This is a continuation of thread Which books would you like to see as Folio volumes?

I think FS members would respond well to an edition of Jaroslav Hašek's The Good Soldier Švejk. It would be an interesting problem for the Society whether to commission new illustrations or go with the famous Josef Lada ones that have become inseparable from the book in many people's minds. For those unfamiliar with Lada's illsutrations, a selection can be seen at http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2008/07....

There is a recent Czech edition with new illustrations - see http://new.radio.cz/en/article/106513 - and others have queried whether Lada's illustrations are necessary: http://www.zenny.com/svejk/Where%20are%2....

There are no shortage of English translations but I like Cecil Parrott's best.

2> I agree.

>2

I know my dad for one would be very excited to see that.

I had been thinking of this for the thread about Fine Editions and was likewise stumped when it came to the illustrations. Everyman's Library published a nice edition with the original illustrations, and although I have it and like it, I can't help but think another illustrator could have done better (I'm particularly thinking of the style of George Grosz's Ecce Homo series of illustrations.)

I'd like to see the following:

1) Charles W. Chesnutt - Short Stories

2) Paul Laurence Dunbar - Poetry and Short Stories

3) W.E.B. Du Bois - Souls of Black Folk

4) Patrick Chamoiseau - Texaco

WEB DuBois got me thinking about Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery. I much prefer Washington over DuBois

That and the Frederick Douglass narratives. The thing is that these works are essential to the understanding of North American history and while my good friends at LOA have done a fine job publishing Douglass, Chestnutt and Du Bois (don't know what's taking them so long to publish Dunbar), I'd just love to see them done in fine FS bindings.

Btw, I was thrilled to learn that George Catlin's North American Indian was being offered. This makes a great companion to Dee Brown's Wounded Knee.

Lastly, would love to see David Herbert Donald's Charles Sumner series and Lincoln's Herndon.

How about some of the Loeb Classical Library titles in History, Philosophy, Drama, Poetry, etc. that they haven't already done? Lots of good stuff there!
Nice to see they're doing a Bede and a Xenophon in 2010.

Another Booker winner. "Life of Pi" by Yan Martel.

Staying with Booker winners, what about Pat Barker's The Ghost Road and the rest of the Regeneration trilogy. These would go wonderfully with the Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves First World War books published by Folio some years ago.

Some Ryszard Kapuściński would be nice: The Emperor, The Shadow of the Sun and Another Day of Life.

Voltaire's The princess of Babylon, as mentioned in another thread.

>12 That sounds like a good idea. Whilst trying to publish all the Bookers is probably too big a job, and there are perhaps a few that might not really be worth the effort, there are some that to my mind are worth adding to the collection. I adored Keri Hulmes's The Bone People, and several others seem to have enough acclaim to be worth the effort too (although can't say that for instance Vernon God Little is exactly amongst my favourites though!).

Message edited by its author, Aug 30, 2009, 6:25am.

>15
When the Franklin Library was still publishing books, they did all the Pulitzer Prize winners. While some of them didn't stand the test of time, some unjustly-neglected works were resurrected (Julia Peterkin's Sister Scarlet Mary, for example) and others that hadn't been forgotten were given a chance to show again why they were honored. I'm particularly thinking of Booth Tarkington's The Magnificent Ambersons a wonderful novel which is best known today as the basis for the great Orson Welles film. I love the film, but the novel is, well, magnificent, and deserves to be read.

Perhaps some of the earlier Booker winners need to be reintroduced via the Folio Society for the same reason. For example, has anyone read Newby's Something to Answer For or Rubens The Elected Member? I confess I've heard of neither book nor author.

I second the call for some Kapuściński.

As for the Booker prize, I'd be keen to see a few more. But, as with all prizes, some of the awards are rather queer: giving Ian McEwan it for Amsterdam but not Atonement etc. (I have to say I quite enjoyed Vernon God Little).

