Spring 2021 Collection Discussion

Hopefully the OP of the other thread doesn’t mind, but I’ve created a new thread with a more detailed title to help make it easier to search for. In my experience, these threads are a great reference for many years to come, so the name helps with Google searches.

I anticipate another deluxe Sharpe book by Cornwell, though I know there was a lot of criticism about the standard edition, which seemed quite watered down.

The Great Gatsby is now public domain; someone else mentioned we might see something there, maybe even a LE.

Hopefully there is something for everyone. The last release was approximately 13 books, if I remember correctly. And clearly there will be lots of more SF&F, but with a larger number of publications I’m hopeful we’ll also have a good balance of some of the more traditional publications.

Good thread. I will not be buying another Sharpe book personally if it’s as weak as the last one. The cover was nice but lack of illustrations and made in China is a no go for me. But I wouldn’t be mad if they released another one I guess.

I’m guessing another Lee Child book will pop up. I’m hoping for some nice surprise titles.

Pure speculation, but I expect more of the same popular fiction, SF, and fantasy. I can dream, but I wish they would release more global literature—something by Jorge Luis Borges, Yasunari Kawabata, or Naguib Mahfouz would be wonderful. I’d also love if they would re-release Brothers Karamazov, 100 Years of Solitude, and The Grapes of Wrath—gaps in my collection that are hard to find secondhand at reasonable prices.

>3 mnmcdwl: 1,000 years would be quite a read - thankfully, it was only 100 years! It makes me think of a quote from someone I don't recall (Borges?) who said that even that was too long - it should have been only 50 Years of Solitude.

For me, 100 years was just fine. I do have the FS edition, and love it. I think the first line is one of the best openings in literature.

>4 coynedj: an embarrassing slip up, now corrected—especially since I have the LEC version sitting on the shelf in front of me! I also love the opening line (along with the rest of novel), and would love having the FS version as well. A Love in the Time of Cholera edition would also be most welcome.

For those not yet enlightened, which was the position I was in a few minutes ago, here is that sentence:
Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.

And in Spanish:
Muchos años después, frente al pelotón de fusilamiento, el coronel Aureliano Buendía había de recordar aquella tarde remota en que su padre lo llevó a conocer el hielo.

I was fortunate to pick a copy up on Abe’s for a mere $36 Canadian shipped; it has a bookplate, but I really didn’t mind.

There’s one on eBay for $125OBO at the moment.

>3 mnmcdwl: I also hope they would publish Brothers Karamazov, 100 Years of Solitude, and The Grapes of Wrath

More science fiction, but I do hope they can move away from the Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein stuff. I'd really like to see something from Stanislaw Lem, the Strugatsky Brothers, or Walter Miller (A Canticle for Leibowitz), and I'm always hopeful for more Ballard, as well as that LE of Brian Aldiss' Helliconia trilogy they mentioned a few years ago.

Neuromancer seems like it would be a popular choice among the younger audience FS is cultivating, especially with the Suntup edition out of reach for most. Really hope FS would be able to avoid the garish neons of the Philip K. Dick books. Bleh.

M. John Harrison is probably a longshot, but he's enjoying a surge in popularity right now. Light is a fantastic novel, more contemporary than the rest of Folio's science fiction output, and one that really pushes the boundaries of what we expect from the genre. Put it together with Nova Swing and Empty Space to form the whole Kefahuchi Tract trilogy and they can take my money.

Surprised that nobody has done a fine edition of Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here yet. That and Roth's The Plot Against America stand with works like 1984, The Man in the High Castle, and Brave New World, and both would certainly make fine additions to Folio's speculative fiction lineup.

They've published many of Jan Morris' books, and I hope they continue with Hav. Really, I'm hopeful ANY publisher will release a fine edition of this fantastical, fictional travelogue. A book about a country that appears on no map, by one of our greatest travel writers, would provide the perfect escape during this time of lockdowns and quarantines.

And of course, more Italo Calvino.

>8 SolerSystem: I think that Gibson's 'The Peripheral' might be a more interesting title if FS did publish a Gibson title. 'Neuromancer' has a couple quality editions out already. 'The Peripheral' is more of the current time, and Amazon has an adaptation in production.

>3 mnmcdwl: I'm surprised they never published anything by Mahfouz or Pamuk. They could even do some of Mahfouz's historical fiction on the pharaoh's to appears a wider audience (although The Cairo Trilogy and Children of Gebelawi would be perfect). And agree with Kawabata - maybe even some Oe or Mishima. Alas, I think you're right and we're wishing more than anything.

>8 SolerSystem: I hope Folio makes both sides happy and doesn't mainly focus on the science fiction and fantasy genres. Three to four months ago I finished the Farseer Trilogy on audiobook and what a disappointment. Books one and two were entertaining but the third book was one of the worst books I've read in half a decade. I can't remember a time when I wanted the main character and his loved ones to die during the entire book just so he would stop whining and complaining. I mean at least if Folio goes down the sci/fi and fantasy route, maybe publish books that used to deserve the folio treatment? And could they please trend away from the typical popular literary titles and go a little outside the box. It's nice to get a Bulgakov, Marquez, Borges, Grossman, Joseph Roth and a few others every now and then.

And as for Philip Roth, you're probably right they'd go with The Plot Against America since HBO did a show and it would sell much better than others, but I've been reading a lot of him him lately and he has written much better books than this.

Calvino would be nice. A highly underrated Italian novel, and one of the finest in 20th century literature, would be Elsa Morante's History: A Novel. A fine and/or limited edition of this and i'd be a happy man. To each their own, and if Folio caters to the popular selling books from now I can focus more energy on limited editions.

I expect another Bond and George R. R. Martin. I hope for Heinlein's The Moon is a harsh Mistress, which seems to stand a fair chance since it was mentioned fairly obviously in the preface to Stranger in a Strange Land.

I wouldn't mind another Sharpe, but would hope that they learned from the mess that was the first such edition and won't cut away from the regular edition to make the signed one look a bit better for the price than it actually is.

If we're talking about purely wishful thinking, it would be nice to get another Gaiman (especially Neverwhere), and I'd love it if they tackled The English Patient. A very attractive limited edition to me would be a facsimile of the Kay Nielsen-illustrated Red Magic, which for some reason has never been republished.

>3 mnmcdwl:
"Jorge Luis Borges, Yasunari Kawabata, or Naguib Mahfouz would be wonderful"

Seconded! A Thousand Cranes and Children of Gebelawi would be wonderful indeed.

>9 jeremyjm:

Having read all of Gibson's novels, I can't see anything other than Neuromancer getting the FS treatment. The rest of his work has never really left a lasting impression and, frankly, just wasn't as good, IMO.

>12 SF-72: "I wouldn't mind another Sharpe, but would hope that they learned from the mess that was the first such edition and won't cut away from the regular edition to make the signed one look a bit better for the price than it actually is."

The blurb for the deluxe edition stated:

"To celebrate the beginning of an exciting new Folio series, Sharpe’s Tiger is exclusively available in both standard and deluxe formats."

That sounds like it was always intended to be a one-off for the first in the series, not a regular occurrence.

>15 PeterFitzGerald: I wonder, though, whether those to follow won’t just match the quality of the standard.

The problem with a thread like this is that until the collection is released, we get a number of posts with speculation, wish lists, random comment on different authors etc. Once we do know what is released, it becomes something else, but the point of changeover is in the middle of the thread. Wouldn't it be better to have a dedicated thread once the release happens?

While we are speculating though, something I would instantly order is Pavane by Keith Roberts. I am not a huge SF reader these days, but that was a major delight when first published.

If they are to do more science fiction, I'd hope for Olaf Stapledon Last & First Men / Star Maker set.

>8 SolerSystem:
They've published many of Jan Morris' books, and I hope they continue with Hav.
A slight exaggeration, but I do concur on the wish! Conundrum was a bit of a ground breaker too, but I suspect that's more likely to appear as a Slightly Foxed Edition.

>11 Joshbooks1:
And could they please trend away from the typical popular literary titles and go a little outside the box. It's nice to get a Bulgakov, Marquez, Borges, Grossman, Joseph Roth and a few others every now and then.
Do so agree. I'd add Sholokhov to that list (amongst others); I've long advocated a good go at Zola too, especially now Oxford have produced the new translations, but they'd cherry pick and there I'm not interested in that. There's still plenty of room on the American front too. But imagination in that arena doesn't appear to be the FS's strong suit at present (I hope to be proved wrong!).

>17 ranbarnes: Wouldn't it be better to have a dedicated thread once the release happens?

Absolutely. But few have the patience to let it unfold. It's a shame.

>15 PeterFitzGerald:

I certainly hope so. However, if something paid off, you never know.

> 17 Wouldn't it be better to have a dedicated thread once the release happens?

Fair enough, but even if we started a new topic upon the actual release it would probably only be a matter of time until the conversation morphed into a political debate over the environmental impact of cattle grazing in the Argentine pampas.

>23 Redshirt:
:-)
Topic drift is an invariable feature of FSD.

>2 warehouseisbare: "I will not be buying another Sharpe book personally if it’s as weak as the last one."

Unsurprisingly, the first book written Sharpe's Eagle which took place in the middle of Sharpe's career was the best. Sharpe's Tiger was written 16 years later, mainly because of the huge success of the ITV series starring Sean Bean, required more stories for new seasons.

>24 wcarter: I'm probably in the minority but I often enjoy some of the topic drifts, though I generally stay out of the exchanges, particularly the more animated ones.

>25 kdweber: thank you for sharing!

I also have no problem with topic shifts most of the time but can understand some don’t like it.

>21 folio_books: Can you elaborate more on what precisely is shameful about discussing future wants, the exact title of the thread notwithstanding?

For what it’s worth, I see the point about this being just a wish list, and the discussion about the actual release starting in what will eventually be the middle of the thread.

With everyone here being so shamelessly impatient, is it realistic to have a thread called “Spring 2021 Pre-Release Discussion” which everyone stops posting in the day the release happens, at which point everyone starts to post in the actual thread for the release? Also, where do the teasers fall, in the pre release or the actual release?

>28 U_238: Can you elaborate more on what precisely is shameful about discussing future wants

I think this may be a language barrier problem. I didn't say it is shameful. I said it's a shame, which on this side of the pond equates to "it's a pity". So, it's a pity that people can't wait until the days immediately preceding the release or the release date itself.

Does that clarify my intent? I stand by the sentiment.If you choose not to agree, that's fine.

Can I just ask... why is everyone so grouchy? I mean, this is a group mostly for discussing books. Especially pretty books. But lately a huge percentage of the posts are arguing about thread titles and how we should discuss things.

And if we're being honest, when the collection is announced, it's mostly gonna be all of us posting which 2-3 titles really excite us and then another group of people getting really grumpy about how they don't like Folio anymore.

Can't we just have fun and enjoy the group?

>30 Jason461: I agree! I don’t see the need for that much organization/oversight. I don’t mind complaining either as long as it’s civil.

>30 Jason461:
I don't think Glenn was being grouchy, and I hope my comment wasn't taken as such.

Of course we will be grumbling about the way the Folio Society is going / celebrating the exciting new offerings.

What else are people going to talk about if not for books special to them, upset about titles they do not like, upcoming titles, limited editions, sales, whats going to be in the sales, etc. If we purely only spoke about big folio events there'd be like 20 posts a year.

As for thread titles, what's allowed and what's not allowed, and everything else - I think I'm with the majority and come on here to vent off steam, talk books (which so few people do these days,) and get my mind off this monotonous year. No traveling, bars, restaurants, or get togethers. It's just my wife, dog, books, work, beer and snus. Who cares about the little things. As for complaining: I'm cynical and a grouch so i'm not sure if that will improve. Sometimes I even complain about complaining. Sorry in advance.

I agree Josh. You try to disagree on post or provide a different opinion/solution/idea on a topic and someone takes offense, mocks your opinion, gets grouchy, or writes back long drawn out arguments. I’m new here but it’s a turn off and I don’t engage in those kind of back and forth conversations.

I for one can't wait for the folio editions of the Twilight Saga.

(I'm joking)

>35 JamesMcMinn: Could be interesting but probably not practical - it will take 3 folio books for each regular one:)

>34 warehouseisbare: It is called "Madness of the crowd" :-)

>37 bookish_elf:
Haha! Well I’ll admit I can be pretty crazy myself at times. I’m just glad this place exists and there are so many cool people to chat with about gorgeous books.

Do I detect massive topic drift here? Within reason, it's a healthy thing. When did you last have a conversation with a friend that remained fixed on your opening remarks? In Britain, if that was the case, we would never discuss anything but the weather.

Before I purchased the 2014 editions of The Warden and Barchester Towers I asked the FS if they’d be completing the series; they said yes, so I took the plunge with Dr. Grantly-esque enthusiasm. Since then I’ve enquired a couple of times—the latest in 2020—if they still intend to complete that series, and they keep saying yes. So I’m still hoping…

Another hope, with even less foundation, is for the biography of Patrick Leigh Fermor by Artemis Cooper. The FS has published Paddy, some of them introduced by Cooper. So I call this a slim but not impossible hope.

>Yes, I’d like more Fermor and Fermoriana. Travelers Tree would be nice.

>40 Son.of.York: biography of Patrick Leigh Fermor by Artemis Cooper

You can easily check if it's going to be published:

1. Are there any wizards and dragons involved?
No: sorry, it's not in our plans
Yes: go to question 2
2. Is netflix working on a new series based on it?
No: we're considering it, but not in our plans just yet
Yes: a STUNNING COLLECTOR'S EDITION coming out soon!

>42 elladan0891:
After some time, the wrong will be norm.
See - one faddict's decadence = another one's dawn

Wizards and dragons! Your turn for dread!
Seek out the infidels for auto-da-fé!

... Cyberpunks? Zombies? The "self-help" depressed?

"From Hulu to Disney - whatever sells best!" (FS)

>42 elladan0891: lol! What a flowchart! Sad to see FS going that way :-(

>42 elladan0891: made me laugh!

I have mixed feelings about FS following pop culture trends. On the one hand they are a business and need to make profit, if they don’t then very soon they won’t be publishing any books at all. It’s all very well people moaning about it, but the ‘great literature’ in the mission statement clearly isn’t enough to keep them in business on its own. Didn’t they make a loss in the last couple of years?

On the other hand, what’s the point of surviving if they have to change so much they end up killing the old Folio Society anyway!

>45 Uppernorwood: They are a mismanaged company. They spent 250000 pounds on CRM which is nothing short of ridiculousness, add to that the enormous amounts spent on their unpredictable website, social media, you know how their profit is getting eaten away. Had they not spent that 250000 pounds they would have been profitable last year. Even I don't like FS' direction these days.

>46 bookish_elf:
CRM = customer relationship management ??

>45 Uppernorwood:
At the risk of going off topic, and being seen to just be moaning.....
For me, it's a double whammy. It's not so much the increasing prevalence of sci-fi/fantasy - it's been an underdeveloped area in the past - but the fact that what (very little) new 'great literature' they are publishing (new to FS I mean, as opposed to straightforward rehashes of previous relatively recent publications of theirs) is generally at the upper end of their price range, even LE - a range that is increasingly beyond my pocket anyway. So, for instance, I had long awaited more Steinbeck, but when East of Eden came along it was way outside what I was prepared to pay, however beautiful the volume (Tristram Shandy would have been a no brainer too, but....) But then I discovered, in this instance, Library of America. However, what that meant was that when FS did publish the wonderful Of Mice and Men at their 'cheaper' end, I already had it covered perfectly adequately.

None of this is actually meant to be a complaint, more an attempt to explain a process whereby someone who used to spend well into four figures a year on FS books, now spends barely into three (almost all on the occasional non-fiction book). But for every one of me, I suspect there are several others who are delighted with the direction FS have taken - you only have to see the gushing on the facebook page to realise that - so I really can't see things changing in the foreseeable future. And the odd sci-fi book is worth it anyway!

However, I love this area for its coverage of older FS books (wcarter is one of the best enablers for the secondary market i know of!), and for ideas on reading, even if they are books that it looks increasingly likely won't get the FS treatment. And every now and again, I'm enabled on the odd newer publication - just that it'll often have to wait for a properly reduced sale or have to be so exceptional that it's worth it (eg the recent Isabella Bird which I bought in the last sale).

There appears to be some real solid expertise in this group and on various aspects of business.

Perhaps The Folio Society could create a 'Friends of the Folio Society' asking any of us with any particular expertise or talents for how we could help out.

It's a silly point to take as an example but while The Folio Society does not have to get ISBNs for their books, it would certainly help those of us who sell Folio Society books on Amazon, ABE, Biblio, eBay etc.

As this Librarything group shows there is a great deal of respect and affection for The Folio Society. We want it to succeed.

>47 wcarter: Yup, thats right. As a person well versed in the field I can vouch that this is way too much to spend on a CRM software.

>46 bookish_elf: what's your source for this? It indeed sounds like way too much

Does anyone have insight into when the next collection will be released? I seem to recall that often an LE would be released the week before, but that might be somewhat wishful thinking...

>52 RRCBS: I think sometime in March.

Since the Society has been on the course of publishing the more recent popular novels as of late, I would love to see them tackle the Arcady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith. Perhaps the first five, being: Gorky Park, Polar Star, Red Square, Havana Bay and Wolves Eat Dogs. Unfortunately, beyond those the series seemed to suffer somewhat, in my opinion, due to the author's unfortunate bout with Parkinsons.

