recent acquisitions (2)

The old thread had too many replies for my taste, so I started a companion thread :)
Anyway, just found a beautiful copy of

The Prisoner of Zenda

at a super price! It's funny, but the LEC copy is quite a bit cheaper than the EP version, and in my opinion most LEC books are superior to their EP counterparts (don't get me wrong, some EP books are just as good as anything that came from the LEC, but if you can have a copy of an LEC or an actual LEC, why settle for the copy)!

Frankly, I can't understand that, myself. The art reproduction is always better in the LEC, the type is letterpress, and the binding design is always unique unto each book. And with very few exceptions, you can usually find an LEC for the same price or less than a new EP copy.

1) Captial idea! Thanks! And I agree with Django - I'm not sure why EP's cost more beyond their fancy leather binding. I much prefer LEC's and HP's. Congrats on the book, though! I'll likely be getting the Heritage Plays of Marlowe tomorrow for volunteering at a used book shop, plus some others if I trade in some things.

I've got to agree with Django and wildcat - I'll take the LEC version over the EP any day of the week. Unfortunately I didn't learn about the LEC or HP until after I'd bought lots of EPs. I still like the EP books with their leather bindings, particularly the LEs but it's hard to substitute for letterpress, custom paper, gorgeous prints and black ink (instead of the dark grey we get today).

astropi, I just picked up a pretty nice copy of the LEC Zenda myself a couple of weeks ago. I probably didn't get as good a price as you but anytime I pick up LEC volumes for under $50 I'm happy.

Now you guys have me wanting to pick up a copy of Zenda--I book I never really had an interest in getting. Actually, I remember reading it and the sequel, Rupert of Hentzau over 40 years ago, and thinking that though both were fun, they weren't as entertaining as the 1930s classic film version of Zenda, and took up more time to read.

Wildcat, the Heritage Marlowe is a gem--one of those times when I actually prefer the Heritage design to the LEC--love that green binding with the jet black ornamentation! The wood engravings are also superb--by Albert Decaris, probably the greatest French engraver of the 20th century, and a favorite of DeGaulle. The Marlowe illustrations were his only work in America.

Another point in favor of LEC over most (but not all) EP books: the LEC books come with a slipcase! I am a fan of slipcases. They are elegant, and do a nice job of protecting the book. Plus, I love how LEC books all have a unique slipcase (though I must admit that a few are quite ugly, but hey no one is perfect :)

5) Thanks for exciting me more. :)

>6 astropi: I'm also a big fan of slipcases for protecting books. Unfortunately, many of the LEC cases are plain paper and unexciting. Also, I tend to buy LEC books with fine books but slightly worn cases to save money. Only a few of mine are really exciting like on The Martian Chronicles.

Slight change of plans - the owner of the shop had to do some verifying of the books I'd normally be getting to volunteer were not online, so I had to improvise. I picked up the Tales of Hoffman Heritage, which was in great shape minus a broken slipcase and a small pen mark on the front endpaper. Marlowe will be mine next week.

Got that Heritage Marlowe, which is complete, although it has a bookplate in it, as well as the Heritage The Virginian, which is also complete, but has a bit of a dirty spine. Still, I'm happy with them. :)

I picked up the Heritage Russian Folk Tales this week, which is a great book from the Connecticut period. It's in good shape too, minus a bookplate.

While in San Fran I stumbled upon a fantastic complete LEC copy of Tartuffe and The Would-Be Gentleman, which is a vast improvement over the Heritage printing. Paid $30 for it and am quite satisfied.

>12 WildcatJF:

$30??????? You stole it!

I ordered the 1940 HP ed. of Paradise Lost, can't wait to get it. I'll post some pics when it arrives.

Just received Paradise Lost. A few pics of the illustrations (sorry for my shaky hand):







I really like the paper, feels nice. The Sandglass was particularly interesting too. I'm pretty satisfied with it, and it was in great condition for under $15.
A few more pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/m7ia/sets/72157626080018333/with/5501580218/

>15 mujahid7ia:

mujahid7ia, are those the true colors? I have a copy of the book, but in mine the illustrations look like third-rate reproductions in comparison to yours - the colours are nothing at all like these, much paler, the outlines somewhat smudged, with many of the nuances (for example, the red on the tree boughs in the Temptation of Eve) just not being there. Now I see what I've been missing all that time...

It's probably a faulty copy, though I did not know that HP or the LEC had those.

Well these photos are taken with the camera's flash on, but without the flash I'd say it looks similar, with some more contrast and not as pale white (on the bodies, for example).

