Folio Society

[Brian.]

14 hours ago, Hayley said:

Which one!?

 

 

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

[Hayley]

10 hours ago, Brian. said:

 

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

I haven’t read it but it is one I thought was particularly beautiful in the Christmas set 

[Kudz]

On 10/11/2022 at 9:28 PM, Hayley said:

Really love the new Frankenstein too but it is £300 😬

 

I know these editions are stunning, but I really can’t see how anyone can justify spending that on a single book. I’d be terrified to even touch it, let alone read it, in case it got damaged.

[lunababymoonchild]

52 minutes ago, Kudz said:

 

I know these editions are stunning, but I really can’t see how anyone can justify spending that on a single book. I’d be terrified to even touch it, let alone read it, in case it got damaged.

I'm the same. 

[Hayley]

On 10/13/2022 at 10:12 AM, Kudz said:

 

I know these editions are stunning, but I really can’t see how anyone can justify spending that on a single book. I’d be terrified to even touch it, let alone read it, in case it got damaged.

This is an interesting point - maybe one for the debating thread!? 😄

I couldn’t justify it with the money I have, but if I had a lot of money I’d definitely buy beautiful books with it! 

 

[willoyd]

On 10/13/2022 at 10:12 AM, Kudz said:

 

I know these editions are stunning, but I really can’t see how anyone can justify spending that on a single book. I’d be terrified to even touch it, let alone read it, in case it got damaged.

 

I've been collecting Folio Society books for just over 30 years, and have a fairly large collection (listed on my Librarything catalogue, linked below). However, I've cut right back on them, and sold off about a third of them in the past few years, with another load to go.  I'm retaining favourites, like my sets of Austen, Hardy, Dickens and O'Brian!  They are well read!

 

They've really only taken off in price in the past few years. Previously, there was plenty of scope to pick them up reasonably cheaply, and I'm still buying some books in the second-hand market for barely more than the price of a new paperback.  Since lockdown, the more recent editions have appeared to become more fashionable, partly because FS has changed the direction of its marketing: whereas I used to buy a lot of FS fiction, I've bought just one volume from them in the past 3 years (a reprint of Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollett) as they have come to focus more on fantasy, sci-fi etc - IMO their range of classics has become repetitive and thoroughly unimaginative in production (even rather blingy on occasions).  This fashion trend is underlined by the fact that I've been selling books off often for more than I bought them (occasionally substantially so), whereas a few years ago there was absolutely no value in second hand Folios (there still isn't with the older ones, which as I said is my preferred stamping ground now).

 

Bear in mind that the Frankenstein is a limited edition. Most of their books are a lot cheaper - although generally still too steep for me nowadays.  In terms of new books, I'm down to a couple of non-fiction per year (mainly travel classics) nowadays, if that, mainly of books that are hard to get otherwise in a good reading edition. On that front, FS still do score on occasions.

 

Incidentally, I've replaced my FS fiction buying with editions from Everyman Classics, Library of America, and other publishers reviving books and authors, eg Persephone, Slightly Foxed etc.  Personally, I think there's far better value in them now.

Edited October 20, 2022 by willoyd

[Brian.]

The Spring 2023 catalogue has just dropped through my door and once again there are some nice looking additions. I'm not sure I will be indulging though as they have put their prices up once again. I'm pretty sure my collection of the Ian Fleming written James Bond books is complete but I'll have to double check. They used to be £38 a book which was always on the steep side but now they are just shy of £47 a book.

[Hayley]

Nothing particularly jumped out at me from the Spring set so I hadn’t looked at the prices but that seems like a steep jump! 
 

I did actually think that Roadside Picnic had a nice spine and pretty sprayed edges but it just reminds me of the time my boyfriend asked whether he could listen to Roadside Picnic in bed and I, thinking it was some kind of gentle travel book, said ‘yeah, of course!’ An hour later I was lying there wide awake and slightly traumatised 🥲. 

[Hayley]

Has anybody else seen the new Folio Society edition of The Shadow of the Wind? It’s lovely but it’s one of their very limited runs, so it’s very expensive: https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/the-shadow-of-the-wind-limited-edition.html?Isbrand=true&gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIp-HanIDZgAMVyuPtCh2XxwSVEAAYASAAEgJRavD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

I’m hoping they might bring out a less exclusive, less expensive version now!

[lunababymoonchild]

36 minutes ago, Hayley said:

Has anybody else seen the new Folio Society edition of The Shadow of the Wind? It’s lovely but it’s one of their very limited runs, so it’s very expensive: https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/the-shadow-of-the-wind-limited-edition.html?Isbrand=true&gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIp-HanIDZgAMVyuPtCh2XxwSVEAAYASAAEgJRavD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

I’m hoping they might bring out a less exclusive, less expensive version now!

Wow! I do love my paper books but that's just outrageous a price

[Hayley]

The folio society are asking people to fill in a survey about them. You can win £500 (or $1000) worth of books for it  

 

https://www.foliosociety.com/survey

[Brian.]