The FS have posted a teaser photo of the new collection on Twitter. It will be released next Wednesday.

https://twitter.com/foliosociety/status/1367082337507414018?s=21

There are 11 new editions, though 13 books are pictured. In the FS's words:

"We have 11 beautiful new editions to share with you, from a vision of a post-apocalyptic society, to a globetrotting adventure story, and a non-fiction title that's out of this world."



* Edited to add image.

Wonder if there are any reprints. "non-fiction title that's out of this world" interesting

>56 bookish_elf: Carl Sagan, perhaps?

>57 Caput_Lupinum: Fingers crossed.

There’s something a bit funny about the fourth book from the top. Just above the lower cover (or just inside the back cover if the books are face-up) there appears to be another “cover”. At the left-hand end this has the same green and black colouring as the covers proper and is aligned with the bottom of the pages. But at the right-hand end (the top of the books) it pokes above the pages and is aligned with the back cover. Perhaps this is a fold-out section or a separate small booklet?

Folio confirmed one of the editions is a reprint.

A vision of a post-apocalyptic society... A Canticle for Leibowitz?

There should be a Bond book, too, right? I'm guessing You Only Live Twice. Looking forward to seeing the art for that one.

ETA: 'a non-fiction title that's out of this world' maybe a reprint of The Right Stuff?

Finally the name of the thread comes into its own!

I hope I’m wrong because I love post apocalyptic novels and would want more but I think that description could fit for Book Of The New Sun.

Also having mentioned the reprint and attention drawn to the fourth book down... does that look a bit like the binding for 20,000 leagues under the sea?

>55 Caput_Lupinum: Globe trotting adventure could be Around the World in Eighty Days.

There's something a bit funny about the fourth book from the top. If you zoom in, it looks like something is sandwiched between the back cover and the text block.

Edit >59 Son.of.York: beat me to it!

Stating the obvious almost certainly, but #5 is the Angela Carter and #10/#11 is Book of the New Sun?

Won’t the reprint be Little Women?

>61 SolerSystem: - Leibowitz would certainly be purchased by me, to go with the others I'm expecting to buy (getting a tax refund - time to spend it!). Though, the description could refer to The Book of the New Sun. I'm eagerly anticipating next Wednesday's news.

>67 coynedj: I totally forgot about The Book of the New Sun. Yeah, probably not Leibowitz unfortunately.

>66 RRCBS: I don't think so, since it doesn't seem to be a part of the stack. There is only one blue coloured one and that has to be the Angela Carter.

I do think that the "post-apocalyptic" one is something other than the Book of the New Sun. They wouldn't have mentioned it like that when there are so many new titles, and hence descriptions, to choose from. Plus, the theme is so relevant right now...it makes perfect sense if they have ended up going for something like The Stand or Station 11 or something. I am just surprised they didn't publish something in the same vein last year.

It would not surprise me if the "post-apocalyptic" book was the next book in the Oryx and Crake trilogy.

Second from bottom looks like a proper doorstop. Quite rare these days for FS.

>61 SolerSystem: One of them has got to be a Bond. There's been a Bond Spring release every year for many years now. YOLT would be a good guess - of course, there aren't many options left :)

>68 SolerSystem: I think the 4th and 5th from bottom are The Book of the New Sun SE, due to the yellow edge and relative sizes.

>63 Charon49: I thought the same about the fourth book down possibly being a Twenty Thousand Leagues reprint - the visible colours/patterns on the edges certainly resemble the rest of the cover of that book. But when I checked my copy, the edges of the cover are actually much lighter in colour with only a few thin dark lines, compared to the cover in the teaser image so I don't think it's a TTL reprint after all. Sorry to dash anyone's hopes! (I know it's sought after.)

It’s just not March without a new Bond. Getting close to the end of that series.

I’d like to see another Sharpe, as well. I’d also pick up The Road.

>66 RRCBS: I don't think that would count as a "reprint" for purposes of a new collection. Both Rebecca and Little Women went "out of stock" recently and were restocked relatively soon thereafter. These are also the titles for which they allow you to sign up to be notified when they return to stock. And yes, they were, of course, technically reprinted, but for purposes of "reprints" introduced for new collections, these are usually titles that have been marked "sold out" and have been absent from the catalog for some time.

>61 SolerSystem:

Don't think there's any Right Stuff reprint. It's a 9" book, navy.

Very curious about the post-apocalyptic title.

I am hoping for a new children’s chapter book. It looks like we only got one last year, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. There are so many classics they haven’t published yet, and it seems children’s books are good sellers.

>78 wdripp: I was just thinking this! Something like The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

>79 RRCBS: I would love for FS to publish the rest of the James III series! Here's hoping for Black Hearts in Battersea ;)

And just thinking aloud a bit more about that fourth book down - if the 'globe-trotting adventure' is perhaps Around the World in Eighty Days, then it could maybe be that book, published in series with Twenty Thousand Leagues?

>73 abysswalker: I think you are 100% correct.

I got my copy of The Book of the New Sun, took a photo and overlaid it on top of the photo FS posted and it's an exact match: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1guafhc0qzga1mk/corrected.jpg?dl=0

>79 RRCBS: Something like The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

They published that in 2015.

>82 folio_books: I know, my wording was off. I meant “something in the same style as”.

>83 RRCBS:

Ah, right. I get you now. Sorry for the misinterpretation.

>73 abysswalker:, >81 JamesMcMinn:

As I said ;-) in >65 Willoyd:

>81 JamesMcMinn: Brilliant solution!

I think the discrepancy between Folio stating we get "11 new editions" and the 13 books in the teaser image is due to 2 books making up The Book of the New Sun and 1 book being a reprint.

I would be extremely happy if the reprint was the 2014 edition of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; I love the Folio design but have never been able to find a copy secondhand. It looks like it could be the 4th book from the top!

>86 indianabones: Nope, fourth from top not TTL I'm afraid, unless they've changed the design of the cover. See >74 agitationalporcelain:
Sorry to be bearer of bad news!

>86 indianabones:

You may well be right, but given the wording they've used in the past, 'new editions' includes reprints. I suspect it means that there's another 2 volume publication.

>88 Willoyd: I'm not so sure. My impression has always tended to be that they count reprints/reissues as separate from the new titles when announcing new collections. For example, going back to the Christmas 2019 collection, they announced "14 new titles... as well as a couple of reissues" as per this twitter post:
https://mobile.twitter.com/foliosociety/status/1184424010895052800/photo/1

I don't recall there being many, if any, reprints among any of the new collections since then, for a more recent comparison, as all of the more recent reprints I can recall have tended to be released between collections, e.g. Rebecca, and The Celts. So I think >86 indianabones: is right, and the 'extra' book is likely a reprint rather than another 2-volume edition. I could be wrong though.

I should clarify really though, that by "reprint" I consider them to be referring to actual reprints that retain the design etc of the previous release, as opposed to new editions of previously published titles, such as the recent editions of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings or Doctor Zhivago.

I've just remembered - isn't Noughts and Crosses due to be published among this collection? Could be one of the top few books - possibly third or fourth from top, if I'm wrong about the fourth being Around the World in Eighty Days?

Edit: Saying that though, Noughts and Crosses is a fair bit longer than Nights at the Circus, in paperback, so perhaps it's one of the books further down, maybe 6th, 7th or 8th from top. I always have trouble gauging the potential differences in size/length when converting trade editions into Folios!

Looking a bit more closely at the teaser image, I think I would go with 8th from top being Noughts and Crosses, assuming it's published with this collection, based on what looks like a diagonal black/white split on the cover (the bottom cover in the photo).

A couple of final musings:

I agree with >70 Jason461: - the "vision of a post-apocalyptic society" could well be The Year of the Flood. That book is a little longer than Oryx and Crake, the FS edition of which is the same size and almost the same length as the FS Nights at the Circus. Therefore, based on the dimensions of NatC in the photo, I'm thinking 7th book from top could be Year of the Flood.

And as a total wildcard - I've not seen any specific hints from FS about further George Eliot editions, that I can recall off the top of my head anyway. But I wonder if the green door-stopper next-to-last in the pile could be something in series with Middlemarch?

Anyway that's quite enough speculating by me for one evening - got to leave some room for surprises!

Wonder if there's any chance the post-apocalyptic title could be Ballard's 'The Drought', to go along with the previous FS edition of 'The Drowned World'.

>87 agitationalporcelain: Ah, such a shame! I appreciate the heads up - I should've known better than to get my hopes up. :)

>85 Willoyd: indeed; I should read more carefully! Apologies for the redundancy.

>89 agitationalporcelain:
Your memory is probably more accurate than mine! Given how hacked off I've been over the constant rehashing of mainstream classics and the lack of affordable variety on that front (fingers crossed for this time!), I may well have mentally included rehashes alongside reprints in my assessment! All will be revealed next Wednesday!

>95 abysswalker:
Being an ex-teacher, I was dying to say 'Pay attention at the back there!'.

They just tweeted a a picture from inside one of the books. Any guesses? https://twitter.com/foliosociety/status/1367520281489719303

Looks like it is from the book that is third from the bottom in the book stack image. Quite a large tome.

>98 JamesMcMinn:

More Wikipeding for me today.

It's from the Pergamon Altar in the ancient Greek city of Pergamon. It depicts events from the life of Telephus, legendary founder of the city of Pergamon and son of the hero Heracles . That's Telephus in the close-up. As to which book, no idea. Any classical Greek scholars who can help?

>100 folio_books: Xenophon possibly... Anabasis ends in Pergamon. And his Hellenica deals with the campaign that leads Thimbron to Pergamon (among other places) - unless my memory is mixing up accounts somewhere.

>98 JamesMcMinn: The Aesthetics of Resistance - Peter Weiss? The story involves Pergamon. A guess helped by Google.

Edit: I retract my guess as for one I was looking at it being second from the bottom rather than third as it seems to be by it's colour and it is more obviously a non-fiction book.....and it was a silly guess.

>101 AnnieMod: Ha! My last post I was complaining about folio's recent publications but this would be an instant purchase for me if you're right. It'd be smart as well, publish it months before the Landmark edition - although maybe that'd only influence a small population like myself.

>101 AnnieMod:

Good call. I hope you're right.

Xenophon was a fairly recent publication, no?

-edit. Seems 2009. If it's his Hellenica, would be nice to keep it in a similar design.

>103 Joshbooks1: >104 folio_books:
Or if it is not Pergamon but Telephus who is the important one in this picture, then possibly Aristophanes (The Acharnians) or Aeschylus (Oresteia). Or Apollodorus's Greek Mythology? I would not be surprised to find that specific image in either of those. :)

>106 AnnieMod:

They published Oresteia back in 1984 but it's still possible.

>107 folio_books: :) Just thinking aloud based on a picture ;) It can easily be a modern work as well... or something still Greek but a bit less obvious. We shall see.

>94 indianabones: Well I can't say I blame you - it's a very convincing resemblance to the TTL cover at first glance. And it's a particularly lovely edition and so sought after these days, that it would make a fine choice to be reprinted. Hopefully it will be one day! But on the off-chance that, say, a copy did come up for sale anywhere, between now and the collection reveal, I'd hate for anyone to pass it up because they were sure it was about to be reissued by FS.

>96 Willoyd: Indeed! I suppose it does depend too on what exactly FS may mean by reprint, so there's still a bit of room for speculation there, but as you say, all will be revealed. One revelation that I'm fairly sure of though, is that my earlier guess about something in series with Middlemarch will be completely wrong. I went back and checked the sizes - the green door-step volume is the same height as the BotNS volumes, which the website lists as 10". Middlemarch on the other hand is 11", so, so much for that idea!

>109 agitationalporcelain: Could it be The Green Fairy Book? It's the right size and the coloring of the tease may be a little off. When looking back at the tease of The Blue Fairy Book, I wouldn't have guessed what it was.

>110 TTHLBL: Interesting thought! I think you could be onto something there... only thing that gives me pause is the thickness of it. The original Green Fairy Book was only about 350 pages long I think? (Though I don't own a copy so do correct me if I'm wrong.) Compared to the length of each BotNS volume above, which I think must be around 550 pages each, I'm not sure that the length works out, though the height certainly matches. Same for the Olive Fairy Book I think, sadly - I believe that was even shorter in length than the Green.

>111 agitationalporcelain: I think you're right. I thought the fairy books were about the same thickness, but seeing a picture of the blue and green side by side, the blue is thicker.

>108 AnnieMod: It can easily be a modern work as well...
My guess would be Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens by Robin Waterfield. He mentions on his website that an FS version is in the pipeline (https://www.robinwaterfield.com/Current-Projects.html)

'a vision of a post-apocalyptic society'. I doubt this refers to Book of the New Sun. It would be odd to drop a hint for an already-released book and besides, I wouldn't really describe it as 'post-apocalyptic' ('pre-apocalyptic' would be closer to the mark). I'm guessing The Road, but I would love it if it were Earth Abides.

'a non-fiction title that's out of this world'. Cosmos by Sagan perhaps.

I would like more Steinbeck—Cannery Row or The Pearl would be nice. I do collect the Bond series and have my fingers crossed for The Road.

On the other hand—while I’ve only been collecting for the past three or four years, one thing that I appreciate about Folio is that I’ve been introduced to new books and authors that I wouldn’t have encountered otherwise. Even in that brief span of time, I’ve seen a bit of a marketing shift towards, “You’ve seen the movie, now buy the book!” I love pop culture and the familiarity of books that inspired films, but there’s also something great about being exposed to a story that is totally new and unfamiliar. I enjoy that sense of discovery, and I hope to find something new in the spring collection that hasn’t yet been adapted for film or television and can only be experienced on the page (and in my imagination).

Another preview posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/foliosociety/status/1367777582872150020?s=19

>115 JamesMcMinn: A map of London that looks Victorian. So a book in or about london in the 19thC?

The map in question appears to be Wenceslaus Hollar's "Map of London, before the Fire of 1666" (https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/map-of-london-before-the-fire-of-1666-wenceslaus-hollar/nAH1rSiZWIibkA). As for the book, Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year would certainly be topical.

>117 Son.of.York: Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year would certainly be topical.

A persuasive argument. It has, of course, been published by Folio previously, first in 1960, reissued in 1992. Who knows?

I’m hoping the thick book is The Quincunxes, based on no evidence and will probably be wrong!

>118 folio_books: "It has, of course, been published by Folio previously, first in 1960, reissued in 1992."

Folio love reprints. They're cheaper!

>120 boldface:

Especially when the book is out of copyright.

If it is DeFoe's A Journal of a Plague Year I will definitely pick it up. I just finished reading it for the first time and found it excellent. This could also lead to more of his works being published or republished, like Moll Flanders and Roxana, which I would gladly add to my collection!

>122 Lady19thC:
Oh no, not more rehashing! ;-)

I apparently have nothing better to do than monitor their Twitter feed, so here's another preview: https://twitter.com/foliosociety/status/1368172018001141763?s=19

>124 JamesMcMinn: Could be Noughts and Crosses I think. And if I'm right about it being the eighth book down, the colours of the illustration seem to fit with the cover too (the red in the corner of the cover etc).

>114 Mr.Fox: Cannery Row is my favorite Steinbeck work and would be a wonderfully left field choice from the FS. So it probably won't be that.

This is always the best part, the anticipatory calm before the groaning.

>102 assemblyman: While I might like a Folio edition of The Aesthetics of Resistance - I'm not sure it's really notable enough to an English speaking audience to get one. Also, it has like no paragraphs breaks. It's all one big paragraph for hundreds of pages. And it's three volumes, the second of which was only translated into English last year (I haven't read it yet). The translator of the first volume died before translating the others. The first volume was certainly interesting, though a bit hard to keep track of due to lack of paragraphs.

>127 katielouise: I agree. I dismissed the idea not long after posting. It was far fetched. I had only heard of the book and it’s general plot before. The book itself would be 1000 pages long and it makes even less sense now with your clarification on the translation. It would make much more sense that it is a non fiction historical title like others have posted above.

Another preview: https://twitter.com/foliosociety/status/1368582470694821888

The image is a crop of one from Apollo 13, and my guess would be Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13.

>130 JamesMcMinn:

That's quite plausible. Possible buy for me if it is.

Maybe a new edition of "To the Lighthouse" for international women's day

It may be too early for Atwood’s The Testaments. Maybe Neuromancer or Parable of the Sower. That huge book near the bottom is stealing the show, only a few more days left for the reveal.

>132 L.Bloom:
I'd much prefer them to do one of the books of hers that they haven't done. The Waves or The Years would be my preference, and the latter, given its history, would be particularly appropriate for IWD. Flush is the other obvious one, although it's the one work of Woolf's of which I'm not a fan.

But I'm not holding my breath and, if they do do any (unlikely IMO), it would almost certainly be a rehash.

Another day, another preview Tweet: https://twitter.com/foliosociety/status/1368942872142221314

>135 JamesMcMinn: that could be the post apocalyptic novel, and the shoes instantly make me think of The Road.

>136 ubiquitousuk: That definitely seems plausible. I was already getting doubtful about my earlier feeling about the post-apocalyptic novel being The Year of the Flood, since none of the covers in the stack really seem to match with Oryx and Crake. Even if they'd gone with a different colour than the green of Oryx and Crake, I'd still expect the covers of the rest of the series to be more of a bright pastel-ish shade than any of possible candidates in the stack, to stay in-keeping with the design of O&C. And now that I've seen that latest preview image, I think it's even less likely that the post-apocalyptic novel will be TYotF after all. The Road is a good call, I think. Looks like it could be a view from under a concrete bridge as well, which also puts me in mind of that book. All roads lead to The Road ;)
But hopefully FS will continue the Atwood trilogy in another collection before too long!

