On the US site, anyway. Or the one I see.

Lots of half-price books, but check out the warehouse sale, where the Folio 60 is going for 20 USD.

>1 - Picture me screaming like a little school-girl. It's an accurate image, except I have trouble making myself scream, regardless of the circumstances.

I feel like I'm going to start hyperventilating. Damn it, damn it, damn it.

Oh my God. The Principia is only $99. Is it possible that I need a fourth copy of Jane Eyre? And The Victorians for only $40! Rebecca for $25!

Be still my beating heart! What are they trying to do to me?

I feel horribly stupid for getting The Voyce of the World and Zuleika Dobson now. I was so afraid of this.

Why, FS Gods, why?

I'm happy that I've found four books NOT on sale, so that I can buy them to renew. Here's what I just picked up:

Eyewitness to History
Peter Pan and Wendy
Things Fall Apart

Things I'm considering:

The Principia

Oh, out of time. There are others, but I gotta go.

why don't I see the sale. This is killing me.

>6 - It's killing me that I CAN see it.

Oh, no, I wish I hadn't bought Buchan's Stories back then...

Nothing showing yet in the UK.

Does anyone have the direct url for the summer sale? Should be something like this

http://www.foliosociety.com/category/248...

where the category number will be different. Who knows maybe I'll be able to get to it that way. I was able to view the MemberOffers that way before I had joined.

here it is for the fiction page:

summer sale fiction

>4 - "I feel horribly stupid for getting The Voyce of the World . . . now. I was so afraid of this."

I did the same. I'm so outraged that I just dropped $200 on the Summer Sale, as a form of protest.

Incidentally, anyone who doesn't snap up "The Voyce Of the World" for $18.95 ($18.95!) is mad.

is that with shipping? b/c it's coming up as $11.95.

ETA: if I hit "submit" on what is in my basket, my savings are greater than what I'll be paying. I can't afford NOT to buy these books! ;-)

Message edited by its author, Jun 16, 2009, 4:43pm.

jfetting thanks for the link. Unfortunately, no luck. Guess I'll have to suffer with the anticipation only to suffer from guilt once it shows up and I spend way too much.

>12 - You're right -- it's $11.95. I guess my brain could not process a figure so low. $18.95 was hard enough, considering what I just paid for it (though I did get a free book along with it.)

>11 - Ah, Lloydville, I was wondering how you'd feel seeing that. I had gotten Zuleika Dobson, The Voyce of the World, and Buchan's Stories, and now this had to happen... Times like these, I hate my life.

If I had the dough, I would be coughing it up for The New Naturalists, I think. I don't, so within the boundaries set, I want:

The Kelmscott Chaucer (Damn me, I want it so baaaaaadly...)
The Deptford Trilogy
Folio 60
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
The Dairies (of William Allingham)

I also wish I could get another The Voyce of the World, but I don't have anyone to give it to, so there's no point. I'd do it otherwise.

Message edited by its author, Jun 16, 2009, 5:41pm.

just to be clear, titles from the summer sale can't be counted towards the 4 you have to buy to sign up, right?

After reading the posts here I wasn't expecting the sale to show up for me (UK). However, when I logged in, there it was!
#2 - Irieisa, I DID scream like a little girl, and my dad looked at me like he knew what was coming... To be honest I'm surprised he didn't a) dive for the credit cards or b) restrain my arms before I could click any further.

Oh look, Tom Jones at £12.95, and no-one to stop me...what is a folio fanatic to do?

>17 - Hahaha. I honestly can't make myself scream. It's very odd, and I really hope nothing ever happens that requires me to scream. If something does, I am royally screwed.

Lucky me I don't care for the art of FS's Tom Jones, eh?

Also, how long does it typically take for the first book to become completely sold out? Anyone know?

AND YOU GET A FREE BRASS BOOKMARK!

>19 - If I bought each book separately, the shipping would still cost the same overall, and I'd have FIVE bookmarks. They should really consider reducing the shipping charge if you buy a lot in one order as opposed to a bunch of little orders. Makes sense, don't you think?

Also, apparently there is someone I know interested in The Voyce of the World. I need to be careful what I wish for.

>17 - Yes, the sale is up on the UK site now too - patience is a virtue in precious short supply in this household!

I have indulged and now I feel guilty. Why! when I knew I was going to (indulge, that is).

#19 - I've no need for more bookmarks :-(

Notepads and tote bags on the other hand...

>22 - I don't need them either, but it helps justify the purchases.

"Yeah, but just look at all the free stuff I got!" ;-)

Haha, I've used that many a time!! Particularly in last years summer sale where I acquired several free sets (Oh boy did I go mad) and, surprisingly, it worked!
I doubt I should be so lucky this time. To think I used to pride myself on my financial restraint!

Hey, would anyone be willing to deliver the final blow and recommend (or not, as the case may be) The Best of the Marx Brothers?

>24 - I've gotten permission for everything except Chaucer. The "look at the free/discounted stuff" excuse does not work, sadly.

I can't deliver the final blow for you, Lady_Lulu. I can only request that someone who owns The Kelmscott Chaucer tells me about it a bit more. Despite my intense desire (lust, even) for it, I think I may be better off not getting it...

Anyone know when the next sale might be? ;-)

Irieisa - I've honestly never seen The Kelmscott Chaucer priced so low -- I think this might be the best it's gonna get, sorry to say.
I feel your frustration though, it really is a must-have. Too bad then that I've just been told a categorical "NO!"

Humph.

>25 - To get a feel of what the Kelmscott Chaucer is like, check out the following and click on the Kelmscott link.

http://www.mccunecollection.org/

Re #25, 26, 27: Well, to be honest, I don't care much for the Kelmscott Chaucer, myself. It is much too large and heavy for pleasurable reading (as opposed to an objet d'art sitting on a lectern), the text is not without flaws in scholarship, and for those who don't have a good grounding in Middle English, the lack of marginal glosses and/or footnotes might be a problem since there is no modern English version en face.

I find the ornamentations and illustrations not to my taste, either, but many people whose opinions I respect are wild about them--de gustibus non est disputandum. I personally prefer Arthur Szyk's colorful Canterbury pilgrims--a sample is at this link, if anyone is interested:

http://www.fulltable.com/VTS/aoi/s/szyk/...

For a good reading copy, the Everyman Library's edition is first rate--and a third the price of my Riverside Chaucer.

It seems like whatever is old is new again: 40 years ago, a company reprinted the Kelmscott Chaucer and it ended up in remainder bins for under $20 US.

I love the design of the Kelmscott Chaucer but think you're spot on about its deficiencies as a reading copy.

The best one I know is the three-volume Folio edition which prints the David Wright translation on pages facing the original Middle English. (Folio did a single volume later with only the translation, which doesn't have the same appeal to me.)

The Szyk illustrations are delightful. I got a copy of that edition of the "Tales" as a school prize once, back when dinosaurs ruled the earth, and I was happy to be reminded of it. (It's in storage at the moment, alas . . .)

Just as a side note, one interesting way to approach the tales, if you're not a scholar of Middle English, is to listen to the various excellent recordings that have been made of (some of) them read in Middle English before tackling the text. Somehow makes it seem less strange.

And as a note way off to the side, Bob Dylan has been quoting from the Wright translation of the "Tales" in some of his recent songs. Love & Theft, indeed.

>28 -

You're absolutely right - when it comes to Kelmscott, you either love it or hate it.

But surely it was never seriously meant to be a reading edition, even though Morris greatly admired Chaucer and was at pains to get permission from the Clarendon Press to use Skeat's newly edited text. In a letter to the Clarendon Press, dated August 9, 1894, he actually says, "It is intended to be essentially a work of art."

Of course its text is now out of date, it has no notes and you need a small crane to read it, but the point of it is Burne Jones's and Morris's art, the design, workmanship, materials, etc. Chaucer is just a convenient vehicle. Not bad for an original subscription price of £20. (Ok, I know that was a hell of a lot back then - but it makes you think when you see the Folio price!)

That said, if you dislike it, you dislike it. You've saved a hell of a lot of money.

>26 - I can't blame my parent, considering the relative leniency I've already received. I think I'll have to let Chaucer go. Every time longing sets in, I tell myself, "You already splurged on Selborne, didn't you?" Also, it isn't that I'm hoping it will go lower (though that would be wonderful), it's just that with all the book buying, tension is high that someone will get mad at the purchases. The Kelmscott Chaucer doesn't fit into the equation well, I'm afraid.

I might get other Summer Sale books instead, maybe some poetry and myths, fiction... Or Eyewitness to History. Hm...

So, I have bought...

The Deptford Trilogy
Folio 60
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
The Dairies (of William Allingham)
The Voyce of the World (for someone else, though!)

...and now I have three bookmarks on the way!

>27 - Lord, it's lovely. What binding material is that?

>28 - I have discovered that there is no book size or weight that is comfortable for me, no matter how big or small or normal. Thus, though it isn't a good thing, comfort is not an issue.

I tend not to like colorful artwork. Not of that kind, at least. As for the Everyman's Library edition, it's on my list!

>29 - I'll have to look into that three-volume edition once I get Folio 60. I've damned myself by buying it, I know. I'll also look into finding recordings to listen to. Thanks for the suggestion!

Message edited by its author, Jun 21, 2009, 11:11pm.

Oh, dear, the sale would have to show up on the day I had to buy a new battery for my car (after it died in the middle of the road on my way to work) ... do I refrain because I've already spent quite a bit of money or do I splurge to make myself feel better? Decisions, decisions ...

>31 - "I'll also look into finding recordings to listen to."

The ones to get are the Naxos recordings by Richard Bebb, who was coached on authentic pronunciation by Chaucer scholar Derek Brewer. Naxos also has some readings of modern translations by other artists, but these don't appeal to me.

Cambridge University Press put out a recording of "The Wife Of Bath's Tale" read in Middle English by Elizabeth Salter, but I haven't listened to it yet.

>33 - Wonderful! My search may yield results sooner than I had expected. Thank you!

#24
I picked up The Best of the Marx Brothers in last year’s summer sale. Because I was about thirty books behind on my reading list at the time (and still haven’t gotten to some of the books in that backlog) it went straight to the bookshelf and I haven’t really had a chance to read it yet. So this isn’t so much a review as a “here’s what’s there” list. There’s a nice introduction by E.L. Doctorow in which he explains the appeal of the Marx Brothers and why children of his generation identified mostly with Harpo (the kid in all of us). Then we get brief write-ups on the brothers (very brief, twenty pages in total for five brothers). Another ten pages on their days in vaudeville. Then to the meat of the book. A large section of scripts for scenes from some of their movies, stage work and even a radio show. A section of letters from Groucho to family, other comedians, Warner Brothers (after they threatened to sue over the title to A Night in Casablanca Groucho pointed out that the studio not only did not own that city they also didn’t have an exclusive on the name Warner or Brothers) and even T.S. Eliot (apparently they became pen pals a few years before Eliot’s death). A section of chapters from Harpo’s book Harpo Speaks! (I can’t wait to read about his 1933 trip to Russia). And lastly numerous one-liners from Groucho and encounters between Groucho and guests on You Bet Your Life. The illustrations are photographs; family ones from their childhood, publicity stills, posters. I don't know if I've helped you or not Lady_Lulu. Personally I think it will turn out to be a good buy for me, just the thing I need for a quick humour fix after a bad day at work. No regrets here.

#1
Thank you, gistak, for totally destroying my resolve not to buy any more books until renewal time (oh who am I kidding, I was just as anxious for the sale as anyone else). Within minutes I had six books in my cart: Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess, The Secret History, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the Voyce of the World and Jane Eyre (you can never have too many Jane Eyres jfetting, this is my third. I just bought my second less than a month ago but couldn’t resist the sale price).

How horrible is it that I haven’t even received my nine (two freebies) Spring Sale books and I already have another six on order? Oh, and Irieisa I know just how you felt that Saturday you were hoping your books wouldn’t come. My father is coming into the city on Friday and he just can’t understand why anyone would want to waste their money on books. So to avoid confrontation I’m hoping that my Spring Sale books either get here in the next two days or don’t come for at least three weeks (after my father goes home).

Two things:

1. Iriesa: You probably already know this, but I just thought I'd point out for the conversation that the Chaucer is 16¾" x 11½" and 568 pages! Huge huge.

2. Based on this thread, I've just ordered Voyce of the World, even though I really don't know much about it.

Ok, a bonus third thing: I was a hair's breadth from buying Les Liaisons Dangereuses, but I just don't like the illustrations.

I felt the same way about the (similar) illustrations for Oscar and Lucinda. I loved that book and am sad that I won't be getting the Folio version.

>36 - You dastard! Stop that! Now! I know it's big, but... hearing it again makes me want it so much more. Damn it. You fiend!

I don't like the illustrations in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, either, but I've heard good things about the translation, and the outside is pretty. For the price, I was willing to buy. With Le Grand Meaulnes, my dislike for the illustrations is even stronger, so it would have to be incredibly cheap for me to buy it.

>35 - My stuff still hasn't come. I'm terrified; what if another Saturday comes, and...

Anyway, I wish you luck. May your books not meet your father!

>36 - "Based on this thread, I've just ordered Voyce of the World, even though I really don't know much about it."

Browne, an essayist, is totally unclassifiable -- he was curious about everything, with a preference for the esoteric, and viewed everything from a perspective that was half scientific and half mystical. Some of his prose is straightforward, some of it so Baroque as to be almost impenetrable -- Borges, who was obsessed with Browne, considered it the best prose in the English language.

Virginia Wolf said of his work, "Few people love the writings of Sir Thomas Browne, but those that do are the salt of the earth."

If you think of him as a character dreamed up by Borges you'll get a general sense of his intellectual eccentricity and the somewhat fantastic bent of his imagination.

37: Heheh. I was actually trying to make it sound EVEN MORE uncomfortable to read than other books, which are already uncomfortable for you!

EDITED: Thanks, Lloydville. Sounds as though I'll have to read him to really get the picture (though the Borges character helps!).

Message edited by its author, Jun 16, 2009, 11:46pm.

>40 - I guess it didn't work out that way, did it? ;-) But really, every single book size is uncomfortable, so it doesn't make much difference. I like to put a pillow on my lap to place the book on to relieve some of the discomfort; it works somewhat, and also makes the "but it's huge" argument void!

Haha, now I have two copies of The Voyce of the World on the way. One for me, one for someone else... I still feel stupid for buying the first one. How was I to know?

I did it. I've just ordered:

The Best of the Marx Brothers at £12.95 (thank you haniwitch!!)
Celtic Myths and Legends at £22.45
Tom Jones at £12.95

My justification is my upcoming birthday (I won't set eyes on them till then) and my relative restraint with ordering just 3 of the cheapest from my 'I want' list.

So long as I don't get Chaucer, I've been allowed another order. Hooray!

The two I absolutely must have are Celtic Myths and Legends and Legends of Ancient Rome. I really want some of the others, but... restraint...

>35, 42

No! Don't thank haniwitch! I didn't want the Marx Brothers book until I read her description just now! Damn you, hani, I was going to be nice and encourage you NOT to spend the mortgage money on books!

(congrats on having that nearly paid off, btw; must be a relief!)

For those considering the Marx Brothers book:

I bought it for a friend a while back, and here's what he said when I asked what he thought:

"I'd give it a thumbs up. I'd classify it as 'fan service', there's not a lot of deep film school analysis or psychological insight into their childhoods. But that's a good thing sometimes. A well written history and quite a few anecdotes I hadn't heard before.

It's a got a good shelf presence, too. It's probably the art major in me, but it has a nicely designed shiny cover and looks good with the all my other "oo, he looks like he likes movies!" books :-) Stuff like that matters to me. Badly designed books get passed along quickly in our house. Substance AND style is required for long term retention."

I succumbed, very quickly this time as the money fairies have been good to me - I had a few commissions for translations and sold some photos, and though I need new summer sandals, furniture for the balcony, a printer, and a new bookcase, I went for:
The Voyce (just because of your recommendations, and librarything tells me I'll absolutely love it)
Rights of Man (because a long time ago my father told me he'd like to read it -he's no longer there but I feel I ought to read it myself)
Onward and Upward in the Garden because I noticed it on a photo of someone else's shelf and it winked at me
Tom's Midnight Garden, also seen on a flickr friend's photostream and I regretted not buying it before.
So I saved a grand total of £60+ (and spent about same, a bit less).
Am also very tempted by Zuleika Dobson and of course the new Elizabeth David which hits me right in the eye as soon as I go onto the website, but maybe I'll save them for another time.
Incidentally, the summer sale brochure landed in my inbox this morning, and it was much, much easier to find my way around the pages than on the website where you have to go jumping all over the place. I hope FS never give up printing lovely prospectuses.

well i missed the spring sale (and i had my list already prepared too... :)) but now i'm in time for the summer sale! can't believe the value for money FS offer now, after having just been tempted back to being a member with 3 half price books (the right stuff - tom wolfe, the oregon trail - francis parkman & down the garden path - beverley nichols (as well as a free moleskin notebook, mystery book and bingo boys and the poodle peddlars free too!) i've now been unable to resist getting 4 more, couple of them at over 50% off (check out the warehouse sale section!!) les liaisons dangereuses - pierre laclos, the body snatcher and other stories - robert louis stevenson, the lady in the van and three stories - alan bennett & the well-tempered garden - christopher lloyd with yet more free bookmarks etc being thrown at me!!
the only problem with this great value is can i stop myself from buying any more??
one of the books that really caught my eye was the history of the arab peoples - albert hourani, has anyone got this? would / would not recommend it?

