Enablement: Good Deals on FS books (5)

Hi everyone, starting a new thread as the previous one (4) was almost 400 posts long, and sometimes had issues with loading the anchor link.

The final post in the previous thread was kindly made by caesarofcaesars, who posted a copy of Master and Margarita for sale by Stella's books. It is likely going to be back in print in two days however, so warning to anyone who might be tempted due to the current secondary market prices.

>1 U_238: Two days? Has Folio announced something?

>3 SolerSystem: Two days? Has Folio announced something?

No, but it's scheduled for release this week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday, always assuming it goes to plan.

>1 U_238: This is the pinnacle of enablement. I have never heard of this book before joining this forum and now I can't wait to have it!

I would love to get my hands on a copy of Folio's Fahrenheit 451, but can't find ANY for sale, not even at a high price.

>6 Clobby: Give a look to the Limited Editions Club Fahrenheit 451. It's just fantastic and printed letterpress. Also it is signed by Ray Bradbury if that matters to you. I keep both the LEC and the FS version in my library as they're both worth owning if a fan.

>6 Clobby: I would love to get my hands on a copy of Folio's Fahrenheit 451, but can't find ANY for sale, not even at a high price.

And if you think a second hand Folio copy would be expensive (you're right), do take a look at the LEC copies listed on Abe.

>7 Sorion:
>8 folio_books:

Ha! Now THAT is a high price. Maybe one day... Thank you for the suggestion though, I had honestly never heard of LEC.

>6 Clobby:

Midway Book Store seems to have one for sale.

>9 Clobby: There is a group on LibraryThing: George Macy Devotees.
You can discover LEC.

>10 cpg:
Right you are! Thank you! Hope it's still there on payday.

>11 laotzu225:
I will check that out. I will occasionally drop a large sum on stuff like that. Currently battling the urge to get the 5v set of Monte Cristo from EP. But the quality of LEC looks very nice. Definitely worth looking into.

>6 Clobby: Hang on in there. I just picked one up from Ebay for under a hundred pounds. Not a steal but not exorbitant either. It means not buying anything from my wishlist from Folio this month but I can handle that as it's a great add to my collection.

For those in the US, the Shakespeare Coriolanus LE is up for auction with a starting bid of just $0.99 - https://www.ebay.com/itm/174750029019?hash=item28afe9d4db:g:XTIAAOSws85gid31.

Does this price grab anyone for Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451'?

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30903613245&searchurl=ds%3...

No relation to the seller.

>15 AHub: They had what they said was a limited edition version, numbered and with leather binding. That seems to have disappearerd.

>16 U_238: Really? That's odd, I just clicked on the link and it mentions none of the descriptors you stated, not did it when I stumbled across it. I posted it on the facebook group as well; I hope I haven't misled anyone.

>17 AHub: It was a second listing in addition to that one. Sorry for not being clear.

Jane Austen set in blue leather (1996) on eBay UK, ending Tuesday.

Clearly the seller is not aware of the set's value "From what I can see it is hard to find this set in this colour".

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/114786186291?hash=item1ab9ca3433:g:SDYAAOSw-7Fgiqmu

>20 folio_books: Bidding is currently at £200 with two days to go.

>21 assemblyman: Bidding is currently at £200 with two days to go.

Yeah, that's getting closer. The power of FSD!

Maybe we shouldn't post about good deals on here. Maybe this way someone can get a good deal. Also, it might help in keeping the general prices down a bit. This thread and the FB page really contribute to the insane prices nowadays, I think.

>23 sekhmet0108:
I have bought every deal listed here for the last six months and flipped them all on Facebook and now I drive a Rolls-Royce automobile!

Joking aside, your suggestion really only covers auctions, right?

Someone has just managed to get the Green Fairy Book for £39 on eBay... sadly not me, but hopefully a fan and not a seller!

>24 GusLogan: Indeed.

Not an FS publication, though the four titles of this impressive Abbeville Press series were sold by Folio several years ago: a copy of 'The History of Venice in Painting' is up for auction on eBay with 16 hours to run and is currently only at £10. I'd be interested myself if I didn't already have it, it's a magnificent publication, one of my favourite non-FS works. But beware, it's a baby elephant sized edition!

I've no idea who the seller is.

There's a 30 postcards version at that price.

>22 folio_books: Wow. Finished up at £304. That was some FSD power.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fahrenheit-451-Ray-Bradbury-Folio-Society-Sam-Weber-Ill...

Wow. Had an email alert up and someone managed to buy before I could even open the email. For $40 someone just got a good deal...

>29 assemblyman:

Don't know where my previous reply ended up but I'll try again.

I'm just pleased the seller got a fair price. When I saw it listed at £60 I thought naw, minimum £300. For once I was right. Yay FSD!

Any input on the Moby Dick 1974 + reprints version? I missed the most recent SE release but apparently it wasn't that great, especially compared to the LE?

There's a listing on ebay for the 1974 version (not sure what year the reprint is or if it's actually from 1974) for $48. It's the blue cloth copy with the illustrations by Garrick Palmer.

I tried searching this forum and the illustrated reviews section but couldn't find much on this version (was hoping for more photos/reviews!). I need some enablement, or do I seek out a non-FS Rockwell Kent version/keep watching for that 1 in a million LE at a good price...

>32 simbae: I personally prefer the binding, typography, and illustrations in the recent 2009 edition. But that edition now goes for crazy prices in the used market.

The materials and production quality of the 1974 edition are pretty much what you would expect for a Folio Society edition of that period (which is to say, good). Garrick Palmer's illustrations might not be quite as good as Kent's, but they have a certain scratchy, mad quality about them that I think suits the novel well. I only saw this edition in a shop so I can't remember how many illustrations it has, but a real appeal of the 2009 (like any edition that uses Kent's engravings) is that there are so many of them! I find the typography in the 1974 edition a bit dated and vulgar.

Overall, if I were buying a copy today, I think I'd choose the $48 1974 edition over spending 10x as much on the 2009 SE.

>33 ubiquitousuk: thank you for this, I was surprised to not find this info on my own considering MD is the best book ever written (😁). I ended up passing on the bid and will wait to find a decently cheap copy of the LE or 2009 SE.

There is a 2014 Treasure Island going for £45 on Abebooks if it’s on anyone’s wish list.

>35 assemblyman: Searched but couldn't find it. It's the reddish one with Long John Silver on the cover?

>36 U_238: Yes that would be the one. I checked back and it is gone now. It was Cheltenham Rare Books that had it up. Their other new listings are still there. Someone must of snapped it up I’m sorry to say.

>37 assemblyman: Ah, that's alright! Thank you for posting, nevertheless, and hope someone in the group managed to find it.

Orwell Novels Set for £145 + postage on Oxfam. Decent given that it seems to go for £175+ lately.

https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/george-orwell-complete-novels-folio-society/prod...

There are two of the high demand books on Abebooks.uk right now at a "reasonable" price:

Man in the High Castle offered by World of Rare Books for GBP 75
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30921970856&searchurl=pn...

Agatha Christie's ABC Murders offered by Boundless Bookstore for GBP 52:
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30921967075&searchurl=pn...

Both described as very good, and both listed by mass sellers (but the more reputable sort - I had good experiences with both). To be honest, prices still appear high to me, but considering the crazy prices that these titles appear to fetch on ebay, it might be a great deal for someone.

>40 teppi2:

They're already gone. I already have The Man in the High Castle, but it would have been of interest to a friend. What can you do.

>41 SF-72: Man in the High Castle was gone in minutes after I posted the link... I made sure they were still available a couple of seconds before I hit "Post message", however World of Rare Books uses multiple channels to list their books, so it is possible that the book was already sold then.

Unfortunately the market is so hot for these books right now, so even somewhat reasonably priced books get sold on abebooks within an hour or so of listing (and frequently within minutes on ebay).

I was also lucky enough to buy The Man in the High Castle right after it was first issued, and the Christie books (in individual slipcases) when they were 50% off... I would never have believed they would be this popular a couple of years later.

>42 teppi2: I saw ABC on eBay, and it was sold in seconds. I didn’t buy it, but I do want the AC books and I’ll never understand the cost of them on the second-hand market. Are David Suchet’s Poirot repeats on ITV that popular?!

>42 teppi2:

The market for FS books has definitely changed relatively recently. Fortunately, I've known FS since 2012 and have had a fair chance of buying the books that are now in high demand at their original price. The situation is quite different for said friend who only just discovered them through me. In some cases I'm really astonished at the prices the books are now usually sold for.

>44 SF-72: snap, also joined 2012, although offloaded a lot of books in the past year as couldn’t pass on selling Murder on the Nile for £250 when I got it for £15 in a sale.

>42 teppi2: “I would never have believed they would be this popular a couple of years later.”

It’s been said before, but I really think this is the combined effect of covid lockdowns and social media (especially the Facebook groups).

I’ve been interested in nicer books for a while before covid, but I am pretty sure that the lockdowns amplified my interest as well (personally, I have found myself engaging more here on LibraryThing than on Facebook, as I don’t primarily collect Folio Society books, though I do enjoy them for specific editions, and have come to appreciate them more as I have learned more about them).

Just saw an 'as new' copy of The Master & M go for $30 AUD + $15 postage on eBay (Buy it Now). I saw it a minute after it was listed, and was thinking about buying it, but had second thoughts as I had tried to read the book years ago and had a bit of a negative reaction to it (tone and style, I guess...you know how some books rub you up the wrong way sometimes?). Anyway, then I looked on the Folio website and saw it still for sale for $115 + postage (a lot to Oz), and went back to the eBay listing to probably purchase it and it was sold right in front of my eyes.

Good fortune to the purchaser. They wanted it more than I did!

Also FYI: it certainly wasn't a 'damaged copy' scam listing, as they were selling a whole bunch of other Folio books from different eras - a collection sell-off. Most of them are still there if anyone is interested, and no doubt more to come. I'm trying to avoid spending money on books atm, as I probably have enough (I know, hard to believe..)