So, the Facebook group has a picture of the spring collection brochure ....

Noughts & Crosses
Around the World in 80 days
You Only Live Twice
Captain America
A Man on the Moon
Book of the New Sun
Creators, Conquerors & Citizens
The Road
At least, those are the ones on the cover ...
Let the debate begin!

Someone on the Facebook page has the Spring Collection in the post and uploaded the cover:
Around the World in Eight Days
Noughts and Crosses
You Only Live Twice
A Man on the Moon - The Voyage of the Apollo Astronauts
Creators, Conquerers and Citizens
The Road
Captain America
The Book of the New Sun

A few not shown.

OK - inside seem to be:
Night at the Circus
Journal of the Plague Year
Darwin’s Descent of Man

(Apologies for spreading over three messages but might be my only chance to ‘break’ some news to this group!)

>139 jranstead: Excited about the Verne, assuming it’s a newer translation. Looks like a pretty good selection!

>141 jranstead: Ha. You were quicker on the draw than me.

Thanks for the complete list! Going to be an expensive release for me! I’m very interested in reading and acquiring a copy of A Journal of the Plague Year, as I really enjoy Defoe’s work, but I really don’t think I could stomach it this year. That said, depending on prices, the whole collection looks desirable! Looking forward to seeing everything online Wednesday morning!

>144 RRCBS: Yes I think you could see A Journal of the Plague Year being one of several strong sellers from this selection (although I must have missed the groundswell of demand for Darwin to be reprinted ...) Yes the price list will be interesting - the US brochure on FB seems to have $30 off if you spend $300 so perhaps there will be a similar thing in the U.K. too ...

Looking forward to seeing Journal of the Plague Year, The Road and Creators, Conquerors and Citizens.

I'm guessing the Darwin reprint is done in China like Voyage of the Beagle. Crossing my fingers that it's not the case so I can replace my existing copy...

There are a few titles there of interest. I try not to get tempted by the non fiction Folios due to limited space and funds but Creators, Conquerers and Citizens and A Man the Moon seem interesting choices. I will probably get Book of the New Sun. Though I would say some there will be some here that may not like that there are three reissues on the list. I would also be interested to see what the translation is on the Verne.

>147 assemblyman: I received the catalog...longtime lurker.

The Verne translator is. P. Desages if that helps.

Priced at US$ 59.95 with fold out map. (The funny thing sandwiched in in the photo above.)

>148 coffeewithastraw: Welcome. Thanks for the information. Different translation to the 82 edition. Has anyone any thoughts on the two translations in comparison? I’ve read the book but it’s been a while and I am not sure what translation it was.

>149 assemblyman: - This might be of help, compares and rates various translations -http://www.ibiblio.org/julesverne/articles/MosttTranslated.pdf - this is the one used by Everyman for their 1926/1994 editions and seems to rate well

I'll probably be picking up a copy of this - the addition of a map - presumably tracking the route, is a nice touch.

Captain America? Really? And I'm even an American!

Anyway. Still no Canticle for Leibowitz, but a decent collection. I'll want to see The Road, Creators, Conquerors and Citizens, and A Man on the Moon. I have an earlier FS edition of A Journal of the Plague Year (1992 reprint of the 1960 original), so I won't be buying this new edition. But, it's a terrific book!

I'll probably spring for The Book of the New Sun, along with Stranger in a Strange Land, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. For a guy who insists he doesn't read much science fiction, I sure seem to be reading a lot of science fiction these days.

>150 jeremyjm: Thanks for the link. Very helpful. Yes this may go on the list. Just need to get a better look at it on release day in terms of the illustrations.

>149 assemblyman: Thank you
>150 jeremyjm: Thank you- that is helpful. I will definitely be getting ATWIED - the map is beautiful. I think it will look nice next to 20,000 Leagues. I would like them now to do a new version of Journey to the Center of the Earth since the older version doesn’t really appeal to me aesthetically.

I will also get A Man on the Moon- but now after reading other threads I am worried how it will do in shipping and also The Book of the New Sun, Noughts and Crosses, and maybe Nights at the Circus. Before I might have braved the Road but it seems too disturbing at present as does The Journal of the Plague Year.

>151 coynedj: I know. They could of at least done DC this time round. Only joking. Though this seems like comic book themed releases will be an ongoing norm. I’m not keen on them myself as Folio editions and I’m a comic book fan but there definitely is a market for it.

>152 assemblyman:
The illustrations are « 31 integrated black and white motifs. »
They seem to be chapter headings and tail pieces - nice ones though. Also the cover is beautiful. The big draw is the map imho.

The illustrator is Kristjana S. Williams (cited as doing work for the V&A, Penhaligons and album art for Coldplay)

>155 coffeewithastraw: Thanks again. I just googled the illustrators other work.

Is someone willing to post snaps here of the collection announcement?

>157 Bacon.And.Eggs: Sorry- I would but I won’t have time to figure out how to do it here at the moment...I am cooking and surfing at the same time and doing neither well...

What are opinions on The Road as a edition they produced? The only other one I know is Suntup and that's impossible to get unless you pay a bunch on secondary market so I'm glad they are doing this. I wonder if this means more Cormac McCarthy books in future.

>161 abysswalker:

If they're starting McCarthy we're going to need Blood Meridian posthaste. Nice follow-up Western after True Grit.

>163 abysswalker: Thank you! Looks to be a spectacular release.

I’m digging the Defoe!

>166 abysswalker: Two volumes for A Man on the Moon - would you share pricing?

>167 Bacon.And.Eggs: $225 USD according to someone in the Facebook group. (I don’t physically have access to the catalog; credit to the folks in that group.)

>168 abysswalker: Appreciated. Thanks again for posting.

More on pricing, all in one place.

All in USD:

Around the World $59.95
The Road $64.95
Captain America $125.00
Nights at the Circus $79.95
You Only Live Twice $69.95
A History of Ancient Greece $99.95
A Journal of the Plague Year $64.95
The Descent of Man $84.95
A Man on the Moon $225.00
Noughts and Crosses $64.95

>170 abysswalker: Thank You!

>150 jeremyjm: I'm glad to hear that the translation on offer is well-regarded, but it is a bit annoying that they didn't (or couldn't) use the William Butcher translation of Around the World, as they did for previous Verne volumes.

I'm going to be a sucker for A Man on the Moon and The Road... I am becoming resigned to the fact that McCarthy is going to be remembered for his seventh or eighth best novel... but it is an instapurchase for me, regardless.

>174 kcshankd: The Road is his seventh or eight best? It's the only one I've read thus far. I think I'll like it more on a re-read but I didn't think it was anything crazy good. I'm planning to read Blood Meridian next. I was going to read No Country for Old Men but, having seen the movie, I read the preview of the book on Amazon and it almost reads like the exact script it was so similar.

The Road looks most excellent. Definitely will be picking that one up at some point.

>175 Soup811:

Today's ranking, subject to change on mood

1) Blood Meridian
2) Suttree
3) No Country for Old Men
4) The Border Trilogy
5) The Screenplays (Stonemason, Sunset Limited, The Counselor)
6) Child of God
7) The Road

There is supposed to be at least one more unreleased novel as well.

The Coen Brothers played No Country pretty straight, there is a bit more on Llewelyn in the novel, of course.

>175 Soup811:

That said, I will never forget racing to finish The Road at around 2am, as the father of two toddler boys at the time, knowing that (up to that point) ol' Cormac didn't do happy endings.

I was almost panting checking on their room, not believing the ending I had just read.

>177 kcshankd: - 'The Counselor' is a personal favorite. In terms of the actual movie, I know the reviews are generally poisonous, but I love the 'directors cut' version. The theatrical release leaves a lot of great dialogue on the cutting room floor.

For me, I'd put "The Road' a little higher on the list, but 'Blood Meridian' is my favorite as well.

I'll also take this opportunity to mention 'Yelping With Cormac' for fans who haven't seen it yet it - a great little distraction, if a little dated now.

From "The Great Plague in London" by Walter George Bell from the 2014 fifth FS printing in reference to Defoe's "Journey of the Plague Year"
"Defoe, though he made incursions into history, was not a historical writer, and the 'Journal' should not be read as history.
No condemnation of his method as a historical writer can be in terms too severe - a claim not made by himself , though so often advanced on his behalf by others."

I read the first page of Road on Amazon preview and it was pretty insipid writing. I won't be getting this book. Also I'm not sure whether I'll order any books from FS henceforth. When they send damaged books and don't reply to a customer's email it means that they are a fraud in my opinion. When they sell online and don't reply to email it means they are not much differentiated from a scammer. As a last try I'll try to call them and see what they say. Otherwise I'll spend my money elsewhere. FS has become a shoddy company.

Thank you >160 abysswalker: for the photos! I’ll probably wait for my own catalogue to come in the post, but at first glance, nothing is an instant buy for me. A Journal of the Plague Year and Creators, Conquerers and Citizens look the most interesting, though I think hands-on reviews (or a sale) would be needed for me to jump.

>181 bookish_elf:
Where are you on the planet? Your FS problems may be due to your location.

>183 mnmcdwl: These are the two I'll be buying, my heart did a little flutter when I saw CC&C and now I'm debating which to miss out from my next order out of this, Aztecs (which I am paranoid about going out of stock) and Europe - I can't afford all three and I'd like something in the tank for the summer sale! The Defoe is a handsome production too and has gone on my distressingly long TBB (never mind the TBR) list.

>181 bookish_elf: I've noticed a few times you've mentioned your recent FS problems and it must be frustrating. Just to add to >184 wcarter: 's suggestion, have you tried emailing them from a different address to your usual email? It could be that you email address is inadvertently being caught in their spam/junk filters so they're not even seeing your emails? I can't imagine they'd be purposefully ignoring you, I've never had an email to FS go unanswered.

>181 bookish_elf: messages like this one may not help things:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/318411#7115645

>181 bookish_elf: From your other posts, I thought you had called and got a refund a while back? Or did you place another order after that?

>181 bookish_elf: The last time I contacted Folio by email they responded via a platform that doesn't allow for replies, so my follow-up email was bounced back as undeliverable. I had to copy and paste the existing chain into a whole new email to support in order to continue getting the help I needed. Could something like this be happening?

This is the most tempting collection for me in ages. Some general thoughts:

A Man on the Moon is VERY tempting, but yikes, that's expensive. Still, I might go for it.

The Road is an instant and easy buy. I'm not always McCarthy's biggest fan (learn to write a female character, guy), but I love that book.

Darwin is also very tempting. But I seem to recall there were some errors in the first run, or was that Origin of Species? Hope they've fixed those.

In another time, I might also grab Journal of a Plague Year. But, in current times, I'm gonna pass. I'd rather read Journal of a Year with No Society-Crippling Illness.

Captain America is not my thing, but I don't see a real difference between that and Bond or Game of Thrones. They're cashing in on movies, and like it or not, comics have had an ENORMOUS cultural impact. At least they have here in America. Again, not my cup of tea, but I get why they're doing it.

This is the ideal modern Folio collection to me. Some actual contemporary literature that has merit beyond genre. Some good history/nonfiction. Some money-makers. Do this every time, and I'll (almost) never complain again.

>177 kcshankd:

I would probably split the Border Trilogy up since (to me) they are singular stories unto themselves and I think Cities on the Plain kind of drags the other two down (my two cents). So, I would put The Crossing on the same level with Suttree. It doesn't get as much attention or praise as it should. I also think Child of God is very good but because the others mentioned are of such high quality it's hard to slot that one in any higher.

Also, I think there are three unreleased novels. At least, according to the man himself there are but whether we ever see them is another thing: https://oztypewriter.blogspot.com/2015/02/unreliable-memories-why-mccarthy.html

>191 skubrick2899:

Fair enough, I haven't picked up any of the trilogy off the shelf for the last fifteen years or so, and could stand a thorough re-reading!

Regarding the forthcoming _The Passenger_ (s), it's been all over the place. See here for a taste: https://www.cormacmccarthy.com/topic/the-passenger-3/

>190 Jason461: "learn to write a female character, guy"

Careful what you wish for, see Rinthy in Outer Dark

>179 jeremyjm: The only ones I feel strongly about are 1 & 2. The Road is such a deviation from the rest of his work that it might color my thinking.

The publication of Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year got me wondering about FS’s lead-times for publication. I know nothing about these things, though in my engineering career every product development seemed to take ages and ages. How long does it take to go from the decision to publish a new edition, through designing and sourcing, to delivery in quantity? Presumably it was the COVID pandemic and lockdown that prompted the FS to publish this work, not a random coincidence. Lockdowns in the western world began roughly a year ago. Perhaps it took a few months before editors (and everyone else) got their heads around the scope and duration of COVID. So it seems FS can go from decision to sales in, what, six to nine months? That strikes me as impressively speedy. Does anyone out there know about these lead-times and the development process?

"Thank you for your email regarding where certain titles were printed.

Please see the following:-

THE ROAD - ITALY
CREATOR'S CONQUERORS AND CITIZENS - CHINA
THE DESCENT OF MAN - CHINA"

Meh.

>192 kcshankd:

I recently checked that forum out and agree with your sentiment. I was also surprised to learn that there were three unpublished novels. It would be nice to see more published from him but I'm also resigned to what we have, which I cannot complain one bit about.

Also, I saw it suggested on the Facebook forum that Suntup's The Road was only limited and lettered since FS was able to snag the rights. If there's any truth to that then maybe they will also publish Blood Meridian, which will also be just limited and lettered (assuming it is BM that will get the Suntup treatment soon). The Road makes sense for FS given the popularity and movie. So, I would imagine seeing No Country for Old Men before seeing Blood Meridian in an FS edition. Plus, BM is so dark and violent I wonder if they would even publish it. Wishful thinking perhaps.

If you're planning on buying tomorrow here is something you may need to know. Regular buyers will be aware that the custom in previous years has been that the new titles go live on the web around 10 a.m. GMT, A very reliable source at Folio tells me this may well be different tomorrow. "Everything's going up tomorrow lunchtime / early afternoon (there are some fancy films and things to go up online)."

I have their permission to post this on FSD and in return they'd very much appreciate it if as few customers as possible contact them tomorrow asking where the damn books are :)

>196 folio_books: Thanks !:)

Not much here of interest for FS traditionalists, stodgy oldsters who remember when fine lit was the game.

>198 foxtrot345: Really? Defoe, Verne, then Carter and McCarthy are definitely literary writers.

>198 foxtrot345: Ya im with you. Maybe I'll grab a title or two when the spring sale comes along. Decent authors but very safe popular choices. Especially since some of their more fine lit authors now go for crazy amounts on the secondary market: Bulgakov, Nabokov, Neitsche, Borges, Marquez, Kafka, to name a few.. Oh well will save some money at least. (Edit typo)

>193 Son.of.York: when I worked in publishing the gestation of a new book was 9 months from manuscript to the finished thing landing on my desk. But in those days we used conventional typesetters and had to read galleys, cut them up and stick them down for the layout... so some stages will have speeded up.

The "$30 off when spending $300" offer in the US catalogue is raising my hopes very much of a repeat of something Folio did previously in the UK of offering £10 off a £100+ order and £20 off a £200+. If that's the case again I can see myself sinking several titles from my wishlist.

>202 Retronaut78: Must be nice in the UK. Living in the US the $30 off is pointless unless you intend to read the books as soon as you get them. Shipping alone is 32 or 52 so might as well wait for a big order.

Will get:

Nights at the Circus
Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens
A Journal of the Plague Year
A Man on the Moon
Noughts and Crosses
The Book of the New Sun

... but not yet

Mixed collection for me.
Probably going to opt for the Gene Wolfe (never read before) whilst A History of Ancient Greece and A man on the moon look the most appealing. Will wait for the catalogue (and price) before deciding

This is as good a collection that I've seen from them in a while, with only Captain America stimulating the question why? Lots of variety, nice balance of genres. Just disappointed with the classics - utterly predictable rehashes, however pretty they look.

>190 Jason461: I agree with you on this being the most tempting collection in quite a while. I also was really interested in A Man on the Moon before I saw the price. I'll have to think about it.

For me, the insta-buys are:

Book of the New Sun (already have it)
Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens
A Journal of the Plague Year (keep losing out on it on ebay!)
The Road

Maybes:

Around the World in Eighty Days (will have to decide between this and EP)
A Man on the Moon

Does anyone have any of the FS Marvel books? If so, can you comment on the quality? The Captain America one is a bit tempting but idk, idk.

>206 Willoyd: Well if it's any consolation for the disappointment, I just had a thought - given that the 13th volume in the stack was indeed a reprint, but they'd also only included one volume of A Man on the Moon in the photo, so there was indeed another two volume edition on top of BotNS, we (>86 indianabones:, >88 Willoyd:, >89 agitationalporcelain:) were actually ALL right! :)

I agree with those stating that this is most tempting collection in a while. I'm a big McCarthy fan, so The Road is an easy purchase (I almost pulled the trigger on the Suntup version when it was released). I hope it sells well enough to lead to other of the McCarthy books discussed above. Nights at the Circus also interests me, though I was not previously familiar with the book. I'll almost certainly pick up the Verne book though I don't particularly like the illustration style. I'm very high on A Man on the Moon, even considering the price, as I have long been fascinated by the space program. Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens is also very interesting to me and a definite purchase at some point. Finally, I may even pick up Book of the New Sun given the many raves about the books but that one will wait. I would have loved to see some older, classic literature that is not just a reprint but I fear such books are unlikely given recent editorial trends.

