Hidden jokes?

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Hidden jokes?

1xrayman
Modifié : Mar 12, 2016, 4:38 pm

Each time I browse the lovely 1994 edition of 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', I'm distracted by my amusement at the FS choice of 'Albatross' wove paper. I now wonder if there are subtle jokes in the design of other FS books.

2housefulofpaper
Mar 12, 2016, 7:47 pm

The Sherlock Holmes stories tend to be set in Baskerville type.

3elenchus
Mar 12, 2016, 11:46 pm

Wonderful, both examples.

4withawhy99
Mar 13, 2016, 12:10 am

Mistress Masham's Repose is printed on Malplaquet paper. (Malplaquet is the estate where the book takes place, based on the real-life model of Stowe.)

5foliomusthave
Modifié : Mar 13, 2016, 7:36 am

A different kind of hidden joke, but if you look at one of the illustrations in The ABC Murders, you will see the ABC Guide resting open on the counter over which the policeman shines his torch. The back cover of the Guide features an advertisement for The Folio Society (you can see the FS logo).

6elenchus
Mar 13, 2016, 9:00 am

Are any of the above papers named after the book, precisely because they were to be used for it, or were they so named and used well before that specific book was commissioned? That is, I'm wondering if it's not so much of a joke as that bespoke paper had to be given some name, and so a name from the book was used. If the paper is never used for any other book ....

7NYCFaddict
Mar 13, 2016, 11:40 am

Good point. I was wondering the same.

8withawhy99
Mar 14, 2016, 6:37 am

Hm, how to find out? A quick search delivers nothing.

9thorold
Mar 14, 2016, 6:58 am

The Baskerville typeface is 18th century, so that one at least was not a nonce-invention. Conan Doyle is said to have taken the name from a house he visited in Wales, but Wikipedia doesn't say whether the house had any connection with the typographer.

10withawhy99
Mar 14, 2016, 8:51 am

I think it's the paper we're wondering about more (Baskerville is a well-known classic typeface). In the case of Malplaquet, I sort of assumed it was a joke because the paper is light blue, not an obvious choice for that particular book. I thought they used it because of the name, but perhaps it was a new creation for the book.

11xrayman
Mar 14, 2016, 1:17 pm

The 'Albatross' paper is also light blue, which is largely why I looked to see what it was. I don't know if FS chose to use an appropriate existing paper, or simply commissioned/named it for the book. Either way I find it amusing that someone in FS chose it. I also wonder if it was officially done by the society, or someone with a sense of humour in the design department snuck these in.

12elenchus
Mar 14, 2016, 1:18 pm

Agreed, still amusing and worth an inventory of all such instances!

13affle
Mar 14, 2016, 1:34 pm

Bestiary, the Presentation Volume for 1993, was printed on Unicorn Cream Cartridge. And in a twist which may or may not indicate a nonce usage, the colophon solemnly informs us that the paper was supplied by Robert Horne Ltd.

14wcarter
Mar 14, 2016, 5:15 pm

>13 affle:
Love it!

15xrayman
Mar 19, 2016, 5:59 pm

>13 affle: Robert Horne does exist, the choice of supplier and paper indicates that someone at FS went to some thought and effort to have a laugh (in the 90s at least)

16drasvola
Mar 22, 2016, 12:08 pm

In some sort of sad irony, the current edition of The Drowned World is set in Utopia.

17elenchus
Mar 22, 2016, 12:26 pm

>16 drasvola:

Nice one!

18NYCFaddict
Mar 22, 2016, 1:05 pm

Was Utopia set in Utopia? :)

19TabbyTom
Mar 22, 2016, 7:56 pm

>18 NYCFaddict:

My 1972 edition of Utopia is set in Poliphilus. It looks as if the Society missed a trick there.

20affle
Modifié : Mar 22, 2016, 9:00 pm

Vita nuova is however set in Dante.

21xrayman
Mar 25, 2016, 8:10 am

The current edition of 'Brave New World' is also set in Utopia, there may be a theme here. As a result of this thread I'm now spending time looking at the typeset and paper of my books, rather than reading them!

22InVitrio
Avr 14, 2016, 4:23 pm

2001: A Space Odyssey. Display text is Univers.

23elenchus
Avr 14, 2016, 4:25 pm

>22 InVitrio:

Ha! Although perhaps Monolith would have been a cheekier selection.

24InVitrio
Sep 21, 2016, 4:03 pm

Not an FS book, but in the OUP abridged version of The Golden Bough, the chapter The Crucifixion of Christ begins on page 666.

25xrayman
Sep 21, 2016, 4:28 pm

>24 InVitrio: That's a little creepy, whether by accident or design.