>16 BorisG: I noticed the same fullness of colors in the HP edition so I pulled out the FS edition to compare, and almost all the greens are missing or very muted. Compared to the images on the link on the HP/LEC thread, most colors pale, with some of the orange being dull red instead. Is your edition the FS? The only info I can find in the book about the illustration process used is the paper ID, Phoenix Motion Xenon.

16) BorisG, is it possible that your copy is from Norwalk or Avon, CT? If so, that may explain the reproduction downgrade. When the two presses were sold in the late '60's, the new owners (Cardemon or something like that, can't recall) reprinted a ton of the earlier works of the LEC and Heritage Press, but many of them are nowhere near as exceptional, especially in their art. Many are faded, and have muted colors. Django can explain this better than I, but it's the first possibility that leaped to mind reading your reply.

>16 BorisG:

BorisG, these are very much like th ecolors in my copy, although they are slightly washed out compared to my copy--that may just be the flash, as the black of my type is darker and crisper looking. It may also be just artifacts of web reproduction, but these images look softer than my illustrations which are very sharp with much fine detail.

Oddly, my copy, which is the first heritage edition from 1940, has the Temptation of Eve illustration opposite page 222--not 232 as in mujahid7ia's copy.

I got three Heritage books from volunteering yesterday:

The Decameron by Boccaccio w. Fritz Kredel illustrations. 1940 edition. The book is not in the greatest shape, but was complete (the slipcase is split in two, though). It also included a letter from George Macy (not one from his hand, alas!) explaining to members a change in the Heritage schedule, explaining that John Brown's Body and All Men are Brothers would be delayed, and replacing them would be The Decameron and Paradise Lost (with Blake's illustrations...odd that, considering we here were just talking about it!). Interesting stuff. :)

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam w. Arthur Syzk illustrations. 1946 edition. Not complete in the slightest (came with its slipcase, but it was horrendously broken apart and silly to keep), but this is a gorgeous book! The book was in great shape, though, despite a faded spine.

The Jumping Frog and Other Stories by Mark Twain w. Joseph Low's illustrations. Wanted more Twain, and since there is no New York original in this one case, I was fine with a Connecticut edition. Low's illustrations don't do much for me, but their whimsical nature does fit the stories. This is complete and in very good condition, with only a bookplate afflicting it as a nitpick.

LEC Sonnets from the Portuguese arrived today and is gorgeous. The volume is still clad in glassine. The uniform darker blue of the book cloth stands out compared to the not badly faded slipcase cloth, as mentioned in the Salome thread, I believe the slipcase and glassine provided excellent protection for Sonnets. Hard to believe the book is over 60 years old. As for the poetry, apparently the depth of the Brownings love provided this massive inspiration. I soon hope to be able to freely quote from memory various choice bits to encourage many local females to join me in Spring time mating rituals, Hah;D

olepuppy, the glassines, though a pain in the neck to keep from crumpling and falling apart when you take the book in and out of the slipcase, do provide an astonishing degree of protection. I have seen many copies of the LEC The Golden Ass, which was bound in asses' skin, and those copies invariably are without the glassine and the spine is browned to the color of golden oak. I finally found one that still had the glassine intact, and the cover is an overall creamy white. One thing I always look for when buying Heritage or LEC books is whether the glassine is still present. Sometimes I wonder when I have a book that is in good condition but the glassine is torn or tattered, whether I should buy new glassine and replace the old ones.

(Incidentally, quoting romantic poetry is good, but I recommend as an accompaniment a nice pinot noir or zinfandel with a few 70% cacao chocolate bars--verbum sapiente.) ;-)

23 My LEC copies of Medea and 3 Tales of the Sea came with glassines and beautifully preserved bindings. They may not look attractive on the shelf but it seems as if the material deflects light and dust. Recently found a 1966 folio set of three wildflower books in slipcase with glassines, with the glassine being much darker on the spine than on the boards, but the bright blue/green buckram binding was uniform in color. I wish clear mylar or brodart covers were made that resist UV rays as well as dust and scratches.

And Django, you dog with the moves, poetry...wine...chocolate...I'll add laughter and dancing....

I have mentioned on devotees and fine press some nice sales at Oak Knoll where I was able to take some chances and buy unknown fine press books, including LEC's and Heritage Press, inexpensively. One volume is The Vigil of Venus, trans Lewis Gielgud with rather hot wood engravings by George Buday, with the repeated:

Cras amet qui nunquam amavit quique amavit cras amet,

in fact, I'll just share the whole second verse, in honor of the first day of Spring:

In spring go lovers in tune with lovers,
in spring there is wedding in each bird's wing;
And the wood unpins her imprisoned tresses
to yield their rights to the rains of spring.
To-morrow the Lady, the coupler of lovers,
amid soft shadows by tall trees cast,
Weaves with wattles and wands of myrtle
grass-green bowers, and makes them fast.
To-morrow Dione, enthroned and empowered,
is Queen to command, and her bidding is plain:
To-morrow be lovers who never were lovers
and they that were lovers be lovers again.