>208 agitationalporcelain:
Consolation indeed!
I do feel somewhat curmudgeonly being at all negative about a genuinely good collection, but I am so disappointed in the way that the FS have so utterly abandoned the sorts of books that used to be their bread and butter. They just don't intrigue me any more - none of that 'ooh, that's new to me' which used to give a real edge to their publishing. Now, it's all very pretty, but I've increasingly actually read, and/or am sufficiently familiar with, most of the books already - I've either got a copy already, disposed of the one I had, or borrowed it from the library and don't want one of my own. This time, it's only the Waterfield and Captain America that I don't already know.

>210 Willoyd: I had to look "curmudgeonly" up. Thank you :)!

>210 Willoyd: I think that's a fair way to feel about it, I'm waiting to see the whole collection properly tomorrow before forming any real opinion on it (though I do appreciate the pics from the brochure posted up thread!) and though from what's been revealed so far, there seems to be plenty there to catch my eye, it would be nice to have some more unpredictable choices, or 'hidden gems' if you like, in there too. Journal of the Plague Year looks good and the cover art definitely ticks all my boxes (I love that kind of jaunty-morbid aesthetic) but it is perhaps a bit of an on-the-nose choice at the moment!

It may be veering a bit OT and certainly a bit of a departure from the kind of production you get from Folio, but are you familar with Pushkin Press? They're pretty much my go-to for "wow, not heard of this before but it sounds brilliant!" Their Pushkin Collection line is particularly nice: decent quality, nice compact paperbacks with sturdy, French-flap style covers and acid-free paper, I highly recommend.

I doubt Suntup couldn’t get rights for the cheapest edition of The Road because the FS nabbed it first. The Road was published by Suntup over two years ago, and would have been under design and discussion many months prior.

If the FS had beaten Suntup to the rights, it would also mean it took them almost three years to then bring it to market.

One possible explanation is the publishers saw Suntup’s $400 edition selling for close to $2k, and realized there’s a large untapped demand and amount of money to be made by making a comparatively huge limitation available through the FS.

>213 U_238: The Road is the first book by McCarthy I've read (Pretty recently) The writing style was probably the most distinct I've read with the ambiguous descriptions, lack of quotations, or character names. Idk if that's a 'The Road' thing or the author's style as I haven't read any of his other books. I will be reading Blood Meridian next

>184 wcarter:

Strangely FS replied yesterday that they are migrating their email and missed all my previous emails.

>188 RRCBS: This is for a different batch. I have bought a lot of books from FS especially last year.

I think this is the first time I've ever received the catalog before the sale was officially announced.

Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens
A Man on the Moon
and the new Bond book

I'll pass on The Road since Suntup did such a fantastic job with this title.

>214 Soup811: I read it many years ago, and recently read a few passages. It really resonated with me, even more so than the first time, perhaps because I now have a son.

>212 agitationalporcelain:
It may be veering a bit OT and certainly a bit of a departure from the kind of production you get from Folio, but are you familar with Pushkin Press?
I'd vaguely heard, but I'd not explored. Have just been on their website, and must say am very intrigued. Their Collection imprint looks to be fairly heavy on short stories, but there's a load of authors there of whom I've heard but rarely read - and when I have, not the titles listed! The other lines look interesting too, including the children's True Adventures - the sort of thing I'd have loved to have had on the shelves of my class library when teaching. Thank you - it looks well worth delving into.

>212 agitationalporcelain: The enablement on here can be unexpected! I’d not heard of Pushkin before but have placed an order for a couple of books, thanks for mentioning it!

Guess I'll pick up:

Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens
Around the World in Eighty Days

Would have picked up A Man on the Moon as well if I didn't have From the Earth to the Moon on blu-ray...

Problem with them releasing recent books like the Chaikin one is I've already got a hardback copy which will last me out - and it's an attractive publication. Not sure why I should drop three figures on another copy.

Same reason why I did not get Mary Beard's book on Rome.

In checking whether the books are up on the site, I notice FS have listed Herodotus under ‘new fiction’.

Thucydides is laughing somewhere.

>222 Uppernorwood: I saw this too this morning! Maybe there is a mole because it’s no longer showing there :)

>222 Uppernorwood: Should be on the site in 20 minutes.

>222 Uppernorwood: well he has also been called the father of lies so could be some dry trolling from a ‘true’ historian.

Some of them starting to appear under the "New" sections now: https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/fiction/new-in

I was originally excited for the new edition of Around the World based off the front cover artwork in the catalogue shots a few posts back though I'm not sure how I feel about there apparently being no illustrations in the book beyond the page motifs.

It's up on the site and you can search for individual volumes. My order is in! No banner yet, though.

>228 folio_books: Wow, fast! What did you order?

>227 wongie: I was the same and looking at it on the website it does not convince me though I may still get it at some point. The story I thought should encourage full illustrations. Though I have not read The Road or any Cormac McCarthy I think the illustrations for it are lovely.

First post here after lurking for some time so hello all! I ordered A Man on the Moon as I'm a bit of a space nut so was always getting this one, but the accompanying videos on the item page further reinforced my enthusiasm for the purchase. Hope it meets expectations.

Not seeing any kind of discount for Canadian orders right now, so will wait

>231 Kargish: Welcome! A Man on the Moon is the most exciting of the new releases for me too. Do tell us what you think of it when it arrives!

>230 assemblyman: It's exactly the opposite for me. Not sure about the busy cover artwork, but I like the motifs inside. Would still prefer full illustrations, but perhaps of a different style.

>212 agitationalporcelain: Thank you for the recommendation and link to The Pushkin Press. Quite apart from their wide range of interesting titles, my visit was worth it for this image alone; highly inappropriate, it made me laugh :)



(Cut from the cover of the Pushkin Press edition entitled "'I Hate Reading: How to Read When You'd Rather Not', by Beth Bacon, as told by her kinds Arthur and Henry")

Observation: Only 2 books in this collection have paper sides. That's a welcome reversal of a trend. I don't always mind the paper sides, but they don't hold up as well as other bindings, obviously.

Correction: A Man on the Moon also has paper fronts. But also, wow, that's a well-designed title. Folio is about to access my bank account in a way they haven't for a long time.

I placed my order for:

Noughts and Crosses
Nights at the Circus
BOTNS
Bond
Plague Year
The Road
Around the World in 80 Days

Think I’ll eventually buy the Waterfield but not right now. Pretty great release!

Also a bit disappointed at no illustrations in the Verne. The cover and map are also a bit busy to my liking, but it may eventually grow on me, it’s a classic.

>236 RRCBS: “I’ll have one of everything please!” Haha

>238 U_238: I know...partly to take my mind off of the fact that I’m going back to work in a few weeks and won’t have my kids around as much! Totally an emotional shopper, but it is a good collection too!

>237 U_238: I hadn't realised there were no proper/full illustrations in the Verne, how disappointing. If Verne's prose and characterisation are limited, his adventures themselves are nevertheless highly original and lend themselves brilliantly to full plate colour illustration. What a missed opportunity to do something that would match, or at least sit harmoniously with, Folio's gorgeous edition of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.

I'd have been very interested in Waterfield's History of Ancient Greece had it not been printed in a country that doesn't respect any of the principles of Democracy; the irony is too much.

The Road looks a wonderful volume, truly beautiful; definitely going on my watchlist.

Question about the Darwin:

This edition has issues, correct (assuming it's a reprint of a previous one)? I seem to remember something about missing footnotes in an earlier discussion?

>232 RRCBS: Was there a discount? Is the price I see the introductory price or regular price? Interested in The Road & A Journal of the Plague Year both listed at $79.95. The Book of the New Sun is showing $240 although I'd rather wait and see if this will go on a bigger sale.

>242 JuliusC: I got $30 off, but I had to use an incognito tab in chrome for it to register

I don't see anything about a sale on the site, is it a secret sale? Disregard I see the offer in my email

>229 RRCBS:
>232 RRCBS:

Pretty much like yours except I already have BotNS:
Nights at the Circus
Noughts and Crosses
The Road
Around the World in Eighty Days
You Only Live twice
Plus The Godfather from last year.

Arriving tomorrow (probably).

Regarding the discount (£20 off orders £200+) it wasn't there when I ordered so I contacted Customer Services. They said they were in the process of adding it (and it should be there for everyone by now), and refunded the £20.

I'm going to have to think about my order. Right now it's shaping up to be an awfully expensive one.

The Book of the New Sun, yes thank you. I've been patiently waiting for the standard edition.

A Man On the Moon, I was at first put off by the price but it looks tremendous. I did take a look on Amazon to see what others thought of the book, and was amused to find a one-star review from someone who said that the moon landings were all faked. And I won't be buying the paperback copy listed for $420, either.

Creators, Conquerors and Citizens, another superb-looking Folio production. My wallet just said something, but I chose to ignore it.

Stranger in a Strange Land, most likely yes.

Something Wicked This Way Comes - I dawdled too long once, and it went out of print. I won't be doing that again.

The Princess Bride, ooh, maybe. I won't make the obvious "inconceivable" joke.

Captain America, absolutely not.

I've ordered The Descent Of Man, A Man On The Moon, and Around The World In Eighty Days.

I can confirm that the £20 discount automatically applies at checkout.

I'd be interested to hear thoughts on Naughts and Crosses. I've not heard of it before, but generally enjoy children's lit. It looks like it is the first book in a series?

Yeesh, they bumped shipping up again to Canada. $36 for UNTRACKED standard? That now takes almost a month when it used to take a week? That sours me.

Use R24PD code for 10%. I found it in the leaflet from my previous order, valid through April 28th 2021

>250 dar.lynk: Does that stack with the automatic discount?

>249 adriano77: I buy a lot of books from the uk and that’s actually a really good rate even for just a few books! Shipping in general is more expensive and slower because of covid.

>250 dar.lynk: Thanks! Annoying that it doesn't stack with the £20 off £200 deal though.

I think I'll be getting A Man on the Moon and Sappho, although wondering if I should wait to buy Sappho until the next sale.

I see that A Man on the Moon is set in Apollo. Rather predictable whimsy.

>251 SolerSystem: It's not in addition to auto discount. It's instead. At least that's how it looked to me.I used it an hour ago and had no problem

>254 affle: I see that A Man on the Moon is set in Apollo.

Well spotted, Alan. It gave me a momentary chuckle. Typical Folio sense of humour.

I am absolutely not seeing a $30 off $300 discount being applied. If I try the 10% code mentioned above, it only applies to books not in the Spring Collection.

Wondering if the $30 off $300 only applies if you have $300 worth of books from the Spring Collection, I added enough to get over that amount, and still saw nothing. Is it working for anyone in the US?

>252 RRCBS:

I do as well and the $21 FS charges now for a single volume is about what RM charges, even after their hike last year, while RM still only takes 6-8 days to get here. $36 for multiple is probably competitive, somewhere, but without even basic tracking? Feels crummy. FS' shipping times took a huge dive even before COVID and that's what irks me most. If they had either maintained their speed, or added tracking as a compensating factor, I'd just look the other way in regard to price creep. But losing on both counts sucks.

>257 chrisrsprague:

I tried adding $300 worth of old books and the discount applies automatically for me. Canada though.

-edit. They probably haven't gotten around to the US site.

Well, the bank account has taken a hit, but ordered:
- The Road
- Around the World in Eighty Days
- A Journal of the Plague Year
- Creators, Conquerors & Citizens
- The Descent of Man
- A Man on the Moon (The one I'm most excited about)

Hopefully arrives tomorrow but I placed the order at 12:45 so could be Friday instead.

>257 chrisrsprague: - Worked for me in US - added 3 books from spring collection and popped up automatically. Oddly enough though, I got the UK version of the email announcement.

Still not working for me. I guess my account is special somehow.

After viewing on the website I think this is really great collection. I’ll be ordering:

A Man on the Moon - not cheap but looks like it packs in a lot
Around the World - I like the map gimmick and it’s a relatively low price
Journal of the Plague Year - great design and again a reasonable price
Descent of Man - again for such a big book bound in buckram the price is fine.

(I’m referring to UK prices)

>262 chrisrsprague: It must be a glitch on your account. I would ring them, it may be a simple fix on their side.

Just placed order in the US and got $30 off (of $459.75)
-Bond
-Stranger in a Strange Land
-Something Wicked
-The Road
-Around the World in 80 Days
-Mayflower

So not all new Spring stuff

Ordered Around the World - always a sucker for a map. I would also like full illustrations, but I like the motifs and there are a lot of them, so I suppose it is ok. The map definitely made this a required purchase for me especially since the older version was on my list of second hand books to be bought.

I also ordered South Polar Times - been wanting it for a while.

Another required purchase was Book of the New Sun - a favorite. So happy that is available as a standard version.

Probably before the next collection I will get Noughts and Crosses - I like the illustrations - and Man on the Moon. I really, really want Man on the Moon but will have to wait a bit.

I am happy for the Darwin reprint and will probably get it at some point.

Nights at the Circus I hesitate on because of the illustrations which are a little on the brutal stylistically for my liking. That said I will probably get it eventually.

Eagerly awaiting my delivery...probably 2 weeks. This is fine except while waiting I will probably cave in and place a second order...sigh.

>218 Willoyd:
>219 DMulvee:
>234 cronshaw:
Happy to be able to enable! And hope you all enjoy your delving. Their children's books are fabulous yes, in particular their "The Story of..." series of retellings of literary works is very well done, we stocked a few in my public library days. I sometimes even get a bit annoyed that they weren't around when I was little, as I know they'd have been right up my street when I was the right age for them! (As if I didn't already have enough books to read back then haha)

I should probably have remembered to mention too, that they're currently running a 3 for 2 promotion on the Pushkin Collection titles on their site, so if there's going to be any enabling, it may as well be now ;)

Back on topic though, time to have a proper look through the new collection...

I believe the $30 on $300 and the 10% off do stack. Unfortunately the 10% off doesn't count towards the spring catalog. I ordered 3 books from the spring catalog and one older book the discount was equivalent to $30 + 10% of the old volume. However, there are not two line items in the checkout invoice. The total discount is only labeled as the voucher discount.

My order was The Road and the previously released Kuhn (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions). It is so hard to find quality editions of modern philosophy of science core works so I figured I’d give it a shot.

This will be the first printed in China Folio book for me, so I will be curious to see if anything stands out.

I won't be making an order just yet but the intention will be to get:

Around the World in Eight Days - not as enthusiastic that there are not much illustrations but it still seems like a nice solid copy and I like the chapter head layouts.
Book of the New Sun - an automatic choice for me
The Road - never read it but the reviews here seem positive and the illustrations are really lovely

I put myself on a buying ban since the Musketeers LE buy until later in the year but caved recently and ordered East of Eden as I had just read my Folio Steinbecks back to back. Really good reads. So good I decided that I had to get East of Eden now (it was on my wishlist but held off due to price) and so my next Folio buys shall be kicked down the road. The smart thing to do would of been to include it with a multiple title purchase later but my finger slipped on the keyboard ....it could be worse :)

History of Greece and A Man on the Moon are very exciting and I'll be purchasing both to go with the Book of the New Sun standard edition. All in all not a bad collection.

>270 assemblyman: Around the World in Eight Days

Presumably the new turbo-charged version ;)

I already bought BotNS.

Going on my wishlist will be:
The Road (I already read this, so not a priority, but it's a nice looking edition at a fair price),
A Journal of the Plague Year (looks really well done),
Noughts and Crosses (again, nicely designed and I'm intrigued by the subject matter).

I would have jumped on Around the World, but I recently got the LEC. And Man on the Moon looks nice and would be a buy for me in a decent sale.

$30 off just got applied as soon as I looked at checkout (5 of the new books in the basket; USA)

I am still deciding if I want to add a few more...

>274 AnnieMod: That was the case for me as well. Unfortunately it just covers the tax...*sob*

>275 coffeewithastraw: Not even that for me. *sigh* :) Still... better than none.

It's nice to see a release which is getting such acclaim from members, it seems like its been a while since there has been no lamentation of the selections. There wasn't much for me in the post-Christmas sale, so I felt comfortable with splurging some of my book money this go round, I ordered:

Little Women
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Around the World in Eighty Days
A Journal of the Plague Year
You Only Live Twice
Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens
A Man on the Moon

I was intrigued by A Man on the Moon, but after seeing the cost I wasn't going to purchase it right now, but then, after seeing the videos and the production, I couldn't pass it up - I have a feeling this isn't one that is going to end up in a sale, it looks (from the comments here) that it's going to sell quite nicely at full price.

Went with The Road & The Diversity of Life today.

Watching Moon closely, but will have to wait for the book budget to replenish.

Well, I am having some fun! At least what a masochist would call fun. My wish list of current titles runs to 18 (and the best part of £1000) and I'll be able to order up to the high £200s within the month. While I'd like to get my £20 perk, the more I spend this time the more I'll eat into my budget for the summer sale. I have spent the day in endless headspinning debates around what may be in the sale, what may sell out before the sale, what I can safely hang fire on... and frankly every permutation of >£200-worth of titles has been in my mental basket at some point in the last 24 hours.

