting to see what turns up. Folio have a habit, I think fairly unusual, of printing the original publication date on the title page as well as the date of the actual edition on the reverse: so if the WoRB person was content with the title page date it may be a later quarter-cloth bound printing.

I enjoy the sport of trying to spot the plums in their lists: I've bought Bayntun, Riviere, Zaehnsdorf-bound books and sets at prices taking no account at all of the bindings. If a half-leather binding around a century old looks still to be thoroughly sound it often turns out to be from one or other of those great binderies.

138red_guy
Août 3, 2021, 6:49 am

>137 terebinth: Well it turned up, and the reason for the excellent price was a rather florid dedication on the flyleaf, which would have bumped it down from very good to good. Fortunately, I am one of those people who rather likes names and dedications, even if preferably not pressing so hard with the pen that it engraves the title page, as in this case...

Still, onwards and upwards; I have now snagged a copy of the 2009 fine edition of Walden in all its fold out leathery glory for £35 - and the same seller has meditations for £40, if anyone's interested.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224556283225?hash=item344898f559:g:basAAOSwWu5hB6Nj

139terebinth
Août 3, 2021, 7:40 am

>138 red_guy:

Hmm... unusual for WoRB not to mention such an inscription, but at least not too serious in this instance as you're prepared to live with it. I rarely much mind and sometimes even welcome such things myself, given that they're always on pages one spends ever so little time looking at.

140N11284
Août 3, 2021, 9:13 am

I find that the description of books by WoRB is often lacking. I recently bought a book from them, at a low cost, that was an ex library copy with numerous stickers on the first few pages. Not mentioned as far as I could see in the item description. When I complained I was told that I could return it or accept a 20% reduction. I chose the 20% rather than go through the hassle of the returns process.

141terebinth
Août 3, 2021, 9:32 am

>140 N11284:

That's not good at all. Can only say I've been much more often pleasantly surprised than disappointed in what's arrived from them, and I've just surprised myself by looking at my past orders: 167 of them since May 2018, so that's probably rather more than 334 books. Hardly any paperbacks among those, but in some cases at least I will have settled for ordering a reading copy, hence or otherwise there will have been quite a few volumes I didn't bother to check against their described condition.

142mr.philistine
Avr 1, 2023, 10:26 pm

On the Morning of Christ's Nativity for £21.01 plus P&P arrived recently. Very pleased to acquire another FPFE 'sans slipcase' :) I consider this a good deal despite my copy missing the spine label. Does this particular FPFE come with a spine label? If so, can anyone upload a photo? Thank you.

143bookfair_e
Modifié : Avr 2, 2023, 1:57 am

>142 mr.philistine:
None of the first four titles (1987) of the twenty-book series has the title on the spine:
The Tower, Bronte Sisters Poems, A Memoir of Sir Walter Scott, On the morning of Christ's Nativity.
The four titles published 1988 have labels on the spine, and the final twelve volumes have the title blocked on the spine.



edited to add image

144mr.philistine
Avr 2, 2023, 4:01 am

>143 bookfair_e: Thanks for clarifying, things are a lot clearer now. Always nice to see all peas in a pod! This review on Books and Vines also confirms your observation: https://booksandvines.com/2015/01/26/affordable-treasures-and-pleasures-5-the-fo...

However, this photo from a listing on Abebooks only adds to the uncertainty.
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30333800134

145affle
Avr 2, 2023, 6:41 am

>144 mr.philistine:
That's an interesting book you've spotted there, mr.p. I can think of only two explanations: first, that as this was the first of the twenty books, perhaps a trial binding was made, with a label which was then omitted from the design for the production run; or, a previous owner so hated a blind spine they went to some trouble to make a convincing label. I rather favour the first. I think there is no question of it being a different printing - none of the books was reprinted. I think you may safely regard your £21 copy as a good buy.