>47 Jeremy53: I was clicking the purchase now on that too just missed it.

A Story As Sharp As A Knife is posted on abebooks for approximately $35, described as "As New". Considering this book cost $140 originally, the listed price is only 50% of what it sold for in the 2019 summer sale, and it was highly lauded on this forum.

I was a bit concerned that the bookseller reports two locations in US and Ireland, and to my understanding many of bookjackers are located in Ireland. However, I did not find this store on any bookjacker list and they appear to have physical store locations, so it looks OK to me. I cannot vouch for them, though, as I have never bought from this store.

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30927055993

>49 teppi2:

I've seen that before. Sometimes sellers have warehouses in different locations. It is weird that the U.S. shipping in USD is both high but less than the shipping from Ireland. But someone should grab it...low risk at that price.

Ive bought from that seller before, and yep I think it’s different warehouses. I vaguely remember a warning somewhere they gave saying not to call the stores for online items as they are located in different places.

Either way, great deal for someone.

>49 teppi2: It's seems to be gone but the seller is fine. I have been in their bookshop in Galway before and have bought Folio Society books from them previously online also and they came as described so it should be a good deal for whoever bought it.

>49 teppi2: >52 assemblyman: I bought it. Thanks for the heads up!

Autumn for £15. Seems to be the rarest of the seasons, at least from what I’ve seen.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203484420400

And gone, this is the only one of the four I still need. Oh well

>49 teppi2:

Odd seller: I've placed two or three orders with them, nothing to regret, including (in 2013) the life and works of Landor in eight hefty volumes for £2.62 with free shipping. I saw that listing and placed my order expecting at best some negotiations to follow, but the books just turned up.

Broad question: In this crazy climate on the second hand market, of the standard editions, what titles do you think generally go for high figures vs. those that are still very reasonable?

My observations are that the Sci-Fi / Fantasy focus has really brought in a lot of younger collectors and more 'prospectors', which in turn has pushed up prices for those desirable editions that are in shorter supply. (So, basically the ol' supply and demand issue)

For example, standard editions of titles like Love in a Cold Climate, Disgrace, Life, Travels with My Aunt, Schindler's Ark, Oscar and Lucinda etc. are not going up much at all. Whereas those in shorter supply (shorter print run and discontinued), such as Fear and Trembling, Anna Karenina, One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Handmaid's Tale are really spiking.

In short:
High prices: short print run, modern/fantasy/sci-fi, never in a Folio sale
Lower prices: high print run, older 'classics', appeared in sales

And now with the commercial model changed (fewer and less bargain-filled sales), and higher costs generally - especially for postage, it's creating a short in the market across all the newer titles that sell well or for not very long.

As a long time collector of Folio, it's really interesting to see. Maybe these are really obvious observations...

>57 Jeremy53: I agree. The next step is naked short selling.

Edward Thomas LE starting at £150, less than a day to go, and no takers yet, for those interested
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154477291654?hash=item23f7906886:g:qD8AAOSw-tVgbbG7

Usual disclaimers, no connection etc.

>57 Jeremy53:

Fear and Trembling at least was in a sale, half price in December 2018. I bought it on publication and it's among my favourite standard Folio productions, but I'm surprised to see it commanding quite a premium now: I wouldn't have thought it especially likely to appeal to the new customer intake.

It's a strange world to me, I don't think I've ever been moved to pay much more than its original price for any recent book, and if I were it would almost certainly be because its text was unavailable in any other published form.

>60 terebinth: “existential philosophy” is the attraction re: Kierkegaard. I would be all over the Folio production myself, except I have an unreasonable aversion to handwriting style spine titles (overly specific, I know), which I was just barely able to overcome for the Folio edition of Never Let Me Go (for which I still fantasize about creating a dust cover that uses a more stately typeface).

>61 abysswalker:

I can appreciate your aversion to that design element, mainly because I've an implacable one of my own, albeit it's to the very different spine feature of a title readable from across the room. Those Folio volumes thus disposed to trumpet forth their presence won't be gaining shelf space here.

I have twenty-odd volumes of Kierkegaard gathered over forty years, so didin't need another copy of Fear and Trembling but was delighted by what the FS made of it: wasn't surprised when it landed in a sale; but, as we've noted with other books, when a fairly short run goes out of print it doesn't take very many keen prospective buyers at all to elevate the secondary market price.

Ardis has just posted some Letterpress Shakespeare, including Henry the V and the IV part 2. Interestingly, they are lettered editions. Today, it has been bought to you by the Letter “L”, and the the number 415 (pounds).
I thought the lettered editions were not for sale?

>63 Hamwick: That they're not for sale initially doesn't mean they don't come up for sale from time to time. It simply requires one of the contributors, or those gifted a lettered edition for whatever reason, to put it up for sale.

>64 U_238: that makes sense. Thanks.

>65 Hamwick: You’re welcome. Recently a lettered Call of Cthulhu was on eBay for sale. It happens from time to time - the book may not necessarily be one the owner wants to keep, and they’d rather get the cash for it.

I don’t know if this is good or not, but:

https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/patrick-obrian-9-titles-in-folio-society-special...

No slipcases and a lack of photos it seems, so maybe not, but £150 for 9 O’Briens

>67 behemoththecat: £150 for 9 O’Briens

I'd say that price is about right; if anything a little optimistic. The lack of slipcases reduces the value significantly and the nine include none of the more difficult to find.

>67 behemoththecat: I always wonder what happens to these slipcases. How do you lose/misplace/damage nine of them?

>69 lagartija23: How do you lose/misplace/damage nine of them?

Whisper it low but there are some Folio buyers who don't like slipcases for whatever reason, and either dispose of them of store them in an attic or similar. That there are nine is a clear indication the former owner was one of them. A few Devotees are of a like mind, too.

Murder of Roger Ackroyd on Abe for £25 for the Agatha Christie fans

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30947530101&cm_sp=snippe...

>69 lagartija23:

Use FedEx?

The scarce 5-vol set of Jeeves & Wooster has just popped up on eBay for £130 including P&P. Though not cheap cheap, it seems a comparative bargain at under £25 a volume considering that this particular set often sells for twice this price now: it had a far lower overall print run than the ubiquitous 6-volume set, and most Wodehouse Devotees want the full J&W series.

>67 behemoththecat: Enabled! Thanks. Usually when I order from Oxfam (from Australia) I am disappointed when I try to order sets or multiples as they often won't post them internationally, but this time the order went through. There is still the possibility that I will get an email later saying 'Sorry, we won't post this' and refund me, but, fingers crossed. I already have 4 of the 9 O'Brian's but the other 5 (even without slipcases) would cost me quite a lot more bought individually when you include postage. Plus, I will recoup some of the expense by selling the doubles cheaply on eBay.

I recently picked up 17 of the Folio Trollope's without slipcases for the amount I would usually pay for 5 and found that when shelved the lack of slipcases doesn't annoy me as much as I thought they would. Also, I would have to pay almost as much (for the O'Brian's) for nice second-hand trade editions ( or a lot more for firsts of the earlier volumes) so I'm relatively happy, though poorer.

I see the Peter Pan 1992 special binding on Abebooks for £200. Described as near fine but does not look it from the photo. It had a small limitation so I thought I would put it up.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30947975066&cm_sp=snippe...

>75 assemblyman: I agree I wouldn't call that near fine, though the seller does say 'spine lightly faded - otherwise near fine'. The blue leather of the spine looks in fact significantly darkened compared to the portion that overlaps the front board, and there appears to be some whiteish rub marks along the fore-edge of the spine too. Since these special bindings are pretty scarce and can sell for £400 or thereabouts in fine condition perhaps roughly half-price for a faded or darkened spine isn't unreasonable. Mr. Market will judge these things. I'd certainly want to check that it's signed by Paula Rego.

>76 cronshaw: Yes, the condition looks as you say. Out of curiosity I checked if there was any other listings on Abebooks and there is another currently listed for over £150 more. It also looks to have a tanned/discoloured spine with some fading to the sides of spine and also described as near fine. As you say the market will decide if it is a reasonable price.

>74 bradleyrees: The dreaded email came explaining that it should never have been offered for international buyers. The thing is, I received an email 2 days ago saying it had been shipped! The email went on to explain that they would not send any orders overseas that weighed more than 2kg or were more than £100 which explains a lot but is quite frustrating.

>78 bradleyrees:

Would a forwarding service be worthwhile? It would be expensive in this case, though.

>79 SF-72: I've thought about it as some other UK sellers don't ship overseas but the point of Oxfam (at least until recently) has been that it's been a way to get some relatively inexpensive Folios and help a charity. There's also the problem that not all of their shops will post overseas but you don't find that out until you've put the books in your basket and gone to the checkout to find half of your basket is ineligible for OS shipping or worse, you pay for the order and then a few days later an email will arrive saying 'Oh sorry, such and such a book shouldn't have been listed'. It's starting to get a little frustrating.

All, with regards to slipcases, I've just found out on the Facebook group that there's a seller on ebay that you can send your measurements and will in return with 1 to 2 mm room craft a slipcase for around £15 to £20. Could be an idea for those sans slipcases:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164880468526?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED...

>81 ironjaw: very neat, thanks for sharing!

>82 RRCBS: You're welcome, it will help so many here that have no slipcases. What horror! What madness!

>83 ironjaw: 23£ shipping to Lithuania! I am going to build a simple cardboard slipcase for my LEC The Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi. 80€ cents for the cardboard and 60€ cents gor the glue :D Will post some pictures when it's done on my favorite George Macy devotees group.

>84 Lukas1990: oooh that’s a lot. What a hit. Hope this works out. It’s a skill I want to learn as well but then think Ill rather pay for. Love books in slipcase. It addicting

Pinocchio for £30 on Abebooks

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30953324110&cm_sp=snippe...