Gods, Germs and Steel: 528pp, 18 colour plates, 32 pages of mono portraits, 26 figures, 19 maps = £50
Creators, Conquerors and Citizens: 568pp, 32 colour plates, 42 further 'integrated images', 17 maps = £70

Now that IS price inflation.

Minimum price for any book = £40 plus postage; £150 for the double volume (although it does look the most interesting title, and the best value; certainly the most tempting). No proper illustrations for either of the two classic rehashes (sorry, but the map's a bit of a gimmick to me).

All in all, a great selection, but an easy miss, with only the Chaikin making me think twice (it was an excellent read). I think the days of me buying Folios full price, however attractive, have now passed me by. :-((

At least there are still sales and the secondary market :-)) (although, I agree, I don't think the Chaikin will go into a sale).

I selected 'A Journal of the Plague Year' from the new releases and then added 'The Mark of the Horse Lord' & 'The Aztecs'.

I have the other Rosemary Sutcliff volumes so was swayed by the low numbers on 'The Mark of the Horse Lord' and then plumped for Townsend's 'Aztecs' to add to my Ancient Empires obsession.

Delighted to see the discount was applied automatically.

>280 Willoyd: Yes, there is something about the £50 mark as a psychological barrier. Can anyone tell me if CC&C is 'fine' (a la SPQR with for example the extra nice slipcase, or anything like that), or run of the mill? I'm not able to check the site as the only internet I have till Monday is my ancient blower that can't vew the Folio site. Thanks in advance.

>276 AnnieMod: Absolutely, every bit helps! :)

>280 Willoyd:

I agree. I think the map is an absolute gimmick - I just love maps and so could not resist anyway.

However- I think it would have been far more desirable to have the map as endpapers and the addition of illustrations or the map as a gatefold and illustrations. Even at a slightly higher price. The size of the map seems a bit unwieldy for reading a story. I am worried it might tear at some point.

I still could not resist. It is a character flaw.

>283 coffeewithastraw:
Yes, maps are a passion of mine too: I've competed in orienteering for 50 years now, worked professionally in the sport for 20 of them, including surveying and drawing maps from schools to internationals, coaching and teaching how to use them, and did a geography degree primarily because of my love for them! Agree with your thoughts about gatefolding or endpapers. Former probably the better of the two. Smaller maps of sections interspersed throughout the book would have made for some fabulous illustration. I think I'd have bitten then!

>272 folio_books: Ha, I thought it was the Phileas Fogg does Top Gear edition.

Order placed, excluding The Princess Bride but still $700. The discounts (thank you dar.lynk for the code) exceeded the shipping charge, which was nice to see. And, as noted somewhere, we few Folio buyers in South Dakota don't seem to reach the threshold for charging sales taxes, so no tax was added to my order.

>284 Willoyd: Small maps interspersed would have been magnificent. Sigh. I would like a literary adventure story, illustrated, also with maps interspersed. I hope the mole is listening.

I did not realize one could compete in orienteering like that. Sounds really interesting. I just googled it and now I know what I will be reading about for the next while...thanks!

All this praise for A Man on the Moon is making me think I should get it. It does look like a brilliant Folio edition. The trouble is I've never read the work, in my huge ignorance wasn't even aware of it. Would anyone kindly venture to say how it compares to Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff?

>280 Willoyd:

GGS was published nearly a quarter of a century and many editions ago. CCC was published just a couple of years back. There’s bound to be a big difference in the cost of the rights

And here I was hoping it won't be a very expensive collection... Order is in...

A Journal of the Plague Year
Noughts and Crosses
Nights at the Circus
The Road
Creators, Conquerors & Citizens
Around the World in Eighty Days

The Moon book and Bond will wait (unclear if that will mean waiting a day or a month or longer)...; Wolfe and Darwin are already here (the LE and the older edition respectively). And Folio is not my preferred publisher for comics :)

Just when I manage to cut down and they do that kind of a collection...

>289 affle: Thanks for this, I hadn't looked at it that way. It does answer my question too I suppose but not the answer I was hoping on - CCC is presumably a 'standard' edition then. Never mind - it's an instant buy for my given the subject anyway.

>289 affle:
GGS was published nearly a quarter of a century and many editions ago. CCC was published just a couple of years back. There’s bound to be a big difference in the cost of the rights
Twenty pounds per book difference? Wow! I'm sure you're right, but it makes the CCC price ridiculous. Anyway, I've just bought a brand new hardback edition for £25 from my local bookshop (a lucky chance enquiry), especially as I could use a loyalty to pay off a fiver's worth of it. Nice looking American edition; I can live without the colour pics. Takes up less space on the shelves too! Used the difference to buy a copy of the second set of Peter Watson's Ideas, A History, which I missed out on first time round and have hankered after ever since.

>288 cronshaw: I haven't read "A Man on the Moon" so I defer to others who have read both books to discuss differences in style. Substantively, the books cover different periods. The Right Stuff is focused on the original Mercury program and the seven Mercury astronauts while also focusing a lot on the life of US test pilots, the group from which the seven were all chosen. Indeed, it made something of a star out of Chuck Yeager, a test pilot not selected to be an astronaut.

I was surprised to not see some reissues and updates in 2019 (the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11) and researched some books to read on the subject. A Man on the Moon received much praise and has been on my TBR list. As I understand it, the book is focused on the Apollo program and tells the stories of each of the Apollo flights, including all of the moon landing flights. It relies heavily on astronaut interviews and has received praise from a number of those astronauts. If you want a complete picture of the US space program, you'll need to find a third book that covers the two-man Gemini program. And I don't think there is a lot of specifics on the Russian space program in either book.

I'm eager to buy and read this book and the only question is whether I can hold out until December so I can put it on my Christmas wish list to avoid taking the charge against my 2020 book budget (which is very much at risk).

>290 AnnieMod: “ And Folio is not my preferred publisher for comics :)”

LOL.
Agreed!

>292 Willoyd:

You’ll enjoy the Peter Watson, I’m fairly sure. That set seems to have had rather less attention than I think it deserves.

I went ahead with The Iliad (finishing the set), Plague Year, Around the World (I admit the map is visually appealing to me), Descent of Man (the last one I was missing), and Noughts & Crosses (taking a chance on this book). I may go for another round and buy some other titles if I'm able, especially Creators, Conquerors & Citizens it looks quite nice.

>293 Redshirt: For those interested in USA Space Program, I highly recommend Bill Whittle's podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cold-war-what-we-saw/id1471188269 , episodes from 2019.
There are four and they are magnificent. Give it a try, you will not regret it.
There is a video version too, but its not free.

Make sure you view the episodes from 2019.
2020 podcast is about Cold War years.

I went in for...

Noughts and Crosses
The Road
Little Women (gift for my niece)
Pride and Prejudice
True Grit
The Dispossessed
I Am Legend
Traitor's Purse (low stock)
Life in an English Country House (which apparently the new catalog says is also "low stock) - I don't actually buy a lot of nonfiction from FS, but this seems like a really nice edition.

Off-topic but does anyone know where Wuthering Heights is printed? Thinking about throwing it into my order to go with Jane Eyre...

>299 adriano77: Germany

>300 RRCBS:

Thanks for the prompt response!

>288 cronshaw: It's a brilliant read - it's a different style to Wolfe but just as much an attention-grabber.

>295 affle:
Thank you for that. I'm currently reading and enjoying the first book (books, as FS splits it into two), so looking forward to it very much. I've also got his German Genius and Holy Roman Empire on the shelves ready to read - I've dipped into both, and have really enjoyed what I've sampled. Formidable lengths, but highly readable. Ideas certainly does seem to slip under the radar: I was pleasantly surprised to be the only bidder on a pristine looking copy, currently in the post, so fingers crossed.

I just purchased Journal of the Plague Year and used the 10% discount to purchase In Parenthesis, which is low stock. Nothing else from the new collection grabbed me as "must buy."

I was perusing The Road the other day, and came across a passage which really resonated with me, hope you don't mind me sharing it:

He cocked the gun and aimed it out over the bay and pulled the trigger. The flare arced up
into the murk with a long whoosh and broke somewhere out over the water in a clouded light and hung
there. The hot tendrils of magnesium drifted slowly down the dark and the pale foreshore tide started in
the glare and slowly faded. He looked down at the boy's upturned face.

They couldn't see it very far, could they, Papa?
Who?
Anybody.
No. Not far.
If you wanted to show where you were.
You mean like to the good guys?
Yes. Or anybody that you wanted them to know where you were.
Like who?
I dont know.
Like God?
Yeah. Maybe somebody like that.

Imagine my delight when this turned out to be one of the illustrations:

Not a bad collection for once. Might indulge sooner rather than later.

Woke up at 4:30am, ordered Bond, The Road, and Jules Verne, then went back to bed.

Is anyone using the 10% code in the UK? I've seen several people mention using it, but I don't know where they're from. Thanks.

>250 dar.lynk: ...voucher code R24PD

Thanks!! That worked! I picked off a bunch of older stuff from my wish list.

>251 SolerSystem:

Yes, it stacks. The automatic threshold discount is applied first. After that, the 10% voucher code applies to the adjusted total comprised of whatever is not from the current release. Well, maybe not LE’s...I didn’t try buying any of those.

If all you’re buying are new release books, only the automatic threshold discount will apply. If all you’re buying are previous release books, both discounts apply in full.

>293 Redshirt: >302 InVitrio: thanks for the further info :) I hadn't realised that The Right Stuff covered only the Mercury program. I'm impressed with the reviews for A Man on the Moon I've come across on-line almost all of which are glowing.

>280 Willoyd: I was struck too by the considerable price increase for Creators, Conquerors & Citizens compared to the similar Guns, Germs & Steel edition which is exactly the same height (despite the Folio blurb describing CCC as 'large-format' when at 10" it's the same size as many standard FS history editions) and printed in Europe.

Seriously, a huge thank you to >250 dar.lynk: for sharing the code, which worked well for me as two of the three books in my order (to qualify for $30 discount) were not from the Spring Collection. That increased my savings from $30 to $55, the two offers together covering the S&H and Sales Tax.

I purchased:

The Road (not familiar with it, but love the design and illustrations)
Letters from Fairyland (standard edition)
A Storm of Swords (kicking myself for not ordering before the $20 price increase, but discounts helped mitigate)

This forum continues to be a wealth of information and I am truly appreciative of everyone's constructive contributions as I find myself with less and less time to monitor developments and Folio news.

>279 Retronaut78:

It’s the same for me!

Two must buys at the moment for me are

The Road
A Kestrel for A Knave

I’m just confused about what I can add safely to my cart to get the 20£ off without missing out on a bigger discount in the summer sale.

My alternatives to add and get the 200£ off are:

Ubik
I Am Legend
Rebecca
Stasiland

A bit off-topic but I’m still an amateur when it comes to Folio books. What books would be best to benefit the most from the current 20£ off 200£ offer without having regrets during the summer sale?

Highly unlikely Ubik I Am Legend or Rebecca will be in the Summer Sale

>313 Utkrisht: That's the eternal dilemma! To buy or wait for the sale. It's been said a lot here that if you really want a book, buy it, because the kicking yourself you'd do if it subsequently went on sale wouldn't be a patch on if it sold out. It doesn't help that if a book has been out long enough to be a sale candidate, it may have been out long enough to be getting low, but Folio do put a low stock counter on the site (and there are some dark arts you can try around putting huge numbers of a book in your basket and seeing at what point the site tells you there aren't enough). While I don't have a crystal ball, I'm optimistic about seeing Stasiland in a sale - it's on my wishlist too!

As far as I'm concerned this is the best collection I've seen in a while. I'll place a decent order towards the end of the month so I'm in for some agony.

There's a lot I like but my only instant buy will be "The Road" (+ the already purchased TBotNS). The rest of my order will be decided in a "strategic" manner - that is, items that take advantage of the 10% discount and FOMO candidates (Rebecca, Rama etc)

Books arrived ten minutes ago. At a quick glance they are all immaculate, indeed the box they came in looks pristine, too. Like an idiot I added two copies of the Bond to my basket. One will be going back.

>314 pop24:

Thank you so much for the suggestions. I think it’s safe to assume that Rebecca sells well enough for it to not be on sale. Plus it already went out of stock earlier and I did notice they have ~1400 copies of it in the restock (they accidentally enabled the low stock counter on the day it was restocked so it was visible). Also, they seem to be sharing some post of it on social media where someone bought it. Rebecca it is!

>315 Retronaut78:

Thank you! This is indeed insightful and it makes sense even more so because I’m not exactly a collector. The intention is to put together a personal library of quality books and titles that will outlive me and last generations. I also feel guilty if I have books on my shelf that I haven’t read so I make sure to read excerpts and samples before buying a book so I can stick with it.

In that case, and based on pop24’s suggestions, I’m more likely to get Ubik and I Am Legend. I have a birthday coupon too so I will try clubbing that with my purchase. It will at least cover the Express shipping.

Let me indulge in the dark arts a bit just for consolation. Will update my findings here ;-)

Also, I recently noticed on one of their media handles a response to a question by a follower. They hinted that they will be restocking The Foundation Trilogy set later this year (a comment on the Instagram post for Book of The New Sun).

There go my financial aspirations for the year.

>318 Utkrisht: They hinted that they will be restocking The Foundation Trilogy set later this year
This fills me with hope :) Another wishlist miss.

>319 bacchus.: Yes! That’s uncharacteristic of them but to quote, they said

“Possibly! It might be back later this year 😊”

>264 assemblyman: Well I emptied my basket, logged out, and started over. Got the $30 off plus the 10% coupon code worked for non-Spring Collection items.

Picked up A Man on the Moon as well as the 2-volume Dr. Zhivago, which has been sitting in my basket awaiting more items.

A bit of a splurge for me in both cases, but...I cannot NOT own A Man on the Moon. It looks completely amazing.

>321 chrisrsprague: I am glad it worked out for you. A Man on the Moon does look really impressive. I picked up the Zhivago last year and it is a lovely edition.

>319 bacchus.: I would say a reprint of Foundation is a near certainty, as Apple TV have made a big budget adaption starting later in 2021.

The trailer looks nothing like the books and it will probably be awful, but if causes the books reprinted all to the good!

We might even get the prequels and sequels.

>323 Uppernorwood:

Re: prequels and sequels it seems a frequent wish around here, not just for this title, but have we ever - or more than once, say - seen it happen?

The Foundation Trilogy! I really hope they decide to reprint Fahrenheit 451 as well, but I think it's unlikely

>324 GusLogan: not often, and it’s unlikely. But the FS strategy of following pop culture might make it more likely.

Sorry to be another one to add to the list but Book of the New Sun arrived with very scratched and rubbed paper boards. The box it came in was well packed and had no signs or any damage. The fact this has happened to so many people now would surely mean there’s a bit of quality control issue with c and c offset not checking the packages before shipping them. I contacted folio yesterday but haven’t heard back yet but I’m sure this is a very busy time with the new release.

>327 Charon49: - This makes me worried about my order. I have had very few issues with damaged books (and two issues with them sending something I didn't order!), but I will be looking my copy over very carefully when it arrives.

>327 Charon49:
Or a problem with the EC Group warehouse in Grays. As you can see from their advertising, they stack books unprotected in pallets, and the packer should be able to pick out damaged copies. https://www.ecgroup.co.uk/case-studies/the-folio-society.aspx

>311 UK_History_Fan: You are welcome

After many orders I’ve had copies with minor scratches or dings to spines and slipcases which don’t bother me too much never anywhere close to the damage on Book of the New Sun and it also costing 295 aud. Could well be the EC pallet stacking that glossy paper boards showing rubbing and scratching much more prominently than a tougher buckram.

Also side note if folio do deem a replacement and to keep the damaged copy I will give it to my brother and hopefully convert him into a Wolfe fan.

>331 Charon49: The "rubbing" damage seems to be one of the major complaints with the BOTNS set. Glossy paper boards can look really great, but I wonder if this wasn't just a poor practical design choice on Folio's part, as my general experience with books with glossy boards is that rubbing damage happens very readily if they are not handled very carefully.

Placed my order

A Man on the Moon
The Road
Night at the Circus
East of Eden (which I'd put off buying for too long)

Pretty excited. May end up going back and buying a few more from this collection, but I've got the ones I really want now.

I apologize, as I'm not sure where else to put this, but I perused the comments section on the FS Instagram page, and they noted the following in responses to users:

A Feast for Crows will be released "later this year."
The Great Gatsby reprint - "we are hoping we might be able to have it later this year."
Peter Pan "might be back later this year."
Fahrenheit 451 reprint - "not in our current plans, but might be back in the future."
Sharpe - "won't be long to wait."
Another Nabokov novel - "on our list for the future."
Twenty Thousand Leagues reprint - "not in our plans at the moment."

I am personally quite disappointed about Twenty Thousand Leagues, but it's good to know. Again, if anyone feels this is off-topic, I do apologize, but I was unsure of which topic would be most appropriate. I hope this is helpful for those looking forward to future collections.

Twenty Thousand Leagues is a baffling one. It sat in their warehouse, year after year, never selling particularly well. I recall it being in the sales. Now that it's out of print, the secondary valuations have gone crazy. I think I saw it going for several hundred pounds on eBay recently.