Wowser, yowser, yippee, hallelujah, good gracious me, Spring is here at last!

The LEC edition of Defoe's "A Journal of the Plague Year" that I won on ebay arrived today, in very nice condition, with the monthly letter included. I love the rough burlap binding as a design element, though I wonder how long one can stand to hold the book while reading. The only minor disappointment is the slight fading of the black endpapers and staining of the page edges. I've seen a finer copy where the black is so intense that as you open the cover you have the feeling of staring into a dark hole.

Has anyone seen the George Buday wood engravings for the LEC Shakespeare Timon of Athens? Impressions? Thanks then.

>26 olepuppy:

They are of a high degree of technical excellence, but frankly they are not among my favorites in the LEC Shakespeare edition. First of all, they are all full-face portraits, and they are all portraits of Timon at various stages of the play. This is an interesting conceit, but like man interesting conceits, it falls short of greatness through its adherence to its own cleverness. There is insufficient expression of the emotional states of Timon in these portraits, and were I to take them out, reshuffle the order, and put them back in the book, I doubt that anyone would be able to say "that's the wrong portrait for this time of the story" in all but a few cases.

There is also a somewhat distracting visual leitmotif of a pair of circles on the forehead in each of the portraits, looking something like the figure "8" lying on its side (or possibly the symbol for Infinity?--that doesn't seem to add any meaning either). On the whole, I'd have to say that Mr. Buday (who is from Transylvania, by the way), either was uninspired by the play or that his style, like aleatoric music, is a style for which I lack the critical apparatus to properly appreciate.

28 Thanks for the reply, Django, the engravings for Timon sound nothing like his work in Vigil of Venus, which is filled with frolicking naked people of an ancient race in a lush landscape, some closeups, some wide view, and on a much smaller scale as the larger engravings are 4X4. I would think portraits of Timon at different stages of the play should not be able to interchanged even without having read the LEC edition. As with the new 'a' word music to which you have introduced me- thanks too - which sounds to me like when a group jams on a tune, and sometimes the players click and other times not, it doesn't sound as if Buday clicked on Timon. (The Dead could jam the same tune differently every time and pull it off.) Unless, of course, the figure eights represent a secret code which when deciphered leads to the hidden cache of well, whatever. And back to the real world, I want to see then sometime Buday's Folio Society engravings for Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon(1980) nine full page engravings.

Well, I've gone and weeded some EP 100 Greatest and some FS editions, which after trying out don't mean too much to me. I took a few today to a local used bookstore and traded for 5 Heritage Press editions- Salome, Masque of Comus, Book of Job, Of Mice and Men, and Trial and Death of Socrates. I'm really tickled with my 'new' books, all in near fine condition with worn slipcases, and will spend a bit of time going thru them more tomorrow.

30) Ooo, nice haul, there. I've yet to see Of Mice and Men or the Masque of Comus.

I ordered the LEC The Shaving of Shagpat yesterday, which according to the seller was complete and in very good condition. I'll let you know if they were right or not next weekend (I hope it arrives by then!).

>30 olepuppy:

Nice haul indeed! These are all beautiful books with the first three being in the very top level of illustrated books in the 20th century. My relative has the LEC of Comus and I put it side-to-side to the Heritage Press edition to compare the quality of Dulac's fantastic watercolors, and could see no difference. I have not seen the LEC version of the Steinbeck, but the Heritage Press version is superb, and is one that normally sells for twice the price of the average Heritage Press book, and which Michael Bussacco notes in his Heritage Press Checklist: "Rare to find in bookstores."

>31 WildcatJF:
WildcatJF, let us know what you think of the Meredith. This was one of the few LEC books that was designed and printed to match (as in a companion volume) another book--Morier's THE ADVENTURES OF HAJJI BABA OF ISPAHAN. Both books featured illustrations by Guilbeau and both were designed by W.A.Dwiggins. (The Morier was printed in 2 volumes, but the binding is identical.)

30, 31 I'm even more pleased now that I view them in better light. Of Mice And Men has a small scrape on the spine by 'Stein' and that's it for damage, slipcase included. Interesting to find out in the Sandglass that Fletcher Martin both illustrated and designed this edition, choosing the same typeface Bruce Rogers used for the LEC Shakespeare series. The blue denim style fabric used for binding the boards is striking, as are the plentiful illustrations, which include full page two-color and double-page full color pictures, one of the doubles being a great title page. Rather ironically, one of the EP editions the bookseller selected was Mice/Men, she wanted to keep up her stock of the title, but in comparing them we agreed that the better edition was the HP, especially the paper(Mohawk).