I am currently enjoying my re-read of Ballet Shoes (I'm sure Petrova was a good influence on me) and now wondering whether they are planning on doing any more Noel Streatfeild, especially White Boots. I'd be first in line :-)

another vote for The Bone People!

I'd like to see the Cornish writer Crosbie Garstin's The Penhales trilogy, comprising The Owls' House, High Noon and The West Wind. These 'swashbuckling' 'cracking adventures' set in Cornwall and on the high seas are, as far as I can tell, long out of print and would seem to be just the kind of novels the Folio Society could bring back to life.

Hugh Walpole's Herries Chronicles, set mainly in the English Lake District: four novels tracing a family dynasty from the 18th to the 20th centuries. There were also one and a half prequels (he died before the second was completed) taking the family back to the 16th century.

If I may contribute here in bringing to your attention these two books:
- Froth on the Daydream, by Boris Vian
- Death on the Installment Plan, by Louis-Ferdinand Céline

From the illustration point of view, both would be a delight for a commissioned artist, given the many odd scenes they contain. This work by Céline is the autobiography of his early childhood. It is much more commendable than his more famous Voyage au bout de la nuit. If interested, read the good LT review lriley made on it.

Message edited by its author, Aug 31, 2009, 5:41am.

The Céline book is quite fascinating--I don't really see it being a Folio Society sort of book, however. With the memories of my old Grove Press paperback, long since vanished, in mind, I think I'd like to see a version of this in the French style--sewn bindings with paper covers. For illustrations--b&w photos in the style of Cartier-Bresson (or even better, in the style of Boris Kaufman's photography for Jean Vigo's films).

I would love to see the Collected Short Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer, or some of his novels like The Magician of Lublin

>22 - - Death on the Installment Plan, by Louis-Ferdinand Céline

This is exactly where I'm headed if I remain a member of this group.

25> Nice shot, old chap! How have I not thought about this yesterday when I posted my message? Folio will never publish it!

Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer

would be a great book I reckon to produce.

>27

This has been recommended for Folio treatment before, and seconded, and I think a good companion volume would be Curzio Malaparte's Kaputt.

How about some Keynes to go with the Smith? Topical.

I think that is only fair. I think that Road to Serfdom from Hayek would also be a good one in the economics arena

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged was a decent read and worthy of a shout.

>31 - I wouldn't want to see that one, myself.

#31: I also liked Atlas Shrugged. Definitely worth becoming a Folio Edition.

#2

Folio Svejk would be great, but for me at least it would have to be Lada's illustrations. It's not just that they've become iconic, it's that they fit the times, the graphic style of the period. It's enough to look at them to become situated in a specific time and place. Although, that might be one of the reasons modern audiences (especially American) don't "get" them (insofar they don't), the unawareness of graphic traditions.

I'm of "the more the merrier" school of thought when it comes to abundance of editions, and especially for books I love, different illustrations provide a great excuse for buying multiple versions. I'd buy that Czech edition with the new illustrations, but I must say the new Svejk doesn't strike me as being more "serious" or "deeper" or "truer" than Lada's one bit.

>34

For me it's a case of not being interested in obtaining another copy of Svejk with the Lada illustrations--I have the Everyman's Library and it is a fine, serviceable edition. I'm also not sure the Urban illustrations, from what I saw on the link, are superior to Lada's. What I was hoping for in a new illustrator would be someone with the psychological insight of an artist like George Grosz, whose work in Ecce Homo certainly fit the times (post WW I).

On a personal note, I have to say that this American, for one, "gets" the Lada illustrations and is aware of the graphic tradition. I just happen to think they aren't representative of the full range of Hasek's work.

Well, we'll have to disagree on their representativeness. I think Grosz is too rough and morbid, too stridently satirical for Hasek, and would misrepresent him far worse. But you've given me an idea--Grosz would be perfect for Miroslav Krleza's stories of WWI.

>31 I'm with you Irieisa. I wouldn't even take it as a freebie.

32,37 >

And there was me thinking that this thread was called...

