Folio Archives 279: The Wind in the Willows LIMITED EDITION by Kenneth Grahame 2008
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The Wind in the Willows LIMITED EDITION by Kenneth Grahame 2008
Between 2008 and 2016 the Folio Society published six magnificent limited editions in a similar format:-
:Wind in the Willows 2008
:Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam 2009
:Rime of the Ancient Mariner 2010
:Gulliver's Travels 2011
:Just So Stories 2012
:Alice in Wonderland 2016
They were all identical in size and bound in in gilt lettered quarter vellum over paper boards that were decorated in gilt and colour.
The first issued, and by far the hardest one to find on the secondary market, is The Wind in the Willows.
Every Englishman and English colonist, knows and loves the story, but it is less familiar to Americans, and utterly foreign (and possibly confusing) to non-native English speakers. It is a children’s book that features four anthropomorphised animals – Toad, Rat, Mole and Badger – and follows their improbable and ridiculous adventures through the English countryside and villages. It makes a great bedtime tale to read to children, and its fame is probably due to fond memories of today’s adults from hearing it in their childhood.
This superb 264 page edition has 83 illustrations, 33 in colour, by Charles van Sandwyk, and there is an introduction by Alan Bennett. The light brown endpapers are printed in dark brown with a picture. It is bound in gilt lettered quarter cream vellum over grey paper boards that are tipped with vellum and decorated in gilt and brown. The top page edge is gilt and the green cloth solander box (35.6x27.7x6.2cm.) has a gilt lettered brown title label.
It was limited to 1000 copies, and when released by the Folio Society sold for £395. Mine is copy 333.
The Folio Society has published several editions of The Wind in the Willows:-
:1995 - Introduction by Alan Bennett. 8 colour illustrations by James Lynch. Bound in green artificial moiré silk with a circular design in gold by Lynch. Grey-green endleaves. Grey-green slipcase. 24.7x17.6cm. 208 pp.
: 1995 - Same as above except bound in quarter leather as a special limited edition of 100 copies.
: 2005 - 2nd edition. 32 colour and 50 integrated monochrome illustrations by Charles van Sandwyk. Pictorial endpapers. Bound in green cloth with an inset front paper label. Pictorial light green slipcase. 26x17.7cm. 252pp. This edition was reviewed in Folio Archives 192 here.
:2005 - Same as above edition except labelled as illustrator's edition with tipped in etching and limited to 150 copies.
:2008 - Limited edition reviewed here.
Now sit back and enjoy this wonderful limited edition, that is given poor justice by the mere photographs below.
. . . . .
The Gulliver’s Travels limited edition in this series was featured in Folio Archive 109 here.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
Between 2008 and 2016 the Folio Society published six magnificent limited editions in a similar format:-
:Wind in the Willows 2008
:Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam 2009
:Rime of the Ancient Mariner 2010
:Gulliver's Travels 2011
:Just So Stories 2012
:Alice in Wonderland 2016
They were all identical in size and bound in in gilt lettered quarter vellum over paper boards that were decorated in gilt and colour.
The first issued, and by far the hardest one to find on the secondary market, is The Wind in the Willows.
Every Englishman and English colonist, knows and loves the story, but it is less familiar to Americans, and utterly foreign (and possibly confusing) to non-native English speakers. It is a children’s book that features four anthropomorphised animals – Toad, Rat, Mole and Badger – and follows their improbable and ridiculous adventures through the English countryside and villages. It makes a great bedtime tale to read to children, and its fame is probably due to fond memories of today’s adults from hearing it in their childhood.
This superb 264 page edition has 83 illustrations, 33 in colour, by Charles van Sandwyk, and there is an introduction by Alan Bennett. The light brown endpapers are printed in dark brown with a picture. It is bound in gilt lettered quarter cream vellum over grey paper boards that are tipped with vellum and decorated in gilt and brown. The top page edge is gilt and the green cloth solander box (35.6x27.7x6.2cm.) has a gilt lettered brown title label.
It was limited to 1000 copies, and when released by the Folio Society sold for £395. Mine is copy 333.
The Folio Society has published several editions of The Wind in the Willows:-
:1995 - Introduction by Alan Bennett. 8 colour illustrations by James Lynch. Bound in green artificial moiré silk with a circular design in gold by Lynch. Grey-green endleaves. Grey-green slipcase. 24.7x17.6cm. 208 pp.