26terebinth
Mar 11, 2017, 10:34 am

I couldn't but be reminded of this thread when I noticed that the Herefordshire Pomona is set in Bulmer type: in case their fame doesn't spread much beyond these shores, Bulmers are among the UK's leading producers of cider. Someone's behind these decisions, I'm (almost) sure of it.

27affle
Mar 11, 2017, 10:39 am

>26 terebinth:

Great spot, Paul - that's one of the best.

28OOP
Mar 12, 2017, 1:41 pm

The current edition of Utopia is set in Scala, regrettably.

29overthemoon
Mai 31, 2017, 7:05 am

A Kestrel for a Knave set in Swift.

30LesMiserables
Mai 31, 2017, 7:07 am

A Kestrel for a Knave set in Swift, sent Airmail.

31phoenixmemnon
Mai 31, 2017, 10:44 am

>26 terebinth:
They should try this for the next FS edition of Hardy's novels! I'd enjoy reading FFTMC or TMOC set in a geographically appropriate typeface sponsored by, say, Dorchester's Piddle Cyder company (Piddle Italic being used to indicate folk falling over drunk). Hardy would have enjoyed it, too. As he said,

Sweet cyder is a great thing,

A great thing to me,

Spinning down to Weymouth town

By Ridgway thirstily,

And maid and mistress summoning

Who tend the hostelry:

O cyder is a great thing,

A great thing to me!
.
.
>28 OOP:
"Utopia is set in Scala"
Sounds like there's an audio buff in the FS production department. The Scala V2 Utopia is a high-end floor-standing loudspeaker made by French company Focal-JMLab. About $22,500 a pair (payable in six interest-free monthly instalments just like old-style FS days).

32BuzzBuzzard
Mai 31, 2017, 12:42 pm

I am not sure if these qualify as jokes but I will give it a shot:

The Limited Editions Club House of The Seven Gables was printed at Hawthorn House, Connecticut.

The Limited Editions Club Golden Ass has ass hide binding.

33EclecticIndulgence
Modifié : Mai 31, 2017, 1:28 pm

Ce message a été supprimé par son auteur

34folio_books
Nov 18, 2017, 2:41 pm

Haven't seen this mentioned before - The Hundred and One Dalmatians is, I quote: "Printed on Abbey Lynx Ruff paper".

35harvestRoad
Nov 19, 2017, 7:56 pm

God bless them if that was intentional

36HuxleyTheCat
Nov 25, 2017, 3:02 pm

>34 folio_books: I had a little chuckle at that last evening when I read the book; which in delightful btw and which I thoroughly enjoyed. My only criticism of the production is that I wish the slipcase was shaped to match Pinocchio and Oz, as the books make a very nice matching set.

37folio_books
Nov 27, 2017, 4:42 am

>36 HuxleyTheCat: I wish the slipcase was shaped to match Pinocchio and Oz, as the books make a very nice matching set.

That's a nice observation. I hadn't thought of shelving them together but it does seem natural when you see them next to each other. But what you lose in slipcase shape you gain in extra spots :)

38Scarpered
Déc 26, 2017, 10:34 pm

Last night I noticed that my copy of Bleak House (Dickens III) is "Printed on Chancery Wove Paper." I hope it doesn't spontaneously combust.

39skullduggery
Jan 5, 2018, 12:51 am

I love this thread :) Not really a joke, but the Commentary volume of The Little Prince has a hidden surprise - there is a flipbook illustration on the bottom of the pages which you can see if you flick quickly through the pages (I did a 30 sec video of it here if you don’t happen to have it yet: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0sAU1_30m8M).

40elenchus
Jan 5, 2018, 9:40 am

>39 skullduggery:

As you noted in the video, that attention to detail and whimsical tone is great design.

41harvestRoad
Jan 17, 2018, 9:03 am

I have no idea WHAT this could mean, but looking through my copy of Catch-22, it says the text is printed on "Gorgeous Wove paper."
Is "Gorgeous" somehow connected to Catch-22?

Though i will not dispute that the paper is indeed gorgeous, I googled 'Gorgeous Wove paper', found nada, and so i am now very intrigued!

42Jayked
Jan 17, 2018, 10:13 am

My 2004 copy by the Bath Press shows boring old Caxton Wove. Omnimedia inflation, perhaps.

43harvestRoad
Jan 17, 2018, 11:48 am

Strange. Mine is from the second printing of 2005

44N11284
Jan 17, 2018, 3:18 pm

Not sure if this is a subtle joke on FS behalf but:

I bought The Outsider in the recent sale because of the price. I had read it years ago as The Stranger but re read it again today. The spine contains the title and author as you would expect. However the title is embossed or raised on the spine while the authors name is simply printed.