I went into the Members' Room today and spent way too much. But just thought people might want to know that they don't have the bookmarks yet so I guess they might ship the books a bit later. Also it looks like they had either run out or were running out of Liaisons Dangereuses - in case people were dithering. They suggested though that stocks permitting the sale would last till mid-August. All the books look fantastic (the Natural History of Selborne looked amazing, and even though I have a copy and not much money I was v v tempted). I went a little crazy with a christening gift for my son Peter Pan and Wendy, the much bigger than I expected Folio 60 and my luxury item Eyewitness to History among others. Damn you Folio Society, as others have said - other purchases look likely...

Re #46: overthemoon, I heartily concur with you about the printed prospectus. They are half the fun of being a member.

Haha, I also love those printed prospectuses. They are so tempting.

I really want to get a lot of the books, but I can't, sadly. Eyewitness to History and the children's books will have to wait a while; instead, I'll be stocking up on myths, legends, poetry, and garden-related books. Oh, and a bit of history, too.

I've gone for another batch consisting of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and First Folio. I'm considering (even though I KNOW I can't afford to buy any more -- my clothes are withering to rags as we speak) Rights of Man since I watched a TV programme on Paine and realised he has good potential to be one of my all time heroes. I'm thinking I should get the book to confirm or deny this.

#45 - Rob, I totally sympathise with your friend. Style/aesthetics is definitely important in books and was a massive factor in my joining and sticking with the Folio Society, but don't let it be said I buy books for looks alone, substance IS of equal value. Erm...although I have been tempted...and if I were well off I could quite see myself splurging on most of the catalogue, substance be damned. ;-)

>51 - I'm spared temptation for Paine's Rights of Man because I already own a lovely bonded leather LOA volume, stuffed into a spare slipcase. Lucky me!

If I was well off, I would probably buy every damn thing, except books that I actively dislike, of course. Here's hoping I don't see a "bad" book among anything FS ever publishes!

Message edited by its author, Jun 18, 2009, 11:09am.

#46, 49, 50 - I actually collect everything folio send me, and I mean EVERYTHING.
Is that weird?

Just adding a thought I'd forgotten about -- one reason why I won't go for the children's books is because I'd have more difficulty justifying it. Unfortunately, it is known that I read adult books more often than not, and it likely would not work out if I tried to convince my parent that I really wanted A Little Princess, Tom's Midnight Garden, or Peter Pan and Wendy, for instance. Ah, well; at least I got some others approved!

One day they'll be mine anyway. ;-)

>53 - I don't keep the bubble-wrap; do you?

I do keep the little magazines and whatnot. I haven't gotten rid of duplicate magazines yet, though I will. Either that or give them away (but who'd want them?). I'll probably get rid of unused order forms as well.

#55 - Okay, maybe not EVERYTHING. But everything that's of interest. Who knows, perhaps if I keep it up for the next 50 years I could end up serving as a sort of 'folio library'.
Hey there's a thought - a folio library! D'ya think such a thing exists? That would be awesome in the truest sense of the word!

51: I only buy books that I'd be interested in reading. I know I won't read them all (or all of some of those that I do read), but that's beside the point.

Having said that, I'd probably get the Kelmscott Chaucer, even knowing that I wouldn't really read it. (I read a lot of it as an English major, but that was long ago and I doubt I'd understand most of it now.)

And Johnson's Dictionary, which of course I know I'd only skim occasionally.

And Moby Dick, which I'd probably never read again, even though I really liked it.

Etc.

Message edited by its author, Jun 18, 2009, 11:45am.

#57 - Yes, I think you're the sort of person I try to be. You're attitude matches the practical part of me which says "You don't NEED this! Look, it's not even something you're interested in, so why spend the money??" But the dominant part usually wins out with the indisputable argument of "Yes but look how BEAUTIFUL it is!!!"
You have to understand that I've been brought up in a house where my dad amassed a decent collection of children's books mostly for the illustrations. My obsession with aesthetics is too deep-rooted to be overruled.

P.S. That Kelmscott Chaucer is one hell of a catch-22. It's so cheap!! I can't believe it will ever sink this low again. Still, £150.00 is still a lot and I'm pretty sure I couldn't quite justify it to myself.

>56 - It would be scary if you kept the bubble-wrap and boxes if you weren't using them for anything. It really would.

I'd think that Folio Libraries exist. People collect Limited Editions Club books and paraphernalia, so why not? Besides the price-tag difference, anyway.

>57 - The more I think about the great value of the Kelmscott Chaucer, the more I want it. I just keep telling myself 'no,' and it's disheartening every time. I've heard of it being on sale for this price before, so I guess I'll just hope it comes again. If not, oh, well...

I wouldn't get FS's Moby Dick because LOA includes it in one of their volumes, and I consider their level of quality quite satisfactory.

By the way, what in the world is Johnson's Dictionary? It sounds familiar.

>58 - I have a practical part as well; this part says that I really don't need the Kelmscott Chaucer, that I can get a bunch of Chaucer-related books for the price. Then I have the horrid combo of my reverential/aesthetic part and my "look at the value!" part. They generally win. It's a miracle when they don't. Chaucer, I'm not allowed to get you, so... Fare thee well...

RE #59: The Folio Johnson's Dictionary was, after Young's Night Thoughts, my most unrequited desire connected to the Society. A facsimile of Samuel Johnson's dictionary, the first real dictionary in the English language, is a masterpiece of bookmaking. The marbled paper sides alone can make you drool, if you're into the classic bookmaking techniques.

>61 - How much did it cost? It sounds lovely...

FS brings many miseries, doesn't it?

Oh, I meant to say that I'd get those things (in #57), IF I had tons of money. I'm not going to get any of them.

Lucia, I definitely understand buying them for the beauty. I've replaced a lot of perfectly adequate hardback editions with prettier (and more expensive) ones. But there's something that makes me generally want my library to be a place of books that I want to read or have read.

Maybe if I had a room of beauty for beauty's sake, some of these books could go there? Someday. That's a room to aspire to.

59: I wish I could find pics of the FS Johnson's Dictionary. It looks fantastic. And huge. I love dictionaries, as well as books, so it really pulled my heartstrings.

>53, the boxes the books come in are carefully flattened and put in the reception of our office where they may be recycled. Bubble wrap also goes into the reception where it is kept along with polystyrene peanuts for future use.
I keep ALL the flyers, magazines and prospectuses and their envelopes.

#63 - I agree. I say I want to get books just for their looks, but I very rarely do. I think the substance of the book adds to the overall beauty; a reason why you won't find one book on my shelves I haven't read or don't intend to read, good-looking or not.

#64 - That's a good idea! And I'm all for recycling too.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't bare to throw them away. It would be fantastic if I were able to get the prospectuses from the years I missed (so from 2007 downwards), or at least scans of them. I have looked, but to no avail.

Message edited by its author, Jun 18, 2009, 3:23pm.

> 61 - "A facsimile of Samuel Johnson's dictionary, the first real dictionary in the English language, is a masterpiece of bookmaking. The marbled paper sides alone can make you drool, if you're into the classic bookmaking techniques."

I can't think of Johnson's Dictionary without an image of Rowan Atkinson saying ""Aardvark" popping into my head (apologies to non-uk residents).

I've succumbed to the summer sale just as bad as I did to the spring sale. I'll be feeling guilty for a long time now.

The Kelmscott Chaucer
The Eagle of the Ninth
Folio 60: A Bibliography 1947 - 2006
The Gallic and Civil Wars
Inferno
King Arthur: History and Legend
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Khubilai Khan
Tamerlane
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Voyce of the World

>61, >62, >63

The FS Johnson's Dictionary was published in 2006. The blurb read:

"Two volumes. 1,164 pages each. 16 1/4" x 10 1/4". Exact facsimile reproduced from the first edition 1755, title page printed in two colours on Favini cream paper. Two ribbon markers per volume. Presented in a robust buckram-bound box with scalloped edges and volume divider."
The book edges and boards were hand marbled by Ann Muir. The price was £590.

A picture is here:
http://www.librarything.com/work/8486943...

>66 - We do get Blackadder here in the US -- thanks for reminding me of that episode!

#66 - LOL, that episode was the first time I'd ever heard of Samuel Johnson and his dictionary, and Robbie Coltrane still takes on the image of SJ in my head.

#65 - I have scans of the prospectuses from 1999 to date that I'd be happy to send you, but it would obviously depend on a) you posting your email address, and b) whether anybody who definitely isn't one of the FS moles (of course), but who knows about these things, would be able to confirm that there weren't any copyright issues (I'm probably being a bit of a wet blanket here - I can't see anything regarding copyright in the docs themselves). I only scanned and binned them last year - if I had known there was a market for them I would have put them on Ebay!

I too have succumbed to the Summer sale with The Golden Bowl, who could leave it at that price, Buchan Stories which look interesting, A Nervous Splendour: Vienna 1888-1889 as we may be visiting next year, The New York Trilogy which I enjoyed back in 1989 although it is rather cerebral and A Room with a View which is pure delight.

I had both The Golden Bowl and A Room With a View in my basket, but that pushed me over the limit (and by "the limit" I mean my own, personal, you-have-to-buy-food-too limit), so I ended up with The Principia, Voyce of the World (you convinced me!) and Rebecca. Ahhhhh...

That's what I forgot....Food!

>63 - Ah, I know. That was just me adding my thoughts when they weren't particularly wanted. ;-) I do that more than I should. If I had tons of money, I'd buy The New Naturalists. Want it so very badly. At least now I know that the Summer Sale really is better than the Spring Sale (in general)!

As for the dictionary, my imagination has taken flight.

>64 - The boxes and bags are put to use, but not the bubble-wrap.

>67 - Nooooooo, you bought Chaucer! Jealousy rears its ugly, book-buying head! Temptation!

...Et cetera.

>68 - So very pretty. My imagination is still up and about regarding what's inside...

>72 - I leave The Golden Bowl only because LOA has Henry James. I bought Buchan's Stories at the last sale, sadly; as for The New York Trilogy and A Nervous Splendor, I only got away from them because the former I can wait for and the latter I've seen relatively cheap on AbeBooks, so I'm unconcerned. I already have A Room with a View in a omnibus volume from B&N -- the binding isn't bad and the paper is nice, a great deal at the price.

>73 - Something about the Principia Mathematica turns me off from it, thank goodness, and I got Rebecca during the Spring Sale. Always nice trying to justify why to or not to buy something!

>74 - I'm sure you can find someone willing to take pity on you. If nothing else, you can put on some ugly clothes and beg. Unpleasant, but for FS books, isn't it worth it?

I have also succumbed to the Summer Sale;
I have ordered:
- The Eagle of the Ninth
- Buchan’s Stories
- The Quest for the Northwest Passage
- Kidnapped by Stevenson
- A Book of Travelers Tales
Now, I have promised myself not to look at the website for the rest of the summer till the Renewal Offers arrive… yeah, right!

Hi,

Is there anyone here who'd be willing to pick up a sale copy of the "Principia" for me in exchange for a small fee+shipping? I'd love to have a copy but I can't really pick up another 4 Folio books for membership at this moment, as money is tight.
I know I'm new on LibraryThing but I can provide references such as Ebay feedback etc.

If you have placed an order during the sale via the FS website, I advise you to check your account page to make sure the order has registered. I placed my order on Sunday night just about an hour after the sale page appeared for UK users, and received an email confirmation of the order. The order also appeared in the orders section of my account page. About 24 hours later it disappeared. Assuming that this was just another of the FS website's "excentricities" I didn't do anything about it immediately. However, as a precaution I emailed FS last night and the reply that I received today indicated that they don't actually have a record of what I purchased. Apparently "This has happened before and is due to a glitch that can occur on our website when it is receiving a high number of orders." I just hope that the 8 books I've ordered don't sell out before the error is corrected.

graphique,

if you're willing to do it through Ebay using Buy It Now I could help. No need for a fee, just whatever my costs come to.

#78> Thanks so much for the heads up. I certainly don't want to lose my order!
--BJ

Is it my imagination or was "Lengends of Ancient Rome" not on the website prior to the Summer sale?

>81 - I'm certain it was there.

Then I guess it was my imagination. Can't recall noticing it however, which is odd because it's very very nice .

>83 - I myself have overlooked many books, later wondering how the hell I managed to do that. It's odd, but not unusual!

Has anyone picked up a copy of The Isle of Voices and Other Stories? I was wondering what stories it contained.

I succumbed (and still spent less than I did on the parts and labor on my car):

Food in History
King Arthur: History and Legend
A Little Princess
Wallingham's Diaries
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

And a brass bookmark :)

#85

From the table of contents:

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS:
Providence and the Guitar
The Pavilion on the Links

THE MERRY MEN AND OTHER TALES AND FABLES:
Will o’ the Mill
Thrawn Janet
The Merry Men
Olalla

ISLAND NIGHTS’ ENTERTAINMENTS:
The Bottle Imp
The Isle of Voices

UNCOLLECTED STORIES:
An Old Song
The Misadventures of John Nicholson

Plus notes on each story and a Scots Glossary.

Ohhhhh, awesome, I haven't read most of these stories, thank you haniwitch. I will now have to go and purchase yet another folio!!

>78 Thanks so much for this alert Huxley - I had placed two orders early in the sale, both of which I see have now also disappeared from my accounts section. I've sent an email to FS to check up as well (I'd be very disappointed if the books I ordered ran out, but I'm not quite game to place a second order just yet in case it did get processed after all...)

I did the same thing, but they emailed me back and told me that they had my order. I think that maybe the order/account history section is not totally up and going yet.
--BJ

#71 - rampkr, I would absolutely love those scans! I'm not sure about the copyright but I can hazzard a guess that there would be no breach. After all, it was given out for free so why shouldn't it be passed around for free?
My email is: angelic0_devil6@hotmail.co.uk

Thank you! ^_^

>90 - That's the answer I got, too, but my order history is never around for more than 24 hours. Is it because I'm in the US?

>91 - Lady_Lulu, if you ever want to send someone your email without posting on a public forum you can just leave them a private comment. I don't know about you, but I dislike spam. ;-)

Irieisa - That's okay, I'm not worried. I think I trust this group enough to know my address won't be abused. But if someone were to try then I have enough safeguards up to stop them. I haven't recieved any spam for around 2 years.

Hi, I am new to this Group and I read with interest with all the conversations here. The summer sale has adversely affected my financial position. I believe I need to convince myself not to log on the Folio Society website for some time. But, before doing that I order The Voyce of the World after reading this thread, in addition to 4 other books that I ordered yesterday.

welcome to our group of gentle madness, Iwhchung. I know how it feels to have an adversely affected financial position, but try to convince myself it is not money spent but money invested.

>93 - I didn't mean members of this group so much as unseen visitors. As long as your safeguards keep out the spam, though...

>95 - I don't have as much trouble convincing myself as I do convincing others. After looking at FS books so much, my sense of money is somewhat skewed; oh, $300? Well, that's not THAT much; it's only like 6 full-priced books...

Then I return to Amazon.com: $20? No way!

Very sensible, don't ya think? It's come to the point where I'm thinking there'd be no problem making a $700-$800 order since I'd pay in instalments, even though I'll also have to renew my membership in a few months (I think). I can convince myself of nearly anything.

Ah poor me, I caved and picked up,
Peter Pan and Wendy
I Capture The Castle
The Isle of Voices
Legends of Ancient Rome
Legends of King Arthur
Procopius:The Secret History
and just for a bit of fun
Chambers Gigglossary and now I am poor, but I would rather be poor with books than rich with nothing.

I've never heard of the Moomins or the book "Finn Family Moomintroll." It's such a good price right now--anybody recommend it? I usually enjoy classic or witty children's literature, everything from E. Nesbit to Paddington Bear.

Also, the Robert Louis Stevenson novels are nicely priced right now. Are they impressive in person?

Re #98: The Stevenson novels are very nice--a comfortable size for casual reading, clear printing, a very readable size and style of font, and illustrations by Philip Bannister that pay homage to the Golden Age of book illustration--Pyle, Wyeth, etc. The bindings also give a nod to the bookbinding of the years of Scribner's Classics and the later Riverside Press. Highly recommended--just with they would have included The Black Arrow--which Stevenson dismissed, but which I remember enjoying immensely when I read it in high school (I also was a fan of Sabatini and Shellabarger.

My wife really recommends Finn Family Moomintroll, as she has read and reread it since a child and both our children have had it read to them and our daughter (who is the more avid reader) has reread since.
As an adult reader I found it comic and whimsical. I would say that it is written for primary school children (5-11).
There is a nice review at http://www.librarything.com/work/37895/r... that mentions the Folio edition.

As an aside, I have enjoyed Tove Jansson's adult books that have been reprinted (or printed in English for the first time) by Sort Of Books recently and am reading The Summer Book at the moment! Which links me to So Many Books, a beautifully produced little hardback by Sort Of Books, that is one of my collection of books about books.

I personally love the Finn Family Moomimtroll. This was a book that I had never heard of before the Folio Society, but I had to give it a try. My girls also loved it (they are 18 and 20). It is a book for children, but I enjoyed it. I think that there are several other books. I wonder if they will be published, too.
--BJ

For those of you tempted by the Folio 60 because of its low price be warned--it can lead to your further financial downfall very quickly. I've already picked up six books in the summer sale and was hesitating over another three because there were no illustrations featured on their webpages. But thanks to Folio 60 I was able to track down examples for each book and now I'm three books poorer (looking at it from my family's point of view) or richer (looking at it from my point of view, which I like better)--Vanity Fair (my late mother had a copy), I Capture the Castle and Strong Poison (both books I've been interested in for a while). Three books I probably would not have picked up this time if my Folio 60 hadn't given me more information.