>86 assemblyman:

As I suspected, that didn't last long.

>87 folio_books: Well there’s always the hope it was someone from here that got it.

>88 assemblyman: there’s always the hope it was someone from here that got it.

Absolutely. That is my fervent wish. Well done to the buyer.

While it's not a great price, Three Kingdoms is going for £350 on Abebooks. Described as fine but no pictures and does not ship to the EU (which is the main reason why I am not even considering it). Its a good deal cheaper than what I have seen it going for lately on eBay (around £400 - 500) which is the reason I put it here if its on anyone's wishlist. No affiliation to the seller.

>90 assemblyman:

A possible reason why the seller does not want to ship the book from the UK to the EU is that the EU will generally require VAT to be charged and paid on its entry into the EU. The courier or delivery firm may well charge a fee for this collection of VAT. If the EU buyer refuses to pay the VAT, the book would hopefully then be returned to the UK seller (who on it's safe delivery back to the seller would authorise ABE to issue a refund to the person who had bought the book).

As a bookseller on ABE Books I was pleased to see that ABE has struck an agreement with the EU whereby the correct amount of VAT is charged up-front to the EU customer by ABE and then remitted by ABE to the relevant EU country. A much more certain process for the customer (as they know up-front what they have to pay for the book with its VAT-inclusive price) and a more secure service for the UK bookseller.

Even when the UK was in the EU we had zero-rating of books for VAT purposes as we thought that the dissemination of knowledge should not be hindered with a consumption tax. A civilised approach in my opinion: a pity that the EU does not follow it.

>90 assemblyman:

Four photos there now, it appears to be as described. Still an eye-watering price to me, when my copy was £90 in a 2014 sale.

Odes of Horace currently to be had for £425 from Addyman Books in Hay-on-Wye, a good opportunity for anyone who missed one of Folio's loveliest productions to remedy the omission at a modest £30 premium on the published price.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30432627084

No connection beyond that I've just received a superb copy of the Surinam Album from them, so (a) I think they would mention faults if there were any, (b) I know they're able and willing to pack properly, and (c) as they shipped a 16.7kg package for the standard £3.95 it doesn't seem likely they will be asking extra postage from any UK purchaser of this little gem!

>92 terebinth: Yes I saw that (its lovely) but even without the EU restriction I wouldn't. I have been keeping an eye out for it for a few years now and eBay prices for it have skyrocketed in the last year. Part of the problem for me is some people are willing to pay those prices. But I live in hope that it may pop up somewhere at a price I am willing to pay, and if not so be it. The reason I put it up here is that its a margin cheaper than what it has been going for in the last few months online and someone else here might be interested.

>91 English-bookseller: “Even when the UK was in the EU we had zero-rating of books for VAT purposes as we thought that the dissemination of knowledge should not be hindered with a consumption tax. A civilised approach in my opinion: a pity that the EU does not follow it.”

I’ve been advocating that for many years when I was living in Denmark. 25% VAT on books it too much for my liking.

They are too scared that their 5.5 million Danish language speakers will fade away in oblivion. I never understood why a country or government would tax education and books. Now that UK is out of the EU I’m seeing discussions coming up that French should be the lingua franca of the EU (well it’s not the first time, it was so before the uk joined in 1973 and when I was at the Commission the French delegates were always arguing at meetings that they hadn't received the French translations in time for the meeting when I attended and I was always left annoyed. Especially, since you have a tight meeting schedule and a lot of agenda points to go through before flying home and these discussions always wasted time. I understand that government policy doesn’t allow negotiations in English if your German or French, but come on, meeting papers in English really? I had no issue. Denmark has been since 2014 advocating German and French as part of the Europa school education the next class of children. Languages are important but one should not belittle any other foreign language.

>91 English-bookseller: “ Even when the UK was in the EU we had zero-rating of books for VAT purposes as we thought that the dissemination of knowledge should not be hindered with a consumption tax. A civilised approach in my opinion: a pity that the EU does not follow it.”

I agree, though VAT is much less in Germany (where I live) on books than on normal consumer goods. Another enlightened British policy is to have free entry to museums (and to charge for entry to churches!)…

>96 stopsurfing: Those who visit Church of England churches to take part in services or to pray are not charged at all. But those visiting these historic buildings just as tourists are usually asked to pay entry fees unless it is an ordinary church when again it will be free entry.

One of the delights of the Church of England open to everyone is to visit almost any cathedral on a Sunday late afternoon or early evening and attend Evensong. Even those with no interest in organised religion should find it a beautiful and inspiring ceremony. Entry is free to all who these services.

A nice copy of the newly appreciated SE Rob Roy for only £10 including postage, if you're quick -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234097150130?hash=item36814708b2%3Ag%3AJ0UAAOSwzxVg9w...

Just found the Brontë sisters box set from 1991, reprint 1993 in my local Oxfam for £60 which seems very fair, as in excellent (mint
or very fine) condition, with no sunning to the spines. Not that I need more books, but I was unable to resist.

A seller on Abebooks has what looks like the cream leather Decameron up for £90 (free UK shipping). Described as very good but no photo and has the publish date as 1954 though the description seems to match the leather bound edition. May be worth contacting the seller for more details for someone on the lookout for this. No affiliation to the seller.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30974618085&searchurl=pn...

The diary of a young girl is currently available on eBay for $45 +5 dollar shipping in the US. I wanted to snatch it up but I already own the everyman’s library edition which is still a lot cheaper.

>100 assemblyman:

IMO opinion there's a very good chance that's the real thing. My copy says 1954 (in Roman) then on the next page in "Second impression 1969", when the special edition was published. And this wouldn't be the first time a Folio special edition was described as "faux leather". I got my Jane Austen set cheap mostly because the seller had listed it as faux leather.

Edited to add: Check if the page tops are gilt. That's the clincher.

>102 folio_books: Well it’s gone now. Good luck to whoever got it. It seems a good price if the condition is good. I would probably have gone for it myself but I decided to get the LE a couple of months ago for a good price which is quite enough for me.

Another one on Abebooks. Rupert Brooke Selected Poems LE going for £95 which is an absolute bargain if as described. I have it already which is why I am putting it up. No affiliation to seller.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30977814259&searchurl=pn...

>104 assemblyman: enabled and purchased, thank you. As you say, if it is as described then it is a bargain (fingers crossed).
Edward Thomas next for me.

>105 Hamwick: I hope all goes well for you. Edward Thomas is next for me too.

>106 assemblyman: Just as an update, I have received a cancellation notice from AbeBooks, for the Rupert Brooke LE. No reason given other than the item is no longer available. No matter, as long as they refund me. it was a good enablement though, so thanks again.

>107 Hamwick: Sorry that happened. I own it as well, picked it up at a local bookstore for a price I was happy with, but have yet to read it. It is quite lovely, hope you find one eventually.

>107 Hamwick: I'm sorry about that. I hope you get it for the right price in the future.

We should accept that booksellers can also be members of this forum and if they spot a post which has useful information to them, then they might just wish to act on it!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jorrocks-Jaunts-Jollities-Color-Plates-by-Henry-Alken-F...

A leather rebound copy I guess? With ribbed spines, looks pretty nice. I was quite confused initially. Hopefully someone finds this interesting.

https://stellabooks.com/books/marcus-aurelius/meditations/1321291?filterSearch=f...

I hope it is okay to post a link to an on line seller; (I have no affiliation).

I thought this was a good price for Meditations, (Marcus Aurelius)

Anyone hunting for the elusive 5-volume Jeeves and Wooster set (which was issued by Folio in a far lower print run than the matching 6 and 3-volume sets) which Ardis currently has listed on eBay for £306 would do well to scan the eBay listings of the 6-volume Jeeves and Wooster sets, since a certain eBay seller has miscounted the number of volumes in their set and is offering the mislabelled 5-volume set for less than a third of Mr. Ardis' price, P&P included.

(edited to add, it would be sensible to confirm the titles with the seller, has he lists the titles from the 6-volume set while at the same time citing titles from the 5-vol set when describing the condition of the books in detail. The image clearly shows the desirable 5-volume set)

>113 cronshaw:

The prices for this set are highly volatile it seems. I resisted buying it for years when it was around £200, but it came down steadily and I bought at £110 just over two years ago - from Ardis - in as new condition. The current Ardis price for returning customers is around £275, but that is an astonishing rise.

The special edition 1992 Peter Pan or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up is up on Abebooks for £160. It looks to have some sunning to the spine but otherwise seems fine. No affiliation to the seller.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30984609343&cm_sp=snippe...

Ardis has the rather scarce News From Nowhere on Abe:

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30984708701&searchurl=pn...

Usual disclaimers.

>116 assemblyman: I was tempted by that, glad someone bought it.

One of the special bindings for the Folio Society, the Oxford Companion to English Literature (5th edition from 1985 in the red leather binding) is listed on ebay UK for a whooping GBP 14 with best offer available. Slipcase seems to have some wear, but book condition looks very good.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184842368536?hash=item2b0976b618:g:InAAAOSwKdZgoh1

As usual, no connection with the seller.

Potter and Potter Auctions have an auction on August 28 that lists a Lot with 210 FS books, with an estimate of $2,000 to $3,000. The winning bid will probably exceed the estimate, but still could be a real bargain.

>119 teppi2: Oxford Companion to English Literature (5th edition from 1985 in the red leather binding)

... gone.

Here is one that would require some follow up with the seller, but could be a interesting deal for the right buyer:

1969 Decameron, described as "rebound" in cream leather - sounds like it could be the special binding. However, both books are sold separately (so no slipcase). Also they are described as good condition only, with minor rubbing to the extremities plus a few tiny cover marks.

With all that said, assuming this is the special binding and the books look half way decent, GBP 20 for this set (GBP 10 per book) would not be overpriced, even if not in perfect condition.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30980396011&searchurl=bi...