Which books would you like to see as Folio volumes? ;-)

Edward Rutherfurds historical novels about England (London: The Novel, The Forest, Sarum: The Novel of England) would make a great set for FS. Probably my favorite hist. fiction writer.

Os.

Brewer's Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction, and Drama, a marvelous reference work for Western fictional literature prior to 1890.

Os.

>39. I wholeheartedly agree about the Rutherfurd novels, particularly Sarum. If anyone is interested in historical fiction and hasn't come across his work, another author that I thoroughly enjoy is CJ Sansom: his Shardlake series is wonderful.

Does anyone know if FS has published anything by James Michener in the past? I would love to see some of the sagas submitted to the Folio treatment.

38, I would also love to see Atlas Shrugged, and would also love to see We The Living. My wife grew up in the type of system Ayn Rand opposed and loves all her novels, and if Folio published those I think I could actually buy two books without my wife complaining about me spending money on books :)

I don´t at all mind having multiple editions of works, especially if there is something unique about that particular edition. However, my usual budget filter is that I also want to read that edition. So if I pick up another edition of Proust, that means I´m planning on reading it again. With regards toAtlas Shrugged, I´m not sure I would want to read it again so it would have to be something pretty intriguing about the edition for me to want it.

I second the James Michener nomination as he has been on my "to read" list for a long time, especially Chesapeake.

Also, how about Shogun or King Rat?

Yikes! I´m in Querétaro, Mexico using a spanish keyboard and using touchstones is muy dificil. The keys are all in different places! Lot´s of Librerías, though.

I've never heard of Atlas Shrugged but I just checked the LT thingy and it tells me there is a very high probabiity that I won't like it. That thingy is usually, but not always, accurate. So I'll give it a miss, unless I find it at the library and will look through it.

The thingy thinks I won't like Atlas Shrugged either - I've never read it read it but I've read a bit about it and I agree with the thingy!! What I would like is an FS The Far Pavilions, which I absolutely loved as a teenager (to the point of wearing out 2 paperback copies!).

41>Huxley, I agree with you 100% on the Master Shardlake series. I discovered Sansom this year. Some great historical depth in his Tudor England novels. I have been fascinated by every book so far and look forward to his next Master Shardlake. I like David Liss' work as well for similar reasons...considerable historical depth to all of his novels....aside from great characters!

Message edited by its author, Sep 3, 2009, 11:37am.

>47
A bit of a diversion, but we're talking about English historical fiction. I was reading an historical novel of the Welsh borders region, and there's a scene where three men are riding on orders from the King of England to meet with a troublesome Welsh Lord. The names of these three men sounded familiar, and, in checking into my family's genealogy, I found that they were each direct ancestors - the scene was fiction, though the events were real. But there were three great-great-great-great...grandfathers of mine riding along and talking about how they would deal with this Welsh guy, none with any inkling that in a generation or three they would all have common grandchildren! Pretty cool, this reading thing, isn't it?

Os.

The Selfish Gene
The God Delusion
The Greatest Show on Earth

All by CRD

Truman Capote's One Christmas (a small work, but could be a beautiful Christmas treasure if FS does it right)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha - the incredibly evocative rhythm and language, pared with the right illustrations, could be spectacular.

Os.

> 50

Why not the Kalevala?

>51
Why not? Is there a 'great' translation, or do we need FS to commission one?

Os.

Message edited by its author, Sep 6, 2009, 1:17am.

I'd like to see some of the Just William stories by Richmal Crompton, particularly as I've just started reading to my son. They feel like the child's equivalent to something like Wodehouse to me. I hope they're not too English for a worldwide audience.

Truman Capote's One Christmas is one of my favourite stories: one Christmas I was determined to print it myself in a little volume to send out instead of cards, but the project didn't come to fruition and it is still sitting in my computer somewhere, waiting for me to work out the imposition of the pages.

I haven't read Just William since I was a member of the children's department of our public library in Middlesbrough but I remember enjoying them all, and the illustrations are still vivid in my mind after 50 years!