>334 indianabones: Thanks for the heads up. The Great Gatsby is a welcome reprint as it is a lovely edition which I don't have and secondary prices can be ridiculous for it. It would be an automatic buy for me as I would never have bought it at the secondary prices it goes for. I think I saw a response on their Facebook page previously where they confirmed they are also intending to do a reprint of The Master and the Margarita.

>335 LondonLawyer: I think it is not going to get any better price wise on that one if there is no reprint planned as the current release of Around the World in Eighty Days will increase the demand for it even more. The increase in demand for fantasy/sci fi titles in the last few years has also bumped up the price in the secondary market. It is a lovely edition which I would love to have but never at the prices it goes for on the likes of Ebay. Also I don't think that people who buy it at those ridiculous prices realize or bother checking that it originally went for only £39.95 on its original run.

>336 assemblyman:

The Master and Margarita? If they use a newer or better translation I would snag it the moment it comes out but that’s unlikely if it’s a reprint.

At this point it makes sense to make a new thread to collate all of this information that’s coming from different Folio social handles. We can add the source and reports there. Just a suggestion.

Based on this, we can say that The Great Gatsby and The Foundation Trilogy are likely reprints for 2021. Maybe a thread like “Reprints 2021”?

>329 Jayked:

Thank you for the photos.

I am very surprised at how all those Folio Society books are piled so high, on their sides and without better protection.

I thought both new and used books should ideally be stored upright and that if they are laid flat they should never have other books put on top of them.

I also put my stock copies of new Folio Society books in a protective plastic pocket.

Having seen your photos, I now understand why so many reports of damaged brand new Folio Society books arise.

>329 Jayked: But surely the packers at EC Group's warehouse wouldn't be able to see if there's damage to the paper boards, as >327 Charon49: describes, as the boards of the four two volumes wouldn't be visible inside the slipcase? Or am I completely missing something here? I'm not yet fully caffeinated this morning.

(edited courtesy of terebinth's superior caffeination)

>339 cronshaw:

Two volumes rather than four in the current Book of the New Sun, but otherwise, yes, such were my thoughts too on reading this section of the thread, and my customary large earthenware mug of black Blend 37 has had time to get my mind up and running, so I think we're on to something.

>337 Utkrisht: I just checked that post I saw last year and it seems to be a reprint that is due this year.

>341 assemblyman: That’s amazing! Thank you! In that case we have three reprints extremely likely for 2021.

I just hope they decide to *not* release/reprint the Gormenghast Trilogy this year because I don’t want to file for bankruptcy.

On I side note, how did you upload the screenshot? I’m on mobile and not able to do that unless it’s an image url.

>342 Utkrisht: I uploaded it from a laptop and used an image url.

>343 assemblyman: Ok, understood. I will try the image url method on mobile. Thanks :)

>339 cronshaw:

Exactly my reaction to all this: this can't be down to packing etc, as the boards are all protected by the slipcases, which in turn are wrapped up, presumably from printers.

This strikes me as likely to be down to one of or both of a poor choice of materials (as >332 whytewolf1: suggests), and something going wrong at the printers. In terms of the materials, it wouldn't be the first time that FS have tried something that hasn't worked long term*, but the first time it's been so public, partly because of the publication itself (appealing to a wider market), partly down to the greater interaction between customers made possible through social media, and partly the frenzy and expectation that now seems to surround FS books themselves (the latter of which must leave FS executives rubbing their hands in delight).

*Immediately jumping to mind are (1) the metallic Brave New World, and (2) the Dorothy Parker book where, IIRC, it started cracking up and disintegrating quite early - both of which I had.

>327 Charon49:

My BotNS has arrived with rubbed covers too. I think the issue could be the books sliding within the slipcase during transport. When mine arrived the semi-transparent paper cover had a tear where the books had been pushing against it.

Can someone upload a photo of this rubbing that seems to plague BotNS? I'm curious.

>347 adriano77:

I’m not sure how to upload photos in a post, but hopefully you can access them using the following link. I’m undecided as to whether to ask for a replacement. I probably wouldn’t bother for a £40 book, but for £125 don’t particularly want something that looks a bit worn already. If it’s a common issue then the replacement may be no better.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ampLxzuxU5g8mwwX8

>348 neonyoshi: I’m not sure how to upload photos in a post

Go to the FSD Wiki:
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Groups:Folio_Society_Devotees

Scroll down about three-quarters, How to add a picture to your FSD forum post

If anyone received their copy of the Descent of Man, would you comment on your initial impressions, particularly in the context of recently voiced concerns? I have Voyage of the Beagle and Origin of Species, one was printed in Germany and the other in China, and to my crude perceptions, I don’t see a significant difference.

>348 neonyoshi: That doesn't look good. I would have definitely ask for replacement.

>340 terebinth: thank you, have amended. I should perhaps try your black Blend 37.

>348 neonyoshi:

Thanks, I'm able to see them just fine. The first cover photo is pretty bad, yeah. Looks like it's been sliding around.

>350 Bacon.And.Eggs: I have both, Origin having been printed in Germany.

The differences are small, but Origin is better quality overall in my opinion. There's the obvious differences in paper - the C&C paper used for Descent is exactly as you would expect and has a lot less texture. Print quality is fine otherwise during a very quick check.

The cover has a different texture. I'd describe it as softer and more cloth like, but it's difficult to describe. You can hopefully see the different textures in the photo below:


The slipcase is a slightly darker black, and the top and bottom are about half as thick as those used for Origin, which means it's very slightly shorter on the shelf (maybe 3-4mm). I find this to be quite annoying, to be honest.


The biggest difference in quality really seems to be the binding, which, at least on my copy, is less precise and I've found a couple of instances where the glossy paper used for colour images is slightly stuck to the page before, making it difficult to open as flat as I'd like without teasing them apart.

>354 JamesMcMinn: Thank you for the overview and photographs. Also, you have a very nice assortment of science titles!
Edited to add it's interesting the books are the same height yet Descent of Man's slipcase is a touch shorter. I understand your irritation from this in the photo of your book lineup!

>338 English-bookseller: This is pretty typical for warehouses and stock rooms, as it's generally not very practical to have the books aligned as they would be in a home library, and presumably, this is fairly short-term storage, as they would be shelved directly from case boxes (where they are, yes, packed flat and stacked one upon another, straight from the printer) and then to be "picked and packed" and shipped to customers.

I am curious why people think it is better to store books upright instead of stacked horizontally.

It seems to me that storing upright is primarily for ease of access, as doing so allows taking a book off the shelf without shifting any other books (as might be required if the books were stacked horizontally on top of each other).

If anything, storing books vertically seems more likely to cause damage, given that gravity will inevitably pull the text block down over time for any book with sufficient thickness and weight, though this is mitigated to some degree by slipcases, higher quality bindings, and so forth.

In traditional printing and binding processes, all the phases “under weight” are essentially horizontally stacked (and with added pressure).

When I have moved, I have always wrapped the books that I care about in bubble wrap and stacked them horizontally in the boxes for maximum protection.

What’s the argument for vertical shelving beyond access?

>357 abysswalker: "What’s the argument for vertical shelving beyond access?"

When upright, the pressure seen by each book is both minimal and uniform. When laid horizontally, the lower books see greater pressure - pressure normal to the most flexible dimension of the book. The latter presents a problem with changes in heat and humidity. If not warping of the boards, the ink will start sticking to the opposite pages. The former still poses a risk with sagging, but that is largely mitigated with a good binding and smaller text blocks. Now, if you store books vertically but cram them together such that the side-to-side pressure has increased, temperature and humidity changes can cause the unsupported portions of the books to fan out (assuming you've aligned all the spines up and the depth of each book still varies) or otherwise warp.

Warehouse and distribution centers like the EC Group (https://www.ecgroup.co.uk/case-studies/the-folio-society.aspx) can get away with horizontal stacking because their warehouse would necessarily be temperature and humidity controlled (better than our own homes, at least), stacked columns are generally all the same book, the books are in shrink wrap (which helps a little in maintaining mechanical form), and with a little luck, the storage time is short. Well, it's a lot shorter than the time our books see while sitting in our libraries. If Folio is moving away from shrink wrapping new books, I have concerns...that plastic provides a wonderful anti-scuffing barrier.

I believe the same general argument for vertical storage is applicable to LP's, as well. Though, humidity should be less a factor with vinyl than paper.

I have yet to see a discussion/pictures from anyone who ordered Journal of the Plague Year. Given that it will be a month before I receive mine, would be curious to hear reports from anyone who received it.

>354 JamesMcMinn:

Curious, what printing is your Origin? Mine is also printed in Germany, but something like 14th or 15th printing, and it's quite a different colour from yours.

>360 adriano77: Mine is 7th printing from 2009 (also printed in Germany) and matches the dark mustard color of the photo fairly well. What color is yours?

>361 Chemren:

It's more of a paler yellow, maybe trending toward green (but not green). Pretty ugly. I much prefer the colour of JamesMcMinn's printing.

-edit.

My first printing of Origin of Species is by Cambridge University Press but it has a flat rather than rounded spine and therefore doesn't quite match the appearance of the later Darwin volumes which were both produced in Germany.

No Sir Walter Scott of course.

>359 LBShoreBook: I ordered mine but it wasn’t included in my pack of books delivered yesterday. Folio say it will be delivered soon but was out of stock. I assume that no one has yet received their volume.

In the meantime my wallet is £270 lighter but the books I’ve received are very good.

>364 LesMiserables:
And it will continue: classic fiction 'selections' are set in a groove of just rehashing 'popular' titles.

>364 LesMiserables: I would very much like to post a meme of a skeleton waiting patiently.

>305 U_238: I think that is a lovely illustration but overall I’m pretty disappointed with the artwork. There are some pretty vivid and frightening images in that book but the Folio Society apparently wanted soft inoffensive illustrations. Those who read the book have to be comfortable with FICTIONAL gore so why get weak with the illustrations?
Actually, I don’t think the Folio Society minds gruesome illustrations. Jurassic Park has a disturbing piece and their nonfiction publications sometimes contain REAL images that are as disturbing as anything found in The Road. So maybe it was the illustrator’s choice to produce safe images.

>336 assemblyman: Why does the original list price matter for anything that’s no longer available directly from the publisher? It may as well have cost ten quid.

>368 mad_yosemite: I’ve been trying not to pay too much attention to the illustrations, but I haven’t found the brief glimpses of the others to be that great so far.

>358 treereader: re: horizontal stacking, makes sense! I assume the issue would be mitigated somewhat if the stacks are kept relatively short.

As a side note, traditional East Asian study rooms, and at least some libraries, (before the western style codex book became popular) stored books horizontally in small stacks.

>358 treereader: I don't believe there's much danger to pressure affecting books at the bottom of a pile of Folio volumes stored horizontally if they're all in slipcases. The vertical sides of the slipcases will take almost all the pressure off the text blocks.

>371 cronshaw:

Indeed! Good point! I had forgotten about the slipcase factor. I have far more non-slipcased books than slipcased ones, so my thoughts went in that direction first.

>370 abysswalker:

Yeah, I would think small stacks are fairly safe. Well, I certainly hope so: I have to keep some very large books in short horizontal stacks simply because they don’t fit any other way.

Ordered:

A Journal of the Plague Year
Creators, Conquerors & Citizens
The Book of the New Sun
Around the World in Eighty Days
Iron Kingdom
A History of Christianity
The Stories of English

The Spring Collection catalogue is now available to view on the Wiki

https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Groups:Folio_Society_Devotees

>375 folio_books: thank you. I know it is somewhat standard to maintain this collection of catalogs now, but thank you none the less.

It is a much different experience to browse the collection via catalog compared to the web site. Folio should release the pdf directly.

I was tempted by several titles I wasn’t even considering before, though I’ve already placed an order for this collection and my next will probably wait for the summer.

Finally settled down on an order.

Journal of a Plague Year
Around the World in Eighty Days
Nights at the Circus
A Folio Anthology of Poetry

Rather excited about these, though still wishing I would have seen some titles I have been hoping for, like Bradbury's Dandelion Wine (would be perfect for the summer collection though...hint, hint), more Gaiman like Good Omens, Stardust, Neverwhere and The Graveyard Book, Emerson's Essays, The Sketchbook of Washington Irving and some modern fiction like Memoires of a Geisha, Girl with a Pearl Earring and Year of Wonders. Also still hoping for Keble's Christian Year. Still need those other 2 GoT sets too, that need to be released! Would also love to see New Grub Street, The Odd Women and The Nether World, to replace my well worn paperbacks. Have they ever put out Out of Africa? I would love that one, too. Prices are getting a bit sky high these days though. I remember when a book was usually half the price they are now, and more nicely bound, nicer slipcases, and better paper quality. Sorry to see FS taking this route.

>377 Lady19thC: Have they ever put out Out of Africa?

Published by Folio in 1980.

Anyone know what’s happened to apostrophes in The Road. Some are there but not for cant, wasnt etc. It’s presumably from the original text as I can’t believe so many typographical errors would appear. Does anyone know the narrative to this?

Thanks for and guidance!

>379 pse1: Seems like it's by design. See here https://readalittle.weebly.com/the-road-by-cormac-mccarthy

>379 pse1: Yes, Cormac McCarthy is not much on punctuation. I'm reading Blood Meridian right now, and he uses a number of typically hyphenated words that are not actually hyphenated in the text, not to mention the sentences that run on and on. It's just an element of his style.

If "not spelling things properly" is a "style", man, there are a lot of stylish people in the world!

>380 dar.lynk:
Regarding the readalittle link, the only “mood” I feel when an author misuses the language is irritation. That device is appropriate in dialog where the speaker might be illiterate or using a dialect, but not in the main narrative.

>383 jroger1: Maybe it's his idea to slow the reader down. When punctuation is missing, we usually re-read the text several times, until we truly get the meaning the author tried to convey... The goal in "Road",I think, is to make us feel deep despair and brokenness of everything, punctuation including. I think he succeeded.

It's not just a part of The Road. That's the way McCarthy has always written. He uses commas and colons sparingly and shuns quotation marks and semi-colons. For better or worse, that's his thing. So if you don't fancy The Road for those reasons you probably won't like the rest of his novels. And that doesn't even take the subject matter into consideration. I, for one, love his work but I can also understand how these things could turn other readers off.

>385 skubrick2899: strikes me as a gimmick masquerading as a writing style

This is a fascinating discussion to me, because I've always found McCarthy's prose easier to read and understand for exactly these reasons.

We don't speak or listen or think with those distinctions, and to me it makes the entire process between reader and writer more intimate. But you have to pay attention. It's like leaning in to hear a quiet friend speak.

>386 Uppernorwood:
Depends. I usually really dislike things like this but Bernardine Evaristo messes around with punctuation in Girl, Woman, Other, and it really works - the paragraphs sing (at least for me!). The only McCarthy I've read so far is All the Pretty Horses, and his style worked well in that.

Regarding McCarthy - His sparse punctuation is something I enjoy. I never find his work unclear. I find it useful to remind myself that there are no rules in language, only usage. And the purpose of punctuation is clarity. If it clarity isn't sacrificed, the absence isn't missed. Plenty of writers have done without quotation marks.

Of course, he's intentionally obtuse, sometimes.

>386 Uppernorwood: >387 kcshankd: >388 Willoyd:

This is interesting to me as I have avoided authors (and poets) who fiddle with grammar because it distracts me and makes me feel like they are a bit full of themselves by ignoring the protocols we have developed to transfer their stories and ideas to the reader. I was a copy editor on my HS newspaper, so maybe I’m just way too indoctrinated.

The comments above discussing how the story becomes more alive for these readers as grammar gets out of the way makes a legitimate case for it, though. I was going to say that the best story is one that makes you forget you are holding a book, but then I don’t want to forget I’m holding a beautiful Folio Society edition. What a dilemma!

>390 BionicJim:

I would say that deciding you're going to write a novel in the first place requires you to be a bit full of yourself. No matter how humble some writers may appear to be.

I think I’ve got used to it now. I don’t find the exclusion of quotation marks so egregious but in concise to and fro conversations which might last for half a page or more I find I need to concentrate on who’s saying what to who.

Certainly the long sentences and the reporting of day after day of walking passes on the feeling of endless trekking through a desolate environment.

Despite that it doesn’t take long to read the book.

>386 Uppernorwood: “ strikes me as a gimmick masquerading as a writing style”

“Affectation” is the word that occurred to me.

>393 St._Troy:

The counter-argument, of course, is that explicit punctuation and quotation marks are the affectation.

Like I mentioned above, we don't typically speak or think that way.

It takes some time to get used to certain authors and their styles, but it's also nice to read vastly different concepts of how authors interpret language and how it flows within their novels. Faulkner, Proust, and Llosa, to name a few, have a sentence that takes up multiple pages. Saramago only uses commas and periods for punctuation. Thomas Bernhard novels consist of one long paragraph from beginning to end with no chapters or quotation marks. Personally this is what makes some books so wonderful and memorable. Affectation? Maybe, maybe not, but give Bernhard a try - his prose is beautiful. Some styles I don't like as much as others but I enjoy the change and it breaks up the monotony of so many books.

Everyone's free to enjoy the writing they enjoy, and writers are free to "explore" etc., but the effort required to defend McCarthy's style only underscores the "sore thumb" aspect of his writing (it's a bit like when you have to explain a joke) - his writing repels those that it repels for the same reason that it attracts those that it attracts (for the former, he has added an obstruction; to the latter, he has stripped one away), and I find that interesting.