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30980388353&searchurl=bi...

The Oxfam online shop has upped its sale offering to 70% on some items including a number of Folio volumes, which may be of interest e.g. World of Odysseus has been reduced to £7.20 plus postage The postage is, usually, a flat rate per basket.

>123 ASheppard: Some good offers there with the discount. Sadly Oxfam UK don't ship to the EU anymore.

Someone seems to have gotten a good deal on Abebooks. The 1992 limited edition of Gods and Men in near fine condition for £45. I hope it was someone from here.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30987052073&searchurl=pn...

I’ve noticed that several complete sets of Dante’s Divine Comedy have appeared on eBay over the last few days i.e. the three separate volumes of Pergatorio, Inferno, and the quite rare Paradiso. I’m wondering whether this means that a reprint is imminent and sellers are looking to capitalise before the prices drop.

Has anyone heard that there’s going to be a reprint, or is it just a coincidence that so many versions have come up for sale at once?

>126 PavoCris19: rumor of dante limited edition coming soon. Probably in anticipation of that.

>127 trentsteel: Thank you, that’s useful to know. I’ll wait to see what comes of the LE rumours then, rather than getting involved with the inflated prices of the secondary market.

>128 PavoCris19:

If I click on your name to view your profile, I get this : Error: This user doesn't exist

Are you a figment of my imagination? ;)

.

>129 folio_books: Ha, I'm getting exactly the same message! I'll have to look into that, I'm not sure what the problem is.

>129 folio_books: It should work now. I updated my username slightly and that seems to have caused the problem.

For some reason, the old username was still showing. In truth, there isn't much to read in my profile so I'll have to get working on that!

>126 PavoCris19:
Perhaps this forthcoming edition has an effect on that as well?
https://www.librarything.com/topic/330443

>132 kvnchn: Thank you for sharing. That looks impressive. My inclination at this point would be to wait and see whether a new FS edition is forthcoming, but that certainly seems to be worth keeping in mind.

>131 Caput_Lupinum: there isn't much to read in my profile so I'll have to get working on that!

I would say the majority of users on FSD never bother with their profiles or add books to their libraries, which was the reason I joined LT in the first place. Discovering FSD was the icing on the cake :)

But yes, I can see you now. Pretty simple fix, too.

Book of Common Prayer on the online Oxfam shop at £13.49 plus postage.

https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/the-book-of-common-prayer/product/HD_300111346?s...

oops sorry £13.50

Bit of an oddity - an unnumbered copy of the letterpress Shakespeare As You Like It, with commentary volume but without box for just £150 (offers accepted).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294377489239?hash=item448a440357:g:pb8AAOSwte5hNPcD

>136 Xandian97: Many of the commentary volumes were sold individually by Folio. I bought a complete set and they are lovely gems based on Oxford University Press' Shakespeare, so it's not odd to see them along with the single Letterpress Shakespeare volume that also at a time was offered sans solander box (which I prefer) The Solander box is just too big I'm my option and makes serious space issues when shelving the entire collection

Within the past week a bookseller on abe (a reliable one it seems, with 5 stars, and who provides images of their actual books rather than nothing or 'stock' photos) has listed several Folio first edition R. S. Surtees novels, all in their dust-jackets. I've just picked up 'Ask Mama' and 'Plain or Ringlets' as these were the two I was lacking from the series, the others of the series remain available. Considering their 'very good' condition, including VG dust-jackets (hard to find) now protected in transparent archival sleeves, these seem a striking bargain for an average £12.50, considering they're all letterpress and each illustrated with numerous hand-coloured engraved plates. If Folio published these today at the same production value, I can't imagine they'd sell for under £100.

>138 cronshaw:

That's an outstanding bargain, Russell. I have them all (some of the djs a little motheaten) but they really are the most charming editions. I can't imagine even a Folio LE incorporating hand-coloured engraved plates.

>139 folio_books: On checking the 1951 Folio prospectus I've just noted that while almost all the other titles Folio published that year cost 17/- 'Handley Cross' cost a whopping 31/-, and nonetheless Folio noted that 'the plates ... are coloured by hand with minute care. A book of over 700 pages, it is sewn on tapes and carries specially heavy boards, and represents perhaps the best sheer value ever offered to members'. A 'fine edition' before its time, though at a bargain price definitely of its time!

>140 cronshaw:

For the benefit of our younger readers and those outside the UK, 31/- = £1.55

I was not yet one year old when it was published.

>141 folio_books: £1.55 in 1951 = £54.50 in 2021 according to the Bank of England inflation calculator. That does make me think that official inflation has been seriously underestimated over the decades.

Folio Books of the period were reasonably priced. New Naturalist editions in the early fifties cost 30/-. A standard Penguin 2/6. A factory worker might earn £7 a week.

I wish I could understand the old currency system. I find this utterly intriguing. The penguins were seriously underpriced.

New Naturalists now £65, a little more than Russell's inflation calculator, but generally longer and certainly better illustrated than in the 1950's. Average earnings have gone up significantly more than inflation, and that is what makes today's FS books much more affordable than in the past.

Well that begs the question: so it’s much better now then it was before?

>146 ironjaw:

Did you mean that for me, Faisel? I was careful to say affordable, and that is right in terms of how much the books cost in relation to a buyer's disposable income. Better is a much more subjective term, but the older books are often well-designed without being especially well-made, some are dull, and there was nothing like the range of interests in the titles then.

>147 affle: yes, Allan. It’s always a bit harder for me to type on the phone than using the computer so sometimes I’m sloppy with the reply button. From what I gather it seems that the books were more expensive than they are now but then again Folio’s are pushing £65+.

I used some time yesterday to look over my order emails from the folio society dating 2009 to 2019 and the prices are just impressively low (of course, I did also buy during the discounts and then there were the free renewal offers) but overall it was a pleasant affair. Here is an example:

MBY Moby-Dick
Unit Price: GBP 175.00
Postage: GBP 20.00
Total: GBP 195.00
***

NPL Napoleon
Unit Price: GBP 44.95
Postage: GBP 4.00
Total: GBP 48.95

Les Misrables
GBP 160.00
***
Metamorphoses
GBP 295.00
***
Dracula
GBP 24.95
***
Unweaving the Rainbow
GBP 24.95

Anna Karenina £29.95
The Bhagavad Gita £19.95
The Campaigns of Alexander £17.95
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems £24.95
The Earth - An Intimate History £9.95
Fear and Trembling £17.95
Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman!' £22.95
The Baburnama £105.00

>144 ironjaw: "I wish I could understand the old currency system. I find this utterly intriguing. The penguins were seriously underpriced."

As a yank I'm not sure I should be answering this question but before decimalization in 1971:
12 pence to a shilling
20 shillings to a pound (or 240 pence)

x/y pricing meant x shillings and y pence so
31/- means 31 shillings and no pence, subtract 20 shillings for the pound and we end up with 1 pound 11 shillings,
subtract 10 shillings for 1/2 a pound and we have £1.50 + 1 shilling (1 shilling is 1/20 of a pound) so we get £1.55

For fun we can add the following coins:
farthing (1/4 pence)
hapenny (1/2 pence)
penny (1 pence)
tuppence (2 pence)
thrupence (3 pence)
groat (4 pence)
six pence (6 pence)
shilling (12 pence)
florin (2 shillings)
half crown (2 shillings and 6 pence or 2s/6d)
double florin (4 shillings)
crown (5 shillings)
half sovereign (10 shillings or 1/2 pound)
sovereign (1 pound)
Guinea (21 shillings or 1 pound and 1 shilling)

>138 cronshaw: And only one title remains (Jorrock's Jaunts and Jollities)!

>149 kdweber: That's more comprehensively explained than I could have managed. I miss the 12-sided threepence bit the most, and the charming incongruity of the penny being so much bigger than the threepenny bit which was in turn bigger than a sixpence, though decimalisation does make life so much easier. I don't remember the groat, and I could never understand the point of a guinea.

>149 kdweber: And then one wonders why the ex-colonies across the Atlantic would use anything but metric when talking about size.. :P

>150 cronshaw: The groat hasn't been minted in the UK since 1856. "I could never understand the point of a guinea"
The guinea and sovereign are both gold coins. The guinea stopped being produced in 1814 while the sovereign is still produced but as a bullion coin similar to the US gold American eagle. In any case, a guinea has slightly more gold in it than a gold sovereign so it was valued slightly higher. Now pound, sovereign, and guinea are used interchangeably.

>151 AnnieMod: if the US had used the British coinage system 200 years ago, we'd still be using it today.

>149 kdweber: thank you very much Ken.

I must as say you have grasped it quite well and have a wonderful in-depth knowledge. Thank you for the examples. That’s what I’ve been struggling with especially converting those over to pound to get a sense of what it all means. It seems so confusing.

Retailers prolonged the working life of the guinea by using it for the displayed shop prices of many higher-value items, apparently as the view was widely taken that it made them sound more affordable: a television, say, might be priced at 79 guineas rather than £82. 19s.. The practice only ended with decimalisation, which as a reactionary eleven year old I roundly detested.

>150 cronshaw:
That would be because of me snapping up two titles I was missing thanks to your post above. Still two to go one of which is Plain or Ringlets

The guinea (concept not coin) was much used by upper-crust retailers, e.g. bespoke tailors, to appeal to class-conscious customers. It had the added benefit of putting more money in the till.

>152 kdweber: "The groat hasn't been minted in the UK since 1856."

With one technical exception - Maundy money. A set of a groat, threepence, tuppence, and penny, made out of silver to a uniform design, and handed out at Easter to as many men and women as match the monarch's age. Technically they are legal tender to the value on the coin. In reality a Maundy money set is worth in the hundreds of pounds.

An indication incidentally of how bad lawyers are at maths. Barristers used to charge in guineas. The barrister would keep the pound, the clerk would keep the shilling. On decimalization, the clerks decided to take a decimal amount as their fee - 10%...