I found a scrape at the bottom of the spine for Comus and that's it, all corner's of the French Marbled paper boards square, sharp, and unscraped, so apparently the chipped and faded slipcase served its purpose. Sandglass indicate the fine illustrations were prepared by the same company as for the LEC version, Sun, with the overall quality of the edition due to the excellence of the Cambridge University Press. Have to say too that I loved 'hearing' the exuberant voice of GM in the Sandy. The bookseller also has a coupla copies of The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche with similar Dulac illustrations, on my list for next time.

To conclude with a happy bookhunting story, as I chose my selections the other day, kinda hurriedly as I arrived about a half-hour before closing, I easily located Socrates, Salome, and Comus -(Remember SNL with Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein singing 'Goodbye For The Summer'-sorry, way off topic, but what a riot)- having been to the store for the first time coupla weeks ago, then I remembered a high top shelf with Mice/Men, got it, then I looked more closely at the adjacent titles and behold, there stood The Book of Job, I think I said aloud, "Szyk?!" Missed it first time 'round, but what a joy to find second time. Spine a hair darkened, I think can be cleaned, all else is fine, yeah man!

>31 WildcatJF: I've got Shagpat on my wish list.

>33 olepuppy: Congrats, nice job. I'll have to look into the Comus.

I just picked up a very nice copy of Ah, Wilderness and I'm halfway through my recent acquisition (thanks to Django) of Looking Backward. The Bellamy is pristine even though it is missing the plastic slip cover. Both books were under $35, a good price for LECs.

I have been away from the forum for a while, but that has not stopped me from getting some of the LECs I have been trying to find for quite some time. I have recently purchased the USSR printing of Anna Karenina in very good condition with a very good condition slipcase with the Montly Letter (a hard find indeed), the Oregon Trail with the spine leather being in excellent condition also with the Monthly Letter, and Of Human Bondage with letter. Not LEC, but today I purchased the Arion Press Hound of the Baskervilles, which I have been coveting for years and ended up selling my Folio Society World Crisis set in order to finance this purchase. It is my first Arion Press book (besides the Christian Symbols book) and I am super excited for it to come!

I just finished opening a bath of my relative's never-before-unwrapped LECs for a member here who is placing an order, and once more I have to commend the LEC on their packaging. The 4 nested cardboard chemises have done an excellent job of preserving these 50 year old books.

Also, I am once again amazed at how underpriced these books are: $35 each for kdweber's 2 volumes is half the price of an average Folio Society book! And these are letterpress, signed by the original illustrators and printed and bound using materials of the highest quality. I wonder at the vagaries of the marketplace! Incidentally, one of the LECs I just opened was The Prince and the Pauper, which in addition to the great illustrations, is bound in the most sumptuous dark blue velvet. I don't know how this would hold up under a lot of handling--my own copy is still in fine shape, but it appears to have never been read (I know it hasn't by me since I bought it)--but it certainly makes for a gorgeous volume.

Every time I buy another EP or FS volumne I ask myself why not spend the money on LECs? Of course, the LEC doesn't have all the titles I want but the value is incredible. Another sign that one shouldn't collect books for investment purposes.

Sometimes (many times) I compare even my HPs to FS and EP editions and am amazed that the HP is more well-designed and well-thought out (especially in terms of making the book design specific to that book or author), despite the significant price difference.

Bang for the buck, nothing comes close to HP.

Very true--I just got through looking at my 3 new FS books, The Master and Margarita, The Golem, and the new Laurie Lee book, and although they are all nicely produced and I'm very happy these titles are available in beautiful illustrated editions, the books themselves don't have that quality feel the the HP books had in the days when the Macys were in control, nor are they, as mujahid7ia pointed out, as well-thought out in design, so the whole physical appearance of the book, size, binding, illustrations, page layout, font, etc., complements the individual title. This is a very tricky thing to pull off, and the Folio Society has done it marvellously well sometimes--the Wodehouse books, the Graham Greene "entertainments," the Raymond Chandler books...but if I were permitted a baseball metaphor, the FS are hitting about .385, whereas the Heritage Press hit .700 with a slugging percentage to match. What would a book like the Heritage Salome, The Song of Songs or the Rubaiyat cost were they offered by the FS today?