Only Victor Borge spoke with punctuation (look on YouTube for Phonetic Punctuation). We don't speak with it, because it is meant for the written word. That said, I don't generally have any problems with its stylistic exclusion, such as in The Road, the only one of McCarthy's books I have read.

>396 St._Troy:

Same, absolutely.

>390 BionicJim: ... you'll have nightmares with Riddley Walker :)

>394 kcshankd: we don't typically speak or think that way

But we do! We don't say or think the word 'comma', 'full stop', 'question mark', 'exclamation mark' or 'inverted commas', but they're clearly conveyed through pauses and changes of tone in our speech. These elements of written punctuation simply represent the audible punctuation and emphases of natural, everyday speech.

Of course, but writing that way comes at a cost - it is more formal. Like reading a play that includes stage directions.

https://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/cormac-mccarthy-on-james-joyce-and-punctuat...

First stating as a given that writers can write what they want how they want and readers can do likewise, some punctuation represents things in speech (pauses, emphasis), and other punctuation allows fine-tuning not possible in audible speech - punctuation isn't exactly a drawer full of broken hood ornaments.

>401 kcshankd: "...writing that way comes at a cost - it is more formal. Like reading a play that includes stage directions."

To be clear: by "writing that way," are you saying that writing with punctuation comes at the cost of being like reading a play?

>401 kcshankd: I don't feel writing with standard punctuation is anything like reading a play with stage directions. The latter is distracting and reminds you of the artificiality of the whole thing, the former, by its very consistency and ubiquity, actually gets out the way and lets you lose yourself in the content.

>403 St._Troy: & 404

Yes, I believe that is what McCarthy is getting at.

I don't feel that using standard punctuation is any more formal, or more affected, than the natural pauses, tones and emphases of normal speech. Granted, there's a convention behind written punctuation, but then there's equally an accepted social convention that has evolved behind the large tonal and temporal variation in everyday speech patterns.

I don't think it's 'wrong' for an author to eschew any sort of convention in his or her narration, but I would hope that it serves a purpose, enhancing the meaning and/or reception of the work in some way, rather than just trying to seek attention in the manner of a gimmick.

Isn't it nice though to read different interpretations of language and how that fits within the narrative? It's boring to read the same style again and again and it's a breath of fresh air when authors are creative enough to have their own style and syntax. Just as in life nothing is concrete or structured and I find it pleasant when authors take liberties with writing. The same can be said with any author who revolutionizes writing for decades or even centuries whether it's Cervantes or Dostoevsky or Tolkien or Kafka.

I think McCarthy’s writing brilliantly achieves the subtle effect of reminding you how very useful normal punctuation is. Reading even a few paragraphs inspires in me a deep gratitude for our ancestors who invented the marks he eschews. It’s a very clever technique. I only wonder when he’ll have the courage to remind us of how wonderful word spacing and vowels are by writing a book that is one long chunk of unbroken consonants like ancient Hebrew.

Sorry, that was extremely snarky. I'm not a big fan of his writing but on the other hand I loved reading Robinson Crusoe with the random capitalization and crazy spelling. So I can see how something like this might be appealing.

>407 Joshbooks1: McCarthy’s body of work is probably my favorite contemporary take on the Western, with the exception of Oakley Hall’s Warlock. I’ve read most of his work other than the plains trilogy, which I just haven’t gotten to yet, though it has been a few years. Looking forward to revisiting it when my copy of The Road arrives.

To be honest, I didn’t even remember the punctuation style as a notable element of his writing until someone brought it up here. That’s how much it influenced the overall experience for me.

Blood Meridian has a certain degree of density to the prose, but The Road is about as approachable as a Stephen King novella as I recall. There are some reasons why I can imagine someone might dislike his work, such as his particular brand of cynicism regarding human nature or explicit depictions of gore and violence, but on the scale of his literary affectation doesn’t even rank compared to the big name modernist classics (Faulkner, Joyce, etc.), at least in my opinion.

>408 JedediahG: Ha!

>410 abysswalker: I agree, McCarthy is a brilliant story teller but his syntax never stood out to me. Ive only read The Road and Suttree and enjoyed them both and looking forward to reading more in the future. I would be happy if Folio continued to publish his works. The Road is a very safe choice, and although I enjoyed it, thought Suttree was better.

The one American author I've always struggled with is Pynchon. Some rave about him and he usually gets great reviews on Amazon but I've tried three of his books and for each was only able to get a quarter of the way through before I had to put it down.

>408 JedediahG: Hebrew has vowels, both as letters, which break consonants stream, and as dots and dashes under/above the letters.
It's actually a very cool language. With spaces between the words :)

Fun Fact: Ancient Hebrew did not have the vowel markings known as the niqqud, which were developed during the Early Middle Ages.

Does that qualify as a fun fact? I’m not sure...

As much as I enjoyed The Road, I find it bizarre how it could be seen as the equivalent, and possibly even an improvement, over using properly punctuated sentences. Maybe we should just eschew the written word altogether and revert to pictures on slate.

>315 Retronaut78:

Just an update. Based on your advice, I ended up buying three books from the “Last Chance to Buy” since I didn’t really want to wait and see if the stocks would survive until the sale and possibly miss out on them. I ended up buying:

A Kestrel for A Knave
Traitor’s Purse
King Leopold’s Ghost
Rebecca
The Road

Thanks again!

On a side note, I suspect that Ubik will be in the sale based on their social media activity but I’m quite happy with my purchase.

iquiteliketheideaofmccarthysbookpunctuationissonineteenthcenturydontyouthinknotusingitfreesupthemindtoamyriadwaysofinterpretationandusshersinalifetimeofpleasantspeculationastoexactlywhathesgettingat

My latest order just arrived:
A Journal of the Plague Year
Around the World in Eighty Days
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Rendezvous with Rama
The Book of the New Sun

Initial impressions are good, happy with all so far. Only condition issue was that the slipcase for BotNS had been properly crunched on one of the front top corners. At least the slipcase did its job and the books are unharmed. Also managed to give myself a paper cut on the shrink wrap replacement in my eagerness to open.

>417 boldface: you have me laughing, good one
>418 EdmundRodriguez: Sorry, I am sure I will do the same. Great choices.

>417 boldface: haha!

>413 dar.lynk:
>414 Mr.Fox:

Oh right, I wasn’t trying to pick on Hebrew as a language or writing system. That example just popped into my mind because I’d been reading about the difficulties in translating the Hebrew Bible and why certain passages could be interpreted in different ways. I believe modern written Hebrew has all the conveniences of spacing, vowels, and punctuation, and many other ancient written languages also had things that made them more difficult to read. Honestly, many modern languages have things that make them more difficult too; the variety of spellings in modern English make it more difficult to learn than, say, Spanish which is much more uniform and logical in its spelling. (Although I have an irrational fondness for all of the strange and varied English spellings that hint at a patchwork past.) I guess my point was just that those punctuation marks that McCarthy omits are genuine innovations that make written text more expressive and easier to read and I don’t feel like there’s any benefit to leaving them out.

Also as a sort of larger philosophy-of-art point I was trying to say that exploration and experimentation often lead to fruitful artistic innovation but that since the late nineteenth century there’s been a growing movement within the arts that prizes revolution and rupture with the old at all costs and gives greater value to novelty than it often deserves. Beauty, insight, craftsmanship, sensibility, a touch of the numinous—all of these (and much more) can contribute to great art just as much—or more—than novelty might. In fact, I think that an overreliance on novelty often leads to art-as-gimmick or art-as-juvenile-rebellion and those lose their interest quickly. Duchamp’s urinal had some meaning as a joke and reaction to his time but now that the moment he made it for has passed, I don’t think it has much to say to us. Other art that doesn’t depend solely on novelty but that leans on some of those other artistic virtues still does.

(I know that as Joshbooks1 mentioned people prize McCarthy’s writing for more than just its lack of punctuation. I’ve tried a couple of his novels and for a variety of reasons—and for no reason at all since a lot of my reaction to it is purely visceral—his writing just repels me. I guess it’s just one of those things. Hey, if we all liked the same things then we wouldn’t be able to debate each other about the Folio Society’s picks on this forum and then where would we be?)

>399 bacchus.: “ ... you'll have nightmares with Riddley Walker :)”
Ha ha, I actually refused to read Riddley Walker for that reason when my book club chose it many years ago, believing it was an annoying stunt. However, I attended the meeting and was intrigued by the discussion, so when the Folio Society LE became available I decided to dive in. In this case, I was able to suspend my disbelief because it’s supposed to be a journal from a barely literate writer 1000 years from now, so it makes sense there would be significant changes in words/spelling/grammar. I still found it a challenge to read this book (and haven’t finished it), but I wasn’t bothered by the presentation due to context, whereas I feel I am distracted by most other instances where an author chooses to create their own way of writing.

>417 boldface:

Oh, what would Aunt Dottie think?

>421 BionicJim: I wouldn't be able to appreciate the book as much (or finish the book that is) without the help of: http://www.errorbar.net/rw/Annotations

Anyone know what country the Little Women reprint comes from? Also, is it a different material from the last? I believe that one was buckram while this looks more like regular cloth on the website...

>424 adriano77: I have mine here, it is cloth and not buckram. It is also made in China :(

>425 L.Bloom:

Thanks for the quick response! Ridiculously disappointing on both counts. At this point I might as well just ignore all reprints.

>426 adriano77: Of course. It's interesting to note that I purchased the Rebecca reprint with the same order and it is buckram and made in Slovakia. The Rebecca volume is lovely but I will say that holding it to the light reveals some streaking in whatever coating they use for the buckram I.E. glossier streaks and duller streaks.

>424 adriano77: I have an older copy (Nov '18) and it is printed in Germany, it is buckram (according to the inside description). I don't see where it specifies a printing, though.

I woke up this morning determined to buy The Hornblower Set 1, but it is already sold out. Does anyone think it will be back in stock?

>429 LostStar: I would be surprised, given how long it has taken to sell out.

>428 Mooch360:
That'll mean it's the first printing.

>417 boldface:

A quick look at my FS "file" shows me I have 5 titles done in Slovakia. Two of those five had quality issues. Miniscule "sample" but...

>428 Mooch360:

Good to know. I'm curious, is this a hard to find volume or some such? I don't see anything listed anywhere.

>424 adriano77: I hate to contradict the other poster, but I asked this question in another venue, and there were multiple replies that it was, indeed, still bound in buckram. One poster even screenshotted the colophon, and though it is printed by C&C, it also states that it is bound in buckram.

If we are still talking about "Little Women" I am currently holding a cloth (not buckram) edition which I ordered and received in Feb. It is Chinese.

>434 whytewolf1: My colophon says bound in buckram but it is clearly cloth bound.

This is quite disappointing. They raised the price by £5 and then shifted the printing to China. Rather unfair.

I was just about to place my order, but now I need to rethink. Does anybody know if LW also uses Yu Long paper?

Also, has 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' also been reprinted in China?

>437 sekhmet0108: Can confirm that LW is Yu Long paper

wcarter, how about adding country of printing to the wiki?

>438 L.Bloom: Ah...thank you.

Now I am even more confused. My order seems almost exclusively made of books printed in China (BOTNS, Catch 22, LW...and maybe DADOES).

>436 RRCBS: Thanks. I guess I'll see for myself soon enough, anyway. I have one coming in my new order.

>440 Bob_Reader: I'm not entirely sure, I only have the most recent printing. It doesn't feel or look like particularly bad quality really. Just made in China and not buckram bound. I do prefer buckram but this cloth is fine with me.

>329 Jayked:
Not practical because information not generally available and printer may change from one print run to the next.

>445 Bob_Reader:
You are keen, as there was only a new release two weeks ago.
The FS normally has three releases a year, Spring, Summer and Autumn/Christmas (northern hemisphere seasons). The exact dates vary.

>445 Bob_Reader: You should wait for summer sale instead which will be probably in June

>445 Bob_Reader: Last year I am fairly sure the summer collection was released in May.

>450 Bob_Reader: The next sale will probably be in June if recent years are anything to go by.

>415 U_238: Just imagine the damage our Folio books on slate would undergo in shipping. Oh my.

So what’s the consensus re. Around the World in 80 Days? I haven’t placed my order yet, still wondering if this one worth adding.

My order finally arrived. Standard shipping 10 days to the US, so not that bad.

Like >418 EdmundRodriguez: 2 books had crumpled bottom right corners to the slip cases. I think with the present way of packing it will be impossible to get an uncrumpled corner on heavier books - maybe if ordered alone they will be ok?

My BOTNS has the same odd cut across the black top of one volume as noted by others (this doesn’t really bother me). What bothered me more was a dirt smudge on the interior page edges...as if handled by dirty hands. Which is odd. I was able to wipe most off with a dry soft cloth so probably only I will notice it now.

My south polar times slipcase has black grease-like smudges on it which I’ve never seen before- and it was sealed in plastic. Some of these marks are on the interior of the case as well, so must be from manufacture. (Printed in Slovakia). The book itself is perfect, thank goodness.

Around the world had no issues and was in perfect condition sandwiched between the larger books.

I won’t return for a couple of corners and faint odd stray marks but this is the first time I’ve had this experience. I’m hopeful not to have stray black marks again, but probably more crumpled corners are in the future.

Overall I love the books.

Probably will order again before the summer release and hope for the best.

Edit: just noticed a quarter size oil like stain to the corner of the back cover endpaper on South Polar Times. This is actually disappointing. Has this happened to anyone else?

>454 coffeewithastraw: Glad to hear you got your shipment! Sorry to hear about the quality issues though

>455 L.Bloom: Thanks.

For the curious I just figured out how to put pictures here. If anyone has had a similar issue like my South Polar Times did you replace the book?





Edit Hmm...maybe I didn’t figure out how to post pics.

>448 Bob_Reader:
I was looking at the Rainbow books and they fetch something like 10,000 on Ebay for the complete set sealed.
If they genuinely went for that, then somebody paid way, way over the odds. Two full sets have gone recently for c£2500, which is almost certainly a better guide to the going rate - both had only 1 or 2 bids. Still a huge amount.

>456 coffeewithastraw: Edit Hmm...maybe I didn’t figure out how to post pics.

What is the line of html you're attempting to post a picture with? Can't guarantee to help but if not I'm sure someone else on FSD will be able to.

>448 Bob_Reader: I was looking at the Rainbow books and they fetch something like 10,000 on Ebay for the complete set sealed.
>457 Willoyd: If they genuinely went for that

I suspect it's the old tale of the discrepancy between what a seller might ask and what the books will actually sell for. There's nothing to stop me advertising my Year Round Things To Do for only £1000, but I'm never going to sell it.

My order arrived a few days ago. I was mildly worried about the new packing method, but there were no problems. Overall, I was impressed by how fast my order made its way to Canada. Ordered on the 10th, shipping notification on the 11th, arrived on the 16th. I used expedited shipping, but I'm still impressed given current shipping conditions. I only ordered two books, one of which was from an older release and so in shrink (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions) while the other (The Road) had the new paper covering. The box also had crumpled paper filler to prevent shifting during transit.

The Kuhn volume is the first book printed in China that I have bought from Folio. The paper is slightly smoother than Abbey Wove, but it seems to suit the book. The printing and binding quality is excellent on my copy.

>458 folio_books:
I put the pictures in my junk folder and copied the url - I’m on an iPad so I can’t right click - excuse my ignorance and incompetence to gesture swiping please...apologies...

So it was IMG SRC=https://www.library thing.com/pic/8188282

Surrounded by the little greater than less than marks

I am sure many are laughing at my error- admittedly guilty at being totally incompetent in these matters!

>458 folio_books: you can examine the HTML in the thread yourself by using the view source capability of whatever browser you are using. In Chrome, for example, you can right click on the text and use the "Inspect" option.

>456 coffeewithastraw: the problem is that it looks like you have spread your image URL over multiple tags somehow. I see:

<img src="//www.librarything.com/pic/8188282">
<img src="%E2%80%9Chttps://www.librarything.com/pic/8188277%E2%80%9D">
<img src="%E2%80%9C">

Additionally, those links, once corrected, are to your gallery pages. You need to use the direct links to your images for embedding, which are:

"https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/d9/70/d9700ce0cad94b9636c58567851415742564944_v5.jpg"

"https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/55/d0/55d08c93ac4e890636c44567851415742564944_v5.jpg"

You can generally find the direct link by right clicking the image and selecting "Copy Image Address" (whatever your browser's equivalent is) or opening the image in a new tab/window and then copying the URL from the address bar (which would be a way to get the same info when using a tablet).

This will work:

<img src="https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/d9/70/d9700ce0cad94b9636c58567851415742564944_v5.jpg" width=600>

<img src="https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/55/d0/55d08c93ac4e890636c44567851415742564944_v5.jpg" width=600>

(I added the "width" parameter so that the images won't be too wide, which is generally a good idea on LibraryThing.)

As so, interpreted:

>462 abysswalker: wow thank you for that.

Here are the other 2 pictures





Edit:Ok still not working I give up.

Has anyone had this issue with South Polar Times or any other FS book?
(Like the pics which abysswalker was kind enough to post since I am incompetent).

There are also black marks on the front of the case, a crumbled corner, and a dent impression from the smaller Around the World book I think being against it.

>463 coffeewithastraw: it's not your fault; the LibraryThing UI for image posting is terrible. Users should not need to know HTML and copy around these ugly URLs to use this functionality. (I see some ellipses and HTML character codes in your most recent attempt, so I suspect the problem is that you are copying text rather than URLs.)