Message edited by its author, Jun 21, 2009, 10:17am.

> 102 - Oops too late!

Folio 60 on order along with:
Trafalgar
Inferno
The Brothers Karamozov
Anne of Green Gables
Labyrinths
The Quest for the Northwest Passage

And Schindler's Ark to take advantage of the discount and combined postage.

I've also placed another seven in my shopping cart - but they can wait 'til next month before I press the button.

Incidentally, the ordering problem that I mentioned in Msg 78 has been dealt with very speedily by the FS: their customer service up to the usual high standard.

#103
The only thing you can do is hide the Folio 60 once your order arrives. I think I've purchased about ten extra books since I got my copy.

You know of course that now you've got Inferno you just have to get the other two books. I held out as long as I could then fell in the Spring Sale. Paradiso wasn't part of the sale but was discounted and then Purgatorio kind of just appeared in my cart to keep it company.

I tried putting books in my cart and waiting for a couple of weeks to think it over (on the unlikely chance I'd come to my senses and put some back) but my order disappeared. It wouldn't have helped anyway, I still purchased all the books.

I'm in Canada so I probably won't be able to view past orders for quite a while (I think they're still working on UK). Although it would probably be easier on my pocketbook if I could review my orders whenever I'm on the site. I just realized that between the Spring and Summer Sales I've ordered eighteen books (a personal best). Where will I put them all?

>102 - Too late for me. It's on its way, and I am further doomed than I already was (though I was still quite doomed; hell, I got permission to get Chaucer along with a bunch of other books!).

>103 - Combined postage? No matter how many orders I divide the books into, the price always comes out the same; is it different for you?

I can hardly believe it, but I've given in again (and will do the same tomorrow; I've been given permission!). Now The Kelmscott Chaucer, Celtic Myths and Legends, and Peter Pan and Wendy are on the way. Ah me, you have self-control, but you don't utilise it...

I'm not sure if I should hate or love how persuasive I can be. Might as well do both.

It looks like they aren't offering bookmarks anymore, I think. I got one for that last order, but when I was adding books to the cart to see how much they would cost, nothing was added, and I don't see it on the site now.

Message edited by its author, Jun 21, 2009, 2:39pm.

#105, 106
At least you're buying something of substance, that will last a lifetime, increase your knowledge (Chaucer, Myths & Legends) and improve your life (there's nothing like curling up with a good book to make you feel all's right with the world). And think of the things some teenagers are wasting their money (and lives) on--drugs, cigarettes, alcohol.

I'd like to know how HuxleyTheCat gets combined postage too. I put just one book in my cart and it was the same postage as when I break down the amount on a multiple order. No advantage either way. But I did split my six-book day into two orders just to get an extra bookmark.

Oh and my personal best on book buying just got better. I miscounted the number of books I've ordered. When I was checking to see if I had all my book images (I grab them off the website after I place an order so I always have the right image for librarything) I realized that I've actually got twenty books coming. If they all come at once while my father's here I'm doomed.

>107 - True; I decided a long time ago that if I have the money to sustain a drug/alcohol/nicotine (if it counts) addiction, I might as well spend it on something better. Though admittedly, Chaucer won't fit in bed.

I split my five-book day into three orders for the sake of bookmarks. Now I've got four coming; I'll keep two for me and give the others away.

Adding the number of books from the Spring Sale and Summer Sale would be... too traumatic for me. Of course, all but my joining offer books were purchased during those sales, which means...

OH GOOD GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE. (It's not a question for a reason.)

Message edited by its author, Jun 21, 2009, 4:34pm.

>105 & >107 In the UK p&p terms and conditions are as follows:

One book – £3.95

Two books – £3.95

Three books or more – £5.95

That's assuming everything can be dispatched in one parcel. In my case the books only have to come about 60 miles as the warehouse is in the next county.

Thanks to the advise on this group I've held off from buying until the sales, so I expected to purchase a few books. What I hadn't factored in was all the Ebay purchases as well - you know, just to "build the collection". I've managed to pick up Purgatorio recently so only Paradiso to go of the Divine Comedy, and I'm not in a massive hurry for that one as I'm more interested in the volumes with the Blake and Dali illustrations.

I had to go to Ikea yesterday for another bookcase. I'm not sure the madness will subside in the near future as the LE Moby Dick keeps whispering "buy me, buy me"!

>109 - Yet another disadvantage to living in the US. My total shipping and handling charges from FS are frightening; definitely over $100, probably over $150...

Thanks for explaining, though. I almost wanted to get Inferno, but then I'd have to complete the collection, and I also know nothing about the translation (besides which, I already have two translations of The Divine Comedy).

Re Inferno: Being a fan of Blake, I had to get the Inferno. I like Dali when he isn't being too commercial (in the avant garde way of much of his art post WW II), so I will probably succumb to the lure of Purgatorio down the line. I am not enraptured by the art of di Paola, so I will probably pass on Paradiso--especially since the translation used is Cary's 19th century rendering (as are the other Folio Dante editions). Also, Paradise is not as interesting as Hell--I think it was J.M. Barrie who said, "Heaven for climate; Hell for company."

For those interested in different translations, here are the opening lines of Inferno in 3 different 19th century translations, one by a famous poet, one by a famous educator, and one by Mr. Cary (they are lot in that order below). For those who don't know these versions, please weigh in with your opinion on the merits of each:

1)
Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say
What was this forest savage, rough, and stern,
Which in the very thought renews the fear.

So bitter is it, death is little more;
But of the good to treat, which there I found,
Speak will I of the other things I saw there.

I cannot well repeat how there I entered,
So full was I of slumber at the moment
In which I had abandoned the true way.

But after I had reached a mountain's foot,
At that point where the valley terminated,
Which had with consternation pierced my heart,

Upward I looked, and I beheld its shoulders,
Vested already with that planet's rays
Which leadeth others right by every road.

2) IN the midway of this our mortal life,
I found me in a gloomy wood, astray
Gone from the path direct: and e'en to tell
It were no easy task, how savage wild
That forest, how robust and rough its growth,
Which to remember only, my dismay
Renews, in bitterness not far from death.
Yet to discourse of what there good befell,
All else will I relate discover'd there.
How first I enter'd it I scarce can say,
Such sleepy dullness in that instant weigh'd
My senses down, when the true path I left,
But when a mountain's foot I reach'd, where clos'd
The valley, that had pierc'd my heart with dread,
I look'd aloft, and saw his shoulders broad
Already vested with that planet's beam,
Who leads all wanderers safe through every way.

3) Midway upon the road of our life I found myself within a dark
wood, for the right way had been missed. Ah! how hard a thing it
is to tell what this wild and rough and dense wood was, which in
thought renews the fear! So bitter is it that death is little
more. But in order to treat of the good that there I found, I
will tell of the other things that I have seen there. I cannot
well recount how I entered it, so full was I of slumber at that
point where I abandoned the true way. But after I had arrived at
the foot of a hill, where that valley ended which had pierced my
heart with fear, I looked on high, and saw its shoulders clothed
already with the rays of the planet that leadeth men aright
along every path.

Message edited by its author, Jun 21, 2009, 6:53pm.

Thanks to those who gave me their viewpoints on "Finn Family" and the Stevenson novels.

Iriesia, I started book collecting casually when I was eight, and in earnest when I was seventeen. I've never regretted it. I'm a little past 30 now and have a very valuable collection, many of which I paid very little for. Beyond that, though, the books themselves give me many hours of joy. Fortunately, my spouse appreciates them too.

In the end, most people spend a lot of money on paperbacks that immediately depreciate in value when they walk out of the bookstore. I probably spend more on books than they do, but I also have something of lasting value to show for it.

>111 - Oh, I own that first one, though I don't recognise the other two. I don't really care for the translation used by FS.

I really like Dali, and I like Blake as well, but I won't go for the FS set in large part because of the translation. Thanks for posting, Django.

>112 - I didn't start collecting casually as early as you did, but I think I've started collecting in earnest earlier. ;-) At times, I almost regret it, but the key word there is "almost"!

Yeah, I agree that most paperbacks aren't worth it.

If anyone is looking for a good Dante translator, I have found Mark Musa to be extremely satisfying

>113 - "Yeah, I agree that most paperbacks aren't worth it."

To me a hardback that isn't bound in sewn signatures is just a paperback with two very expensive pieces of cardboard attached to it. I will happily buy a paperback edition of a book whose hardback edition is notch- or perfect-bound -- it takes up less shelf space and, with reasonable care, will last just as long as a hardback with a glued binding.

By the same token, a paperback with a sewn binding is a far better investment, to my way of thinking, than a hardback with a glued binding.

>114 - Know where I can find an excerpt?

>115 - Thus the word "most." ;-) I haven't seen many good paperbacks. If you know a good source, please let me know.

My Summer Sale purchases:

Life (beefing up my science books)
The Isle of Voices and Other Stories (on advice from various FS devotees)
The Body-Snatcher and Other Stories (love a good short story)
Venice (would like to see someday)
Onward and Upward in the Garden (need to dress up back yard)

>116 - "I haven't seen many good paperbacks. If you know a good source, please let me know."

There are no reliable sources these days. Dover used to issue all its books in paperback with sewn bindings, but no more. Some university and small presses issue the occasional paperback with a sewn binding, but it's rare.

Our strain grows weaker . . .

#111
For me it was the other way round. I would have been perfectly happy owning only Inferno/Blake but I found I also liked the Paradiso/di Paola artwork. And after that it just didn't seem right not to get the whole set. Unfortunately I didn't know about the other translations until you posted them. Not that it would have mattered; this is one of the few times I bought books based on illustrators rather than authors/translators. William Blake is the only reason I now own (or will own if my Spring Sale order ever comes) The Divine Comedy. If I didn't already have the Blake I wouldn't have considered the di Paola or Dali. And I would have never bought Inferno if Blake wasn't the illustrator.

As for the three translations I'm leaning towards the first one. Too tired to make a decision on the other two.

Message edited by its author, Jun 21, 2009, 9:40pm.

Inferno
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
The New York Trilogy
The Voyce of the World
Things Fall Apart
Travels with My Aunt
Folio Brass Bookmark

These prices were enough to choose a couple of books I didn't even know I wanted ;)

>111.

For me, translation 2 is much the preferred option; I'd be perfectly happy reading translation 1 (although in places the voice in my head sounds remarkably like Master Yoda); I'm not struck by 3 at all.

>121 -- Wow, they all seem really flat and leaden to me -- no "music" in them at all. Surely there are better translations than these.

>122 - I generally find prose more musical than verse, so I tend not to expect music from poems, translation or no.

Message edited by its author, Jun 22, 2009, 9:54am.

One thing I forgot to mention from my visit to the Member's Room is that as of Thursday they had one copy of Darwin's The Voyage of HMS Beagle in stock. Not sure if they still do, but if anyone is interested it might be worth a call. The slipcase was a bit worn, if you ask me, but otherwise it looked nice. (I got On The Origin Of Species last week so am sticking with that for the time being)

Translation #1 is by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow--considered for years as America's unofficial laureate (until the ascendancy of Whitman) and pretty much neglected today; the second is by Cary, the first complete translation in English, and the one that the Folio editions use; #3 is by Charles Eliot Norton, famous Harvard professor of history, and is probably the most faithful of the three to the original. Dante's Italian was very much the vernacular of his time, according to those who are experts in such matters, and was apparently not at all "poetic."

The Dante I have owned for many years is a verse translation by Louis Biancolli, which is serviceable though perhaps not as musical as the translation by Ciardi which I read in college, though many critics have problems with the "liberties" Ciardi seems to have taken in the translation. I keep the Biancolli because it has the original Italian en face.

Chase has recommended Musa highly, but the Musa is quite an investment: it comes in 6 volumes with the original Italian en face. Recent translations--a slew of them!--by Pinsky, Mandelbaum, et al, have their advocates. I haven't read any of them, but I found some samples of their work online that might help to answer Lloydville's question. The following is from the infamous episode where Count Ugolino describes how he resorted to eating the flesh of his dead children (I'll start with the most musical version I have read--Ciardi's):

Ciardi:
And just as you see me, I saw them fall
one by one on the fifth day and the sixth.
Then, already blind, I began to crawl
from body to body shaking them frantically.
Two days I called their names, and they were dead.
Then fasting overcame my grief and me.

Mandelbaum:
And there he died; and just as you see me,
I saw the other three fall one by one
between the fifth day and the sixth; at which,
now blind, I started groping over each;
and after they were dead, I called them for
two days; then fasting had more force than grief.

Pinsky:
I watched the others fall till all were dead
Between the fifth day and the sixth. And I,
Already going blind, groped over my brood--
Calling to them, though I had watched them die,
For two long days. And then hunger had more
Power than even sorrow had over me.

Singleton:
There he died; and even as you see me,
I saw the three fall, one by one,
between the fifth day and the sixth;
whence I betook me, already blind,
to groping over each, and for two days,
I called them after they were dead.
Then fasting did more than grief had done.

Musa:
There he died. Just as you see me here,
I saw the other three fall one by one,
as the fifth day and the sixth day passed. And I,
by then gone blind, groped over their dead bodies.
Though they were dead, two days I called their names.
Then hunger proved more powerful than grief.

For a comparison of how literal the translators were, here's Dante''s original:

Quivi morì; e come tu mi vedi,
vid'io cascar lì tre ad uno ad uno
tra'l quinto dì e 'l sesto; ond' io mi diedi,

già cieco, a brancolar sovra ciascuno,
e due dì li chiamai, poi che fur morti.
Poscia, più che'l dolor, poté 'l digiuno.

My Italian is limited to one year of college and many years addiction to opera and the films of Fellini, de Sica, Visconti, etc., but it is enough to see that the language is not at all grand, but everyday and matter-of-fact, which in this case adds to the horror.

My summer sale order...

For me:
The Deptford Trilogy (yes, Django, I gave in this time!)
King Arthur: History and Legend
Legends of Ancient Rome
This Side of Paradise
The Beautiful and Damned

On behalf of a friend:
A Little Princess
Jane Eyre

Re #126: I'm proud of you beatlemoon! I have a soft spot for librarians who can't say "no"!

re #125 - I too have a liking for Ciardi's version. The New American Library under its Mentor and Signet imprints published some very readable versions of classic literature in the 1960s. I have a very high opinion of Hubert Creekmore's version of Juvenal's Satires published around that time - I used it as an aid in preference to the Loeb version when I was studying Juvenal.

I suspect Django and I were both buying up the strange offerings coming under Mentor and Signet imprints at that time - I have a cupboard full of them (still uncataloged on LT) including Confucius, Mencius and Petronius published then.

Well, I have mine filled out, and I'm definitely getting the "Folio 60" volume. Also the RLS "Body Snatchers" which I was sure I had ordered earlier, and a few others.

>111 and >125
To add to the Dante translation debate, here are renderings by Dorothy L. Sayers of the two extracts given by Django. She devoted the closing years of her life to studying and translating the Divine Comedy. Her translation of the Inferno was first published in 1949.

1.
Midway this way of life we’re bound upon,
I woke to find myself in a dark wood,
Where the right road was wholly lost and gone.

Ay me! how hard to speak of it – that rude
And rough and stubborn forest! The mere breath
Of memory stirs the old fear in the blood;

It is so bitter, it goes nigh to death;
Yet there I gained such good, that, to convey
The tale, I’ll write what else I found therewith.

How I got into it I cannot say,
Because I was so heavy and full of sleep
When first I stumbled from the narrow way;

But when at last I stood beneath a steep
Hill’s side, which closed that valley’s wandering maze
Whose dread had pierced me to the heart-root deep,

Then I looked up, and saw the morning rays
Mantle its shoulder from that planet bright
Which guides men’s feet aright on all their ways.

2.
As thou dost see me here, I saw him die,
And one by one the other three died too,
From the fifth day to the sixth. Already I

Was blind; I took to fumbling them over; two
Long days I groped there, calling on the dead;
Then famine did what sorrow could not do.

>125 - Funny how some use "fasting" and others use "hunger"... I thought the meanings were somewhat divergent.

(The two I own are Mandelbaum and Longfellow, by the way.)

>127

Haha, just call me Ado Annie!

Re #128: Yes, lots and lots of NAL paperbacks--most of them crumbled away 20 years ago due to the pulpy paper with high acid content and poor glue. Still, many fond memories of discovering the classics at the average cost of $1.25 per book.

Re #130: Thank you for including this! I have always wanted to see Sayers' translation of Dante, as I think her translation of The Song of Roland is the best version of that work. I like her version of the opening and admire her for attempting to approximate the rhyme scheme. In the second passage, I wonder at the translation of the last line ("Then famine did what sorrow could not do") which is ambiguous (Singleton's version is likewise unclear) where with Ciardi and the others, it's clear that what Ugolino is admitting is that hunger overcame his grief and he resorted to cannibalism.

Re #132: Hmmmm, just call me Ali Hakim! ;-)

You can come by a 3 volume Musa set for about 60 bucks if you are good. Inferno and Purgatorio are relatively easy to come by, with Paradise being much more difficult. His softcover for Inferno is a must have, in my opinion, because of the massive depth of footnotes that really helps you get a historical perspective of the work. If I recall, however, it is in that annoying format where all the footnotes are at the end of each chapter.