Part of the difference is economics--there were most small, and large, fine presses available to the Macys than there are today, and costs of skilled labor and the materials for fine bookmaking have escalated tremendously. But I think the major difference is simply George Macy's design genius. Even a relatively inexpensively produced Heritage book like the first version of Dana's Two Years Before the Mast bespeaks that inspired thought that went into designing that book so that every element contributed to reinforcing the content. Whereas the 3 new Folio books I received are nicely and appositely illustrated, the bindings are less inspired--the Bulgakov and Meyerink books could be almost interchangeable--and none of them display the knack for choosing colors and materials that enhance the individuality of the works.

Again, I'm not disparaging the FS--they do a great job and publish a range of titles that gladden the hearts of booklovers. But I started this group because I feel that Macy was always given more credit as an entrepreneur than he was as an artist, and really think he needs to be put in the pantheon of great book designers of the 20th century. I think it is his presiding genius that makes the difference between the output of his companies and the output of the FS.

40: so, exactly who comprise the list of great book designers? I admit that I know a beautiful book when I see it, but I know little about the actual book designers.

I think the Arion Press is doing a great job.

>40 Django6924: Interesting post, and thanks for those examples.

Got my LEC The Shaving of Shagpat today - it's a lovely, lovely book. I'll put up some pictures this weekend.

Stopped in at one of my favorite bookstores here in St. Louis after not having been there for many months. They had surprisingly picked up a large number of LECs from a woman who subscribed from the 1930s through the mid-1950s. They had already sold it, but the set included the Picasso Lysistrata. They offered it at the store, but sold it on-line for $4,000. I would have loved to look at it, but missed my chance. The subscriber was Cleo Bankhead (she has a small book plate on each book) and her number was 199. I picked up the 1935 School for Scandal with beautiful paper and eye-popping illustrations, Dumas' Black Tulip, Poems of Emily Dickinson, Anatole France's Crainquebill and a beautiful and nearly pristine Oedipus the King. Except for the last two which are nearly pristine, the books show a little age, but are in very good condition, although they have been handled. I would suspect at least one of the owners was a reader, or at least periodically pulled them out to look at. Weirdly, the School for Scandal has a chemise, but still shows some slight sunning on the spine, so obviously was not always stored properly.

Your really lucky

You're right on that. We almost never see LECs at bookstores here.

45) Nice haul, indeed! Congrats! If you could, I'd love to see the LEC Oedipus to compare it to my Heritage!

>45 pm11: Nice haul!

I would love to see the other items there. The price for Lysistrata was amazingly low.

i will try to post some photos over the next couple of days.

>50 Django6924: The seller is Patten Books. They do sell online through Abe books. Here is a link.

http://www.abebooks.com/patten-books-st-louis-mo-u.s.a/5477374/sf

Although I note that only a handful of LECs are listed. A direct call might work better.
314.822 3200.

Their posted LEC prices don't appear to be particularly cheap. On the other hand, the price for the Lysistrata was a steal, I've never seen it sell anywhere close to that low.

I got a couple of bargains and they knocked 20% off the total price for buying several books, but I agree they aren't cheap. School for Scandal was $30, Crainquebill was $20, Oedipus was $75, The Black Tulip was $30 and Emily Dickinson was $60.

Oedipus photos
http://www.librarything.com/pic/239483
http://www.librarything.com/pic/239482
http://www.librarything.com/pic/239481
http://www.librarything.com/pic/239480

School for Scandal photos
http://www.librarything.com/pic/239479
http://www.librarything.com/pic/239588
http://www.librarything.com/pic/239587
http://www.librarything.com/pic/239586

Other LECs
http://www.librarything.com/pic/239590
http://www.librarything.com/pic/239592
http://www.librarything.com/pic/239593
http://www.librarything.com/pic/239594
http://www.librarything.com/pic/239595

54) Not bad prices, there! PM11, would you mind if I utilized your Oedipus the King photos on my blog? I'll happily credit you.

No problem. Please do.

Had much fun today perusing many Heritage Press and some LEC's and just ahelluva lot of other books at a newly discovered not very local used book shop. Very interesting to compare 1940 and 1946 Rubaiyat side by side-apparently the illustrations were mounted on the page for '40 but printed directly to the page for '46, tho both sets of Sun engravings by Szyk were sharp, snagged the '40, no slipcase,wear to cover and endpages, the rest lovely, 9. Near fine copy of Simplicissimus, don't know the stories but the design, illustrations and materials were jammin', maybe later, with HP Turn of the Screw. I was tempted to buy more but the ones I liked the most had the most wear and really I was just scouting, look forward to going back there soon. Just great to see books of which I've read.

