Survey for the 75th year of FS existence

You get to choose one book, any book, to mark the occasion. In deference to Glenn, you must choose Watership Down. But it can be any book…

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/seventyfive

Entries must be in by the 31st of July 2021.

Willing to bet no one else will pick the book I suggested!

Had to go with Neuromancer.

I went for The Book of Ebenezer Le Page.

I’ve voted. Let’s just say I told them do it properly this time and to include the footnotes.

Petitioning for some more French lit. Love to see an LE boxed set of In Search of Lost Time by Proust.

>2 RRCBS:

Same here. I picked a boxset of three George Gissing books (The Odd Women, Netherworld, New Grub Street)

Could have picked something which might have actually been a possibility. But nope. I went with what I want the most.

Oh Folio Gods, please grant me my wish!

Was split between Hyperion Cantos and Pillars of the Earth, but went the latter - with all the scifi they're doing I'm sure they'll get round to Hyperion on their own.

>6 L.Bloom:

I shudder at the price this would likely command, ha.

>1 NLNils: Clearly it should say “In addition to Watership Down, please pick one book...” Mistake by the survey writer, I’m sure.

>2 RRCBS: ok, I’m sure I can’t guess what you picked, so tell us. 😉

I don't think I can choose only one. I could with difficulty limit myself to 5 maybe.

I will wait until the next survey and pick from the short list.

Had to be Ebenezer :)

>10 coffeewithastraw: Clearly it should say “In addition to Watership Down, please pick one book...” Mistake by the survey writer, I’m sure.

Obviously.

>9 adriano77: Not more than the price of one or two teacakes I'm certain.

>7 sekhmet0108: I almost picked Gissing but then figured it was a definite no go based on the past few years. So went with Fingersmith by Sarah Waters.

Folio 75, obviously.

Room at the top - John Braine

Robin McKinley was my choice, one of my favourite books by her. I don't understand why FS haven't published anything by her yet - some of her work is fantasy, YA, and she's won several awards in that area. It should be right up their alley.

Naked Came the Stranger

I went for Peter Frankopan’s The Silk Roads. I enjoy Beard and Holland, but I would rather have seen The Silk Roads than SPQR or Rubicon...

I went for Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada - one I've long hoped Folio might do, and seemed especially apposite as it was originally published in 1947 so will be sharing the anniversary.

Canticle for Leibowitz, Blood Meridian, Kafka - Diaries. Couldn't choose, chose Walter Miller. None make sense for the anniversary. All make sense for me.

my choice is not the most intellectual but I love it: Lost Horizon by James Hilton

I'll be happy with WD though (maybe with Plague Dogs as a set?)

I'm thinking of suggesting The Dictionary Of The Khazars by Milorad Pavic, I'd love to see what Folio could do with the paragraph that changes between editions.

If not that one, then something from the mediaeval period or before - Gerald of Wales perhaps? Wolfram von Eschenbach? The Venomous Bead? - because it would open up the illustrations to illumination.

I suggested Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami though I'd pretty much take anything by Murakami. His books have the potential for some great artwork.

I'd also love some Shirley Jackson (We Have Always Lived in the Castle would be my preference) or Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar.

>20 agitationalporcelain: Strong choice. I had never heard of the book, but the blurb is auspicious. Added to the wishlist!

>20 agitationalporcelain: That's my pick too! Honestly one of the most powerful books I have ever read. I believe the German text is out of copyright now, so a new translation wouldn't even come with licensing fees.

I went the non-fiction route. I desperately want to see a Folio Society edition of a Personal narrative of travels to the equinoctial regions of America during the years 1799 - 1804 by Alexander von Humboldt

Very difficult, but put The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
Not a recent or topical book, but one that I would love to receive the Folio treatment.

>20 agitationalporcelain: Interesting choice. I have not read the book but enjoyed the film version with Brendan Gleeson and Emma Thompson.

Lanark by Alasdair Gray -- 40th anniversary

Shogun - James Clavell. Again. I have no expectation it will happen at all.