I can't believe how far my persuasive powers have reached with the help of the instalment option, and, of course, the enticing descriptions courtesy of Folio. I just got:

I Capture the Castle
Strong Poison
Down the Garden Path
Elizabeth I
Eyewitness to History
The History of Scotland
Legends of Ancient Rome
Onward and Upward in the Garden
Principia Mathematica (even though I said I wouldn't!)
Shelley: Collected Poems
The Well-Tempered Garden

Seriously. How the hell did this happen? Before, I wasn't even going to get I Capture the Castle or The History of Scotland, but then, my parent thought it wouldn't be a bad idea, and I didn't have the willpower to say no. This is horrifying. Absolutely horrifying. I'm caught between rapture and revulsion, and I doubt I'll get away any time soon.

Wow, I can't believe how many books everyone is ordering -- in comparison my two orders look woefully inadequate. And especially you Irieisa, you're the worst of the lot! You're inadvertently crushing my willpower...

135: Holy cow.

So... you've got something like 20 books coming just from the Summer Sale?

And these include Chaucer, Principia, and Eyewitness to History (well over $500 just for those, before shipping)?

Is there any chance that your parents would adopt me?

>135 "my parent thought it wouldn't be a bad idea, and I didn't have the willpower to say no."

Oh dear! Sounds like the tables have turned and your parent has now fallen for the Folio bait, hook, line and sinker. From now on, YOU are going to have to be the one to apply the brakes before the whole family cascades down the slippery slope.
--------------------------
The group psychology exhibited in this forum is a powerful force. Encouraged by our peers, we are ordering with abandon books which, left to our own devices, we would never normally have considered. I too have succumbed to Summer Sale-itis and I'm beginning to feel like a foolio. I have now ordered "Principia Mathematica" and I fear I will probably not understand it.

I feel on safer ground, however, with

The Gallic and Civil Wars (I studied Classics in my youth)
A Vindication of the Rights of Women (Mustn't let my wife see this one)
Tom's Midnight Garden (A charming story)
Three Men in a Boat (A present for my daughter who lives in the area the book is set)
Legends of Ancient Rome (More Classics and it completes my Myth and Legends set)
The History Of Venice in Painting (Can't resist anything about Venice)

>130
I agree with you about Sayers. That last line, though a fine one, does gloss over the full horror.

>136
Don't be downhearted. You are exhibiting the willpower we all crave. Don't give in now!

Message edited by its author, Jun 22, 2009, 11:23pm.

>133 Okay, Ali ;-) I love a man who knows his musicals!

>138 "The group psychology exhibited in this forum is a powerful force. Encouraged by our peers, we are ordering with abandon books which, left to our own devices, we would never normally have considered."

We are SUCH a group of enablers. We are the antithesis of every 12-step program out there! It's a beautiful and terrible thing, all at once.

#138 - I've been craving Venice by Jan Morris for a while now and as soon as you mentioned that you couldn't resist anything about Venice I suddenly felt the massive urge to give in -- group psychology indeed!!

>136 - I can't believe how many I've ordered, either; I know I'm the worst. My willpower can be strong at times, when I want it to be, but I don't think I did. Instead, I persuaded my parent into letting me get... so much... I was actually tempted to go further and get more; I held back!

...Just a little bit, though. Too little too late, perhaps.

>137 - I think it's a bit more than twenty, especially if you count Eyewitness to History as four, et cetera. Oh, dear. I'll have to add up all my FS books soon (not counting the Bronte set I got for $60, used), just to show how very far I've fallen. That Spring Sale was horrid, too.

To answer your question, yep, I've ordered Chaucer, Principia, and Eyewitness to History. Two of which I was perfectly okay with letting go at full-price.

You would not like my father. He thinks that my books are a waste of time, and beyond that, he is, frankly, an ass. My mother, on the other hand, you'd probably like as a parent; I can hardly believe how she enables this FS book-bingeing.

>138 - Well, I told her about their quality, and had her read what books are about on FS so she could help me narrow my choices a bit. Strong Poison is for her, by the way, though it will be in my room because it's less dusty.

I wasn't interested in Tom's Midnight Garden at all, you know... until I came to this group. Fancy that. I couldn't get it this time, but there's always renewal... (I'll also have to wait to snag Three Men in a Boat. I am never sated!) Though what's funny is I still know very little about its story. I didn't find much about it on the web, but I didn't look very hard, either.

>139 - That's FS for you, in a nutshell: beautiful and terrible.

I've been eyeing that History of Venice book too, but for more devious reasons. It would be for my wife and I figure it would distract her if a box of books showed up for her for once instead of the ones that show up so regularly for me. I got her the Italian Frescoes books they sold a couple of years ago and she loved them.

I'm thinking Irieisa may indeed be the mole. His book escapades are encouraging us all to succumb and over-indulge. Very clever mole, very clever...8^P

jveezer,

I've tried that ploy but it has never worked. It is odd how flowers or similar superficial items can often buy oneself out of a snag, but that a book to appeal to their reason and/or literary aesthetic never quite has the same effect.

>142 - If only I were the mole... I'm female, by the way. ;-)

>143 - Flowers really work for that? I'd probably be upset if a spouse gave me flowers, because they're pretty useless. Besides, we have a garden; why not just clip off some of those blooms? It's cheaper.

Flowers wilt, anyway...

Strong Poison, like all the Peter Wimsey mysteries is a delight, and is especially interesting to women because Lord Peter has to save his future bride from the gallows! (Well, prison, at least.) The redoubtable Miss Sayers was as good at concocting "cozies" as she was at translating medieval epics.

>125 - Extremely interesting. Thanks so much for posting this.

The Ciardi seems far superior, not just musically but also in the power of the language -- it's not grand, but it makes the confession chilling. It has a dramatic quality and seems to be written for speaking out loud. Indeed, if you read the selections out loud the difference is really striking.

I don't understand Italian at all but like you I know what it sounds like from opera and movies, and the original lines you post definitely have music in them, rhythmically and from the end rhymes and the repetition of vowels in particular lines.

Just for kicks, here's my 16 year old son's favorite version of the Count Ungolino passage. It's from Sandow Birk and Marcus Sanders' edition of the Divine Comedy. Called "The Fast Food Inferno" by Doug Harvey in the Preface, the illustrations were too interesting to pass up, especially since it got my son to read the Inferno. I told him it was more a "transmutation" than "translation"!

...As clear as you see me here in front of
you, I had to live to watch my other son and two grandsons
die, one by one, on the fifth night. Finally, blind with
hunger myself, I crawled around the floor of the cell
feeling the cold bodies and faces of those little boys.
I held each one and spoke to them and called their names,
but every one of them was dead. On the eight day,
the sufferings of my hunger finally overcame my grief.

#125
"Then hunger proved more powerful than grief"

That line alone gets Musa my vote.

I also liked the Sayers version when I read it many years ago, but prefer Ciardi. As we have so often discussed here, I cannot vouch for accuracy, but Ciardi's work sings to me.

Just received Schindler's Ark and the remaining 3 novels of the Alexandria Quartet. The Schindler is very good, with splendid, eerie illustrations. I don't even like the Durrell that much, and have hardbound editions of all four books that are about 40 years old but in good condition...why did I do this?

>150 - Rhetorical question?

Hi, I just received a promotion letter on "Night Thoughts". "Available for a limited time at the original price", but 925 pounds a book with the exchange rate for HK$ will really kill me, even by installments. I am looking for arguments against buying this set.

I wish I could help you, I really do, but it is a fantastic set. The Blake watercolours leap off the page as though they had been painted in your own copy. Now, if this had been in the Summer sale at half price . . . .

Message edited by its author, Jun 23, 2009, 12:08pm.

#152
Sorry, I can't help you either. Night Thoughts is my "if I ever won a lottery book". You know, the one you'd buy if you had unlimited funds. I've been lusting after it ever since it came out. Now that the site lists the number of copies left (175 today, down three in the last couple of weeks--who are these people suddenly buying it?) it's getting harder to resist, especially with boldface's comments and the fact that my credit card still has more than enough room for it.

I have to admit that most of the books in the sale that I would want, I've already actually got. However, I've held off on the Deptford Trilogy again and again, and the price is really too good this time to resist. So, just the one in the sale this time.

I did, however, go slightly mad in the Spring Sale, not least because the combination of books I really wanted was there (The Ambassadors, The Golden Bowl, Dracula, Justine, My Family and Other Animals and Possession, with the set of 5 New Oxford History hardbacks and the Oxford History of World Exploration coming for free).

I'm interested in people saying Folio Society books hold their value - haven't really found that for most of them, but I do love the quality of them; reading them is so much more pleasurable than small print paperbacks.

I notice a couple of people have mentioned Jan Morris's "Venice". I can't spot it in the sale. Can anyone direct me where - it doesn't even come up when I use the search facility.

Message edited by its author, Jun 23, 2009, 2:10pm.

Just picked up Gawain as well. Hmm.

155: I don't think they hold their value, really, though used editions seem to be more expensive in the US than in the UK.

Compared to Easton (for example) FS books seem to get cheaper quicker.

Love the Folio Society! I used to be exclusively an Easton Press type of guy, but these days I'm finding that FS suits my taste better. Anyway, just picked-up:

Don't Look Now and Other Stories (yummy)
Peter Pan and Wendy (huzzah!)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (looking forward to this)

there were easily 5-6 other books I could have added, but it does get expensive you know... but well worth the cost!
:)

156: True, on the used market it seems like Easton Press books hold their value higher, in general although not always. I'm guessing it's because of the leather binding, but in terms of which ones are just "better", often times FS wins hands down. For instance, compare the EP version of Andrew Lang's Fairy Books with the FS version. There's no comparison! The FS version is MUCH better. The EP version is smaller, harder to read, and has the original B&W illustrations. If you like those, then you're in look. However, the FS version is large, beautiful, and features full-color illustrations as well as B&W by different artists. I think it's brilliant, and I want them to release the other Fairy Books already!

cheers,

-astropi

Yeah, since I'm not interested in selling my nice books, I couldn't care less about their market value (except as a way of kicking myself for not buying them second-hand).

So I generally buy FS over Easton 'cause I generally like FS more.

>155: I just spotted Jan Morris's Venice on the site; the only way I could find it was by putting Venice in the search box. It's around £25.

I've just tried exactly that, and no results. I get six other books, but not the Jan Morris one! I've also tried Jan Morris, but no joy either.

Here's a direct link to it. Hope this helps:

http://www.foliosociety.com/book/VNC/ven...

I tend to buy both FS and Easton myself. Resale value is of no importance to me as I can't bear to sell a book. I tend to choose based on aesthetics, abridgement or translator if both companies offer the same work. In some instances I have both.

I splurged on the Moby Dick (utterly gorgeous!!!), so I'm denying myself the summer sale, but I want to put in a word for a lovely little book, both in content and Folio's binding, Emil and the detectives. It's a shame to pass it over, especially at this price.

Message edited by its author, Jun 23, 2009, 9:28pm.

164: Do you happen to know who translated the Folio edition? Is it a good one?

>164 - I only pass it because it's one of the cheaper ones to begin with, and the discount isn't massive. Also, I'm eyeing bigger (literally) things... I've decided to be completely selfish and try to convince my parent next month to let me make one last order, which absolutely must include The First Folio of Shakespeare. I hate myself.

Might as well get books to love instead, right?

...Right?

>165
The FS "Emil" reproduces the first English edition of 1931 which was translated by Margaret Goldsmith. The charm of the book shines through, but some of the expressions the characters use are very dated, eg. "I think this thief affair is going to be tophole. First-rate" and "I'd be most frightfully grateful". The American translation of similar date (1930) is by May Massee, but I don't know it. It's a classic story, though, well told and with great originality. My teacher read it to us when I was about 8 and I was thrilled by it. Still am!

Message edited by its author, Jun 23, 2009, 10:54pm.

Has anyone else seen the movie version of Emil from the 30s with screenplay by Billy Wilder (of "Some Like it Hot' and "The Apartment" fame)? Delightful film!

>162 that's funny; if I search Venice Jan Morris it comes up right away at £25.95 (sale price).

This summer sale has been a downright killer. I fleshed out my Conrad collection and my Graham Greene collection. I also ordered Buchan, The Voyce of the Word, and The Golden Bowl. And of course I could not pass up The Daughter of Time. I may have to go back and get The Devil's Dictionary.

Now I have to sit down a bit and figure out how to pay for it all.

#140 Lady_Lulu..you won't be disappointed. It is a magnificent volume!

#140 Lady_Lulu.. not helping here - I would agree that Venice is truly sumptuously illustrated and such a nice size too!

#171 & #172 - THAT'S IT! I can't take it any more...Venice, here I come!!

(Last order, I swear...)

I am blaming all of you for helping to deplete my bank account ;-). I just went back and picked up two more volumes. Damn.

#174 - Ooo, which ones??

After spending a load of money on the books I mentioned in #170. I went back on got The Devil's Dictionary and Eyewitness to History. And then FS had the gall to put up a new announcement for Rosemary Sutcliff's The Silver Branch. I may have to hack my browser to keep me away from the FS site for the rest of the summer!

#167

About "Emil..." and the translation: I'm not familiar with English translations, but for me at least the "datedness" works perfectly, because 1) the work now has an archaic ring in German as well 2) it is precisely this "other-timeness" that gives it much of its charm. Kaestner is still very popular with kids (in Germany at least), with lots of reason, but his little heroes do belong to a different era, one insisting much more emphatically on politeness, good manners, respect for elders, early maturity... (I realise this may sound off-putting to some, but that would be a shame, Kaestner loved, understood and respected children, their intelligence, imagination and personhood like few other writers.)

And the illustrations in Folio's edition are that of the original, by the modernist Walter Trier--they're delightful, bearing the same mark of the time (1920s) as the text.



I'd love to see other Emil stories (or more Kaestner, at the least), in Folio editions.

I start to understand what you mean by "downright killer..." . I've joined the Society only ten days ago and I haven't received any books yet, but all these sales offers and online discussions about beautiful books have already sent me down a dangerous path. Here is my order history of the last ten days:

To join the society I've ordered:

Moby Dick (Limited Edition) (This is what got me interested in the FS in the first place)
Redcoats and Rebels
Eyewitness to History (my joining gift)

Two days later I realised that there was still a Spring Sale on. Unaware that the Summer Sale was only two days away I've ordered:

The World Crisis
Empires of the Nile
History of Western Philosophy
Chronicles of the Dark Ages (free book set)
Biographies of Washington, Adams, Franklin and Jefferson (a second free book set)

Again two days later I was shocked to realise how many great offers they have for Summer Sale. I really tried not to buy anything but after a few days of following the discussions in this group I couldn't restrain myself any longer and ordered:

Aristocrats
Celtic Myths and Legends
The Devil's Dictionary
The Oxford Dictionary if Quotations
Folio 60
The Gallic and Civil Wars
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Complete Poems by John Keats
The March of Folly
The Voyce of the World
Life of Herod
On the Nature of Things

I hope there won't be an Autumn or Christmas Sale!

Dude, you've got it bad. Welcome to the club.

>178
Good.......god......I hope you're not married. If you are, then I wish you well on your long long journey. j/k.

My wife is actually pretty good with my little hobby, but I don't think she's be able to handle all that if I did it...........damn.......I promise I won't go and work out how much you paid for all those books.

178: You have good taste :)
Yeah, that limited edition Moby Dick sure is tempting, but it's still far too expensive for me. Ah well, we enjoy what we've got! To be honest, I have the Easton Press non-limited edition of Moby Dick and it's not nearly as awesome as the FS edition, but it's still beautiful.

>178 - Honestly... I bought more than you at both the Spring and Summer Sales. It comes out more expensive, too. This isn't so for my joining offer, but if I included my purchase of Selborne... Yeah, it comes out to more. Holy sh*t. If you've got it bad, so do I. At least we've got company! ;-)

Thanks for your sympathy! I guess I really got it bad.....is there a cure?

>180 Don't worry, I am not married and my girl friend won't find out.........;-)

>183 - I've mentioned my idea of a cure before, but it's rather extreme and unpleasant: lose your hearing and eyesight completely, and lose your hands (their sense of touch, at least) as well. That should just about do it.

>184 That would be extreme indeed! Fortunately my finances still allow me these kind of pleasures, at least as long as I don't get too much into the Limited Edition business....Anyway whenever I feel too guilty about my recent overspending I am always telling myself that buying books is a far more pleasant way to fight the current economic crisis than subsidising car manufacturers....This might be a bit naive, but it helps. ;-)

I've just seen a folio book on TV!
Dante's Inferno to be precise. It was given away as a prize on BBC4's The Book Quiz: Poetry Special, to a bunch of people who I'm sure could afford it, but anyway...
I got far to excited, jumping up and proclaiming "Hey, that's a folio book! AWESOME!!"

It's when you have a sudden urge to watch a programme you don't particulary care for again just to catch a glimpse of the novelty of a folio book on TV, that you know they've (Folio) got you hook, line and sinker...

For people in the UK, who are sad enough to get as excited as me, here's the link to the programme on iplayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00... (skip to the very last minute or two)

>186 - "I got far too excited, jumping up and proclaiming 'Hey, that's a folio book! AWESOME!!'"

I do that when I catch sight of one lying around my house.

>185 - Yes, quite extreme, and far from ideal.

Whenever I feel guilty I tell myself something secret from all others; I'm not telling what it is. ;-)

>186 - Haha, I would have gotten excited, too; no jumping, though.