Outside?

45Jayked
Jan 17, 2018, 5:03 pm

>43 harvestRoad:
According to CPI, who had bought it, and were to close it in 2007, Bath Press was making huge losses at the time. Perhaps there were economic reasons for the change.

46drasvola
Jan 18, 2018, 3:43 am

>44 N11284:

John: One very nice aspect of this FS edition is the afterword added by Camus himself (a short text that was originally published as a preface to the American University edition, 1955?).

47shelob
Jan 31, 2018, 10:40 am

Foucault's Pendulum is set in Garamond (Mr. Garamond is the main characters’ boss).

48elladan0891
Jan 31, 2018, 11:05 am

49folio_books
Jan 31, 2018, 12:27 pm

>47 shelob:

Nicely spotted!

50Edmund_Fitzgerald
Jan 31, 2018, 1:19 pm

>28 OOP:
Still better than Java.

Bud dum tsss. Where my programmers at?

51elladan0891
Jan 31, 2018, 4:00 pm

>50 Edmund_Fitzgerald:
Sorry Edmund, we're too old skool here. I had to google Scala to get your joke. Apparently I graduated with my computer science degree the year Scala was first released. And I considered myself fairly young before :(

52boldface
Fév 1, 2018, 12:56 pm

Clarendon's The History of the Great Rebellion (1967), about the English Civil War in the 1640s, is set in Van Dijck.

53sdawson
Juil 10, 2019, 1:55 pm

"Lean over the bowl and then take a dive. .."

Semi-hidden inside what slip case?

54CLWggg
Août 26, 2019, 7:41 am

>16 drasvola:

One nice little 'Easter Egg' I spotted on the spine of The Drowned World is that the FS logo is in the shape of a compass (as pocketed by Kerans in the novel), with the "F" at north and the "S" at south.

55InVitrio
Juil 9, 2020, 9:06 am

Something that just came to mind when opening my sale package.

Revelations of Divine Love, by Julian of Norwich.

Green and yellow.

Norwich City's colours.

56red_guy
Juil 9, 2020, 10:34 am

>53 sdawson: Ubik! Probably best not to look for it until you've read the book, though ...

57Cat_of_Ulthar
Mar 19, 2021, 5:39 am

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet but A Man on the Moon is set in Apollo with, perhaps ironically, Futura as display. :-)

58InVitrio
Mar 19, 2021, 5:55 am

On Human Bondage is set in Miller - the surname of a key character.

59InVitrio
Avr 9, 2021, 6:42 am

And the Philip K Dick boxset also has display in Futura. (The regular text in Mentor might also be an in-joke, given PKD's reputation as a spec fic writer, but that's a bit more of a stretch.)

60ranbarnes
Mai 12, 2021, 6:12 am

Everest has Mallory as display.

61Caput_Lupinum
Mai 12, 2021, 7:13 am

Mythical Beasts is set in Centaur.

62affle
Mar 30, 2022, 3:48 pm

Stasiland is set in Magna, with Cst Berlin East display

63ironjaw
Mar 30, 2022, 6:00 pm

These are not coincidental but active choices by Folio. Hence, I’m feeling far more proud of my collection.

64cwl
Modifié : Mar 31, 2022, 9:04 am

>47 shelob: Eco named his characters explicitly after typefaces throughout his novels by choice, as he told us himself just months before he died.

65boldface
Mar 31, 2022, 11:18 am

>62 affle:

Yes, Folio has done it again. True to type, one might say.

66BionicJim
Mar 31, 2022, 12:00 pm

>64 cwl: I always thought William of Baskerville was an unusual name for a monk in the 12th century. Besides Baskerville in The Name of the Rose, were there other characters named after typefaces? I don't recall a Courier or Times New Roman...

67snottlebocket
Avr 9, 2022, 3:25 am

It's not much of a joke but the Jurassic Park and Lost World covers have a textured surface but only for the skin of the dinosaurs in the cover illustrations, the rest of the cover is smooth.

68Betelgeuse
Avr 9, 2022, 7:53 am

>66 BionicJim:, >64 cwl: Not that I ever gave it much thought, but I had always supposed that William of Baskerville had been a reference to Conan Doyle's "Hound of the Baskervilles" and to Sherlock Holmes himself.

69HamburgerHelper
Modifié : Août 26, 2022, 1:35 am

I recently read Sylvia Plath's 'The Bell Jar' and it's set in Verdigris mentioned on her poem Death & Co.