>149 kdweber: "half crown (2 shillings and 6 pence or 2s/6d), crown (5 shillings)"

Also known as half-a-dollar and a dollar, based on the time when there were $4 to the £. Perhaps the last use of half-a-dollar was in Carry On Again Doctor (a bet between two doctors as to a diagnosis).

>154 terebinth: >156 Jayked: >157 InVitrio: Thanks for the added color

>155 N11284: I'm glad you nabbed them, John! In the images at least the DJs appeared to be in excellent condition for their age, and it's always reassuring when they're being sold by a small seller with five stars rather than by one of the warehouse conveyor belt sellers who can't be bothered posting images and who are unable to answer questions because 'we regret we're unable to access our stock'. If ever I'm Prime Minister I'll punitively tax all booksellers unable to access their stock.

I've waited a good few years to find VG+ copies in DJs of 'Ask Mama' and 'Plain or Ringlets'. I hope you find your last two more quickly :)

>157 InVitrio: Canny clerks! Very funny, thanks for sharing.

>158 InVitrio: "Perhaps the last use of half-a-dollar was in Carry On Again Doctor"

I can recall my late-father referring to a dollar/half-a-dollar in this century, but obviously not in a contemporary context.
I always preferred the old coinage myself and the weight of history behind it. Half a dollar, half-a-crown, 2/6, and two-and-a-tanner are all much more interesting than 12 1/2p. A crown, five shillings, 5/-, and five bob all make 25p seem bland and colourless.

The US and UK usage of 'dollar' was nicely explained here: https://www.etymonline.com/columns/post/why-is-a-dollar-like-a-neanderthal if anyone's interested.

>161 Hrodberht:
Fascinating link, thank you.

The old pre-decimal coinage which seemed indestructible could teach children some of our recent national history.

I started collecting old coins in the 1960s from change gained by my parents and there were a quite a few Victorian pennies around and silver (not cupro-nickel) from the reigns of George V onwards. Sadly pocket money in those days did not allow the collecting of gold sovereigns which were are and still are legal tender ... but for some odd reason never circulated even as far back as the 1960s.

Some of that history to be gleaned from the inscriptions on coins included 'Ind:Imp' (from before India became independent) and 'Fid Def' which was abbreviated Latin for the title 'Defender of the Faith' given by an early sixteenth century Pope to Henry VIII for his published defence of Catholic doctrine. Liz sadly never had the chance to be Empress but retains 'Defender of the Faith'.

>163 English-bookseller: Fascinating

Curiously enough, I just posted facetiously requesting FS to publish Burgess's 1985. There is a passage from the first part of that book that some of you discussing the currencies above might find interesting. Direct quote.

It’s the future that’s supposed to be subversive. Yet Winston Smith has his subversiveness all in the past.

Well, the past is subversive in the sense that it opposes pragmatic values to doctrinaire ones. The human and not the abstract. Take even the least considerable and most neutral-seeming areas – like, for instance, weights and measures. Nineteen Eighty-Four is genuinely prophetic in presenting a Britain that’s yielded to the metric system. At the end of the war there hadn’t as yet been any official proposal to replace the traditional units with the Cartesian abstractions of France, but everybody felt sure the change was on its way. Inches and feet and yards were too much based on thumbs and limbs to be acceptable in a truly rational world. A prole beer-drinker whom Winston Smith encounters complains of having to drink litres or half-litres: he wants the traditional pint. But despite the protests of traditionalists, Britain had to be given a decimal coinage. Orwell knew this was going to happen: he puts dollars and cents into Winston’s pocket. As the British know, the reality is the heavy dollar still called the pound, with a hundred new pence or p in it – shameful liquidation – but the dehumanization remains. Americans have a monetary system that carries an aura of revolutionary necessity, and they’ll never understand how the loss of the old shillings and half-crowns and guineas wounded British hearts. For the whole point of the traditional system was that it sprang out of empirical common sense, not abstract rationality. You could divide by any number – 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. If you try to divide by 3 now you get a recurring decimal.

7 and 9?

Yes. You added a shilling to a pound and that gave you a guinea. A seventh of a guinea was three shillings. A ninth of a guinea was two shillings and fourpence, or a Malayan dollar. So long as there were seven days in a week, four weeks in a month, twelve months in a year, and an hour divisible by 3 and its multiples, the old system made sense. But it had to go: it was too reasonable, too human.

Guineas are still in usage in pricing livestock, notably in the purchase of horses which also are measured in 'hands', raced over furlongs in order to win prizes listed in guineas.

>165 Tom9019: I'm quite taken aback at this. How thought-provoking!

>165 Tom9019: So that's the point of the guinea. Many thanks for elucidating!

I thought the thread about coins got deleted as it was off topic. Could we maybe start a new one?

Moving back onto books

LE toilers of the Sea, £290 (£50 P&P from Aus)

Certainly the cheapest copy of this book I have seen since it sold out.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Toilers-of-the-Sea-by-Victor-Hugo-Limited-Edition...

>165 Tom9019: A guinea was not divisible by 5, though, making it a little more awkward for anyone who had five fingers!

A few years ago we got a new puppy and one of the first things she did was to explore my library, where she did the damage as on the left below. Drat it, I thought (or words to that effect) another set ruined. Until recently when I found this single volume on eBay from around £12.00. Set restored to former glory and one puppy reprieved.

You could have had the damaged book rebound in dogskin...

>173 English-bookseller: Good call!

>173 English-bookseller:
Ah , but would the dog have been willing to provide the material.

I wonder if the typeface is Baskerville.

A hospice in the UK has quite a few rare FS books on auction that are ending soon:
Mort, Small Gods, East of Eden, Man in the High Tower etc...

https://www.ebay.ca/usr/stoswaldshospice?_trksid=p2055359.m1431.l2754

I don't know how much they will end up being, just wanted to put this out there. Don't anyone dare outbid me on "Name of the Rose" however!

>177 PartTimeBookAddict:

Coincidentally, that's my local hospice and it's where all my cast-off books go to. I'll be delivering another bagful this week.

>177 PartTimeBookAddict: FAD rule no. 666: do not advertise on FSD any auction in which you yourself are a bidder! ;)

>179 cronshaw: HaHa! I'm already outbid. I'm not worried about it, as the shipping to Canada was going to defeat me anyway. It's all going to a great cause.

Somebody sure donated a valuable collection, to their credit!

>177 PartTimeBookAddict: This hospice isn’t far from me either, although I’d have preferred to have come across the Christie in their stores (I’ve yet to find a Folio in one yet!).

I’m watching quite a few of the auctions, simply to see how high some of them go. The prices of the Pratchetts and Christies always shock me.

>181 behemoththecat: I’d have preferred to have come across the Christie in their stores (I’ve yet to find a Folio in one yet!).

Anything that looks valuable is shipped off to head office for adding to their web page, suitably priced. There's a couple of Folios in the bag I'll be taking this week, though nothing to get excited about. I don't expect to see either on the web :)

>182 folio_books:
You actually part with some of your Folios? I am shocked!

>183 wcarter:

Only when I've replaced them with a better edition :)

Unfortunately no FS editions here but an amazing opportunity for any antique book lovers. Even browsing the catalogue is illuminating.

https://fonsiemealy.auctioneersvault.com/Catalogues/22092021/index.html

A Wizard of Earthsea $67 on AbeBooks

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31005497181&searchurl=kn%3...

Man in the High Castle on Abebooks £55

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31005571373&cm_sp=snippe...

The Rise of Rome $89 on AbeBooks. Not cheap, but it's the best price I've ever seen for this.

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31005852651&searchurl=kn%3...

>188 jswift81: been looking for this, but for some reason didn’t have a Want setup! Thank you!

>189 RRCBS: You're welcome!

>189 RRCBS: did you get it? Beat me to it.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Not cheap at £80 but far cheaper than current prices I think.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31006605522&searchurl=pn...

>192 assemblyman:

Was just thinking "that won't last long." True enough, it's gone!

>193 folio_books: I barely get my message up sometimes before they are gone.

>194 assemblyman:

Prices are beyond mad.

I obviously don't buy any interesting books from The Folio Society as you never 'enable' any of my bookshop's FS books ... which are gently rotting away from disuse, old age and feelings of rejection...

FS books ... which are gently rotting away from disuse, old age and feelings of rejection...

I hope you don't advertise them that way :).

I guess we know who grabbed the Patrick O’Brian books the other day, or at least it’s quite the coincidence that someone’s listed a bunch of them without slipcases today.

The Epic of Gilgamesh on Abe:

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31007308775&searchurl=n%...

No affiliation.

>197 assemblyman: Thank you for that helpful advice.

That's probably why my sales have been on the slow side these past several years. Honesty doesn't pay...

Trouble is some of us over here have been brought up to think marketing is showing off!

>200 English-bookseller: I hope you don't think I was seriously taking a dig at you as it was not my intention. I apologize if it came across that way.

>191 Tom9019: I didn’t! Someone else ordered it shortly before apparently! Last I checked, it was still listed on Abe though, even after they emailed to tell me that!

>201 assemblyman: Not all all. I was very amused. Life seems to me to be one long tragedy and I see one way to endure its vicissitudes is to treat it like a comedy.

>203 English-bookseller: "Life seems to me to be one long tragedy and I see one way to endure its vicissitudes is to treat it like a comedy."

Eeyore's philosophy encapsulated!

For those in the UK, Oxfam have FS Bewick's British Birds listed at £60 BUT this price can be reduced by 20% to £48 using the code REWEAR and, I think, there is also free shipping at the moment. Further discounts, probably, could be obtained by going through one of the cashback sites.

https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/folio-society-a-history-of-british-birds-by-thom...

>205 ASheppard: again, on the Oxfam website using the REWEAR code for a 20% discount, the complete FS quarter leather set of Dickens III (aka the Nonesuch facsimile set) is currently available for £400 with free P&P (!) for the sixteen volumes, which works out at an exceedingly reasonable £25 per volume, when these were sold by FS in 2004 for over £40 each on average.