>187 - When I see the ones in my room (all of them, in other words), I just smile contentedly, realising just how far I've fallen since joining in March.

Stephan68

Not only is there no cure; there is also no help on this forum. We are all addicts and we are all enablers. I will say, though, that this year's sales seem to be more enticing than ever. I've picked up more books in six month than in the last two or three years. And yes, you are in good company. But if you want to save your pocketbook you'll stay away from posts headed Spring Sale, Summer Sale, Christmas Sale or New Year's Sale. Oh who am I kidding, you're doomed and there's nothing you can do about it.

>189 - There's a Christmas AND New Year's Sale....?

At this rate, I'll never get around to any non-FS books. Sorry, Easton Press and Amazon.com.

I've been a Folio member since 1986, and just discovered this site/group/thread and had to sign up. But I'm not sure it was a wise thing to do - it seems that this is a nest of enablers at their worst!

A few notes on what I saw as I perused the comments here:
- I've just finished Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - those who ordered it won't be disappointed
- There's a good bit of talk about The Voyce of the World. Now I'll have to buy it. What did I say about enabling? The same may go for The Deptford Trilogy.
- I've read Moby Dick four times, but won't be buying the Folio edition because I have a copy of the incredible University of California printing, with illustrations by Barry Moser. Lovely doesn't come close to describing it - the typeface was created specifically for that edition.
- As long as Ideas: A History is available for next year's membership order, I won't have blown my wad on the Summer Sale
- does anyone know the full list of stories included in The Lady in the Van and Three Stories? The brochure and prospectus only give two other titles.

>191 - Surprisingly, it says on the website what stories are included in The Lady in the Van and Three Stories. In addition to the title story, there are: The Laying on of Hands, The Clothes They Stood Up In, and Father! Father! Burning Bright.

Thank you. I was hoping that The Clothes they Stood Up In was the missing story. That book will be added to my order.

Today I bought a new bookshelf (my ninth!). And I've even sold a good 300 books on Ebay and given about 150 to the local library (don't worry - the only Folio books I've sold were duplicate copies sent to me in error). My teenage daughter has told me many times that I MUST leave my books to her when I die. I have to remind her that I have no intention of dying any time soon.

>193 - You're welcome!

I envy your bookshelves. I have but one, long since filled, and all my books dwarf it several times over. They are forced to sit on the ground in my sealed-off room. It's sad.

Ah, but I bought my first books during the Nixon administration. I'll venture to guess that I have a substantial head start on you. I'll never finish all the books I already have, much less the ones I have yet to buy or borrow.

>195 - Just don't admit that to anyone; they might question your sanity when you continue buying books.

And yes, you have a substantial head start.

Why, oh why, do I keep reading the posts in this forum? I have no room for new books, no room for another bookcase (or two or three), and I keep telling myself I can't really afford many books. And yet .... you tempt me with tales of sales orders!

Must keep telling myself, "only one order per sale, only one order per sale" ...

I question the sanity of anyone who couldn't understand.

>197 - I forgot where I heard this, but anyway, "you know you want it."

...Though "it" probably meant something very different. Also, you could follow your one order rule; just make it very big. Like that story about a kid who was told she could only bake and eat one cookie, so she made a huge one and ate that.

>198 - Exactly; we must be careful around the insane, yes? If an insane person thought you were insane, there's no telling what he or she might do! Therefore, we have every right to do everything within our power, collective or individual, to tip-toe around them so as to control the ways in which they might react. It's completely and utterly justified. ;-)

>191 - "- I've read Moby Dick four times, but won't be buying the Folio edition because I have a copy of the incredible University of California printing, with illustrations by Barry Moser. Lovely doesn't come close to describing it - the typeface was created specifically for that edition."

Enabler Alert!

If you're talking about the over-sized deluxe edition of the Moser published by UCP, that came in a slipcase, I have that too and its is lovely, but I've always found it too cumbersome to read. The Folio LE is just right -- hefty but handleable. You could imagine taking it with you on a long sea voyage.

The merits of the Moser versus the Kent illustrations are discussed on another thread, but the embossed leather binding of the Folio edition makes me gasp every time I look at it. As an object merely, on the shelf, it's got the UCP edition beat hands down.

>195 - "Ah, but I bought my first books during the Nixon administration. I'll venture to guess that I have a substantial head start on you."

I bought, or at least acquired, my first books during the Eisenhower administration, most of which I still have. Now there's a head start for you.

Anyone here still have books acquired during the Truman administration?

I was still an egg during the Truman administration. Or, my X chromosome was. My Y chromosome hadn't been put into a sperm yet.

But already there were signs of greatness....

But did you, as an egg, acquire any books?

Lloydville: Eggcellent.

Message edited by its author, Jun 25, 2009, 12:33pm.

gistak: I fear you eggsaggerate.

Well, I was being egged on.

Maybe he bought Green Eggs and Ham?

I do not like Green Eggs and Ham, I do not like them Sam I Am. I will not eat them in a house, I will not eat them with a mouse. I will not eat them on a train, I will not eat them in the rain. Not in a box, not in a tree, I do not like them, Sam, now let me be!

(from memory!)

Oh my, I knew I should not have read this thread again!! I just picked up Emil and the Detectives, there is no longer any hope for me!!!

>209 - Emil and the Detectives is, on the bright side, one of the cheaper books. ;-) When it comes to the point you think Night Thoughts isn't THAT much, you've either lost your money-sense or have become rich. I think the former has happened to me; as for the latter... I wish.

I am thinking of adding a few more books from the summer sale to my collection and would appreciate some arguments to restrain myself. Does anyone have Legends of Ancient Rome or can give me some information on Shelly: Collected Poems (or The Folio Poets series in general)? And then there is of course The First Folio....unfortunately just before I discovered the Folio Society I bought the RSC Shakespeare from Macmillan. It is nicely bound in leather and it includes extensive notes on each page explaining allusions, difficult word and confusing phraseology (very helpful for non-native speakers like me), but instead of a slipcase it comes in some sort of shoe box.......Do I really need a second Shakespeare? The price is pretty irresistible.....

Order II from Summer Sale:

One Hundred Years of Solitude
The Varieties of Religious Experience
Brothers Karamazov
The Well-Tempered Garden

Did you see what I did there?
:)

>211 - I myself ordered Legends of Ancient Rome and Shelley: Collected Poems from the Summer Sale, so I have no right nor ability to dissuade you. Even the Shakespeare I plan to get soon...

I once heard someone say one could never have too much Shakespeare, if that helps. ;-)

>212 - You ordered another gardening book?

Message edited by its author, Jun 25, 2009, 8:48pm.

thinking about getting Labyrinths and/or A Time of Gifts. Can anyone that owns either speak to their quality?

well personally I would recommend A Time of Gifts because I love the style and erudition of PLF.

The illustrations for Labyrinths are appropriate but I wasn't overwhelmed by them. I would have preferred something more in the style of Diego Rivera. My main gripe is that I really don't like the book's format - it's 11 x 6 - and I find tall but narrow books sit uneasily on the shelf in the company of other volumes. But each to his/her own...

>216

Agree about the format - it's the one reason I won't be buying it.

216: Those dimension could be annoying for most books.

HOWEVER:

The Art of War has the same dimensions, and I really like it. The tall narrowness feels scroll-like, or otherwise archaic, and for that particular book, it feels just right to me.

I'm with overthemoon on the Leigh-Fermor book--even were the quality of the printing less than superb, which it isn't, the book is a treasure.

218: I entirely agree. The dimensions felt right for The Art of War. If I recall I even declared that book a triumph somewhere here.

Message edited by its author, Jun 26, 2009, 1:40pm.

Re #216: You may have said in another thread you aren't a fan of Mrquez, but I wonder if you ever read the original English publication, in serial form, of Chronicle of a Death Foretold. (This was in the U.S. and the book made have had a different publishing history in the UK.) I can't even remember the magazine now, but it may have been Esquire which I read regularly from the 60s through the 80s, and had never heard of Márquez before, but what made me read the story were the magazine illustrations. I don't remember the illustrator, but they were done in a style reminiscent of Rivera, Covarrubias, and Jean Charlot. I think you would have thought he would be a fine illustrator for Borges.

Iriesa: You were asking about Johnson's Dictionary.

Here's a picture from the library of JoeToad (a poster in these fine pages):

http://gallery.me.com/bl.martin#100109/I...

Now, if you know how big the Folio 60 is, you can compare it to the dictionary. It looks positively puny in this pic.

>222 - Wow. Positively huge.

Johnson's Dictionary is huge but it is sooo awesome. I keep it on my desk, where I can just gaze at it or feel of it whenever my mind wanders off a conference call. Seriously, though. The marbling of the sides combined with the leather is stunning. I've gotten in the habit of looking up words here first, just to be entertained by the Doc before I use a more modern dictionary.

>224 - I can only imagine...

And feel jealous, of course. There's always that.

I gave in to the sale last week and ordered:

Folio 60
The Golden Bowl
The Master of Ballantrae
I Capture the Castle

Plus bookmark :)

Then this morning I pulled the trigger on my second order!

The Body-Snatcher and Other Stories
The Isle of Voices and Other Stories
Kidnapped
Catriona (I'm on a Stevenson streak...)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

I've never ordered twice from a sale before. And I know who to blame!

I really want The Silver Branch as well... but I guess that will have to wait a little while.

>226 - Who are you going to blame?

Ah, I really wanted those Stevenson short stories...

I am filling my 3rd Summer Sale basket. Here is what I have so far. Any of these I should avoid??

The Silver Branch
The Deptford Trilogy
The Eagle of the Ninth
Folio 60
The Gentleman's Daughter
The Isle of Voices
King Arthur: History and Legend
The Secret Sharer
The Spanish Inquisition
The Travels of Marco Polo
Revolt in the Desert

>228 - I'd personally wait on The Silver Branch (though what right have I to say that since I bought Selborne?), since it would be a better deal to buy it during a sale that actually effects it, methinks. As for Folio 60, people have already warned what it does, so nothing new there.

Ah, I wanted to get a lot of those...

>162 Thanks gistak - that helps enormously. Looking at the page, it doesn't link from anywhere else, unlike other books, so don't know how I could have got there. Does make me wonder how the website is set up, as this sort of thing seems to crop up occasionally.

I'd LOVE to purchase Dorian Gray- in fact- it was one of the books I wrote to them once about issuing! Also, how about A Rebours by J.K. Huysmans? Or Bruges La Morte by Rodenbach???

#228

I'm reading through King Arthur right now and love the book. It is quite dense, but actually pretty engaging.

Strangely, after not being able to find Jan Morris's Venice on the FS website for the past few days, I've now tried inputting exactly the same search criteria as previously, and the book has appeared at the top of the list. Odd.

>233 - This could be Folio's way of preparing us for the publication of Edmund Crispin's 1946 thriller, 'The Moving Toyshop'.

"It is late at night when poet Cadogan stumbles on the dead body of an old lady in an Oxford toyshop. The following morning the toyshop has vanished and in its place is a grocery store. Nobody, not even the police, seems surprised . . . . "

Message edited by its author, Jun 28, 2009, 11:25am.

>234 - Wow -- I would love to see a Folio edition of that!

Sounds brilliant!

Summer sale arrived today, which is shocking as it only shipped on the 26th. Chaucer is incredible.

>237 - I can barely wait for my copy. What makes the waiting easier, however, is the knowledge that I can barely move at all in my room. It's so crowded, and it's closing in on me...

Irieisa - you just need a little shed, like bolface's.

Now I know what I must build some day.

>239 She may need a large shed considering her ordering history. :)

Well, the shed has just taken delivery of most of my Summer Sale order. No problem with Tom's Midnight Garden, Legends of Rome or The Gallic & Civil Wars, but the History of Venice in Paintings made the floor creak. True, it's not quite as big as Chaucer, but it's almost as heavy. A fantastic book, though (not FS but Abbeville), for all Venice lovers. We've all seen endless Canalettos, but particularly striking are the 19th- and 20th-century paintings that aren't quite so often seen. Some stunning double fold-outs as well.

I also got 'Three Men in a Boat', looking forward to my daughter's birthday in September. She lives in one of the River Thames towns mentioned in the story and will love reading about all the places she knows so well. The only problem is that now I've seen it, I want to keep it for myself. I've already got two different copies, but, as usual, FS tops them all. I shall have to get another one while the sale lasts. It's also hilarious - I was laughing out loud reading the first chapter again. Still, the Principia Mathematica is still to come - that should wipe the smile off my face.

#241
Maybe FS should do as Amazon does. You can purchase a book and have it shipped directly to the person. That way there's no chance that the book will suddenly end up on your own shelves while you look frantically for another gift. I guess there is an advantage having no one in the family who likes to read. Any book I buy is definitely mine.

>242 I was able to do this by calling them and having them change the shipping address for a particular order. If the book had been delivered to me I would have had to order a second copy.

241: All right already, you've convinced me.

I'm ordering Three Men in a Boat.

>239 - Well, we do have a shed, but it's for the cats. Also wouldn't support books well as it is (I don't mean in size, it's just that the place is a bit too dirty for nice books. As far as cats go, it's a comfy, clean place, though).

>240 - Ooh, that stung.

>241 - Eh? Not as big as Chaucer? I thought the dimensions given by FS indicated The History of Venice in Painting is bigger than Chaucer...

Also, why will Principia Mathematica wipe your smile off your face?

Speaking of The History of Venice in Painting, the only reason I'm not very tempted to get it is the sale price at FS compared to the price at Amazon.com doesn't save me a great deal of money. Temptation begone! :-)

> 245 Well, Irieisa, you're absolutely right! The Venice book is actually about the same size, although the Chaucer is thicker. But they're both likely to put your back out if you handle them carelessly - start going to the gym now! Re price, the Venice book is £40 more expensive on Amazon's UK website than Folio's sale price. That's good enough for me.

As for Principia Mathematica, anything involving figures makes me panic, but it's such an important book my shed has to have it.

Both of our cats sadly passed away recently. Strangely, both of them preferred the house to the shed.

Message edited by its author, Jun 30, 2009, 7:04am.

It's a $40 difference on the US side. Not as big as forty pounds, but nothing to sneeze at.

Not that I'm trying to get Irieisa to buy more books!

>246 - Oh, I see! Yes, I think I shall have to work out for Chaucer...

Math is not my strong point; I get mightily confused. I bought Principia Mathematica anyway. ;-)

Cats have odd preferences. But then, I prefer a sofa to my bed...

>247 - It just doesn't live up to the 50% off discount on other titles; percentage wise, not quite as worth it. Still a good deal, of course.

Don't worry, I'll end up with more books one way or the other.

#247
As an adult I have a bit of a conflict concerning Irieisa. I should be responsible enough not to enable her or encourage her to spend her last dime on books. But it is so wonderful seeing someone her age who actually likes books that it's hard to resist encouraging her.

As for book size maybe we should request FS to put the weight of the books on the site so we know when to start reinforcing coffee tables and bookshelves.

> 249 - Irieisa is lucky to have the means. At her age, my book collecting was restricted to Christmas and birthdays. Only in my 30s could I begin to justify more.

>249 - I've spent more than my last dime on books, time and again! The cycle never ends. If I added up how much I've spent during the Summer Sale, I'd be in uber-debt (don't forget I just mean owing my parents!), but since I'm paying in instalments, I technically still have money. Just a little bit.

Yes, thanks in part to you, I now have enough books to read for at least ten years, probably much, much more (and this is assuming I read each book once and only once, which isn't likely; rereading is very fun). Shame on you! ;-)

Should they be weighed with or without slipcase/solander box?

>250 - I am indeed lucky. Makes me feel guilty at times; then I remind myself that I could be buying worse (and there are plenty of spoiled children who do) and at least I do chores to eventually make up for what I've spent. It's something, at least...

I also feel bad that I now have at least as many FS books as I do LOA volumes. Sorry, LOA...

My kids are 21 and 16 and I almost never say "NO" to a book purchase. Granted they aren't buying FS usually but they I've rubbed off on them so they don't always pick up the cheapest paperback either. Usually the no comes when my daughter comes up with a stack of books and I have to limit it to something less than the 15 in her stack! I'm blessed that my love of reading has passed on to them. My daughter is a English Lit/Spanish double major at University, so I'm sometime jealous when she tells me what classes she is taking. I think I'll go back to school when I retire!

She could be buying video games for $60 each instead! Books are much better.

That said, I'd advise slowing down a bit. Having been a Folio mamber for over 20 years, I know that they do go into fallow periods in which I've had difficulty finding four for the annual membership. Having held a few back is a good thing. IMO, some books should be purchased in Folio editions, such as true classics and those with truly exemplary illustrations, while others are just fine in cheap paperback editions. Given the choice between the Kelmscott Chaucer and 40 paperbacks which I will enjoy reading, I'll take the 40 paperbacks. I know that others will see things differently.

And I must confess that I bought the Folio Chaucer in three volumes back in 1989. But it cost far less than the Kelmscott, even taking inflation into account!

>253 - This has been discussed before, but that three-volume Folio "Canterbury Tales" is hard to beat as a reading copy, with the Middle English text and a superb modern translation on facing pages. The Kelmscott Chaucer is a different animal altogether.

>253. I actually have both (the 3 volume parallel translation, and the Kelmscott). I've never done that before - had two really good editions of the same book, but they are very different in style, and it is Chaucer we're talking about!

In Irieisa's case I wouldn't worry about running out of books for renewal. She's already backlogged ten years in her reading just from this short period as a FS member. Can you imagine how far behind she'll be after she gets in a few more years of membership? My own backlog is only about three years.

