Paul W. Nash

The Folio Society was Founded in 1947 'to Produce editions of the world's great literature, in a format worthy of the contents, at a price within the reach of everyman'. Half a century, and over a thousand books later, the name Folio has become synonymous with affordable fine editions -- books chosen for their enduring worth, handsomely designed, illustrated and bound, which reflect not just the traditional skills of the book-maker's art but also the tremendous possibilities opened up by new technology. "Folio 50", compiled by the distinguished bibliographer Paul W. Nash, is the first fully descriptive record of the Society's publications over its fifty years to date. It is sumptuously illustrated and contains a history of the Society, essays on Folio's design and production, and the personal reminiscences of writers, artists and Society members. This is a commemorative volume of outstanding usefulness.… (more)

I was sent this book ( a lovely hardback edition) by the Librarything Early Reviewers programme. It seemed perfect for me as I love Sherlock Holmes. I know several writers have resurrected the great detective and written new stories about him, and although I have only read some of them, I love the idea that a character is so beloved and has become so mythologised that he never really goes away.

In this book there are seven new stories, stories apparently "discovered" recently which Watson considered too shocking for publication at the time. The events recorded in these stories range in date from 1882 to 1929. In them we meet: giants and dwarves, a silent valet, servants, masters, addicts and murderers. We discover the truth behind the death of Dorian Gray, and through the eyes of his great friend Dr John Watson how Sherlock Holmes met his own end in 1929. I thought these stories, and the characters stayed pretty well true to the original, and I hope Conan Doyle would approve.… (more)

The Remains of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of seven stories, which are either good or excellent. An enjoyable group of stories, which captures the spirit of Conan Doyle and this, is a book, which I will revisit. Some of the stories are ingenious such as The Mystery of Dorian Gray and the excellent story of the title, The Remains of Sherlock Holmes.

The book is delightfully designed with an excellent cover depicting Sherlock Holmes in old age, sculpted by the multi-talented Dr. Nash who is a doctor, but not in the useful sense like Dr. Watson!

My only quibble in this otherwise excellent collection is that I would have liked more of Holmes in action rather than Watson writing about him. But I would nevertheless highly recommend this collection, which will not disappoint.

It is to be hoped that Dr. Nash will mine Dr. Watson’s deedbox for more of these tantalising tales.… (more)