Here are your other two images, with code examples:

<img src="https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/da/b4/dab46f0c7b3ccad636d54567851415742564944_v5.jpg" width=600>



<img src="https://pics.cdn.librarything.com//picsizes/be/a4/bea465dfebf5eaa636c72567851415742564944_v5.jpg" width=600>

>464 abysswalker: thank you again. Truly very kind.

>465 coffeewithastraw: no worries; it is quick on my end.

Also you should absolutely ask for a replacement copy if you have not already. That is unacceptable quality for a new book.

I think those dirt/grease marks on your copy of SP Times are completely unacceptable. I wouldn't accept them on a secondhand copy let alone on a brand new one straight from the publisher. If I were you I'd send these images to Folio, not only to get a replacement, but also so that they're aware that there's a significant problem with quality control at the bindery.

I’d ask for a replacement. That is ridiculous.

I got tired of crumpled corners with standard shipping. I’ve found better success with expedited shipping. However, I wait until I have at least 5 books in my basket before placing an order. My two spring orders (7 and 8 books) arrived in pristine condition. Worth the extra money to me to avoid the disappointment/hassle of damaged books.

>463 coffeewithastraw: I ordered the South Polar Times in the last sale and it also has some similar smudges on the inside of the slipcase, but they were much smaller and less noticeable. As far as I can see, no stains on mine but it does have a crease on the front endpaper and the slipcase clearly suffered during the shipping.

I was also disappointed, but ultimately, I didn't ask for a replacement for various reasons. On the other hand, the issues on your copy are legitimate so it's really up to you how you want to proceed.

(I hope I'm not coming off as judgmental or condescending; that is really not my intention, but I know I'm often bad at expressing things.)

>464 abysswalker: Thank you for the HTML guide!

>466 abysswalker: >467 cronshaw: Ok I will. I generally hate returning things, so I wanted to verify I wasn’t being overly picky. I was pretty surprised tbh. I’ve never seen this from FS before. The occasional crumpled corner but never oily marks. I hope the next copy won’t be as bad. I will give this one to family or maybe my son’s school.- if they don’t want it back of course.

>470 coffeewithastraw:

You're not being overly picky at all. Settling for this sort of defect lets the quality bar drop for everyone.

-edit. I've actually had something similar on two books previously - Shackleton's Boat Journey and Chaos. The former was a 2 cm x 1 cm solid black stain on the rear cover, while the latter was a 0.5 x 0.5 cm black stain on the spine. Both present before being sealed in plastic. Requested replacements on both.

>471 adriano77: Excellent point. This was also sealed in plastic. It is printed in Slovakia so unrelated to the QC issues with books from China. Seems to be a general creeping quality control oversight issue. Hopefully just a growing pain that can be remedied.

>469 Yssion: Not condescending at all. If it weren’t for the large endpaper stain I might keep it, but that was kind of the tipping point. I don’t really care about the marks inside the case, the crumpled corner is annoying but bearable. The black marks on the outside started to bug me, but then when I finally saw the big stain on the endpaper that was where cumulatively it started to add up. I sent them an email and will see what they propose. If they do send me a new copy I worry it will also be defective, but less defective is still preferable, as long as it isn’t worse.

>468 Chemren: I will definitely do expedited next time.

Fingers crossed as the book is really otherwise outstanding.

>472 coffeewithastraw:
A couple pf years ago when I returned two substandard copies of the same book (printed in Germany) I asked that someone check the next replacement for defects to save me the embarrassment of sending a third one back. The customer rep said he would make a note to that effect, but doubted that anyone would act on it. Quality control isn't part of the warehouse schedule.

>473 Jayked:

Funnily enough, I had a similar experience. Except they did end up inspecting the third replacement in their office before shipping it after I asked if that was a possibility. They clearly spent a lot of time packaging it (copious amount of bubble wrap - this is after they started using crumpled paper in the warehouse). Sadly, whoever did the exam wasn't exactly thorough as the book still had a partial split, about two inches long, to one of the signatures on the same page/volume as the previous two. Still, it was a marked improvement, as those were total splits from top to bottom. Just goes to show, even with a ton of good will on their end, things still foul up...

The other copies now reside in a closet and probably will continue to do so until I move or die.

>473 Jayked: was the third copy ok I hope? >474 adriano77: oh no, that is awful.

I am hoping that they will ask their various printers/binders to improve their quality checks, but I’m sure this will still happen from time to time regardless. Still, it seems like low hanging fruit to improve warehouse checks to avoid customer disappointment. Although I am probably missing something since it’s not my industry.

Edit to end on a positive note: my Around the World copy is pristine and I love it. I also am very happy withthe botns despite the crumpled case corner/odd smudge. It is one of my favorite books so it is great to have such a beautiful edition to reread. Both are really wonderful and I’m already pondering what to order next- maybe Man on the Moon and a few to whittle down my wishlist. I have a problem, I know.

At this point, arguing the merits of comics (or graphic novels as it is now fashionable to say) as a valid manifestation of literature leads nowhere since positions are entrenched. Maybe we should let the next generation decide.

>441 sekhmet0108:

We can confidently expect The Folio Society soon to issue a Limited Edition of Mao's 'Little Red Book' and other such modern classics as 'The Collected Speeches of Xi Jinping' (all 23 volumes please) bound in gorgeous red buckram.

Supposedly DHL was to deliver my Spring Collection box yesterday. They left Boston early in the morning and by after dinner they still had not arrived. We went out to run errands and I am not sure if they tried to deliver it or something else happened, but now it says it is "On Hold". Does DHL deliver on weekends? I have things to do but I am afraid of missing my delivery. Lately they have not asked for a signature and in the 29 years we have lived here I have never had a package stolen. It is a quiet private road and strangers just don't drive down here. Do you think they will deliver again on Monday? I have a dentist appointment and will be gone for over an hour. No one will be here to get it then, either. If this is the new route of DHL, it is worthless to pay extra for quick shipping now. I am so frustrated.

>478 Lady19thC: I have had issues with DHL for may last 2 orders. In both cases I have called and talked to customer support with mixed results. The live chat is more useful. I had the live chat person confirm the delivery day and send me the transcript from the conversation.

>478 Lady19thC: for recent DHL receivables, I have gotten a message beforehand with a form to indicate delivery preferences, such as signature release etc. I think this system was built out in response to covid, to facilitate no-contact deliveries. You might be able to access such functionality by putting the tracking number into the DHL web system.

For those asking about the details on the first printing of Little Women, here they are:

Abbey Wove paper, printed in Germany, and bound in buckram

The reprint is from China on Yu Long Pure paper. And from what I've seen in others' photos, the color of the blue on the reprint cover is much darker as well. That could just be a lighting thing though.

>480 abysswalker: DHL's pre-delivery notices and the ability to indicate signature release and add notes about the delivery pre-dates Covid - they did not use to send text messages but mails were coming at least a few years back and once you had the number, you could do it from the site.

I’ve had issues with with DHL too. They randomly put my last package on hold citing non-payment as a reason when I had even paid the customs and their additional “disbursement” in advance.

I’ve received poor results by calling in to their number and chat. Ultimately ended up sending an email. They finally delivered it after 15 days.

Same case for my Spring order. It was marked as out for delivery and now is on hold because apparently there is no address information to deliver it. I can’t help but wonder how it managed to reach so far without the appropriate address information. Had to drop another email but no response.

>462 abysswalker: >458 folio_books: you can examine the HTML in the thread yourself by using the view source capability of whatever browser you are using. In Chrome, for example, you can right click on the text and use the "Inspect" option.

Thanks for the tip. I hadn't heard of this shortcut before and would never have thought of it myself.

I have received my volumes from the Spring Collection, all of which arrived in lovely condition (from prior posts, lucky me I guess). As a historian, I have to give a shout out to Creators, Conquerors & Citizens by Robin Waterfield. It is a really nice survey of Greek history, particularly for those with a less than professional interest in the field. It is also exemplary in its integration of text and images, something the Folio Society does so very well when they care to try. A very fine production.

>485 narbgr01: - Great to hear! It was a late addition to my order, I hope it arrives soon.

>485 narbgr01: indeed glad to hear you like it. Do you also have the Folio edition of Guns, Germs & Steel? If so, do you feel CC&C is worth the extra £20 / $20 in terms of difference in production quality?

Update: They are sending me a new copy and say no need to return damaged version. Fingers crossed second one is ok. Will donate damaged copy.

Excellent and prompt customer service. Kudos to FS.

For those interested, this is the response I got asking for details about refurbished books and whether they would be sent out as “new” copies after being refurbished:

Thanks for getting in touch. I am not really able to offer a specific answer I am afraid as our ability to refurbish a returned book would depend on the book, nature of the fault and the volumes received back. Our aim is to ensure that every customer is 100% satisfied with the books they receive and we use our returns and customer feedback to keep improving our ability to do just that.

>487 cronshaw: Yes, I think the extra $20 is justified. CC&C is a really fine production. However, Guns, Germs & Steel (yes, I have) gangs many of the images. I prefer the careful integration of illustrations with text which CC&C does in an exemplary way.

>490 narbgr01: thanks for that. Yes, GG&S has the usual FS arrangement of colour plates in three or four quires, typical of most Folio non-fiction, so the images aren't aligned neatly with the text. That's great to know that the illustrations are so well arranged in CC&C. I hope Folio continues to undertake similarly precise image placement with other non-fiction titles in future.

>488 coffeewithastraw: Fingers crossed for you. Yes, Andrew Wagstaff and his team earn FS a great deal of kudos!

>492 cronshaw:

Andrew's the only one I've spoken to on the telephone and he's just as friendly and courteous as you'd expect from his email correspondence. I'm sure the others are just as great though.

Could be that “refurbishment” is only on multi volume editions, in the sense that hopefully the damage is random and they can pair non damaged books together (and send out again) and just bin the damaged copies.

>494 Juniper_tree: That would be my guess, as well

They used to have the "as is" sale now and then which had some very low prices for books without slipcases or with dings and minor cover or text block issues (where minor was all relative). No descriptions of the faults - you get a readable copy that does not look too bad but can be scratched/have misprinted cover/have a spot on the cover/misses a slipcase or anything in between - at least one I got had a barely visible bump to its backboard only; another had been a copy in the old bookstore so had visible rubbing. There are some that will need to be binned but most of the issues are not severe enough if you are not paying anywhere near full price.

The sale is not for people who want perfect books but these worked for reading copies for example and I got a few books that were out of print or I was not sure I wanted to spend the money for a Folio copy on.

Who knows - we may get the sale again if they end up with a lot of copies they need to deal with... :)

>387 kcshankd: I totally agree. I find his style so easy to read, and actually can't even understand when I've seen others say they can't follow him easily. I've certainly read authors who don't use punctuation such as quotations, etc who I found difficult to follow. But he hasn't been one of them.

Also his run-on sentences serve a purpose (this is a particular style choice and I think you can even look it up online) and I for one find them very powerful when he uses them.

Happy to announce my DHL package arrived today. I wrote to them over the weekend and on Monday received both an email and a phone call apologizing that they did not originally deliver it on Friday. It was with the courier, but he never got this far out and ran out of time. I specifically panicked over them delivering on Monday afternoon as I had a dental appointment for over an hour, and with my luck that would have been when they came. Of course, when they did show up today, they just dropped it off and did not ask for signature, which they have not over the past few years. At any rate, my books are here and so far seem to be in excellent shape.

Interesting note...maybe someone else mentioned it.....

My poetry anthology came sealed, but the other 3, newer books, did not. They were wrapped up in a sort of paper....much like rice paper...and held together with tape. I wonder if the sealed book is now a thing of the past. They still seem protected, but what would happen if the box ever got wet? The books are no longer safe from snow and rain and so many times my box comes damaged or with actual holes in it. This is not a happy nor wise change, imo.

>498 Lady19thC: I agree.

It is an official change, however. See here:

https://www.foliosociety.com/row/blog/this-folio-life-it-s-a-wrap

>498 Lady19thC:

I think the plastic they (and other publishers) use to seal new books gives us a false sense of security regarding water ingress protection. The plastic seems very likely permeable, like a disposable grocery bag, and is perhaps good enough to protect against some light splashing. If a box was left in a puddle, the plastic probably wouldn’t help much. Of course, neither would the new rice paper...

I’m glad your order arrived safely, though!

>499 abysswalker:

Thank you for that link. I had not seen that. I figured that was probably the reasoning behind it. I do like the idea that they are now being hand wrapped, which may help increase quality control, at least for the outside of the books.

>500 treereader:

While I know the plastic wrappings were not 100% waterproof, they have protected my books from boxes that got wet from rain, snow and apparently spilt coffee when one of the mail handlers along the way decided to use one of my packages as a table. Hmm...

90% waterproof is sure better than 0% waterproof anyway. With news of refurbishment as a possibility, the uncertainty of what you're actually getting with an order will increase and that's not a good thing.

>498 Lady19thC:
I disagree, and regard it as both happy and wise. I think the slightly increased likelihood of damage is more than offset by the environmental benefits. Of course, luxury book production in itself isn't exactly the most environmentally friendly of activities!

>503 Willoyd:

It’s an interesting question of overall scope, right? To the individual, this change is undesirable. To the planet, it’s desirable. To the planet long-term, books should probably go away. Or something to that effect.

>502 adriano77:

Indeed, if I’ve paid for “new”, I don’t want something refurbished showing up. If buying refurbished is an option, I know what I’m potentially getting in advance, and I pay for refurbished, then sure, let Folio Society sell refurbished books.

>501 Lady19thC:

Great, now I’m going to have two kinds of coffee spilling nightmares! Me spilling and some unknown spiller!

Received my order. Some scratching to BOTNS and the corners of The Plague Year front board are missing paint. Otherwise, lovely. Would have enjoyed it though f the Verne book had illustrations, but it’s still quite nice.

Received my copies of "The Road, Around the World..., Nights at the circus and You only Live Twice". All in excellent much condition , not a mark or blemish anywhere. The paper packaging and the "waxy" wrapping seem to work just fine and much more sustainable.

>506 LG2: I like the packaging too! Crumpling it scares my cats, but I find it seems just as good at providing a little protection.

All of my books arrived shrink-wrapped in plastic, though, none of them were from the Spring Collection.

>503 Willoyd: Of course, luxury book production in itself isn't exactly the most environmentally friendly of activities!
>504 treereader: To the planet long-term, books should probably go away.

Why? Books should be make almost entirely from renewable and sustainable materials. And if 'luxury' is at least in part a proxy for 'durable' (and in the case of books it should be), and the books are kept for a lifetime and often much longer, then that's about as environmentally friendly as it gets. Plus, there are no associated server costs and we're not expected to bin and replace electronic devices every few years.

Jetting heavy boxes of books around the planet is, of course, another story. Though I'd imagine trivial compared to many other industries.

>509 Levin40:

Replacing trees is only part of the picture. The energy costs in manufacturing a book are not zero. Neither are the costs of manufacturing a digital device that can display a digital copy, but I've not seen a proper analysis made comparing the total materials, energies, and costs involved between those two options, so it's unfair of me to say one is a greener process than the other.

The longevity of a book as a functional reading item is currently winning over its digital equivalents but there's no guarantee of that dominance over time. When talking of the future, though, there's also no reason to exclude some not-yet-invented technology or improvement that's greener than books and today's Kindles. Moreover, book manufacturing and book storage will each eventually meet problems in scaling with population growth. Interestingly, digital reading has already helped mitigate this issue. Even today, with digital reading as an option, we aren't consistent enough about replanting to recuperate all of the trees that need to be cut for our paper needs.

My order has arrived! A Man on the Moon looks truly spectacular, Something Wicked This Way Comes is very, very yellow, and my copy of The Book of the New Sun thankfully doesn't have any of the issues so many have experienced. One corner of the slipcase is truly smashed, and if FS would ship replacement slipcases I would ask for one, but I don't find it worth asking for a whole new copy of the books. Many days of happy reading lay ahead of me.

>511 coynedj:

Something Wicked is definitely very very yellow! Haha! I can’t stand how it looks on the shelf. I wish they would have switched the black and yellow around on the book other than on the inside illustrations.

>512 warehouseisbare: Yeah, not really thrilled by this design or the similar one of A Confederacy of Dunces.

Does anyone have A Man on the Moon? It looks like a really interesting book but iffy about the price. Do want a first printing though, since the quality of reprints varies.

>514 RRCBS: I have it. It's a beauty, and I'm a space nut raised during the Apollo missions, so I had to get a copy. The price is a little high, but I went for it anyway.

Can someone that's ordered and received their copy of The Road tell me how the cloth is? Comparable to anything they've used before? Still waiting on my copy but I'm just wondering how it holds up in terms of rubbing/colour loss. Hoping to avoid these types of titles in the future.

>516 adriano77: I’m reading my copy right now, and the covering is buckram that is screen-printed in a way which seems unlikely to rub. Quality is top notch by regular edition standards.

The screen printing seems comparable to my Book of the New Sun LE and my 2016 Folio Zarathustra. I think all of these editions were bound by L.E.G.O. S.p.A. so it’s plausible to assume they all use the same process.

>516 adriano77: I can confirm abysswalker's assessment. Regarding your concern, what you'll really want to avoid is anything with metallic foil accents. You can pretty much just look at The Road and can tell it won't have any "rubbing" issues.