Even after ten years of membership my problem hasn't been finding the four renewal books; it's been holding off long enough to get a renewal offer I actually like. Thanks to the Devotees I've finally learned to wait until the right offer comes along.

>253 - Don't worry about me slowing down. Right now I have no choice. There's been a death in the family (not immediate to me myself, but I did know him better than I did a lot of my other relatives) today, and it would be disgusting of me to try and negotiate for more books. I've waved good-bye to The First Folio of Shakespeare for now, and I'm okay with it.

Fare thee well, Summer Sale. You were so good to me!

>256 - I didn't mean ten years of pure FS volumes. ;-) It hasn't gotten that bad (or good) yet, I think. Together with all my LOA and assorted paperbacks/hardbacks, the books are definitely going to take me over ten years to read. In fact, probably much longer.

Now, for just my FS books, it would probably take me over five years... Yep, my estimate above is definitely not big enough. Uh oh.

If I don't get an offer I like (imagine that) even after waiting a while, I'd try and negotiate... For instance, I wouldn't mind having His Dark Materials for five dollars, which I believe was a renewal offer in the past.

If they offered me The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, I'd be so incredibly happy, but I doubt that will happen.

Message edited by its author, Jun 30, 2009, 2:46pm.

#257
If you live in the UK there's a solution to your His Dark Materials wish. Just let your membership lapse, wait a little while and then join anew. The UK site is offering His Dark Materials for £9.95 as a joining offer. (I'd be tempted to do the same if Canada had a joining offer I really, really wanted but so far their renewal offers have been good enough for me)

I'm not sure how that whole "renewal" vs. "joining" thing works.

I think that they consider you a sort of member without benefits if you've already joined, but don't renew one year.

I don't think you can just not renew, then get a joining offer the next time around.

Am I wrong? I mean, without moving house or lying to them, that is.

>258 - I wish I lived in the UK, but alas, I am an American. ;-)

So, how exactly long would it take before I could get another joining offer rather than a renewal offer?

Also, I just received one Summer Sale package, containing The Diaries of William Allingham and Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Haven't opened them up yet.

Message edited by its author, Jun 30, 2009, 6:41pm.

I arrived home today from a fruitless trip to Barnes & Noble (I got a gift card for my birthday, but didn't see anything I wanted in the shop) to find a Royal Mail bag in the entryway. Hurrah! This is the fastest I've ever received an order.

Food in History looks wonderful; I can't wait to read it. A Little Princess is lovely, the binding and illustrations fit the time of publication very well. Also received King Arthur: History and Legend, The Diaries of Allingham and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which I've always wanted to read. The last named is a rather tall book, shaped much like the FS To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm not entirely happy about the proportions of it but otherwise it is very nice.

#259, 260
I actually e-mailed FS about the tote bags a while back when they were part of the joining offer, asking them to consider offering them to members as well. I even mentioned in jest possibly lapsing my membership and then rejoining so I could get a tote bag. I saved their reply:

"Existing members are welcome to take out as many introductory offers as they like providing they buy the requisite number of additional membership commitment books."

Doesn't that sound like you could have numerous memberships going at once as long as you could afford to buy four books for each membership when renewal time came around?

And now I'm jealous of you, Irieisa, for getting part of your Summer Sale order. I'm still waiting for the rest of my Spring Sale books. Sort of. I realized on Saturday after rearranging everything for the first part of the order that I have nowhere to put the books that are still coming. At least, not unless I do twice as much shifting of the collection. Sigh, more books off the upstairs shelves and down into the basement. Maybe I can wait a little longer for my orders. :-)

>261 - Haha, I returned from a very fruitful (TOO fruitful) but awkward Barnes & Noble trip earlier today. It's odd going shopping after receiving word that a relative has died in the night...

When you've gotten around to reading Food in History, would you mind telling me whether it's a good 'un or not? In your opinion, of course. :-) I wanted A Little Princess and King Arthur, but it just was not to be... Sigh.

>262 - That sounds bizarre. Not only that, but I think I recall they won't let people from the same household join... Hm. Did I remember wrong or something?

Well, haniwitch, I've only gotten one small part, and thank goodness it's small; I can't bear the thought of lugging Chaucer into my room, considering the sorry state it's in. It would be terrible.

Also, look on the bright side: you have more than one room in which to store your books. ;-) And you have bookshelves!

I agree with you Coynedj. I'd rather have the 40 paperbacks. I've got several hundred Penguins. As the books appear in Folio editions I eliminate the Penguins. I have the 3 vol. Chaucer. I love the bi lingual edition. That's enough for me. I will use the extra money for some other Folio titles.

>264 - They'd have to be damn good paperbacks, I'm afraid. Most that I've seen aren't made to last.

Books that are beautiful and made to last are wonderful, of course - I've bought many a Folio, along with other fine books. But most importantly, books are made to be read, and I have a hard time justifying the cost of the something like the Kelmscott or Night Thoughts when I could use the same amount of money to buy a large number of books (in lesser editions) that I want, and maybe gambling on a few that I'm curious about.

Message edited by its author, Jun 30, 2009, 10:43pm.

>266 - Quality over quantity?

By quality I mean enjoyment, to a certain extent. I'm sure at least some people have gotten more joy out of Night Thoughts than they would have with an equivalent (in value) number of lesser volumes, and even if not, joys vary from book to book. The lesser volumes could not replace Night Thoughts or Chaucer, and vise versa.

Sorry if I rambled, or didn't make sense, or both. I'm not sure I made sense myself. :-)

There's a difference between a beautiful, durable book and a book that's a visual work of art in its own right -- like the Kelmscott Chaucer or Blake's "Night Thoughts". They really can't be "read" as their (visual) authors intended except in something close to a facsimile edition.

I just mean to say that I think we're comparing apples and oranges here -- literary texts which can be appreciated in many different editions and illuminated books whose "texts" include the illuminations.

>268 - But I don't like oranges!

...Anyway, what I meant earlier was I think what matters most is what pleases the buyer; all in the eye of the beholder, et cetera...

Yes, of course. Most people would rather have a new flat-screen TV than a copy of "Night Thoughts" and would pay $1700 for one without a moment's hesitation. I'd like a new flat-screen TV myself, but it's going to have to wait for a while.

This is something that the rest of my family don't really appreciate - I'd quite happily get rid of the TV tomorrow. Any that I want (not a lot), I can get online.

>270 - I'm satisfied with my current TV. ;-) Night Thoughts is more enticing.

#265 I don't know what you're paperbacks look like but I have some that are 40+ old and I can still use them and they're in pretty good shape. Sure I prefer hard covered, nice books, but if there are no FS or the like available, then I'll keep using my paperbacks.

Some of my Mentor paperbacks from the 60s crumble into brown fragments as I turn the pages, like the ancient books containing the spell for exorcising a demon in some cheesy horror movie.

Am I the only one who buys paperbacks AND fine editions? As in, for the same book? For example, I got the free Eliot set in the Spring Sale...but the Oxford paperback of The Mill on the Floss is in my purse right now. I never leave the house without a book, but can you imagine carrying a Folio edition around with you all the time?

>273 - Almost all fall into one of two groups: those that are obviously pretty bad and those that may be good, but have yet to undergo the Test of Time. So, I may have some good paperbacks, but they are few and far between (and many unproven). I envy your nice paperbacks, though. ;-)

>275 - Sometimes, yes, I have multiple versions, one very good, one not so much...

Isn't often, though.

Message edited by its author, Jul 1, 2009, 1:20pm.

>275 - I buy lots of paperbacks in addition to fine editions. I will always buy a paperback edition of a book whose hardback version isn't bound in sewn signatures. But if I have a good Folio edition of something I'll read it at home and carry some other title with me, in paperback, when I wander abroad.

Message edited by its author, Jul 1, 2009, 1:35pm.

Haha, I'm in shock: it appears I won't be renewing this year. The relative who died had a lot of books, and apparently no one else really wants them, so it looks like they'll be mine... If my memory serves me well, his shelves were huge and filled nicely. I'm not sure the books will fit in my room.

And so, unless I can be persuasive (by making use of Folio's persuasive books), I won't be renewing. :-( I can't believe this. Not at all.

#278
Irieisa, how wonderful that your relative's books will have a home with someone who will truly cherish them. And don't feel too bad about your trip to Barnes & Noble after his death. From your description of his shelves he sounds like a real booklover and I'm sure he would understand.

>279 - Yes, but I wonder what I'll do if I get duplicates?

I feel worse that I didn't see him for so many years. Rather depressing; though I can't say I knew him well (I was a little kid last I saw him), I agree that he would understand.

I still hope I can renew; I cling to the hope! ;-)

Edit: Sorry for the double-post.

Message edited by its author, Jul 1, 2009, 3:47pm.

Got my first Summer order today. Yay!

Things Fall Apart. Very pretty colors, and I love the illustrations.

Peter Pan and Wendy. Similar to Peter Pan in Kensington, which I already own. I think I like the illustrations of the Kensington one a bit better, but I'm happy with both.

Eyewitness to History. Very nice-looking books. Solid. 24 images per volume, which isn't overwhelming in a 500 page book, but it's good enough.

Still on the way:

Gawain

Voyce of the World

Three Men in a Boat

>281 - ". . . I wonder what I'll do if I get duplicates?"

eBay.

>282 - All the Peter Pans confuse me. At first I only knew of one text, plain ole Peter Pan. Then I see Peter Pan and Wendy and wonder if it's the same, then I hear about Kensington and really get confused!

>283 - Not allowed to use eBay for buying or selling. ;-)

>284 - "Not allowed to use eBay for buying or selling."

The 'rents might develop a new attitude towards eBay if it meant more money coming in than going out.

Just a hunch.

I think there are two Peter Pans. One is the one that you know (Peter and Wendy and Captain Hook). That's really Peter Pan and Wendy.

The other is Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, which is about Peter before the story above.

That's my understanding.

>275. No you are not alone - I do it quite often. Like you, I need a version for carrying around. I'll usually get as cheap as I can if I've already got Folio version.

>285 - No, no, eBay isn't trusted.

Thus is life.

>286 - Well, then, I'll be getting rid of a dinky paperback once Peter Pan and Wendy comes! :-) Thanks!

Message edited by its author, Jul 1, 2009, 5:53pm.

I've succumbed to the Summer Sale again, even had the wife's permission, she did say she didn't want to hear about books for a least 30 days though, this brings my total to 43. Still short of Irieisa's impressive total :)

The Arrow of Gold
Chance
The Consolation of Philosophy
The Duel and Other Tales
An Outcast of the Islands
Principia Mathematica
The Rescue
The Rover
The Secret Sharer and other stories
Kidnapped
Catriona
The Diaries

I would just like to state publicly for the benefit of any moles skulking around that if they were to offer the newly advertised 'The History of Paris in Painting' at the next renewal I would snap it up in an INSTANT.
That is all, I thank you.

Just caved in to temptation and bought more from the summer sale:
Kidnapped
Catriona
The Master of Ballentrae
The Plums of Wodehouse
Folio 60

288: When you're selling a book, you get the money in your hands, then mail the book. What's not to trust?

But people are different, I guess. Good luck!

Got my Summer Sale order today. Ten days after I ordered (I’m in the States); a new record for me. The Spring Sale order took a good six weeks. Books look lovely as usual.
And I know I said in this thread I will not place another order till renewal time, but just looking thru the sale again I see about another half a dozen that I think… no I know I have to have. So, I will wait for the credit card to change bill cycles and then…

Received Summer Sale order today but not allowed to open it. :-( Stupid birthday, why couldn't I have been born today!?

After receiving The Deptford Trilogy yesterday, I realised that my previous order (The Diaries and Les Liaisons Dangereuses) didn't come with the bookmark... So now I've got a replacement bookmark on the way. Never thought I'd see the day.

Now, as for the bookmark I did receive, I'm very happy with it, except it has some gunk stuck on one side, and will therefore not be used for FS books. I've seen others say they won't use them, but after trying them out, I'm confident they're absolutely fine.

...All right, I admit that to be absolutely safe I'm not going to use any for my really, really nice FS books. ;-)

Message edited by its author, Jul 2, 2009, 10:47am.

I just received my summer sale order, 8 beautiful books. They are all wonderful and I couldn't be more pleased. So pleased in fact I just can't help myself I will be placing another expensive order very soon. This summer sale is the first time I have every taken advantage of the payment plan, it just makes buying all the books seem not so financially painful on the pocketbook as opposed to paying all at once.

My Summer Sale orders arrived (with the exception of Folio 60 and The Voyce of the World)... Chaucer isn't a book, it's, it's a MONSTER. I trembled in the presence of such a beast, bowing before its might. Measurements do it no justice. I do wonder, however, why it, along with multiple other books, lacks shrinkwrap. The Best of Blandings from the Spring Sale was the same way, and it was completely flawless, though.

And I had planned to move stuff around my room today for The Coming of Chaucer. Plans never work...

Message edited by its author, Jul 2, 2009, 7:46pm.

>297 - "Chaucer isn't a book, it's, it's a MONSTER."

But is it cool? Do you love it?

Irieisa, what I want to know is... are you going to read the Chaucer while it sits on your lap over a pillow?

>298 - I haven't gotten to open it yet; I was feeling lousy today, and as that seemed to make me clumsy, I didn't think it would be a good idea...

I'll answer your question tomorrow, though. ;-)

>299 - I just might try! After all, I do have a larger pillow. Why not put it to use? And if not, I'll just use my desk, formerly for writing, and now for reading. It can't be for writing anymore in quite the same way, as I used to put little trinkets and supplies on there. Little room with Selborne or Chaucer...

I finally broke down and took part in the summer sale. Thankfully I have about 2 weeks before it arrives to come up with another reason why oh why I needed to order more books (my current argument is that electronic media is making print redundant but its not getting me far).

I bought:

The Silver Branch
The Deptford Trilogy
The Eagle of the Ninth
Folio 60
I Capture the Castle

>301 - Just wait for the books to arrive -- they themselves will constitute an irrefutable argument for why you needed to order them.

>302 - And perhaps why you need to order more? ;-)

>303 - Sufficient unto the day is the FS order thereof.

I have been a member for about one month and have built up a decent Folio library largely (but not exclusively) funded from the sale. It seems I joined just at the right time !!

I have bought most of my books in the Members Room. What I have found is that even if a book is not in the sale they seem to be able to find some kind of discount to apply to it.

Well, my summer sale order arrived yesterday (almost exactly four weeks to the day I placed it). No big white bag as usual, just a battered box that looked and felt like the PO had played soccer with it or rolled it down a rock strewn mountainside. Luckily, its precious cargo was almost completely undamaged thanks to bubble wrap. All of my four choices each had one corner of their slipcases slightly crunched. Not serious enough to warrant a call to FS since the books themselves were unaffected, but still annoying. Another benefit of slipcases, they help protect the books in transit when packing and handling is less than optimal. I'm going to suggest that FS use a few more layers of bubble wrap, especially in the corners of the box. I'd rather pay a little more for extra packaging and peace of mind, than be biting my nails with every order wondering what condition it's going to show up in. Up until now, I've been lucky, but going forward I'll be a little more anxious.
Anyway....as if this post wasn't riveting enough, I'll tell you what was IN the box.
1) The History of Scotland (2 vol set)
2) Legends of Ancient Rome (much smaller than it looks on the web site)
3) The Persian Wars (bigger than it looks on the web site)
4) Folio 60 (A steal at $19.95, glad I didn't pay the $100 original price!)

Enjoy your books SaxonWarlord.

I bought three of those in the sale - Legends of Rome, Persian Wars and Folio 60. I guarantee you will not be able to stop browsing Folio 60 and the Rome volume is a real beauty.

I ordered
1. Folio 60
2. Aristocrats (loved the movie)
3. The Devil's Dictionary

I haven't seen any feedback on most of these, with the exception of Folio 60. Has anyone bought either of the other two?

I had my finger poised over an order for the Devil's Ddictionary several times, and finally decided I must be reasonable.

I may get the Devil's Dictionary. I have thumbed it in the Members Room a few times. It looks like a great book for dipping into before you go to sleep at night.

The Folio volume is very attractive and probably their smallest volume with the exception of Blake's Songs of Experience. It has a very nice marbled cover. I am not that keen on the illustrations though.

Message edited by its author, Jul 16, 2009, 11:32am.

I ordered it with Dante's Inferno last week so it should arrive next week

Message edited by its author, Jul 16, 2009, 1:16pm.

The Devil's Dictionary is one of the least-appreciated great works of vituperative humor in the language. Bierce's wit and his way with words are used with the same skill Lucrezia Borgia used poison.

Consider, for example:

Absurdity, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion.

Alliance - in international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third.

Architect. One who drafts a plan of your house, and plans a draft of your money.

Belladonna, n.: In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the essential identity of the two tongues.

Bigot: One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not entertain.

Childhood: the period of human life intermediate between the idiocy of infancy and the folly of youth - two removes from the sin of manhood and three from the remorse of age.

I could go on, but suffice it to say, the ideal bedside book when you don't have enough energy to make it through another chapter of War and Peace. The Folio edition is handsome and very nicely done with beautiful marbled paper sides. It is a thick 12mo, and though I prefer my LEC Devil's Dictionary because it is thinner and a quarto, I love having the Folio on the stand in the bedroom. (Just a personal idiosyncracy--I generally don't like a smallish, thick volume--the proportions seem off.)