>49 I'd agree with Selfish Gene. I've just bought Greatest Show (half price in Waterstones), which looks very promising. Didn't rate God Delusion as highly - not a classic IMHO. Thinking of other science books, I'd love to see a selection of Stephen Gould's essays (maybe the anthology The Richness of Life)

>39, 41 Another vote for Shardlake, but have to admit don't rate Rutherfurd much at all.

>53 Great idea!!

Three historical (non-fiction) women writers I'd love to see given the FS treatment: Claire Tomalin, whose biographies are outstanding especially Samuel Pepys, The Unequalled Self; Jenny Uglow, whose biogs of Hogarth and Thomas Bewick are brilliant; Lisa Jardine, eg Worldly Goods, Ingenious Pursuits.

Which reminds me: Jardine's father was Jacob Bronowski, and his Ascent of Man to my mind was the equal of Clarke's Civilisation..... (although I'd go along with Diamond's Guns Germs and Steel and/or Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee which I think have both been listed before).

Just so many possibilities!!

Message edited by its author, Sep 6, 2009, 6:02am.

>52

Good question--my copy is the old 2 volume Everyman's Library edition, in the translation by William Forsell Kirby. This is highly respected still, is directly from the Finnish and is in the meter of the original (at least that's what the scholars say--Finnish is Greek to me). It dates from 1908, and aside from those jaw-breaking names, is pleasant to read. Commissioning a new translation seems unlikely considering the limited appeal such a volume would have; in fact, I'm happy with my two pocket-sized EL volumes, though I would like to have a copy of the work with the famous illustrations by Akseli Gallen-Kallela.

> 55

Definitely Guns, Germs and Steel--a perfect candidate tht I'm surprised Folio hasn't done as yet.

How about My Uncle Silas by Herbert Ernest Bates. This seems like a work that could be nicely done by FS, as they have done so well with English period pieces that are essentially loosely connected short stories.

Having said this, I've not yet read the book, but Masterpiece Theater (along with the BBC, I believe) did a fine treatment of portions of it a few years back, which led me to buy a used copy of the book.

Os.

I'm very much hoping one day they'll publish some Patrick White - a brilliant writer and one of my favourites. Can't believe they haven't published any thus far. They would be an illustrator's dream!

Voss, Tree of Man, The Eye of the Storm, A Fringe of Leaves, The Vivisector and The Solid Mandala would make a wonderful set.

57,

btw, has FS done Uncle Silas?

>59

I assume you mean the Le Fanu work? I'm away from my Folio 60 today, so I can't check, but I seem to recall it being mentioned in either a "has FS ever done this one?" or a "what I'd like to see in and FS edition" thread.

That work really creeped me out, especially as I read it shortly after seeing the MasterPiece Theater production of My Uncle Silas, and I couldn't get my head around this dark, dangerous character who went by the same name. Good, though, and would make a nice FS edition.

Os.

#59 & 60
Luckily my Folio 60 is close at hand. FS did Uncle Silas in 1988 with illustrations by Charles Stewart and intro by Devendra P. Varma. From Folio 60:

"Titling for display and hand-drawn lettering (by Stewart) for the title. Printed by Butler and Tanner. Bound by Hunter and Foulis in full dark green cloth with a design in gold by Stewart; pale yellow endleaves. Pale yellow slip case. Stewart's line-drawings are particularly effective and, in addition to the 29 full-page designs, he has supplied 34 vignette head- and tail-pieces (five of them used four or five times each). The binding is also successful as a pastiche of a nineteenth-century decorated publisher's ginding. The cloth had to be specially calendered to make it smooth enough to take the fine detail of Stewart's design."

Well, that's the last time I check book info for anyone. Just typing the above made me want to rush to look for a copy. And because I looked up the author instead of the book I also found the only other Le Fanu work: Ghost stories and other horrid tales selected and illustrated by Charles W. Stewart, printed in 1997, featuring stories by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lafcadio Hearn, Vernon Lee, M.R. James, Walter de la Mare and Marjorie Bowen. Thanks to this thread I have added two more books to my want list.