>206 cronshaw: The P&P charges at Oxfam are baffling! 16 volumes of Dickens £3.95, 2 volumes of Reformation £25

>206 cronshaw: Ahhh, just had a look. My FS Dickens set of books is from the '80s, (green bindings).
>207 DMulvee: Indeed!

A copy of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations has been added to the Oxfam online store @ £39.99 but would be reduced to £31.99 with code REWEAR; standard shipping has been waived so is free. Posts to the UK only now, I believe.

https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/meditations-marcus-aurelius-folio-society-hb-sli...

I see the Fairy books (Pink & Yellow) have now made an appearance on the online Oxfam book shop. The previous mentioned 20% off code will work - I haven't a scooby as to whether this is a good/bad/indifferent price for these volumes. Note; postage isn't standard on the yellow so I don't think this element will be waived.

Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus on Abe:

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31014048240&searchurl=n%...

No affiliation.

A copy of the scarce and very beautiful War and Peace limited edition from 1971, two volumes bound in blue leather. Early days but the starting price is a mere £100.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324813795664?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11051.m43...

>213 folio_books:

And from the same seller, a "fine" The Duke's Children ("standard" LE) for the same price it cost originally from FS (£195)

>213 folio_books: That's a beautiful set. Probably going to end much higher than that.

>214 boldface:

I must have missed that one. I was too busy enthusing over the War and Peace. Another bargain for someone.

>213 folio_books:
£410 and counting?! Goodness me.

>217 GusLogan: Didn’t matter if it started at £0.99 or £100, it was never going to end at a cheap price, especially after being posted here. Beautiful set though.

Not to make anyone jealous, but I got a the same edition for £250 last December...

Posting here adds another 200% lol

A few limited editions available from an estate sale in Canada:

Letterpress Shakespeare Sonnets & Poems
The Wind in the Willows (2008) LE

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?vci=83026371

Neither are cheap, but both seem to be listed considerably below recent market standard.

I bought a copy of the 2013 Thomas Gray poems LE (illustrated by William Blake) in fine condition for below original issue price from this seller. I wanted to wait and see the quality and accuracy of description before dropping a link here; it arrived today and everything looks good. This is one massive book! For huge books like this, the free shipping within Canada is nontrivial as well (applies at least to the Shakespeare volume; not sure about The Wind in the Willows).

(No relation to seller apart from being satisfied with a completed purchase.)

>218 _WishIReadMore:
Sure, it’s the absolute number I’m stunned by, though. But I suppose comparing it to the prices realized for the SEs of Ulysses and The Sound and the Fury makes it seem sensible as part of a senseless whole…

The two volume, quarter leather Icelandic Sagas is on Abe for £140.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?bi=0&cm_sp=SearchF-_-sf-_-R...

Condition is described as VG. I've never seen the individual volumes for sale at this price, let alone the two volume set.

No affiliation with the seller.

>223 SyllicSpell:
Well, I certainly tried to order it - gratefully, whether I succeed or not! (Edit: Extra charges added and accepted, so looks good. Many thanks!)

>224 GusLogan: Good to hear that you were successful. I paid rather a lot for this set a few years ago, but I am very pleased to own it.

Complete Shakespeare plays 8 vol. set for sale in Oz (via eBay): https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/185106446386?hash=item2b19343832:g:NlYAAOSww-xhaDB8

Seems like a very good price - not sure how this edition stacks up, but looks pretty good to me.

(not affiliated with seller etc.)

Slightly off topic, but if anyone is collecting the Westvaco editions I have somehow managed to have two copies of O Pioneers. If anyone is interested in these just let me know and you can have one of these free gratis.

I see a ‘near fine’ copy of the 980-limited Hansel & Gretel has just appeared on eBay UK though this is one of the lettered copies (letter C) - starting price…. £600. Don't see many lettered copies of LE’s going for sale - i presume the letter adds a premium to their desirability ?

>225 SyllicSpell:
And received in stated condition. A lovely pair - thanks again. Viking that I am, I’ll even read them!

Night Thoughts by Edward Young. A glorious Folio Limited Edition for sale on eBay UK featuring copious stunningly beautiful illustrations by William Blake. No bids yet, ending Sunday. Starting bid £499, BIN for £799. A stone cold bargain. No affiliation with seller. And did I mention it's HUGE?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234244501070?hash=item368a0f6e4e:g:fZ0AAOSw21hhQ1dK

>230 folio_books: It has 14 watchers so i assume that someone will make a last minute move !

Stella & Rose’s books in the UK have a whole new whack (6 pages) of sealed books in stock. Some rarities and OOP.

I’ve only ordered from them once and shipping wasn’t too bad to North America. Packing was solid.

>232 PartTimeBookAddict: including a Ulysses LE priced at £400. Not sure if that's a good price or not, but maybe of interest to those eyeing the Thornwillow offering. Also number 1111, which has a certain charm.

It's a shame their shop is closed (at least pro tem) as it's in a lovely part of the world - almost opposite Tintern Abbey, proper gothic ruin.

>234 InVitrio: Agreed, love that area - was staying in the Forest of Dean for a week back in September, and was a nice surprise seeing their sign whilst driving through Tintern. It's a great area for book lovers too with all the bookshops up in Hay-on-Wye and the festival.

One of their books is a Chesterton from 1959 still in original shrink wrap!

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31039685604&cm_sp=snippe...

>236 RRCBS:
Must be a much later printing of an old title because the FS did not start shrink wrapping books until about 2006. I suspect it is the 2015 reprint.

>236 RRCBS:

Folio re-issued the 1959 edition of the Father Brown Stories in 2015.

I would be interested what fellow Folio Society lovers from Germany say about good spots where to get some Folios...Has anyone tried booklooker.de before?

On Ebay Kleinanzeigen there is someone selling Howl's Moving Castle and some other Folios (I think Horror Stories) for quite a good price. I got House of Many Ways and two others for 60€.

>239 woodstock8786: I never found a good source of FS books in Germany. The best way for me is to set an eBay search for folio society and set the seller location to Germany. But there aren't that many good deals. I bought Dune for 75€ at the beginning of the year, but nothing since. I mostly use eBay UK, but haven't bought anything for quite a while until last week. I had to pay VAT through eBay, but my order hasn't arrived so I don't know if german customs will let the books through.

News from Nowhere - Halcyon Books - £150

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/News-Epoch-Rest-Morris-William-Folio/31042395322/bd?c...

No affiliation to seller.

>241 bookfair_e: And it is now gone. They don't last long once posted here.

>241 bookfair_e:
>242 assemblyman:
They certainly do not! Happy to have been alerted to this copy of News from Nowhere. It's not the first time (and I'm sure won't be the last time) I've pounced on a book I've long sought. Thank you!

>243 goldenbowl:

It's nice when a highly desirable book goes to a FSD member.

>243 goldenbowl: I’m glad the pouncer was from this forum. When I put up something here there are times when it’s gone as soon as I put up the alert and the hope is that someone here gets it.

Not cheap, but hard to find : https://www.bowwindows.com/pages/books/39369/austen/the-northanger-set-of-jane-a...
Also has a copy of the Poetic Edda.

For the UK, oxfam has a Alice's Adventures Under Ground limited edition listed for 150 gbp.

I was reading wcarter's post about the facsimile Kelmscott Chaucer (https://www.librarything.com/topic/289499) and noticed this limited editions copy on eBay UK at what seems like a lowish starting price with no bids and about a day to go: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403266294485?hash=item5de48b52d5:g:j9EAAOSwqyRhH54V

>248 ubiquitousuk: Thanks for sharing that! Coincidentally someone shared some close-up shots of the different editions just yesterday, on wcarter's post, providing an opportunity to admire the beautiful binding of the LE again.

>248 ubiquitousuk:

I have the non-LE. The LE is high on my wanted list and ordinarily I would be interested in this - the price is very tempting. But my Folio expenditure has been beyond ridiculous over the last couple of months so I can't even justify it to myself. Looks like I've chosen the wrong time to discover I actually do have some willpower.

Half hour left, looks like someone’s going to get a good deal, albeit on one that has some solander wear.

A seller on eBay listed a bunch of hard to find titles yesterday with low starting bids - Ulysses, Anglo-Saxons, Narnia, Japanese Tales, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the Susan Cooper Dark is Rising books, I am Legend LE and some more. My eBay emails were flooded with them this morning but I’m not buying more Folios until after the holidays so hopefully someone here can get a nice price on something. I’m not sure how to link them all but here is Anglo-Saxons: https://www.ebay.com/itm/165169271179?

>246 Jayked: To anyone who is after this ‘Horrid Novels’ set, this is a fair price. It’s full letterpress and very nice and rare. The state of the glassine jackets make it look a lot worse than it is. (The set I finally found and bought after a long time searching didn’t have them anymore at all). The slipcase leaves a bit to be desired but it’s very cheap and flimsy seeming. Worse than any other Folio slipcase I have I think. Reminds me of cereal box cardboard. So I’m not surprised they didn’t age well.

>252 ChampagneSVP: The set I finally found and bought after a long time searching didn’t have them anymore at all

First thing I did after acquiring the set was to ditch the glassine wrappers which detract from rather than add to the books' appearance. That was a few years back. Rather more recently I did the same with The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night Limited Edition. The dowdy glassine came off revealing the breathtaking red leather bindings beneath.

>252 ChampagneSVP:
The slipcase for the similar Anne Radcliffe set is pretty cheesy too. I restored mine to respectability with a lot of sweat equity, hardly justified by the literary content. Lord but that's boring stuff. So far I've resisted the Horrids in the expectation that they're even worse than Mrs R. I imagine that most sets are in unread condition.