Perhaps the 75th FS anniversary will finally see the much longed for Sir Walter Scott anniversary work? Only a year late.

I went for the best book released in Folio Society's first year that hasn't been produced by them as of yet: Under The Volcano by Malcolm Lowry.

I went for The Magus by John Fowles but any of his would be most welcome.

There are several suggestions above which I would be happy to see but I went for At the Mountains of Madness.

I put Dune Messiah in the hopes that if they'd do that, then they might as well publish the rest of the hexalogy.

I voted for Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

Siddhartha - as far as I know there's no nice edition of this book anywhere. However there's more than a few suggestions on this thread that would make me happy.

>15 folio_books: Great minds, Glenn. That was my suggestion as well. Seemed like the obvious choice.

Journey to the West. I am relentlessly on brand :)

>38 UK_History_Fan:

I'm not sensing much love for it from Folio lately, though.

C. G. Jung for me: Man and His Symbols

>36 Mujaddadi: Me too!

I predict that the results will be 1 vote each for N-2 different books and 2 votes for Folio 75.

It’s a surprisingly hard choice, actually. I haven’t been able to think of a single option that fits perfectly. I have a list of books for which I am unaware of a nice edition that I would like to own in a nice edition, but most are somewhat obscure.

Maybe Plutarch’s Moralia, but that would be a sloooooow seller. Or Kierkegaard’s Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing. Both are probably too idiosyncratic, though.

Folio Society hasn’t done an edition Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, have they? (I don’t see it in the comprehensive list.)

Ideally for me it would be a book I've never met but would love with a vengeance once introduced to it. That doesn't seem likely to happen, so I'll probably put in a futile vote for Fool's Melody, by Adelaide Champneys and Michael Cape-Meadows, which I love with a vengeance but nobody else has ever met.

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende.

This novel was originally published in the German language in 1979 and first issued in the English language in 1983 with a translation by Ralph Mannheim. The original German edition was printed in two colors, red text for events in the real world and green text for the imaginary world of Fantastica. A fabulous series of illustrations were drawn to introduce each chapter by renowned German artist Roswitha Quadflieg, who later began her own private press (the highly esteemed Raamin Presse) as a vehicle to showcase her art. Quadflieg's illustrations are also drawn in red and green to emphasize the interconnectedness of the real and imaginary world.

A deluxe Folio Society edition in which Roswitha Quadflieg's illustrations are commissioned (she is still alive), then printed and bound by the outstanding German duo of Memminger MedienCentrum AG and Lachemeier of Reutlingen, Germany, would make a fabulous 75th anniversary edition and it would sell rapidly. This would check off a number of boxes for current FS owners. It is a hugely popular fantasy novel with a distinctly human element which has been translated into 36 languages, selling over eight million copies worldwide, has already been made into a popular film, and avoids the convoluted, overly complex and depressing aspects that seemingly populate every other novel in the science fiction/apocalyptic/fantasy genre.

>46 dlphcoracl: I'd vote for this on a survey

>46 dlphcoracl:

Sadly, one part at least of this fantasy cannot come to pass: that distinguished binder Lachenmeier has been out of business these past three or four years.

If on a Winter's Night, a Traveler...

A masterpiece that is also a book about reading. What could be more appropriate?

>31 Sorion: Shogun, that's also what I chose! Glad I'm not the only one.

Tales by Leo Tolstoy. A new edition of the very first Folio Society book released in 1947.

An impossible choice but I went for Life _ an user’s manual by Georges Perec

>46 dlphcoracl:

Has there never been an English-language edition of equivalent quality? I would have thought it should be comparatively easy to reproduce this with a different translation.

edited to explain: I made a language error, English isn't my native language. I meant a different language, not a different translation.

