Tracking down Letterpress Shakespeare plays

Some of these plays are commonly available on eBay, including the mysterious unboxed, unnumbered copies.
I am struggling to fill gaps in my collection with scarcer plays which rarely pop up on either eBay or Abe. My top “wants” are Measure for Measure, All’s Well that ends Well and A Winter’s Tale. Any ideas of other likely sources to track? (Or anyone looking to sell any of these volumes!?)

Watch the websites of Ardis and HCbooks also, as they have a lot of FS books.

I have what I call the "Bastard Shakespeare." It is the Folio Society Letterpress Shakespeare, but with different limitation numbers, because I bought all of them on the used market ... My advice is to watch Ebay, Amazon and abe.com and, above all, have patience. I would check both sites on a daily basis to see if anything new had popped up. When you find a bookseller with one for sale, ask if they have more and see if they will give you a good deal. Oftentimes, a bookseller will put one on Ebay or Amazon or abe.com, just to test the waters, so to speak. I purchased 18 titles from three different booksellers under those circumstances,including 8 from one bookseller, who knocked $80 off the price of each because I was buying so many from him. Also, prioritize which are the most important to buy. I did not have unlimited funds, so there were a few occasions when I had to choose which titles I was going to buy ... It took me more than four years to collect all 39 volumes in this manner, but it was totally worth it. I would not trade my collection for anything!

Best of luck!

Bumping an old thread but just wondering what everyone's experience are with these books. I've started collection for two years now and unfortunately have missed a lot of these, what appear to be, gems. It seems on the secondary market the books have increased in price quite a bit. How much money would one spend for the entire collection? Is it worth it? Would it be better to just use the folios complete eight book set and spend money on other limited editions and books? I'm torn and not sure if I want to go down this rabbit hole! But God, they look stunning and much better (content and ascetically) than many other limited editions.

>4 Joshbooks1:
In my opinion, they are more to be looked at and admired than read. They contain no explanatory notes or illustrations, and they are too large to rest comfortably on one’s lap. I am more likely to read the Oxford companion volumes or some other edition.

Not all of them have increased in value. I picked up “new” copies of “Hamlet” and “King Lear” for about two-thirds of the original prices.

I love reading them. I don't want notes or illustrations, just the words, printed nicely and given space to breathe. Personally I try not to pay more than $250 a copy, which has meant acquisitions are slow, but I'm up to 25/39 and will keep going ...

They are my favorite reading copy. They are thin and not very heavy so despite being large folio sized they are easy for me to read. Much preferable to an octavo sized thick compendium, now those collections are a pain to read. I also love the fact that they are uncluttered with notes. If I wish to study the play, I can always use the companion volume stuffed with notes and commentary.

I also like reading these. They are light as >8 kdweber: says. I also find that they cradle nicely in my lap (but I'm not sure I'd read them in bed). Also, the 18pt text means you can comfortably read them without having to hold the book up to your face.

I collected market data on sales of UK copies of Letterpress Shakespeare and posted it on my book blog: https://ubiquitousbooks.wordpress.com/2020/07/07/letterpress-shakespeare-uk-mark... For anyone new to the series, I also have an introduction to it here: https://ubiquitousbooks.wordpress.com/2020/05/13/the-letterpress-shakespeare/

The problem is that while some plays (Hamlet, Lear, Othello in particular) come up often and can easily be bought in the sub-£150 range if patient, others are rare. I had to wait a year before I had the opportunity to buy Henry V (and then at a price of £300). I'm still waiting to see a copy of Richard II come onto the market. If, when that day comes and as seems likely, it's another £300+ book then I'm not sure I'd bother because collecting the whole set at those kinds of prices would be quite expensive.

>9 ubiquitousuk: we're going to be fighting over Richard II :)

>10 gmacaree: That's what I'm afraid of :).

I think they are the best reading copies ever, although I haven't had a LEC edition in my hand. I have the companion Oxford Shakepeare companion volumes whenever I need more...