My summer sale selections have begun to slowly trickle in. Today the enormous white Royal Mail Bag enshrouded a slightly maligned box that contained two well bubble-wrapped volumes. The first is King Arthur: History and Legend by John and Caitlin Matthews. The second volume is Folio 60.

I have been seriously misled. For months now I have been reading the accolades of Folio 60. However your superlatives just didn't do this book justice. From the illustrations printed on the creamy, heavy Modigliani paper, to the excellent cloth binding and the fabulous slipcase this FS volume is an incomparable treasure -- especially at $19.95!!! This book will undoubtedly be one of the books that I pull off the shelf frequently, so I may have to get another copy!! Believe me, for those of you who have NOT invested in the Folio 60, GET IT NOW!

His Majesty, short of rolling on the floor and frothing at the mouth, I don't know how we could have been MORE enthusiastic!

But don't you just hate the way it has made you hunt feverishly online for past FS books now out of print? I was ready to pull the trigger on a past LE, Waugh's The Loved One, in a leather-bound version signed by Beryl Cook. I mentioned in another thread that the trade edition of this is one of my very favorite Folios, and this edition was limited to 100 copies! Thankfully, when I inquired, it had already been sold (another Folio 60 reader, hmmm?)

I am considering purchasing Walden, particularly as it is on the sale, and saw some of you had nice things to say about it. One person alluded to it being large - I wanted to know how large (the web site does not give the dimensions). I have an old barrister bookcase in my living room, and wondered if it would be too large to put in it. Also, is the silk on the sides particularly delicate (I wondered if I might feel the need to wear gloves to handle it) I know - very silly! Any comments would be appreciated.

Django...I suppose words and frothing just don't measure up to seeing and caressing Folio 60 in the flesh so to speak. Like you I suspect I will be browsing it for hours for those lost Folio volumes I have always wanted to get my hands on -- sorta like Pandora's box, or the cemetery of lost Folios. I am going to have fun with this one.

312 > Django, thanks for this. Having read most of Bierce's work, I figured that The Devil's Dictionary should become required reading on my part. I had ordered a copy in the Summer Sale and am now anxiously awaiting its arrival!

#313
HMOKeefe, Folio 60 is the only book in my house that I did not worry about where it would go. I bought it at the last Christmas Sale and so far it hasn't made it to a bookshelf--it sits patiently beside my chair ready to lead me into more temptation. So far I've hunted down and purchased second-hand a Wodehouse set and three other books plus three books from the Summer Sale that I probably wouldn't have purchased if not for researching them in Folio 60. That book is definitely dangerous.

On the other hand Devil's Dictionary is great and just the right size (despite Django6924's dislike) that it can be left almost anywhere (bedside table, endtable, on top of grown-up books on shelves ) without taking up too much space. The perfect book to lift your mood after a bad day at work (must remember to look up lawyer when I get home tonight).

313 > Folio 60 is clearly going to lead to my undoing

One resulty of me buying Folio 60 was that my teenage duaghter announced to all at dinner recently that dad had finally lost it, because he had now bought a book about books.

The second result is an immediate increase in the number of FS books I buy second hand.

Beware ! Folio 60 is not necessarily good for your wealth :-)

That's why I won't buy it. I can resist anything except temptation.

>321 - I, too, have been convinced by the comments here that I simply cannot afford to buy this book.

>320 - I love books about books, though!

>322 - I bought it and received it. Haven't looked through it much, except for checking out the entries on The Arabian Nights.

As for the beauty of the book... I didn't actually care for the paper, which surprised me.

(I say this now, but rest assured I'll probably be delighted by it eventually. 'Tis how it has always been: everything is an acquired taste.)

Drat, I just knew I was going to give in. I ordered the Devil's Dictionary, and just to make it worthwhile, added Vanity Fair as well, as there are just 47 left and I only have it in paperback. So I saved £20 but spent nearly £40.

Haniwitch - I will cut to the chase and give you Bierce's definition of "Lawyer" from the Devil's Dictionary - "one skilled in circumvention of the law".

As a lawyer this hit home.

I am going to the Folio Members Room today to pick up the Devil's Dictionary and possibly Plato's Republic in the sale and Cicero's "On the Good Life" (which is unfortunately not in the sale).

I have to reiterate what others have said about Folio 60 - it is a beautiful and thoroughly addictive volume. The opening essays are worth the price of admission alone.

I am quickly becoming spell-bound by the beauty of many FS volumes.
Just pulled the trigger on my second summer sale order (just 1 book though),
the "Fine Edition" of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations;
A ravishing seductress with a black leather spine and purple silk moire boards.
Oh my, can't wait to "unwrap" this one!

>298,300 - This is certainly later than I had meant to comment on Chaucer, but I had to enlist assistance in checking it over. There were some problems with it which I relayed to FS, and... now I'm getting a replacement Chaucer. Of all the books it could have been. Chaucer. Another monster coming in the mail. I marvel at this.

That all aside, Chaucer is beautiful, and I love it. I'm sure my family member will love the extra Chaucer, too. ;-) I think I give him too much.

i just joined and now i can't see the sale.

do i have to make the four purchases first?

>328 - Yes, I believe you do; you may wish to run your four selections by those of us who can see the sale books first, though, so you don't get one that's heavily discounted.

iriesia,

thanks. i already pulled the trigger and got lucky
Treasure Island
The Book of Common Prayer
Myths and Legends of Russia

none are on sale in US right now...

Good grief. Are they trying to give me heart failure?!
I caved and splashed out on:

The Pursuit of Love
Love in a Cold Climate
Rebecca
The Towers of Trebizond
Zuleika Dobson

and, as presents for other people:
Saints and Sinners
and two Elizabeth David books

My wallet aches.

>331

I know how you feel. I have had The Victorians in my basket for the past 24 hours but already having spent the family nest egg this month on FS Books, I am wobbling around like a Rowntree Jelly on a plate at a children's party.

And then I see a couple of RL Stevenson books half price.

Good grief!

I wish they would just close the sale and put us out of our miserable states!

>330 - Ooh, I've been wanting The Book of Common Prayer and Myths and Legends of Russia; I've resolved that they shall be mine. ;-) Hope you enjoy them!

>332 - I regret not getting The Victorians. I probably could have worked it in there somehow, if I got creative... Ah, well.

I also notice they've added a few more things to the sale. This saddens me (though I expected it).

>333

What 'few more things'?

>334 - Well, the two New Oxford history sets are the only ones I could recall off the top of my head. I already have one from the Spring Sale, just not the other, so I'm a bit sad.

I also don't remember John Adams being in the sale before, but I don't know. Then there's The Oxford to American Military History... I think that's about it.

well, i gave in on four books in the summer sale:

The Deptford Trilogy (I've read the first book previously)
Legends of Ancient Rome (completely new to me)
The Varieties of Religious Experience (wife is interested in the history of religion)
Zuleika Dobson (sounds like a fast read)

> 335

Darn you!

If I had not read your post I would not have seen the three earlier complementing editions of the New Oxford History of England to add to the five volume set I got for my introductory offer.

Drat and torn it! I just had to purchase them.

And because I was ordering anyway, I threw in The Victorians and Woodbrook as well.

Well, you won't regret Woodbrook anyway - an absolutely fascinating book.

>338

Thanks. I feel better now :-) The nausea has gone ;-)

Yes, I am looking forward to this one.

>337 - "Darn you!"

Right back at you; I wanted (and still want) all of those! A lot! Now I'm squirming in my chair, I want them so much...

So yes, darn you, too. ;-)

I am new to Folio so I don't know the usual sale cycle - I gather from old posts that there are a few a year. I wondered how long the summer sale usually lasts. Thanks!

>341. I emailed the FS to see if the sale would continue into August, and they responded in the affirmative.

They told me the end of August.

I think it does not count under summer sale but I just splurged on the LE of Alice's Adventures under Ground (which was remarkable competitive prices for a LE) and my 50% discount renewal offer (just one book this time) Ovid's "The art of love".

We're expecting a new bookworm at the end of August/beginning of September, so now is a good time to start building a collection of children books.

>344

J_ipsen, allow me to offer you an early congratulations on your forthcoming bookworm! How exciting!

And gistak, am I remembering correctly that you are expecting another little bookworm too?

Message edited by its author, Jul 23, 2009, 8:04am.

beatlemoon, we're no longer expecting him. He arrived last Wednesday (the 15th).

His reading habits are appalling, but I hope that my 2-year-old daughter will teach him a thing or two.

j_ipsen: congrats to you!

Speaking of birthdays, when the Account section of the Folio Web site asked for my birthday, I secretly hoped that they'd send me something on that day.

But maybe it's just for security or something, when you're dealing with them over the phone.

>346

Well, then, allow me to offer a (slightly belated) congratulations to you and your family! :-)

Congrats, gistak!

Thanks beatlemoon and leonb (and all the rest of you who are thinking it, but didn't type it)!

gistak, you should have just let everyone keep sending their congratulations - we're less than 270 msgs behind "Hogwarts Express" ;-)

Congratulations by the way, the world needs all the new readers it can get. Travelling on public transport, it seems that the only people reproducing in my part of the world are the terminally illiterate!

I want to get Ovid's book of love. I'd like to get the Metamorphoses too, but... uh, it's a tad expensive!

>350 - I'm one of the ones who didn't type it; regardless, you're welcome! ;-)

Getting back to the Summer Sale...

Because some books I bought had problems but are now out of print, I was offered the same value in other books, so I now have the following coming free of charge:

Tom Jones (even though I don't like the art, it's a Folio, and I just couldn't resist...)
The Victorians
The Quest for the Northwest Passage
The Lifted Veil

The thrill of new books balances out the distress of problem books. More or less. Either way, I'm excited!

Edit: This Summer Sale has been detrimental to the amount of space in my room. Go figure.

Message edited by its author, Jul 23, 2009, 11:58pm.

Ireisia

Of the books you list above I also bought Quest for the Northwest Passage in the sale. It's a real beauty and a fascinating book with great illustrations.

I have a weakness for epic volumes of travel and exploration - and even greater weakness for David Eccles's Edwardian style "Boy's Own" covers. I own one other Eccles volume which is "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" by TE Lawrence.

Message edited by its author, Jul 24, 2009, 6:06am.

>354 - Based on the picture and information on the website, I thought The Quest for the Northwest Passage looked beautiful and interesting; glad to hear it really is!

Sorry if this question sounds silly, but what is a "Boy's Own" cover?

"Boys Own" was a British Edwardian boys periodical. The term is used to describe a cover reminiscent of those used for Boy's Own and similar boy's adventure stories in the Edwardian period (you know - the "Ripping Yarns for Boys" type of thing).

Here are some nice examples -

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3645/3591...

http://www.collectingbooksandmagazines.c...

http://www.scouting.milestones.btinterne...

http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/2004/a...

http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/exhibitions...

You can see the strong family resemblance to some Folio covers.

And here are some very nice Penguin covers in a similar "Boy's Own" style that I have been collecting -

http://designrelated.tv/articles/coralie...

Message edited by its author, Jul 31, 2009, 7:13am.

>356 - Ah, you're right. Definitely a resemblance. Thanks!

I really wish Lark Rise to Candleford was on the sale list. :-(

#111, 125, 130 and others (Dante)

Some reading selections by Sayers and other stuff in My Dante Notes here:

http://payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/...

and an essay by Anthony Esalen, a Divine Comedy translator heree

http://payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/...

regards

jayd

Message edited by its author, Jul 31, 2009, 10:06am.

>358 - I got it during the Spring Sale, and it is beautiful (though I haven't read it yet; story of my life...).

>358 Check out the older edition of Lark Rise - it has period black and white photos which for me are far more illustrative and informative than the illustrations in the new edition which don't grab me...!

I thought Heart of Darkness was in the sale and went to check but it seems not only is it not there but neither is it on the site!

> 362

Les

Sadly Heart of Darkness is one of the Folio Conrad's which has fallen out of print.

#362
LesMiserables, I just did a quick search on ABEbooks and found two offers from dealers in Australia for Heart of Darkness. There are nine others listed but they're all from UK, US or Canada.

LesMiserables, I hope you won't think I am presumptuous by suggesting your pain could be eased by getting the Heritage Press Heart of Darkness, which is available on Abebooks.com from various booksellers in copies marked "Fine" and "Near Fine" for under $25 US. This is one of the press's most successful works, with wonderful illustrations by Robert Shore. The design, binding and printing are all, IMO, better than any of the Folio Conrads.

Of course if you are looking for a matching set of Conrad, this won't answer, but if all you want is a splendid edition of this seminal work, then I recommend this edition above all others.

Just got an email from the Society - the Summer Sale ends on the 12th. For those pondering further purchases, you have only 9 more days to either give in or resist, depending on your budget and/or willpower.

I will be one of those wringing my hands - my budget is tapped out for August already, yet I've been pondering Dante's Inferno since the sale started...

>366 - Yep, I got the email, too. I really wish I had gotten some of the Conrads... Just remind myself, "It's not like they're really rare used, though, so there's always the opportunity to get them..." Sure, me, real convincing.

So what happens on the 13th?

Do we all sit on our hands awaiting.........

Meanwhile, I have succumbed yet again to the summer sale. Zuleika Dobson is on her way. My mouse hovered and hesitated several times over Les Liaisons dangereuses (at that price, why resist?) but I have solemnly vowed NEVER AGAIN to read a French book in translation. Oh why did they make it look so beautiful?

I was tempted by Les Liaisons as well. However, I am not so keen on the illustrations. Beautiful book though.

I am tempted to get the Boethius whilst its in the Summer Sale. Its not high on my list but, as you say, at that price !

The email prodded me into action... now Things Fall Apart, The Arrow of Gold and Huckleberry Finn are on their way to me (or should be very soon, I hope). Today my sister pointed out that "your books are like puppies or children. They will tie you down". My defence was that unlike puppies or children, my books don't need to be fed, and can be put into boxes indefinitely...

>371 - You can do the same with puppies or children! It just... wouldn't be legal. And would be cruel. It remains an option, though. Technically.

I succumbed as well. I purchased The Devils Dictionary, Purgatorio and Paradisio. I also managed to pick up The Histories by Herodotus, The Twelve Caesars and Heart of Darkness used. It's all I can do not to order On the Nature of Things before the sale ends. I spend quite a bit on camera equipment as well as an amateur photographer, but can subsidize the expenses with side work.

i can't believe Sir Gawain and the Green Knight hasn't sold out.

i have another hardback version. not to be sacreligious but Beowulf is a slog no matter which translation. Sir Gawain is a page turner.

Message edited by its author, Aug 5, 2009, 5:48pm.

I am a teeny bit disappointed in Gawain. Not the text, the binding, or the layout. The illustrations just don't seem to POP as much as they do on the Web site.

I like the style of mostly black and white with a splash of color, but the color has to be vibrant to really work. Sigh.

374 - Odd. Beowulf is the only epic poem (is that the right term?) that I've been thoroughly engrossed in throughout (Heaney translation). The Tain, Iliad, Odyssey and The Aeneid are ones that I've not enjoyed much at all (in poetry form).

>373

The Histories? Where? I never saw it!!!!!

Here's a link to one on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Histories-Herodo...

I stumbled upon it myself and grabbed it from a local dealer.

Thanks (?) to the effusions of the members here, I had to slap leather on the Summer Sale today and order 4 more books: Aristocrats, Conrad's Chance, and solely because of overthemoon's panegyric, Liasons Dangereuses, even though I have a perfectly good copy from the LEC. Thank heavens the sale is over!

(edited for a typo)

Message edited by its author, Aug 6, 2009, 12:24pm.

>379 - "Liasons Dandereuses"

A delicious typo it was, though! "A tale of lovers separated by a series of tragic scalp infections."

Message edited by its author, Aug 6, 2009, 12:28pm.

Re #380: A hair-raising tale by anyone's standards.

>381 - The quote from Villon at the end was devastating -- "Ou sont les neiges d'antan?"

Har to you both!

>380,382 - Lloydville, you make it painfully clear I need, absolutely need to learn French. ;-) Hopefully I'll get the class in high school. Remains to be seen.

374> isn't Gawain *huge* though? That's put me off rather. Also the fact that I already have a reasonably nice h/b of the same translation...

>384 - I'm awfully glad I studied French in high school. The line from Villon above, by the way is, is from his poem "Ballad of the Ladies Of Times Past", in which he wonders what happened to all the great women of former times. He mentions a bunch of them, concluding the list with:

Et Jehanne, la bonne Lorraine,
Qu'Englois brulerent à Rouan;
Où sont elles, Vierge souvraine?
Mais où sont les neiges d'antan!

>And Joan (of Arc), the good woman of Lorraine/Whom the English burned at Rouen --/Where are they, Sovereign Virgin?/But where are the snows of yesteryear?

Message edited by its author, Aug 6, 2009, 1:47pm.

>386 - Yes, must learn French... I have a few books to help with that, but I don't know any good ones, specifically. Oh dear.

>387 - There's a video course called "French In Action" developed by a Yale professor which is awesome -- immersive, no English spoken, but very entertaining and easy to get into. It's for beginners, but I found it very helpful in refreshing my French before a trip back to the old homeland.

It's on DVD now, and pretty expensive, but you might be able to get it through an inter-library loan or something.

>388 - I need to know at least a word in French first, though! ;-) ...Scratch that, make it two or three, since I know what "le" and "les" mean (I think). Oh, and "Liaisons" and "Dangereuses"... Darn.

I'll look into "French in Action," then. Thank you, Lloydville!