I wanted to put Dandelion Wine, and hesitated about Ebenezer le Page, but finally rejected those (even though I'd like them as Folio Editions) because I imposed upon myself a rule that it should have something to do with 1947 (published, author born, British, something that could have great illustrations) and went for Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry - and I see that I was not alone. I have't read it so would probably buy it out of curiosity.
Of course Folio 61-75 would be great.

>53 SF-72:

To my knowledge, the edition with Ralph Mannheim translation is the only one that has been published in English by Doubleday and Company. Michael Hoffman has translated a number of German works skillfully into English and he would be (for me) an obvious choice for a new translation. Keeping the original red and green illustrations by Roswitha Quadflieg is essential, however.

To me, there have been just 3 suggestions that make sense so far. This is meant to mark an anniversary, and the book should do that.

Those 3 suggestions are:
>15 folio_books: Folio 75
>32 dbshee: Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (major book published in same year yet to be given FS treatment - on same basis, I'd also go for Steinbeck's The Pearl)
>51 gmurphy: A fresh treatment of the FS's first book Tolstoy's Tales.

Personally, my favourite would be Folio 75, but, if not, my preference would be for Tolstoy's Tales, then one of the Lowry or Steinbeck. Most other suggestions here come over to me as just random 'wants'.

>56 Willoyd: Most other suggestions here come over to me as just random 'wants'.

Ahem ;)
I suggested Alone in Berlin for precisely the same reasoning as you and others suggest Under the Volcano or The Pearl (though it also happens to be a book I'd really like to see a Folio edition of anyway).
I did find myself thinking yesterday while submitting the survey, that it might be a nice idea for FS to mark the occasion with a whole collection of books that share or are connected to the anniversary in some way.

>29 assemblyman:
I've yet to get around to watching the film but I really should at some point. Glad to hear you enjoyed it as I've been a little apprehensive about watching it after the experience of reading the book, even years later (and I'm really not usually someone who is precious about film adaptations of books) . The book is just so powerful, as >26 ubiquitousuk: says. It's one of those novels that's really stayed with me.

>25 NLNils:
Glad to introduce you to the book and hope it lives up to expectations - I'm sure it will :)

Practically begging for a Dirk Gently collection.

>57 agitationalporcelain:

Mine is definitely a "random want", ha. Didn't put any thought beyond that and there being a survey to actually specify.

>59 adriano77:
Just to be clear, the 'random wants' line wasn't me, I was quoting >56 Willoyd:. But hey, randomly want away :)
I do wish LT had a proper quote feature beyond just tagging a post.

>60 agitationalporcelain: one can use copy-paste and blockquote html tags, though it is a bit of work (as are most formatting tasks on LibraryThing).

For example, the following code:

<blockquote>I do wish LT had a proper quote feature beyond just tagging a post.</blockquote>

Results in:

I do wish LT had a proper quote feature beyond just tagging a post.

I do wish LT had a proper quote feature beyond just tagging a post.

I like this site's archaic design. Makes me nostalgic.

I also made a 'random' suggestion but I think that's perfectly fair game. To quote from the preamble to the survey:

'2022 marks the 75th anniversary of The Folio Society, and we would like to use the opportunity to ask you directly which book you would most like to see as a Folio edition. We are asking for one title suggestion only, of any genre; simply enter your title and author below.'

I read that as saying pick any book you like.

>61 abysswalker:
Thanks for the tip! Unfortunately I think I'll still be liable to forget when replying to posts but I shall try to keep it in mind :)

>62 adriano77:
Oh, absolutely, that's part of its charm for me too (I still occasionally pine for geocities). But I wouldn't consider quotes un-archaic, I definitely remember them being present on the phpBB-style boards I used to use twenty or so years ago. I think they'd fit right in! ;)

>20 agitationalporcelain:
>25 NLNils:
>26 ubiquitousuk:
>29 assemblyman:

Note that Hans Fallada's classic 'Alone in Berlin' was published in a handsome trade edition entitled:

Every Man Dies Alone, Melville House Publishing, 2009.

The translation by Michael Hoffman is outstanding and if FS ever gets around to doing a fine press edition this is the translation that should be used.