>252 ChampagneSVP:

The sellers prices are far from reasonable...$1900 for Malay archipelago lol. This should be moved to that other thread about crazy secondary market prices.

>255 MobyRichard: It is very odd, some items on auction that’ll end up wherever people choose they feel it’s worth, and then stratospheric buy it now prices for others. At $1,900 for Malay, they deserve a permanent place of honour in the crazy secondary market thread.

>255 MobyRichard: A week ago 1 sold for $450 so $1900 is outrageous!

>255 MobyRichard: I only meant to highlight the $0.99 starting auctions but agree that those other listings put them in the outrageous prices club. They’re very aspirational, to put it mildly.

>246 Jayked:

My set of the Horrid novels has the original advertising pamphlet laid in, and I see the published price was 17 guineas (ie £17.85, you youngsters) - about £310 in today's values, using RPI. So the price you linked to is not unreasonable in one sense, though a good bit more than I paid. In £/hour of reading pleasure, however, it may be thought somewhat extravagant: I chose the slimmest volume, The castle of Wolfenbach, to start my reading, and I now, some years later, find my bookmark resting between pages 6 and 7. The books are in splendid condition, the slipcase - as others report - rather battered, consistent with the set being repeatedly hurled across the room.

>240 c_schelle: Thank you for the reply, I didn't catch it, earlier.

Yes I was fearing as much. There aren't a lot of Folio lovers in Germany it seems, or not a lot that sell books.

Not sure if its a ‘good deal’ or not - but theres a set of the Tolkien LE (LOTR, Hobbit, Silmarillion - all with matching limitation numbers) on eBay UK if anyone has a spare £4000.

Oxfam currently has a copy of The Bloody Chamber for £100, with 10% off for new email newsletter subscribers. Not an amazing deal but less than I paid for it a month or so ago, and you get the bonus of donating to charity!

>261 antinous_in_london: Definitely not a good deal. Another set was sold recently for far less.

There is an eBay auction in the States (State of Illinois) that ends on Sunday at 5:12 PM Central Time in the States and 11:12 PM in Great Britain for the deluxe 5-volume Tolkien set, i.e., LOTR, The Silmarillion and The Hobbit, with starting price of $1,799 US dollars or about 1,340 GBP. This is the set with dark brown Wassa goatskin spine and Indian silk cloth covered boards, bold gilt titling on the spine. The slipcases are covered with matching Wassa leather. The illustrations are by Ingahild Grathmer, drawn by Eric Fraser. The books are in "as new" condition and all have identical numbers in the colophon. Currently, there are no bidders.

While not exactly a bargain, the starting price is in the ballpark for this 5-volume set. More important, it is extremely difficult to find all five books in this condition and it would take a considerable amount of time. Moreover, this is an extremely attractive Tolkien set and a nice alternative to the HarperCollins sets and Alan Lee illustrated editions.

Food for thought, especially if you do not have a nice Tolkien set and desire one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/373789575775?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26...

>264A. You can find interesting quotes easily courtesy of the internet.

Imagine a meeting of the Inklings in 'The Eagle and Child' pub in Oxford...

According to J. R. R. Tolkien’s son Christopher, Hugo Dyson (1896-1975) had quite enough, thank you, even though the lesser-known Oxford don was considered the most fun-loving of the Inklings.

As another newly-written passage of The Lord of the Rings was read aloud by its author, Dyson was “lying on the couch, and lolling and shouting and saying, ‘Oh f***, not another elf!’” Other versions of the incident are even more colourful. Dyson was not the only one, and so Tolkien eventually stopped reading the updates in the pub.

There are two Folio Society books on eBay Kleinanzeigen (kind of a German Gumtree or Craigslist).

One is Howl‘s Moving Castle in unread condition for just 31€ (Incl. shipping in Germany):

https://m.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/howl-s-moving-castle-diana-wynne-jones...

And there is a still shrinkwrapped Mort for €250 (which probably isn’t the best deal):

https://m.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/terry-pratchett-mort-folio-society-geb...

I know this is a special site which mostly works for people in Germany, but it might be interesting for some. The first is a good deal.
And maybe the seller would also be willing to ship somewhere else?

Not a steal but £400 seems to be the going rate for this scarce and lovely set and it would be even better if you have one of Stella’s 10 or 20% off vouchers: https://stellabooks.com/books/william-shakespeare/the-folio-press-shakespeare-37...

>267 ChampagneSVP:

I love this edition - can't recommend it highly enough! Vibrant colour illustrations from costumes and sets of actual productions; quirky introductions, largely by actors or directors; letterpress printing in black and another colour throughout - quite simply, Folio at their best.

>268 boldface: quite simply, Folio at their best.

Not to mention sufficiently portable to accompany the theatre-goer to a performace, should they choose to do so. Definitely my favourite of the various complete editions they've published, including that spectacular leatherbound six volume set.

A real odd one here, but - if I interpret the pictures correctly - the Oxfam website currently has two volumes of the Pepys LE series (1667 and 1668/69) PLUS the diary companion PLUS the diary index (OK, that one is probably not such a good read) - for the grand total of £19.99 (with £9.99 courier delivery on top). Obviously any true devotee would find it very unsettling to own only two volumes, but these are great editions with the lovely Anne Muir marbling. Quite how the set got split up I can’t imagine, but worth a look if you don’t own it already.

>270 jranstead:

Odd volumes of the Folio Pepys LE have been reported here previously.

I seem to remember one of our members buying a part-set in the hope of picking up other volumes later.

>270 jranstead:

I’ve just gone for it! I’ll never be able to afford the full set, and I’ve long desired it, so it’s definitely worth £30.00 for a partial set for me, especially as the companion volume is included. I think I will start collecting the hardcovers the Folio set was based on for the other volumes as they can be picked up quite cheaply on eBay.
And if by some stroke of luck I ever come across any more orphaned volumes from the Folio set in the future, well all the merrier.

>272 Folio_Fanatic: Glad you went for it, at that price no downside and - if bookfair_e is correct - your quest to find other volumes may bear fruit. To be honest, reading the full set is quite a foreboding challenge, so to have two volumes might make it more approachable. Anyway, hope they turn up in good condition and you enjoy them.

>273 jranstead: thank you, and thank you so much for posting about it.

More than I paid, but still reasonable:
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&kn=folio%20society&...
Same seller has the buckram version of Kelmscott Chaucer, sans slipcase.

>275 Jayked:
Its worth twice that amount!
A fantastic production and the most expensive book ever sold by the FS.
Grab it!
See https://www.librarything.com/topic/298837

>276 wcarter:
It's advertised as having no number, which wouldn't deter me, but might account for the price. I didn't remove it from the showcase, but it seems in excellent condition.

>272 Folio_Fanatic: have sent you a message

Well I just received the Pepys books. They’re absolutely marvellous, they look and smell divine, and are just beautiful books! I’ve wanted the Pepys for so long but they are completely out of my budget, so even this partial set is an absolute dream to me!

>278 stopsurfing: I did reply just in case anyone thinks I’m being ignorant 😂

>279 Folio_Fanatic:

Congratulations! They are beautiful books. Hopefully one day you might find some of the missing ones.

>279 Folio_Fanatic: congratulations. There’s another diary companion available, that you already have, on eBay so there’s another incomplete and separated set out there

Gogol - Collected Stories in 'brand new' condition on Ebay UK, £10 Buy It Now + £3.20 P&P

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115169730553?hash=item1ad0a69ff9:g:wdUAAOSw8Jxh1J3~

(No connection with seller etc.)

>283 Hrodberht: Someone got it for a bid of £6 plus postage which was a great deal.

The Life of Samuel Johnson 1968 leather edition £150 on Ebay. Great price.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/144366593853?hash=item219ceb673d:g:nhAAAOSwCRRh3ZQ4

Edit: And then it was gone.

>285 assemblyman: And then it was gone.

Just as I was reaching for the button. Bugger.

>286 folio_books: I'm very sorry to hear that. I was very tempted myself as I thought the price was good but after getting the Wilfred Owen in the sale I had to say no.

While I am here, New Shackleton set for £66 on Abebooks. Was it an error?

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31091092838&searchurl=pn...

>287 assemblyman:

Don't be sorry. I was pleased you posted it as it had been so long since I've had a sniff of it on eBay or anywhere else come to that. I could have stretched to the price but not very much higher.

>288 assemblyman:

Island Books selling something for less than twice its value? Has to be an error. I was almost tempted to try it.

>290 folio_books: It's likely a replaced set as I can see some scratches and marks on the photo. Described as near fine.

>290 folio_books:

... or it's "missing pages with some bound upside down, in heavily scuffed and torn slipcase, else near fine."

>288 assemblyman: >290 folio_books:
Now it is listed at £366 for a near fine Antarctica set.

Normal service is resumed...!

Crimson Fairy book - Abe - £95.00

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31093736575&searchurl=n%...

No affiliation with seller.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Folio-Society-MINT-LIMITED-EDITION-72-100-Brideshead-...

I am not sure this is a financially good deal but that is a beautiful book and a very limited edition

>295 smk009:

I rate this the best of this series of nine special bindings, certainly of the three I have. See Warwick Carter's review:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/270100

I wouldn't expect to see it for sale at any lower price (though I suspect Warwick got a particular bargain), and wouldn't be all that surprised to see it go a bit higher.

>296 affle: Does Carter imply, in his review, that only the lettered copies were signed by the illustrator? The one on eBay seems signed as well.

>297 What_What:

They are all signed by Rosoman - mine is number 100 (out of 100).

Edited for typing

>295 smk009: Nice find. I have this one and can attest that it’s beautiful. I’ve been looking for The Art of Love in the similar style with no luck yet.

Letterpress Shakespeare Sonnets and Poems is being advertised on Abe books, fine condition, at £250. Seems like a good deal, if it is all true. No affiliation to the seller.