Fingers crossed.

[Hayley]

A puzzle from Folio Society: what do we think this new book is going to be?

 

 

The image was posted to their Twitter with the message ‘Discard a shoal of red herrings to discover Folio’s next brilliant limited edition! Set your alarms for 2pm 2 November to reveal all...’

 

[Madeleine]

Something Victorian and Gothic?

[Hayley]

I’d like it to be The Moonstone by Willie Collins, which does have a scene just like the one in the picture and is Victorian and gothic. I think it might be Five Red Herrings by a Dorothy Sayers from the written clue though... unless the clue is a red herring… 🤔 😄

[Hayley]

It was The Moonstone! But it’s a special limited run so it’s £250 🥲

 

https://www.foliosociety.com/the-moonstone-limited-edition.html?utm_campaign=november-monthly-newsletter-all-customers&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=78278473&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9oYMVtaVQAbvR5tKEop3ezbkojPDHbx8AxYjKMt73YvJPTO4s47tFERL9xyBUjkojfil7PP63w6YsKh5Y9u9m9ywzQYIRigou64GJB2IhxT9CSOio&utm_content=moonstone-pod&utm_source=hs_email

[Madeleine]

Blimey, my version is a £1.00 paperback!

[Hayley]

1 hour ago, Madeleine said:

Blimey, my version is a £1.00 paperback!

Mine too and I love Wilkie Collins but not that much! 

[Brian.]

I've noticed that they now have 3 of Murakami's books in print and also one of the Wallander novels. I love both writers and the editions Folio produce but the prices for the standard editions seem to increase everytime I take a look.

[Hayley]

16 minutes ago, Brian. said:

I've noticed that they now have 3 of Murakami's books in print and also one of the Wallander novels. I love both writers and the editions Folio produce but the prices for the standard editions seem to increase everytime I take a look.

Maybe they’ll have an amazing January sale 🤞. Although I remember noticing last year that they didn’t have anywhere near the kinds of reductions they had in the past!

[willoyd]

On 11/7/2023 at 8:42 AM, Hayley said:

Maybe they’ll have an amazing January sale 🤞. Although I remember noticing last year that they didn’t have anywhere near the kinds of reductions they had in the past!

 

I think there's very little chance of that. I started collecting Folios back in the late 80s, and was a regular buyer until a few years ago, around the time they got rid of the membership structure.  Recently, their prices have gone through the roof as they have become increasingly 'fashionable', and most of the fiction I would have wanted is only being produced as LEs (limited editions), which I have no interest in nowadays (I've sold off all but one of the LEs I bought in the past).  The sales used to be good for picking up older titles reasonably cheaply, but that seems to have gone by the board in the past couple of years, and they are now of very limited interest. I'm a member of the Folio Society Devotees group on LibraryThing, and there are quite a few longer term members like me who have become rather disillusioned I'm afraid, not least because FS seem to be increasingly catering for a very different type of market, centred primarily on the fantasy/scifi enthusiast, and have seemed to have lost any interest in classical lit (other than LEs) other than rehashing a limited range of popular titles. They have improved on the American literature front, but I've gone over to Library of America for that now, which provides far greater depth of coverage and is much better value (I'm currently reading one of their volumes).  i occasionally pick up the odd travel/exploration title, which they do well, my latest being Paul Theroux's Old Patagonian Express, but othewise all my FS purchases are now in the secondhand market, as there's still some interesting titles to explore from the back lists.

I still have a couple of bookcases worth of FS volumes - I do tend to prefer their older more understated productions, and there are quite a few favourites which are a real pleasure to read and reread.

Having said all that, my reading preferences have changed quite dramatically in the past few years, and am enjoying especially exploring more independent publishers like Peirene, Peepal, Pushkin, Fitzcarraldo, Persephone etc, along with a range of other world lit, so highly unlikely to buy much FS nowadays even if their prices ameliorated.

Edited November 14, 2023 by willoyd

[France]

Simply Foxed do a wonderful series of reprints, they aren't illustrated and not jaw droppingly beautiful like the Folio Society but they feel terrific  in the hand, there's a very interesting series of titles and they're considerably more pocket friendly.

[Brian.]

I've just had a look at the Folio new year sale and I can't say I'm impressed with what books they have discounted.

[willoyd]

12 hours ago, Brian. said:

I've just had a look at the Folio new year sale and I can't say I'm impressed with what books they have discounted.

But, contrary to my rather pessimistic post previously, the discounts are rather better than I predicted.

[KEV67]

I had a friend who has bought quite a few Folio books. I have looked at them and I have viewed them online, but there is something about them I do not like. However, other people do like them. I used to subscribe to a YouTube content creator who used to collect these books. She used to rave about the binding and the quality of the paper. She lived in Argentina. I wondered how she afforded it, because those books are not cheap.