>55 dlphcoracl:

I'm sorry, I made a language mistake. I meant it should be possible to keep the visual characteristics of the German edition and transfer them to a translation. I'm surprised that hasn't happened. It shouldn't be difficult.

>58 dogwizard:

I'd love for them to do that. Hitchhiker sold well enough, I would have expected them to tackle Dirk Gently years ago.

>57 agitationalporcelain:
Sorry - missed that! I can only plead that I did say 'most' others are random wants, not 'all'! (Having said that, I'm afraid I'm not a fan of the book itself :-( )

>63 Cat_of_Ulthar:
I also made a 'random' suggestion but I think that's perfectly fair game.
Absolutely! But given that any nomination will first of all need to attract the support of the FS 'powers that be', and then other voters in order to be chosen, I'm guessing that it'll need to be more than a 'random want'. I was simply indicating the reasoning behind what books would attract my support and interest, and hoping (too hopefully?) that the mole is keeping an eye on this thread... :-)

>65 dlphcoracl:
Yes, Every Man Dies Alone was the title used for the Melville House publication in the US (and is closer to the original German title), while Alone in Berlin was the title used for the UK publication by Penguin. However I believe the same translation by Michael Hoffman was used for both publications, despite the different titles. I haven't read the original German so would have to defer to others' knowledge regarding the quality of the translation, but can say I found Hoffman's translation extremely readable in itself.

Folio 75, the Limited Edition of 750

Go for it.

There have been a few good suggestions above I went with the obvious one also, Folio 75. Ideally it should be a published anyway without a survey.

>43 venkysuniverse: At least there will two votes for it now.

>68 Willoyd:

'I was simply indicating the reasoning behind what books would attract my support and interest...'

Your reasoning is perfectly sound. I don't expect my choice to be top of the list but I live in hope :-)

>50 Eastonorfolio: Excellent! Glad we'll have two votes.

Mine is definitely a random want but I take every opportunity to put this particular book idea in front of FS. I doubt they will select it for this but if I suggest it enough times there's a chance in the future. It worked for The Snow Leopard!

I'm in the school of those who think the book should have some significance. Like others, I like the idea of going full circle and putting out a new version of Tolstoy's tales/short stories. One thought is to update the more expansive 3 volume set (from around 2008) but with quarter leather, printed and bound in Great Britain. Seems only right. The second option would be a reprinting of the original version, offered at the original price (after accounting for inflation). Call it a nod to Charles Ede and his original vision.

I also just answered with a random book I wanted, but on reflection, a good 75th anniversary choice would be The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse.

>58 dogwizard: “ Practically begging for a Dirk Gently collection.”

Not a bad idea.

My vote goes to Tolstoy's Tales.

Neverending story seems apt!

>76 HarpsichordKnight: same choice here.
Edit: that is, my choice was the Glass Bead Game.

I was thinking last night about how a Bob Dylan collection would be amazing given the amount of books on his work and related to his work, but sadly he was born in 1941.

However, David Bowie was born in 1947. I don’t know what they could do, but I am sure that something related to DB would sell EXTREMELY well and the art would be outstanding. If I’m honest, I am surprised we don’t see more music related FS books. I’d have thought that we would have seen those before Marvel or even Stephen King given the musical heritage of Britain.

Folio 75 for me,* although a new edition of Camus, The Plague - published in 1947 and yet referencing the psychological traumas of our own times - might be an idea.

* I would settle for Folio 60-75, but it must match the superb quality of Folio 50 and Folio 60.

The Man Without Qualities

>82 boldface: * I would settle for Folio 60-75, but it must match the superb quality of Folio 50 and Folio 60.

tbh that's all I'd expect. I'm not sure how easy it would be to take a "proper" Folio 75 off the shelf without risk of hernia. But no diminution in quality, absolutely,

>81 caesarofcaesars: "Mystery Train" was published last year. Much Dylan, not so much Bowie.
>84 folio_books: Another hope for an updated bibliography

>82 boldface: '...the psychological traumas of our own times...'