>58 olepuppy:

I have often wondered about the two Rubaiyats. It seems unlikely that Sun Engraving would have made two separate runs, more likely they would have printed one huge run, some for the initial release and some for the later. There was a later edition in the late 1970s, and the plates in these seem identical to my earlier editions, and yet Sun Engraving closed up in 1968. I'd love to know the printing history of these illustrations.

I picked up a Heritage Pilgrim's Progress with William Blake's watercolors yesterday for a buck. Before you congratulate me too much, it's a library copy coated with stamps, has no slipcase or Sandglass, and the front endpaper is atrocious, but I got it to document it for the blog, so a dollar wasn't a terrible price for that purpose.

I picked up the single volume Memoirs of Casanova with monthly letter and glassine in a pretty mint slipcase for only 35 dollars with shipping! I also scored a Physiology of Taste that is in excellent condition, also having the monthly letter. I have been on a roll lately.

I just picked up the Heritage Press 2-volume Pepys Diary. It has a cool, specked slipcase and a very nice black cloth design. I have wanted a Pepys' Diary for some time, but have balked at pricier editions. As with so many Heritage books, this is such a great value and an affordable way to have a nice edition of a favorite work.

>62 pm11:

I have had that edition since high school, and until the FS LE of the really complete Pepys came out, always recommended it as being the best edition. It still is for the general reader, in my opinion. Talk about great value, I paid $.50 for it at a thrift store! No slipcase, no Sandglass, but the books had never been read.

62) Hm, yet to see the Heritage Pepys. I have seen the LEC set, which is very nice, but it's a huge set of, what, 10 - 12 volumes? Memory's failing me. XD Congrats!

Got my LEC The Wanderer from Django today - a lovely book that easily outclasses the Heritage reprint. I'll put some comparison pics up soon. :) Thanks, Django! :)

>65 WildcatJF:

Glad it arrived safe and sound. Enjoy!

I have! Much thanks!

On a somewhat related note, my anthropology teacher picked up a LEC Crime & Punishment and asked if I wanted it, and I of course said yes! I'm about to triple the LEC's I own in last than a year! XD

>65 WildcatJF: I have the Heritage version. Would love to see comparison photos.

68> Will do - it's quite lovely, I can tell you that. I'll be paying $55 for it, which is a steal and a half. :)

With that, I'm on vacation. See you in a week or so! Hopefully I'll find some Macy treasures along the way!

I just received a book which I won on e-Bay for a very good price: the very first book issued by the Heritae Press, David Copperfield, with illustrations by John Austen, handsomely bound in a very sturdy light tan leather. Although there is some kind of slight dampstain on the spine, the leather itself is in amazing (and I don't use the word lightly!) condition for a 76 year old book. The pages are in similar incredibly pristine condition, though there is some mild foxing in the gutters of the endpapers. The printing is letterpress (not handset but on a Mergenthaler Linotype machine), and the color illustrations, very good but perhaps not the last word on the subject, are beautifully reproduced, but by what process I can't tell. Being the very first issue of the press, there was no Sandglass. There were also 1500 copies of this edition printed with an additional illustration signed by John Austen and offered first to LEC members as a "collectors item." My copy is not one of those, but is very, very special nonetheless.

I returned to the same store near Easton Md in post 58 and couldn't pull the trigger on the Heritage editions I had been thinking about for the last month, just a bit too much damage/no slipcase/no sandy, the damaged ones all had sandies. I found 5 nice books, tho, including the LEC An Almanac for Moderns, coupla smudges back board but otherwise fine, very nice condition for a 73 year old book. I've read thru parts and am enjoying Donald Culross Peattie's daily observations about the natural world and Asa Cheffetz's nature wood engravings, for 25.

Also saw the '33 Don Quixote with very faded spines, some board dings, some spotted paper, no slipcase-250- not me, but I was glad to to look through the volumes.

>71 olepuppy:

And what did you think of Ricart's illustrations for Don Quixote? I can't help but thinking that when it comes to B&W illustrations for the book, these have no rival, except Doré's. While I personally prefer Ricart's characterization of the Don and most of all his Sancho, on the whole, his 24 illustrations seem downright parsimonious compared to Doré's magnificent 370+ illustrations.

I'm glad you are enjoying An Almanac for Moderns--such an unusual choice for the LEC, but a wonderful one.

Just picked up a handful of LEC's today. Am excited to have finally gotten these!

Master Of Ballantrae, in great condition
The Art of Love (Ovid), book in great condition, slipcase pretty good
The Education of Henry Adams, book in very good condition, slipcase fair
Bel-Ami, book and slipcase in great condition
Prometheus Bound and Prometheus Unbound, book and slipcase in great condition
Westward Ho, 2 Volumes, book in great condition, slipcase pretty good
The Man of Property, book in great condition

>73 busywine:: Nice haul!