>9 ubiquitousuk: No kidding! I watched your video last night when I should have been sleeping. Amazing job and so detail oriented. My only problem with it is that it has enabled me so damn much that I want to get them. All of them. I was talking to someone who has them and said they would part with all 39 copies for 12,000 usd. My problem is:

a) my wife would kill me
b) do I really want to work overtime to purchase these
c) at $307/per it is a little expensive but not unreasonable
d) ahh I don't know!

>13 Joshbooks1:
e) where would you put them?

>7 gmacaree:

Exactly this! Best reading copies ever! I am a bigger cheapskate though. I won't pay more than £150, so I only have nine! But they are the nine I most wanted (Lear, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, R&J, MND, AYLI, Twelfth Night, The Tempest)

>14 folio_books: Haha, yah space is also an issue. Hopefully if I do i'll try to sell a bunch of other books to try to make up some of the cost? Or maybe thats me to justify a potential outrageous purchase. Damn these folio books!

>15 Conte_Mosca: This certainly doesn't help deter me and at this point with the books being more than 10 years old it will be harder and harder to find the copies that I want! But your strategy is definitely the best. It would be such an easier pass if the books weren't so well made and beautiful. And common, it's shakespeare! Some of the other limited editions are easy to pass on but books on one of the all time greats. I think the only other books I would be more excited about would be if Folio did something like this with The Greek Tragedies (maybe minus Aeschylus?)

>12 jveezer: I think they are the best reading copies ever, although I haven't had a LEC edition in my hand.

Preference between the Folio and LEC editions would probably depend for most of us on which treatment of the text is found more agreeable - the Letterpress is modernised, Herbert Farjeon's text as used by the LEC retains the old orthography. I had just acquired three volumes of the Folio edition, Hamlet, Macbeth and The Tempest, all at low prices (below 100 GBP), when a rare opportunity came along to buy a set of the LEC already located in the UK. My interest in the Folio edition immediately died.

OT to FS but still apropos to this thread: I noticed the 37-volume LEC set (no poems) on eBay, from a Canadian seller - https://www.ebay.com/itm/LIMITED-EDITIONS-CLUB-William-Shakespeare-Slipcases-Cle.... With shipping it would be about US$1,500. Or about $40 per volume. I for one would be sorely tempted except I have too much wallet strain at the moment.

>19 AMindForeverVoyaging:

Oh, that's nice. My set was £1000 (say $1300) with spines much more variously darkened, no slipcases and no accompanying introductory letters. I'm still very happy with it, I've no confidence of living long enough for a better set to come up in the UK, and shipping cost from Canada or the US would be prohibitive.

>19 AMindForeverVoyaging:
>20 terebinth:

?!?!?

Is that what it's going for these days? That's some inflation there...I got the set for $400 USD or so. I wish Rackham hadn't illustrated Midsummer. It's far from his best work and inflates the price of the set a lot just by itself...

>21 MobyRichard: That's a seriously good value! Regardless of inflation, I wouldn't expect to find a deal like that. I did also find this listing, which includes the poems, also for around $1,500 - https://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-PLAYS-OF-WILLIAM-SHAKESPEARE-LIMITED-EDITIONS-CLUB-.... But no slipcases.

>21 MobyRichard: I wish Rackham hadn't illustrated Midsummer. It's far from his best work and inflates the price of the set a lot just by itself...

And how. The only copy currently on ABE by itself is priced at $1250.

>23 terebinth: There's a copy of the signed limited 1908 Heinemann edition, which had 40 plates, on ABE for less than that.

I did find a couple of cheaper copies of the LEC edition on ABE - in the £450-550 range - but that still seems high. Were the six plates for the LEC edition selected from the earlier work, or were they fresh illustrations?

>25 TheEconomist:

I believe they are exclusive to the LEC, but they're nothing special by Rackham's standards.

>10 gmacaree: I see a Richard II (the first I've seen on the market in 2 years) sold buy-it-now on eBay for £325 today. Did you get it?