>59, 60

H. E. Bates does not feature in Folio 60 except as author of the introduction to R. L. Stevenson's The Beach of Falesa, published by the Society in 1959.

Thanks, Haniwitch, you beat me to it on the Le Fanu

Message edited by its author, Sep 9, 2009, 8:16pm.

WEB DuBois, The World and Africa

Since the thread is still active, I submit Jack Whyte's Skystone series as a contender to become a Folio volume. Skystone viewed Arthur and Camelot in a way which captured my imagination.

The Black Arrow by RLS.

One or more of Niall Ferguson's economic/empire histories. Perhaps his three volume work on the Rothschilds.

I would like to see a boxed set of 3 books by Grey Owl: The Men of the Last Frontier, Pilgrims of the Wild and Tales of an Empty Cabin. When I first read these many years ago, I was totally unaware that 'Grey Owl' had started life as Archie Belaney in suburban Hastings, England (although I did find it hard to believe that a man of his professed origins could write with such style). However, despite the enormity of his deceptions, he remains a writer of beautiful prose and extraordinary perception and sensitivity.

How about Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I'm reading it at the moment and enjoying every page.

#67
I'll second that boldface. Even though I've known the story of Grey Owl for as long as I can remember I've never read his books. And regardless of his true origins he has always been seen as a man of the land; one of the first environmentalists and conservationists who, with the passage of time, is once again being viewed with respect.

Has Folio ever published Cicero's De Officiis? If not, I wish they would. If so, I need to find a copy.

#55: I mightily second Claire Tomalin's Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self. Methinks 'tis the kind of book that could interest many members of the Folio Society.

Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio

Os

The Dr Dolittle series by Hugh Lofting (children's books)

What about a selection of Jacobean playwrights? Webster, of course, Cyril Tourneur, and Thomas Middleton.

Also, although it has been mentioned before, I'll add another vote for The Razor's Edge.

(edited for typo)

Message edited by its author, Sep 15, 2009, 10:04am.

I too would vote for The Kalevala, as well as the following (which I know have already been done in full or are represented in part in other volumes):
The Anglo Saxon Chronicle
History of the Kings of England
The Mabinogion
Prose & Poetic Eddas
Some "greatest hits" anthologies:

A philosophy anthology similar to the Modern Library ones on European and English philosophers.
Classical Greek & Latin drama & poetry
Political writings of famous leaders and rebels

Would also like to see this one. Does anyone know what the diff is between this and Geoffrey of Monmouth's history?
-William of Malmesbury, Chronicle of the Kings of England. Translation by Rev. John Sharpe, 1815

I would definitely second Winesburg, Ohio

I was going to second Winesburg, Ohio, but I'm happy to third it instead.

74> while you're at it Django, how about another vote for The Master and Margarita? :-)

Message edited by its author, Sep 15, 2009, 6:04pm.

>74

Jacobean playwrights would be wonderful, and include Marston.

Another vote for Jacobean (and Elizabethan) playwrights. Folio did a gorgeous edition of Doctor Faustus in the early 90s, but otherwise they've hardly touched Renaissance drama other than Shakespeare. That could be a great series.

Another worthwhile addition would by Churchill's biography of Marlborough which is an excellent piece of writing.

I vote for anything Maugham. LOVE HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Esp the short stories.

Not sure if there is alot of interest.... but I would love to see the Complete journals of Thoreau.

>84 - I love the sound of "complete journals"...

Hello everyone from a new member of the group. I second the suggestion for ''Marlborough His Life and Times'' by Winston Churchill.

Welcome, whatstherumpus, to the Group. I would also like to add my vote for Churchill's Marlborough.

Churchill's Marlborough was released as a Folio edition in 1991 - bought mine for £30 in Brighton two years ago. As they've redone some other Churchill works, maybe they will reprint this one?