: 1995 - Same as above except bound in quarter leather as a special limited edition of 100 copies.
: 2005 - 2nd edition. 32 colour and 50 integrated monochrome illustrations by Charles van Sandwyk. Pictorial endpapers. Bound in green cloth with an inset front paper label. Pictorial light green slipcase. 26x17.7cm. 252pp. This edition was reviewed in Folio Archives 192 here.
:2005 - Same as above edition except labelled as illustrator's edition with tipped in etching and limited to 150 copies.
:2008 - Limited edition reviewed here.
Now sit back and enjoy this wonderful limited edition, that is given poor justice by the mere photographs below.
. . . . .
The Gulliver’s Travels limited edition in this series was featured in Folio Archive 109 here.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2folio_books
A great presentation of a wonderful LE, Warwick The closest I've seen to what the illustrations look like in the flesh, which is no mean feat. As you say, all the titles in this series were brilliantly done. I must confess I don't own the Rubaiyat, having been persuaded that the Fine Edition of 2012 was a better, more economical option, but the others sit proudly together on my shelves.
3Jayked
The Fine Bindery site has a slideshow on the making of one of this series that might be of interest: http://www.finebinding.co.uk/FOLIOSOC/rubai.html#javascript
4MobyRichard
>2 folio_books:
Not sure why people think that. The FS Rubaiyat LE is one of the most beautiful bindings I own and chronically underpriced in my opinion. The original buyers also got a huge inflation discount compared to current LE prices.
Not sure why people think that. The FS Rubaiyat LE is one of the most beautiful bindings I own and chronically underpriced in my opinion. The original buyers also got a huge inflation discount compared to current LE prices.
5folio_books
>4 MobyRichard:
The binding, in series with the others, is indeed beautiful. The points I took on board were more about the wasteful use of space in the LE compared with the Fine Edition - too much space around and between the quatrains. I had a brief look at the LE before I decided on the FE, and I had to agree.
The binding, in series with the others, is indeed beautiful. The points I took on board were more about the wasteful use of space in the LE compared with the Fine Edition - too much space around and between the quatrains. I had a brief look at the LE before I decided on the FE, and I had to agree.
6Cat_of_Ulthar
>1 wcarter:
"... its fame is probably due to fond memories of today’s adults from hearing it in their childhood."
That's certainly true for me: I listened repeatedly to a 2-record set of the book being read by (if memory serves) Alan Bennett.
Pink Floyd naming their first album after one of the chapters probably didn't hurt its sales, either.
These are indeed a beautiful set of LEs.
edit: to remove a hyperlink which mysteriously appeared at my first attempt
"... its fame is probably due to fond memories of today’s adults from hearing it in their childhood."
That's certainly true for me: I listened repeatedly to a 2-record set of the book being read by (if memory serves) Alan Bennett.
Pink Floyd naming their first album after one of the chapters probably didn't hurt its sales, either.
These are indeed a beautiful set of LEs.
edit: to remove a hyperlink which mysteriously appeared at my first attempt
7Hamwick
This is one of two LEs that I would love to still purchase. The other being the Wanderer. I have two of these styles, Just So Stories and the Rubaiyat. I think both are wonderful.
8wdripp
>7 Hamwick: It is on my wish list as well, although I suspect it will never be available at a price I'd be willing to pay. I was lucky to find the Alice in series at a discount. I am pretty happy with the SE, though, and couldn't bear to part with the edition I had as a child which has wonderful illustrations by Michael Hague so both are in my library.
9Nerevarine
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing your wonderful books with us.
10assemblyman
Gorgeous. I’d love any one of the LEs in this format.
11woodstock8786
>7 Hamwick: the Just so Stories is the one LE that I really regret missing out on. I was still at University then and had absolutely no money.
The illustrations of Puttapipat are out of this world!
The illustrations of Puttapipat are out of this world!
12SF-72
>11 woodstock8786:
It is gorgeous. I thought they might release this as a standard edition one day, like the Rubaiyat, and was surprised when they didn't. In the end, you never really know.
It is gorgeous. I thought they might release this as a standard edition one day, like the Rubaiyat, and was surprised when they didn't. In the end, you never really know.