>27 ubiquitousuk: No! Totally missed it! But my Shakespeare hunting has been productive recently -- picked up All's Well, Comedy of Errors, Taming of the Shrew and Winter's Tale over the past couple of months.

To those collecting the FS LEs, what feelings do you have towards the un-numbered ones?

I usually do not collect un-numbered copies of books, but these speak to me in a different way. They are quite beautiful in any case, and I don't care for the solander boxes anyway; though at least a slipcase would be nice (they usually come with neither I think).

>28 gmacaree: damn! Then our duel still awaits :)

>29 U_238: the unnumbered copies were my gateway drug. You're right that they usually have no slipcase or box. Occasionally, I bought some unnumbered copies that did have a companion volume, although that too is rare. The main thing is that you get to handle and experience the letterpress volume and see if you like it. The moment I held my unnumbered As You Like It for the first time, I knew I needed more (I eventually had about a dozen of them, although I sold several to "upgrade" to boxed and numbered copies)!

The alternative is to be patient and look for one of the more common plays like the major tragedies. I bought my boxed and numbered Hamlet for, I think, about £85, hardly more than I paid for some unnumbered copies. So that could be another expedient way to dip a toe in the water.

>29 U_238: To those collecting the FS LEs, what feelings do you have towards the un-numbered ones?

I have seven of the un-numbered ones and for six of those bought the companion volume cheap
from Folio sales - I just need the Macbeth volume. I love these - the type of book to take off the shelf and drool over. I would never have bought the boxed versions but these were cheap enough to try one out.

I did have a naughty thought though - there is nothing to stop me numbering them myself.
Has anyone else got a number one in the Roman numbered limitation?
:-)

Would $1,900 for the following 7 books, all in original packaging be considered a good deal?

King Lear, Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, Henry 5th, Henry 4th Parts 1 and 2, Sonnets and Poems.

>32 U_238: Yes

>32 U_238:
Definitely!

Thank you!

Are the Sonnets and Poems hard to find? I see only one listed for about $700 on eBay, with no recent enough sales to still show up. And a similar price on Abe’s, though it doesn’t appear to be the same seller.

>35 U_238: The Sonnets sell for more than any of the plays. Go for it.

>32 U_238: I have some data about (UK) sales prices for these books I observed over the period of a year here:

https://ubiquitousbooks.wordpress.com/2020/07/07/letterpress-shakespeare-uk-mark...

Assuming I am at least a little patient, and buying at the kinds of typical (UK) prices I am used to seeing, I'd expect to pay about $2100-2400 for those seven if bought individually.

I'd add the following subjective comment:

Lear, As You Like it are common and can usually be found quite cheap. I'd budget about £150 each.
The three Henrys are rarer and quite sought after. Typically, I have to wait a year or so to see a copy come onto the market. I'd budget £300.
Sonnets & Poems is rather more common, but still commands a price premium. I'd budget £250-300.
Merchant of Venice is a bit of a wildcard. It doesn't show up for sale often and is a well-loved play. So if the right buyer is on the scene it could also go quite high. But I'd budget £200-250.

I don't have a good handle on how different the US market is.

>37 ubiquitousuk: re: US market, I'd say roughly equivalent but add $50-70 for shipping if you want to be able to buy from the UK.

>37 ubiquitousuk: I actually kept a record of your average prices to compare it to what I was offered, so found your post very valuable. Which is not surprising, your articles and videos are always educational.

Thanks for the responses, all; I’m very tempted, as I also wouldn’t have to pay shipping on these.

I would have to sell a couple small press books from my collection, but would realize quite the premium upon doing so, which is the only way I’d be able to make this purchase.

I can update the thread if I choose to go ahead with this.

>31 RogerBlake: Has anyone else got a number one in the Roman numbered limitation?

If there is a place for a number and this is your first one, then I don’t see why not! You can probably find a really cool sticker to place there, too:



I like how the COLORS really pop in this one, but you may have to come up for how the word “Honda” is relevant to this play.