>88 - So they did! How did I miss that one!! I do have another edition of it, but I would be interested to see the FS version.

I'd like to find the leather-bound version of Churchill's Marlborough that George Harrap published or Harrap's Major Works of Winston Churchill: Centenary Edition from 1974, but the only ones I've ever seen on the internet are from UK booksellers.

A Welsh Childhood by Alice Thomas Ellis

Os.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson, if only to see what the illustrator would do with people who live in houses with no floor, women who go up in hot air balloons to scrub the angry, ugly spoken words which collect in dark clouds above the village, and the wonderful and wondrous presentation of the banana (and the visions it triggered) to the skeptical english when first brought from the tropics, etc.

Os.

Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Dan Dennett

I know they've published Grapes of Wrath but how about a set of John Steinbeck?

I ditto steelo and would value nothing more...other than a set of Mark Twain of course.

I'd rather see me some Pynchon. Find it unlikely.

>97 Pynchon - yes please. And David Foster Wallace.

>98 - Second that. Fiction and non-fiction would be nice.

I would just like to make a slight amendment to one of my above suggestions. I would not only love to see a LE of The once and Future King by T.H. White... But I would like to make the suggestion of having it loaded with Puttapipat illustrations.

I dont know if anyone agree's with me but I believe he would be a perfect choice for illustrating that work.

It would bring back all the wonderful memories of Arthur Rackhams's arthurian illustrations.

I suggested this to Folio and got the usual polite response that the suggestion will be forwarded on to the LE dept.

One can only hope.

>2 There are exactly three translations, only two the latest two unabridged. Have you read all three?

Is it time to create "Which books would you like to see as Folio volumes? (3)"?

Perhaps should we wait a little more (up to, say, 200 posts)? I know that some members are upset with too many continuations of threads. We must find a tradeoff to make everybody happy.

> 103, 104

I'd actually prefer if threads remained as one.

Most people have broadband these days and secondly there are no high graphic/image demands on these threads, they are usually just text.

has Folio done Updike or Cheever?

i would like to see some major American writers added before we go down to one-shot wonders of the Booker Prize.

#54
Loved the God Delusion, but it's really a polemical book, a book of the moment, not necessarily a book to last. Agree that some of his others would be better served by long-lasting editions. Agree on a selection of Gould essays.

Also, isn't it about time for a Dylan Thomas poetry collection?

I'd like to see an FS facsimile of the world's first atlas the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of Abraham Ortelius. Take a look at some samples from The Newberry Library. Wouldn't you agree this would make a nice limited edition?

I have four of Ortelius' maps (as reprints) in mahogany frames gracing my walls. It would be wonderful to have the whole atlas in an FS edition

I would like to see a selection of Rafael Sabatini's works as FS editions. I had never heard of him until a year ago but thoroughly enjoy his writing. Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk and Scaramouche would be a good start.

I loved Sabatini when I read him as a teen. I believe the Easton Press did a three volume set of his. Might still be available.

#112 - Thanks! I will look for it.

For all the Sabatini fans--I too am one and devoured his books when I was in high school--what about another favorite: Samuel Shellabarger? Both Prince of Foxes and Captain from Castile really deserve beautifully illustrated editions. And I'm amazed no publisher ever brought out a lavishly-illustrated edition of Roberts' Northwest Passage. (That is a novel N.C. Wyeth should have illustrated.)

Since sooner or later we probably will be seeing this year's Booker Prize winner as an FS edition, I thought members might like to get a feel for this year's nominees so they can decide whether they would buy the FS edition when it arrives.

Follow this link - http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/oct... - for John Crace's vicious condensations/parodies of the 2009 finalists. I particulalry liked his take on Coetzee. Crace's is truly the cruelest cut. Enjoy!

How about a FS edition of Tracks by Robyn Davidson? They could bind it in a similar style to The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin and perhaps have an Outback travel series.

>115 -- Turns out Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall just won the Booker.
Hilary Mantel wins Booker prize for fiction This would actually make a very fine FS volume.