I remember somebody looking for the commentary volume for the Fitzwilliam Book of Hours for £9.99. It’s on eBay. No affiliation

What is a good price for a second hand of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire from E. Gibbon, 8 volume set?

Next to nothing, in my view it's a worthless edition because our dearly beloved Society made the insane decision to pay someone good money TO CUT BITS OUT. The Everyman in six volumes and two cardboard cases (circa £40-50) is much the better buy.

>303 InVitrio: Best one would be the 3 volume Allen Lane one from the 1990s as it has Gibbons full footnotes

>302 capiri: I got one for $80 on eBay sealed in original plastic. I have to say it's a lovely set but I agree with >303 InVitrio:

>302 capiri: Try The Heritage Press 3-volume set illustrated by the great Piranesi. It has all the notes which are very important and these are printed on the margins - very convenient ;)

>303 InVitrio: Thanks for the tip. I looked at it and it seems there are two versions from Everyman. One version has dust jackets, the other doesn't. Do you know which one is best?

>307 capiri: All Everyman (since the 1991 relaunch) has dust jackets though some collectors prefer to remove these as the different colour bindings indicate a genre and this is hidden by the jackets (which are one of two colours for ‘classic’ or ‘contemporary classic’).

http://www.everymanslibrary.co.uk/classics-author.aspx?letter=g

Is there any difference between the new Everyman’s and the ones from the relaunch in 1991 (other than the white dust jackets?)

>308 DMulvee: I thought the same, but it seems not always.
On the website you shared they do have dust jacket, however a reprint of 2010 seem to not show dust jackets see the links below from Amazon and also a review of the same edition by a YouTube channel, which specifically say they don't have a dust jacket.

Anyone has any idea?

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Edward-Gibbon/dp/0307700763/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3N8NM7V51...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAvmCHn1gGA

>309 ironjaw: No. When reprinting older titles they changed the dust cover but everything else has been the same. The only one that confused me is the Great Gatsby which was appearing as a new release (rather than a reprint), but I can’t understand why (the introduction was listed as being written by the same person).

>310 capiri: Initially when they were released they weren’t in a box (none of the volumes were in a box). I can see War and Peace, In Search of Lost Time and the Vasari now comes in boxes.

I have the volumes not in a box (with dust covers), if anyone has the volumes in a box without the dust covers we should be able to deduce if there is a difference

>304 ironjaw: I would have mentioned this other than I hardly ever see the hardback - and it really has to be the hardback - for less than three figures. But there is one now on a popular auction site right now for £90.

>312 InVitrio: I bought mine for £50 on 16 January 2021 but have been looking for one for about 3 years at a right price. I’m very patient. I didn’t feel I wanted to pay more than £80.



I also picked up the Gibbons atlas for £24 to accompany my reading.

I got intensely lucky with mine - £15 in a second-hand shop in Coventry two years ago. Wasn't even the Oxfam bookshop there which is often very good.

>311 DMulvee: there is also dust jacket version in a box, see below example from Amazon.

Interestingly, everywhere I look there is a tendency for the non dust jacket version to be more expensive, so I think there is a difference, but can’t find a reference anywhere
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Decline-Fall-Roman-Empire-Everymans/dp/1857150953/ref=m...

>303 InVitrio: While, like you, I have no interest in a Decline and Fall without Gibbons's footnotes, whenever I see the complaint about cutting bits of a text or not hewing to an author's original vision being terminal to one's interest in a book, I begin to wonder if anyone here has been exposed to good editing.

>304 ironjaw: I am about to pull the trigger but can't seem to decide between the Allen Lane version and the Everyman's. Price wise they are more or less the same where I found them. What makes the Allen Lane better in your opinion? The Everyman's supposedly also has all footnotes.

Currently these are the 3 versions:

- Allen Lane, 3 vols.
- Everyman's 1993/94, 6 vols.
- Everyman's 2010 reprint, 6 vols (no dust jacket and more expensive version but don't know why)

Thanks!

Edit: I found the difference between the 2 versions of Everyman, in case this is useful for someone else. It seems the differences on dust jacket vs non dust jacket is UK vs US publisher. Other than that, the US version without dust jacket could have a title printed on the hardback while the UK doesn't (as it has a dust jacket) but content wise should be exactly the same book.

>317 capiri: this is exciting. Always a pleasure to meet another Gibbon enthusiasts. I’m not a familiar with the Everyman’s though if they do include all the footnotes I would choose an easier 6 volume edition. However, I’ve heard nothing but praise for the Allen Lane. I’ve saved this information from a post a long time ago about Gibbon and his footnotes:

==========================
For a scholarly edition with all the notes and lots besides, try the 3-volume set (in slipcase!) edited by David Womersley and published in 1994 (US, 1995) by Allen Lane:

"This new edition provides the reader with the most accurate text of the 'Decline and Fall,' complete and unmodernized, and illuminates it with an unrivalled wealth of related material . . . Gibbon's famous 'Vindication' (1779), in which he replied to the attacks on his treatment of Christianity, is included in an appendix . . . For the first time since Gibbons's death, two hundred years ago, a critical edition has been established."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For a modern, critical edition of Gibbon, with all the footnotes and more, take a look at David Womersley's edition, published by Allen Lane in 1994, ISBN 0713991240. It comes in 3 hardback volumes, originally issued in a slipcase, and is printed on archival paper. It's more expensive than the Everyman (it cost £75 when I bought it in 1995), but has the advantage of a newly-derived text, "complete and unmodernized, and illuminates it with an unrivalled wealth of related material." There is more information here in my catalogue entry:

http://www.librarything.com/work/8609249/details/50334442#

Incidentally, I compared a few of the footnotes in the Folio and Womersley editions here, in >52 assemblyman:, and the thread contains a lively discussion of the pros and cons of the Folio version:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/43582#1585222

AND remember Gibbon's Atlas of the World
--------------------------------------------

While I have yet to buy it, I researched the various incarnations of Gibbon's work not long ago, and I recall that the only current edition (i.e., not a 1795 edition sitting in a British library) containing all of Gibbon's footnotes (and I'm going by the word of other readers here; I have no first hand knowledge) is a 3-volume one edited by David Womersley. I've heard that the 8-volume FS edition omits much of the footnote material but contains the entire work proper so to speak. The Everyman version is said to contain much, but not all, of the footnotes.

>318 ironjaw: Thanks for the info! After research, decided to go with the Everyman version on 6 volumes (UK version with dust jacket). The main reasons were that I find the 6 volumes easier to read vs 3, and also like much better the design of the books on the Everyman version and how they would look on shelf. It was also cheaper although not the main driver.
I am looking forward to start reading it. I guess it will take me a while.

The Name of the Rose – seems reasonable at £25 – Abe:

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31106516178&searchurl=n%...

No affiliation with the seller.

If anyone wants a complete set of the Letterpress Shakespeare all with same limitation number (and a free bookcase) your dreams have come true - for only £9750 on eBay UK.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115236054524?hash=item1ad49aa5fc:g:ggQAAOSwMXdh~SuR

>321 antinous_in_london: Also included is a handsome 4-shelf hardwood bookcase, with a drawer at the bottom - probably to house one's heart or divorce papers ;)

>322 mr.philistine: Definitely the divorce papers!

Ah, only if I lived in the UK I would more than interested. I passed up on a great deal over a year ago for the complete set and have been kicking myself ever since. Although they are quite massive and take up too much room.

>324 Joshbooks1: I was tempted but i know it would not be worth the domestic strife & loss of space! The bookcase is a perfect fit - i assume it was specifically made to house the set.

>325 antinous_in_london: Ha! Domestic strife indeed! I own eight and the books with the solander cases are huge. 10-15 huge boxes delivered to the house, already very little room available, and trying to justify spending well over $15,000 after fees when we're currently getting quotes for AC this summer. They are beautiful though...

>326 Joshbooks1: I suppose you could hold off on buying the AC & just fan yourself with a letterpress copy of Cymbeline

>321 antinous_in_london:

"Farewell! Thou art too dear for my possessing."

If I had a bigger Shed and an even bigger wallet I wouldn't hesitate.

>327 antinous_in_london: Hahaha! I like what you're thinking...

>295 smk009: This is hilarious - the eBay seller rwsellers bought that copy of Brideshead for $565 and has now relisted it for $1,500.

That is not even a bad offer and the bookcase look pretty nice as well.

I bet some seller will get it, split it and sell each one for double the price

>331 woodstock8786: I hope not. I hope it goes to a lovely home and folio collector that will enjoy them

>332 ironjaw: I absolutely hope so too, and enjoying them without the threat of divorce hanging over his head 🙈

I don’t think the Shakespeare set is a bad price, but for me it has two issues. Firstly the bookcase wouldn’t suit my house, so would need replacing. Then there is the issue of the limitation numbers. It is disappointing that this is over 1000. I would rather wait five years for a lower numbered version at this price

>334 DMulvee: I do think people underestimate the size for these editions. I wish folio had released these originally and stuck to the slipcase version.

>335 ironjaw: They are expensive but one of Folios best productions. As you said the biggest drawback is the size of these volumes. They are massive and each book is quite heavy. It would take a wall of my library and I don't have room to begin with. Also you really have to love Shakespeare to get all 39 works. Having said that I would be tempted if I lived in the UK. I can't imagine how much shipping would be to the US.

>321 antinous_in_london: I'd be interested on the basis that I could probably recover about £3k selling the ones I already have. But the fact that someone bought the entire set (alas, sans bookcase and shipping) for £2800 two months ago (https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/bonhams/catalogue-id-bonham10340/lot-5ea300d8-b074-4189-b6ad-ade100e26671) would make me feel a bit sour about now paying £10k.

>337 ubiquitousuk: that’s the first ‘proper’ auction that I’ve seen go for a reasonable price, even with added fees!

Especially as I just saw Richard III for 1000€ which I found a bit steep…

This very long and slow-to-load thread will now be continued on Enablement: Good Deals on FS books (6).