1947 was also the year of publication (1948 in the UK) of W H Auden's long poem The Age of Anxiety; the FS has so far done only Auden's shorter poems. The poem was the inspiration for Bernstein's Second Symphony, but enclosed CDs have never made much appeal to me.

I'd love to see a Folio 75 of course, and particularly done as a two-volume set: a reprint of F60, and a new F60-75 - this is a trifle self-serving as my F60 is a bit tired, and its slipcase simple didn't stay the course, but would be great resource for those with a newer than fifteen-year addiction.

I put in a vote for Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet. Will never happen, but it should.

I voted for Folio 75, although I suspect the votes for this will be overwhelmed by the votes for horror, fantasy, and/or sci-fi titles which seem to be the best sellers these days.

>74 Sorion:
but if I suggest it enough times there's a chance in the future. It worked for The Snow Leopard!
My cat usually starts whining for her food round about 3pm; she gets fed at 4pm. She's absolutely convinced that her whining results in my feeding her. She's yet to work out that it doesn't matter how much whining she does, she'll get fed at 4pm!

>89 Willoyd: Shh. Don't ruin it for me.

11/22/63 - Stephen King.

Isn't it a bit unimaginative to suggest they publish a book with a list of their books on their 75th anniversary? I can't imagine there's a huge market out there for this.

>92 U_238:
You obviously have not seen Folio 60. A list of books it most definitely is not. A lovely publication in every sense. search these threads for some images.

>33 Charon49: another vote for The Magus.

>93 N11284: I actually have one on the way, so we’ll see.

Probably not a suggestion with mass appeal, but given FS has always given the great modernists their due, I would like to see them tackle Petersburg by Andrei Bely. A bit of a reclamation project, perhaps? Certainly a chance to bring a little-known classic of the 20th century to an anglophone readership.

Given there's practically no chance of this happening, I'd love to see Perec or Lowry as mentioned up-thread. Interested to see the eventual shortlist.

Jeez, that's a tough one.

I went with Silverlock by John Myers Myers.

It's magic.

I agree with those who feel that FS should select a book published in 1947 (or of some other significance), but my burning desire for more Shirley Jackson won out in the end.

Still waiting for Haunting of hill house to be fair with some very fitting illustr. .. waiting and waiting .. maybe in a set with We have always lived in the castle. But for somewhat reason FS don`t publish S. Jackson.

Never ending Story, Watership down would also be nice.

A reply to Folio 75 query from Folio Society. Credit to member of the Facebook group for asking.

Many, many worthy suggestions here. Perec would be wonderful. I've read the Fallada and it's superb. And of course I've been an evangelist for The Book of Ebenezer LePage for some time now. But, I went with A Canticle for Leibowitz.

What about Tarzan of the Apes ?

I finally received this email from the FS, nearly two weeks after the first post on this thread.

>103 Son.of.York: I finally received this email from the FS

And I got a second copy today. Voted the same way as the first.

Mine was a bit of a no-brainer for me. While I can think of a good 25 books I would love to see FS print, right now Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke is in first place for my choice!

>5 Quicksilver66: hahaha! I like you’re way of thinking, David! Cheers

I responded The Long Ships by Frans Bengtsson. Nothing to do with the 75th anniversary, but it is a favorite and it is easy to imagine fantastic illustrations.

For those who haven't heard of this book, please see Michael Chabon's review from 2010 here: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2010/06/28/the-fly-leaf-the-long-ships/

>107 Chemren: I have a copy of this book, sitting somewhere in my TBR mountain (it used to be just a TBR pile, but it's grown). I really need to read it one of these days.

>108 coynedj: Its time for you this summer to go a viking. I don't think you'll regret it.

I finally got around to looking up some books published in 1947, and I see that Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus is a member of the crowd.

That’s the one.

There aren’t any decent quality or fine press editions of this book, to my knowledge.