My LEC copy of The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard arrived today, amazingly fast by the usual standards of mail from the US but right on time for me as just yesterday I'd been thinking about reading it. I've only had a quick flip through it so far, but I already love the illustrations Sylvain Sauvage did for story. I'm working on collecting all the LEC/HP titles illustrated by Sylvain Sauvage (and maybe some from other publishers, if I find any not in French, which I'm scarcely able to read).

>73 busywine: congrats

>74 sakayume: I was trying to remember where I've seen Sylvain Sauvage's work since I don't own any of the 7 volumes he has illustrated for the LEC. It turned out to be EP's Candide. Strange, since EP's classics are frequently reprints of LEC/Heritage books and the LEC Candide did not use Sauvage.

>74 sakayume:, 75

Ken, Sauvage did those illustrations for the Candide which was a joint Heritage Press/Nonesuch Press version in the late 30s before the LEC got around to doing Candidein the 50s. It was one of the Great French Novels (or Romances, I can't remember) that also included The Gods Are A-Thirst which was the one Anatole France novel which didn't have an LEC predecessor or later version, and France's Penguin Island, which also preceded the LEC version which had different illustrations.

Sauvage also did illustrations for Heritage's wartime issue of Sterne's A Sentimental Journey which did not use the previous LEC's illustrations, and he illustrated Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, one of the first 6 books issued by the Heritage Press and is a much sought after edition.

All of these are most desirable, and I personally think his illustrations for Penguin Island, and the book itself, a masterpiece.

Got one more haul in today. Very excited to flip through these.

The Life of Benvenuto Cellini, book in great condition, slipcase good
Discourses of Epictetus, book and slipcase in great condition
Salammbo (Flaubert), book and slipcase in great condition
Kim (Kipling), book and slipcase in great condition
Bel-Ami (Maupassant) - book and slipcase in great condition
Satyricon (Petronius) - book and slipcase in very good condition
Quo Vadis? (Sienkiewicz) - book in great condition, slipcase in good condition
The Poems of Tennyson - book in great condition, slipcase in good condition
The Poems of P.B. Shelley - book in great condition, slipcase in good condition
The Warden (Trollope) - book in great condition, slipcase in good condition
Barchester Towers (Trollope) - book in great condition, slipcase in good condition

Also picked up a perfect condition HP edition of Nibelungenlieo.

Great day in my house! :-)

>76 Django6924: Thanks Robert, I thought there might have been a Heritage volume in there.

>77 busywine: Holy cow, do you have an incredible local bookstore or are you buying these off of the internet?

Just received my copy of Far From the Madding Crowd with the newsletter but not the extra signed print (sigh) - great condition. Tempted to look for the LEC Tess of the d'Ubervilles to replace my EP copy so all of my Hardy will be from the LEC.

>78 kdweber:

Does that mean you'll leave out The Return of the Native? A Heritage Press original that was never issued as an LEC.

I wasn't even aware of the Heritage The Return of the Native but I'm glad to see that Macy again used Agnes Miller Parker to illustrate.

>77 busywine: Wow, that's quite a haul. Nice job.

>79 Django6924:, Okay Robert, just bought a copy of the Heritage The Return of the Native. Book, slipcover, Sandglass and postage for under $10. Prices for Heritage Press books never cease to amaze me. Still need to pick up a copy of Jude, the Obscure to complete the set.

>78 kdweber: bought most from a couple bookstores in Phoenix

Made my last haul today, adding the following LEC's to my collection:

Henry Esmond (Thackery)
Resurrection (Tolstoy)
The Charterhouse of Parma (Stendahl)
Waverley (Scott)
Ferdinand and Isabella (Prescott)
The Nigger of Narcissus (Conrad)
Short Stories of O Henry
Tono Bungay (Wells)

Found a couple good Heritage Press books:
The Georgics of Virgil
The Praise of Folly (Erasmus)

A few FS's:
Abelard and Heloise
Annals of Rome (Tacitus)

And a couple Famous Editions from EP
Hamlet
Romeo and Juliet

I am officially throwing away my CC now otherwise I will not be eating in three months.

>83 busywine: I'm jealous ;-) The LEC Nigger of Narcissus and FS Abelard and Heloise are both on my wish list. Haven't seen the Heritage Erasmus but I love the LEC version.

> 84, would love to have picked up the LEC edition but have given up looking for now!