>389 - "I need to know at least a word in French first, though! ;-) ...Scratch that, make it two or three, since I know what 'le' and 'les' mean (I think). Oh, and 'Liaisons' and 'Dangereuses'... Darn."

Just add "les livres" and "la folie" and you're all set to go.

And if I remember correctly, the same quote is used to excellent effect in another FS volume (that I don't own): Slaughterhouse 5.

>390 - Now I've got those down, too. The question is whether those are really the best phrases to begin with... Ah, why not.

>392 -- O. k., then, add "la sagesse".

>388 For those of you living in the US or Canada, you can watch French In Action in streaming video online for free, e.g. http://www.learner.org/resources/series8...

>394 - That's so cool. Thank you!

Irieisa, if you have any say in the matter, I would advise choosing French as your foreign language in school, simply because if you ever intend to read (or attempt to read) Middle English, you will find a background in French useful. When I took Middle English Literature in college, my friends and I often referred to Middle English as "Frenglish", as it is largely the consequence of Old English mixing with French after the Norman invasion. I thanked my lucky stars every day that I'd taken French as my language, instead of Spanish, like my friends, who struggled considerably more in the class than I did.

>393 - Added. Let's see how long my wee mind can remember! :-)

>394 - I squealed internally in delight. Thank you, kirstygm!

>396 - I chose it, but before that I had signed up for Japanese, and it's not certain whether I succeeded in changing my class or not. We filled out the form so that if I don't get French, I'm still not taking Japanese; I'd just wait 'til sophomore year for French.

And, on the topic of the Summer Sale, I actually succumbed again. With much assistance. My parent wants me to do some things in the house, and said I could place one order under $60 so long as I did; I made sure that I'd be allowed to renew before agreeing, because that's more important.

So now I've got Aristocrats and The Rescue (to start my Conrad collection, which will grow very, very slowly; a funny book to start with, I guess) coming. I'm startled at the suddenness of it all.

Edit: ...Well, when someone comes and offers you, do you say no? If it had been left alone I'd have endured.

Message edited by its author, Aug 6, 2009, 3:38pm.

I dont know.... I understand that we dont want Folio to feel like their great customer service is being abused. But I think that if they are so willing to issue 2 replacements they are probably getting alot of complaints similar to Irieisa's. And granted its on sale but its still a $600 book and should be perfect.. I would expect no less from a LE.

>398 - That's what my family member said, too... I was hesitant to complain the first time. The second, I didn't think they were going to send another.

If you would like to listen to La Balade des dames des temps jadis set to music and sung by Georges Brassens, here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87g34eZoA...

Re #380 & #381: While you're at it, Irieisa, don't forget your Latin: after all Villon's line must have been at least partly inspired by "Ubi Sunt Qui Ante Nos Fuerunt" ("where are those who went before us?"), a phrase common in the medieval poetry of the Wandering Scholars and in old university tunes such as "Gaudeamus Igitur"--a tune used by Brahms in his "Academic Festival Overture" (don't neglect your music studies, either). You may also want to brush up your Farsi, as the thought is also finely expressed in the Rubaiyat:

"Each Morn a thousand Roses brings, you say:
Yes, but where leaves the Rose of Yesterday?"

This school of thought is, in fact, known among English majors and other harmless drudges as the ubi sunt strain in poetry, perhaps the most memorable example in English being the last stanza of Keats' "To Autumn":

"where are the songs of spring? Aye, where are they?
Think not of them, thy hast thy music too--
While barréd clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble plain with rosy hue,
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies.
Hedge crickets sing, and now twith treble soft
The red-breast whistles from the garden croft
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies."

>400 - Sounds pretty good! Somehow puts me in a good mood.

>401 - If only Latin were still taught in school around here. So many things I wish I knew...

Does anyone on here have the Folio Life by Richard Fortey and if so is it readable and enjoyable? Also what is the Folio edition like physically? Thanks.

>402 - We stopped offering Latin two years ago and just the other day the Foreign Language department chair came down and told us to give part of the Latin textbooks to other schools in the district and sell the rest. Of our 7 FL teachers, 5 teach Spanish, 1 teaches French and the other teaches Chinese. (Can you tell I am in southern CA?)

Fiona, my son's school teaches Spanish and Japanese (!)--I'm also in So. Cal. If that's the way they are going to be, I'm starting him on private lessons in Latin next year--I want him to go to Lawrenceville (sadly, they probably don't require courses in Latin for graduation any more--The Roman and his futile efforts to explain the subtleties of the gerund and the gerundive to his fractious pupils only live on in the stories of Owen Johnson--and I wonder how many read HIM any more.)

>404 - I can't remember Latin being taught in recent memory 'round here. Sad.

I couldn't tell you were/are in southern California. I'm in northern California, in a place where most everyone knows Chinese to some degree or another - not I, not I - so they don't even have Chinese 1 or 2 in school anymore, only the more advanced classes.

403: I don't have the Folio edition, but I have read the book. I found it very interesting and well-written, with one qualification.

At the time I read it, I found his style to be overly literary. There were lots of allusions to things I hadn't read, which made already complicated themes even more difficult.

Sort of like, I'm trying to explain chemistry and I say, "when those two elements mix, the reaction is like when Trystusix first saw Gharladbho." That's not helpful.

I was younger and less well-read at the time. But still, my general thinking was that is that he showed off his learning a little too loudly. Maybe I'd feel differently now.

385> I'm reading Sir Gawain just now. Although I don't like the illustrations at all—perhaps the one on the cover excepted—I don't feel unconfortable with the large size of the book because it is rather thin. Also, I find the unusual font size used quite helpful: when I read the book, I can put it on a table far from me, which enables me to use a dictionary on my lap. (Because I must avow that, in some places, the vocabulary is amazingly complicated for me...)

Thanks gistak I appreciate your response. I'm trying to decide whether to buy it or not.

>403
I have this and think it's quite nice. To be honest I would not have bought it, it was the renewal offer last year. Like all Folios it's very well presented with many photographs of tidal pools, rock formations, forests , fossils etc. It's on my to read list but at the bottom !

Dimensions are 10.25 by 7.5 inches the frontispiece and endpapers shown fossils and the slipcase is nicely decorated withg a "Beyozoa" plate from Kuttsformen Dur Natur.

Actually I'm not sure why some slipcases are decorated at all as it's not possible to see the sides when they are in a bookshelf.!

>410 - Perhaps for when they are not in a bookshelf. But then, where does Folio think we put our books?

I love having images on the sides of my slipcases... I keep several volumes on a seperate shelf at all times (I rotate the volumes on the shelf) just for the purpose of being able to display them at an angle and show off the designs on the slipcases. I do this very often with the Blake illustrated Inferno and Paradise Lost.

>412 - Decorated slipcases make me happy, too. I can't show them off, though, and worry a bit about scraping them too much.

>403
I have this book and really like it. I was somewhat surprised by the fact that the illustrations in the Folio edition were different from the ones in the original publication (I have the first American edition). The acknowledgement in the original indicates many of the illustrations (photos) were from the author's own collection. The Folio edition acknowledges colleagues for providing illustrations. Although the Folio illustrations are excellent (perhaps better and in color) and fit the text very well, I do have a feeling that is somewhat like abridging the original work. I would have liked to have the originals and the Folio illustrations both.

#414

That reminds me of the one (only) quibble I had with the Folio edition of The secret life of trees (I think someone here asked for an opinion on the book, by the way; I'm afraid I don't remember who exactly...) It's a beautiful book and a great read, balancing well a ton of information (some of which you'd think would be desert-dry, but turns out to be surprisingly interesting) with an easy, popular style. I'd recommend this to anyone... who's not a professional botanist, I suppose.

My quibble concerns the illustrations, (which are, like xenocephalus said about Fortey's book, not those from the original edition, but Folio's)--while abundant and very pretty, they struck me as uninformative or not informative enough. Many are large close-ups of dewy leaves, scrumptious fruit and the like--a style reminiscent of magazines, especially food porn. Now, I'm sure many wouldn't see the need for more, but I would have been happier with scientific illustrations (at least in some places), black and white line drawings, tables and schemata, especially since so much of the information given is comparison- and classification-based. I wonder if there's some rule in editions of this type (fancy class) similar to the one about "no math" in science popularisations... "no science-y pictures!"

So, I think this is likely to be a minority quibble, but now duly noted.

>415

Thanks for your post. I thought I was the only one a little miffed (I also have Folio's The Secret Life of Trees but not the original so I didn't know about its illustrations). I certainly don't mind improvements and additions, but I still like to have the original stuff also. Kind of like the old jazz recordings I now get on CD - new liner notes and unpublished photos are great, but I also want the original liner notes and a picture of the original cover. I find interest in the total historical nature of the work in addition to the actual contents.

Just to be clear, I don't know what the illustrations in the original edition of Tudge's book were like (I'll definitely be on the lookout for it, to compare).

The text is largely descriptive, so illustrations are a necessity--in fact, probably no popular edition could contain as many pictures as are invoked by the text. I was actually thinking of getting a botany or dendrology textbook in order to supplement Folio's visuals... The annotated bibliography provided looks very tempting, I put several recommendations on my wishlist (and this although I hated botany as an undergrad).

Maybe it was me (I mean I) who asked about Secret Life of Trees, I was intending to buy it but very miffed indeed to see they have sold out.

#419 I'm hoping for a reprint because it seemed to sell very quickly - so must have been popular.

Well...after two weeks in the lush tropics of West Virginia enjoying the Gauley River, I have returned home to a rather large Royal Mail Pouch containing my summer sale books. These include:

The Voyce Of The World; which looks to be another true FS gem, one which I will look forward to browsing and reading in some depth.

The Golden Bowl; I like the cover design, but the book is not as fully illustrated as I had hoped.

Stories by John Buchan; this is one I will surely enjoy and plan to keep it by the bedside for nightly reading.

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. I knew little about this book, but the description intrigued me. I love the book cover and the illustrations by Lucy Weller. Looks like a fun read.

I have nearly completed my collection of Joseph Conrad with the addition of:

The Duel and Other Tales
An Outcast of the Islands
The Rescue
The Arrow of Gold

Looks like I will be busy reading for the remainder of the summer!

I should mention that all books arrived shrinked wrapped except two of the Conrad volumes. Fortunately each book is in pristine condition.

Message edited by its author, Aug 8, 2009, 10:30am.

I wasn't going to buy anything from the summer sale, but I saw some of you good folks talking up The Voyce of the World, and what a bargain! Irresistible.

>385: Yes, Gawain's massive... I do like it a lot, but when I tried to shelve it with the rest of my poetry (mostly very slim Faber paperbacks) it looked so out of place that I had to take it out again - and I'm pretty obsessive about having my books in order!

I wonder what run the society will have in the last few hours of the summer sale.

I'll be glad when it's over!

424> Damn...i hate being a statistic, but they got me again. I just ordered the Deptford Trilogy and two more Conrad volumes that will nearly complete my set of Conrad. I hope they don't do this summer sale thing next year!

>425 Yet somehow I have trouble believing that :)

#421
The Daughter of Time is one of my favourite books. I snatched it up as soon as FS published it. If you like it you might want to try The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters. It's a mystery involving a group of Ricardians who are subjected to pranks (some deadly) that parallel the various murders Richard III was accused of and it was this book that led me to Josephine Tey. If the research these authors cite is correct you'll look at this much-maligned royal in a totally different way (can you tell I'm a fan?).

Thanks haniwitch! I will look forward to reading it and will no doubt get involved in The Murders of Richard III.

I'm surprised to see Chekov's The shooting party hasn't sold out! I thought it was one of those little gems--great illustrations, fun read, and a literary curiosity.

Montaillou is worth every penny too.

LolaWalser, you are a bad, bad enabler. (Thank you!) They are winging their way to me now. Even LibraryThing thinks I will love them! How can it be wrong? (Plus I picked up The Towers of Trebizond. I think I was partially swayed by the comic counterpoint it would offer to William Dalrymple's travels in the Levant in From the Holy Mountain.)

Liz, I think you won't be sorry. I recommend skipping the intro to The Shooting Party until the end, by the way, it can easily spoil the "mystery", if not the story.

Thanks for the tip - I almost invariably skip introductions until I've read the book due to being a total spoilerphobe so it's good to know this one is a definite no-go!

Just received The Lifted Veil, Tom Jones, The Quest for the Northwest Passage, and The Victorians. All perfect, except for one oddly crinkled page in The Victorians, which I don't mind at all. My least favourite aesthetically is Tom Jones, in that I don't like the illustrations (which there aren't all that many of) and I'm surprised at just how small the type is compared to all my other Folios. Now I don't mind small type, but going by the standards of my whole collection, this stands out like a sore, or rather shrunken, thumb.

Not that I'm not going to enjoy it, of course. :-)

I agree with you Idreisa. I didn't buy the FS Tom Jones since I didn't like the look of it. I usually eliminate my Heritage volumes when the same title comes out in Folio. But this one I skipped and read it in my Heritage edition, which I think is infinitely better.

>434

I agree about the superiority of the Heritage edition, and for those looking for a fine edition, there is a wonderful slipcased Random House edition from the 60s with illustrations by Lawrence Beall Smith. Although Heritage's binding is superior--as are all the Heritage books from this era--I prefer Smith's illustrations to T.M. Cleland's.

>434 - Ah, well. I knew I didn't like the illustrations when I chose it, so no complaints, really. ;-) I bet I'll end up with another nice edition eventually, though.

>435 - Definitely more attractive than my FS edition.

Message edited by its author, Aug 13, 2009, 12:20am.

I also have had the Folio Tom Jones in my hands many times and not bought it. Internally it's fine with the illustrations from the first Folio Tom Jones back in the 50's. But I don't like to cover or the green slipcase. A great book but a bit of an ugly duckling.

No sign of the sale ending. It's still on the UK site this morning. It does not say when it will end. I was under the impression it continued until the end of August ?

Message edited by its author, Aug 13, 2009, 4:46am.

IIIEEEEEEEEEEEK

...that was my credit card.

I knew it would be a mistake to check if the sale was over already. It was not, of course, and I ended up with The lives of the later Caesars.

> 439

I feel myself being tempted as well.

But Lives of the Later Caesars is a great choice - a realy lovely volume and a great read.

439 & 440> Keep at least one copy left for me, in case I decide this book be part of my four books when I renew!

It's a lovely volume Pepys - but grab it in the sale if you can as it's a lot cheaper.

It has a full leather binding which smells great (part of the attraction in a leather bound book is in the way it feels and smells) and great illustrations, done in a classical style.

I can't believe I didn't notice The Art and Architecture of Persia and Mesopotamia until now - and they're sold out. That's completely ruined my day!

I'm quite sure books have been sneaking onto the sale pages behind my back... I'm positive A Nervous Splendour wasn't among them last time I looked. I'm going to have to rig my browser so that it won't display the FS site, or I'll go round the bend obsessively checking to see whether the new books are up and then gazing wistfully at sold-out sale items :(

Message edited by its author, Aug 13, 2009, 6:10am.

Now that the SS is gone, I look at the regular prices and groan audibly that perhaps I should have just gotten this one or that......

...its not gone, its not gone.... they are teasing me.... cannot afford another order...

I noticed on my order history that my final order of the summer sale (Zuleika Dobson and Travels Whith My Aunt), that one book says at wearhouse and the other says "refunded". Does that mean that the book was sold out? Do they normally send a notification if that happens?

Thanks!

I am curious as to whether or not folks here think next year's summer sale will be as generous as this year's - 50% off a substantial number of very good books seemed like a dream to me. I wonder if we will be as lucky next year.

Well, in years prior to this it was "buy one get one free" and applied to pretty much all their standard titles which was if anything rather better than this year's sale.

I have to confess that just before the end of the summer sale I caved in again and ordered a few more half prized books:

The History of Venice in Painting
Lives of the Later Caesars
The Eagle of the Ninth
Shelley: Collected Poems
The Rise and Fall of the Medieval Monastery
Legends of Ancient Rome
Food in History
The Quest for the Northwest Passage
The New York Trilogy
Montaillou

To make the madness complete I ordered a couple of non FS books as well. I am especially proud of:

Michelangelo: Complete Works (the XXL monster form Taschen publisher)

Flemish Miniatures by Maurits Smeyers (a fantastic book about illuminated manuscripts with hundreds(!) of colour photographies)

Jules Verne: Le tour du monde en 80 jours (Jean De Bonnot publisher)

During the two months since I’ve joined this group I must have spent more money on books than during the last two years!

Now I am contemplating what to do for renewal. Maybe another LE…..?

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>449 - Those all sound so lovely...

Today I got my last Summer Sale order, Aristocrats and The Rescue. Also finally got my new book prospectus. Haven't ripped either open yet - first I was at school, then I came home and had to make sure everything was ready for school. So many forms, so very many.

Folio will be my treat when I'm done. Or, if I anticipate I'll need a pick-me-up tomorrow, I may save them.

My last Summer Sale order arrived today: The Pastons and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which both look delightful.

>376

I'm on the look out for a copy of The Aeneid (Latin Version)

Old or new, I'm not bothered.

As long as it's in Latin.

Anyone?

Leob Classical Library, which you can find in Barnes and Noble, has the English translation, with the Latin Original on the facing page.

453, sorry, that's Loeb Classical Library. I just checked online, it's in 2 volumes sold separately at $24 US, $19.20 if you have the BN membership. Loeb editions are small, but they are nice if you need the Latin (or Greek) of any of the classical authors.

> 454 / 455

Thanks, that's excellent. Just what I was looking for!