Hopefully in the recent Wood translation (which is a big improvement on the earlier Lowe-Porter translation).

I suppose Folio might prefer a book originally written in English and published in the UK, but they started with Tolstoy…

The Plague (Camus) mentioned above ticks a lot of boxes but I’d argue is not appropriately celebratory. (And Mann is? I hear the inevitable rejoinder—well, way more than The Plague!)

Here’s an option from left field that I would appreciate: Beauvoir’s The Ethics of Ambiguity.

Not the best slate to choose from though, using publication date of 1947 as a criterion; despair in the air: No Exit, The Setting Sun, Every Man Dies Alone, Bend Sinister, The Slaves of Solitude, …

Searching this list also turned out to be an expensive exercise in terms of potentially lengthening the to-read list; for just one example of many, I had forgotten that Northrop Frye had written a monograph on the work of William Blake (Fearful Symmetry).

>37 bacchus.:

Voted for Siddhartha too.

I’d love to see the scrapped LE Isaac Rosenberg. Was reading my Rupert Brooke last night and thinking how nice it would have been for them to finish the series as planned. Highly unlikely though, I’m afraid, since all 3 other volumes are still available.

>112 ChampagneSVP: The War Poets series is often referred to as a failure on these pages because they haven't sold out yet. But surely that's just due to the very high limitation (Rupert Brooke has 1750 copies!). If they'd kept the limitation to 750 or fewer, like most other LEs, they'd have gone long ago.

>113 Levin40: When the FS decided that the letterpress Shakespeare limitation was too large they lowered it to 1000. With the war poets, they dropped an author. Clearly, the FS perceived the effort as a failure.

>114 kdweber:
Do you know which author was dropped?

>115 afje96:
Isaac Rosenberg see above post 112

I very much liked the War Poets series and I think I have all three (they are in storage). I believe they were good value and was saddened to see the lukewarm reception. Maybe they are not on the pubic conscious the same way as other popular titles.

>117 ironjaw:

I would have bought them if international shipping hadn't been completely over the top, especially since every volume costs the full shipping fee. I can tolerate that to a point, but not for three not that heavy volumes bought at the same time.

>118 SF-72: it’s such a shame with regards to international shipping. More than 10 years a ago I bought a large collection of LEC books from the US when the USD was lower compared to the Danish Krone and shipping was not that taxing. However now I don’t think I would’ve been able to.

The War Poets editions are lovely. I had my eye on them for a while but couldn’t talk myself into going for one until now. I have been reading Anthem for Doomed Youth and that made my decision. Rupert Brooke arrived today and it is indeed a beautiful book. So I may go for the other two later in the year all going well. Probably should of started when they were reduced last year. I agree with >113 Levin40: in that it seems to have been the high limitations which has not helped their sales though I am personally glad that I now have the opportunity to pick them. My bank account may have other views on the matter :)

I went with Ragtime, by E. L. Doctorow. Part of my reasoning is that I wanted to be able to afford whatever I suggested. A short book might be a bit cheaper. Also, it's fantastic.

>119 ironjaw:

Yes, international shipping didn't use to be a big issue, but these days it's become so expensive that some purchases are just not doable.

The frustrating thing with the War Poets is that FS could easily ship them more cheaply if they allowed combined shipping. The Fine Press Classics could be bought as a set of three, for example, and that reduced shipping considerably. I don't know why they don't just make an alternative offer of sets of three with appropriate shipping, like they do with the Fine Press Classics.

>122 SF-72: And even more frustrating if when you have paid three sets of shipping charges, to have two of the books arrive in one box, as my Brooke and Blunden did! Well, I say 'arrive' but actually the driver for this deluxe delivery forgot to put the second parcel on the van so I had to go and pick it up from a shop ...

I believe the official explanation is that the parcels are separately insured.

>123 red_guy: I believe the official explanation is that the parcels are separately insured.

That's as pathetic an excuse as I've heard from Folio in 38 years.

>124 folio_books: Yes, £48.85 delivery charges for three small but delightful books made me take them in and out of my basket about four times before I finally lay back and thought of England.

Still, now that unpleasant experience is over, I truly love the books and only wish Folio did more poetry, LE or SE. If they were around the war poets' size, and with similar or matching bindings, they would play directly into the Faddict's love of spineage, and would be slow but steady sellers. Just look at the Victorian set, - all manner of old tut in there yet hugely popular.

>125 red_guy: Which Victorian set? Out of FAD curiosity...:)

>126 RRCBS: I mean the Raj / Darwin / Conquest of Mexico / London Characters etc set. They seem to have the same lure as the Fairies, and you often see them together rubbing shoulders/wings in shelfies. I am sure this is due more to the exciting bindings than the content and with a little imagination Folio could harness this setlust for poetry :)

>125 red_guy:
Different strokes, I guess, but I can't stand those covers. I know David Eccles is "the master of pastiche," but that poster style says end of Victoria beginning of Edward to me. It was used to cover the mind-numbing banality of the boys' books by Percy F Westerman that weighed down the shelves in the school library. Poor Darwin deserves better.

Agreed not a big fan of the aesthetic for that series of books but I wanted a copy of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

>114 kdweber: My point was why did they decide to print so many in the first place? Why did they think these LEs would be so much more popular than other LEs then cut the series short when it turned out that they weren't? I don't believe this series is a failure when compared to most other LEs. A few months ago someone posted the remaining stock of all FS editions: I checked this set and I believe they'd all sold in excess of 750 copies at the time.

>123 red_guy: >124 folio_books: Yes, that was the answer I received when I enquired last year. I would have bought all three; instead I purchased only one. As >122 SF-72: points out, they're missing a significant business opportunity here. And the 'insurance' explanation makes even less sense when one considers that many standard editions are now the same price as these LEs (Everest, History of Christianity), which they're quite happy to send combined and with less expensive standard shipping. And when I bought my copy of the Edward Thomas LE is was on sale, for less than what A Game of Thrones goes for.

>128 Jayked: >129 Charon49: Different strokes indeed. This was the series that got me into Folio. Just love the cover designs.

I'm late in contributing to this thread. But, however:

>52 Alendor: Life A User's Manual : an "impossible choice", but also my choice. Perec's book is the best book I ever read in these last 40 years. Its many substories could be superbly illustrated. A companion volume could explain the numerous subtleties that can be completely missed when one is not aware of them. I never re-read books, but if someone asked me which book I'd like to re-read, I'd choose this one without the slightest hesitation.

>20 agitationalporcelain: >25 NLNils: >26 ubiquitousuk: >29 assemblyman: It happens that I finished Alone in Berlin last month. It took me a while to read it, because I read it in German (Fallada is one of the very few authors with a clear, simple, and scholar style I can read without too much worry). I found it a fantastic book which (probably) gives a good idea of life in a nazi Berlin. This is also a good choice--although I wouldn't buy an English version from FS. Its alternate title "Every Man Dies Alone" holds faster to the original German title "Jeder stirbt für sich allein".

PS - And sorry to have missed some later contributions which make the last sentence of the former paragraph without much meaning.

>131 Pepys:
I proposed Perec in a similar thread 5 or 6 years ago and aroused practically no interest. The structure of the book would really benefit from at least a plan of the building superior to the skeleton affair in the original, and illustrations would help distinguish the large cast of characters. However I can't see many current "members" being interested in a book with (in the Livre de poche ed.) 60 pages of indices, chronology, sources etc., without any of the explanatory notes that might be helpful to a non-French reader. Their loss.

I'd love to see the Eustace and Hilda trilogy by L.P. Hartley...

Also, A Year in Provence...but just as a standard edition...

>133 Jeremy53:

I second Eustace and Hilda. Hartley deserves another outing - they published The Go-Between as far back as 1985, and we're certainly another country now.