>83 busywine:: I'm almost green with envy at your glorious haul(s). ;)

>76 Django6924:: Django, thanks for the information. :) The HP/Nonesuch Candide was my first Sauvage illustrated title. Mine has the red fleur-de-lys patterned boards, although there seem to also be some with blue patterned boards. Would you know why the difference, and which was first issued? I've had a look on the internet, but haven't been able to find much information on it and am still confused. Also with Penguin Island, there seem to be a few different covers out there?

Not an LEC or HP so off-topic I suppose, but I managed to find a copy of the Nonesuch Press Graziella in a local bookshop today. It's a little foxed, but still relatively good for something from 1929 and I'm saved the trouble of ordering online, so I'm quite happy. :D

>86 sakayume:

The first Heritage/Nonesuch Candide from 1938 had the red fleurs and buckram binding, the 1951 re-issue had blue. Why? Just one of those puzzles known only to those with insider information as far as I can tell. The Sandglass gives no explanation.

The first Penguin Island had an exceedingly attractive binding, in my opinion: black with a very droll penguin blindstamped on the front cover. This is my favorite. The later Heritage Penguin Island editions had covers that more closely followed the LEC's cream and white binding. The later Heritages also used the LEC's black & white illustrations by Malcolm Cameron, so only the first Heritage has Sauvage's full-color illustrations.

I'm a little behind schedule this morning so I don't have time to go into it now, but the binding issue on Candide is very interesting, and there is a fascinating story behind it, so tonight I will start a new thread here called "Great French Romances" from Nonesuch/Heritage and will lay it out in detail for any who are interested.

Wow, some nice hauls while I was out. I'll be getting the LEC Vanity Fair very soon for $50 - while the books are in great condition save a ding on one of the spines, the slipcase is pretty much shot, but I can do some taping to try to repair it.

Instead of taping it, I have had great success in repairing slipcases with some bookbinders glue, some clamps, and a craft spatula or two.

I second the use of glue and clamps for repairing slipcases.

Just picked up a perfect copy of Jude, the Obscure complete with monthly newsletter.

Okay, I'll see if I can find some of that glue and some clamps. Thanks for the suggestion!

Found and picked up a few others:

LEC
------------------------
Hard Times
Northanger Abbey
The Eclogues Virgil
Lucretius On the Nature of Things
Light of Asia
House of the Dead
Revolt of the Angels
Short Stories Checkov
Nostromo
Panchatantra
Bhagavad Gita

Heritage
-----------------------
The Ballad of Reading Gaol
Salome (what a beautiful edition, anyone have this?)
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater
House of the Seven Gables
Eugene Onegin
Pudd n'Head Wilson
Barnaby Rudge

>87 Django6924:, agree on the cover for Penguin Island....do not have it, but looked at it a couple weeks back...very nice cover. Another one I like the cover of is Typee, do not have it either, but would love to!

>92 busywine: I have Salome and love it. Also Song of Songs Which is Solomon's which is done in the same manner.

Wowie, busywine, you've gotten the bug bad, haven't you? :p Impressive haul! I suppose I shouldn't shop in Arizona anymore. :p

>94 WildcatJF:, sure have....is there any medicine for this other than looking at your bank statement? !! I have been collecting slowly for 20+ years, and had gotten to where I actually had read 80-90% of the 400 or so I had, so I thought I would speed up some purchases to get a good buffer.....well behind now, should have enough choices for a couple years. How often do you all re-read a book that you really loved? Have to say I have not really re-read much (outside of pretty much everything I was "made" to read in high school and early college years 20 years ago.

busywine, are you familiar with Arion Press? If not you should check them out! I'm guessing by the amount of books you are purchasing that you are in good financial standing. You'll need it in order to purchase Arion Press books :) That said, many consider them to be the premier fine-press of today.

http://www.arionpress.com/

>95 busywine: I reread my very favorite books every 10 years or so; some I have reread only once. I dip into favorite poets more often but don't necessarily read entire volumes every time.

>96 astropi:, yea I have been drooling over Arion for some months now and keep telling myself the $3600 price tag for entry to the club could be spent in many other ways! At this point it is an attempt to try to have self discipline in just saying no, I m sure I will fold at some point!

I got two books at the library book sale - a Heritage The First Night with Gilbert and Sullivan's work, complete with the facsimiles, and a bit of an oddity - a Heritage Illustrated Bookshelf copy of Tom Sawyer, but it's bound with a Huck Finn binding. Curious, that. I got the two for $7 total, so I'm pretty happy.

To revitalize the topic, I picked up a Heritage American Indian Tales yesterday. I've wanted this one for a while, so I'm happy to have it. Paid $5 for it, but it does lack a Sandglass and features a bookplate. Still, I'm stoked to own this one at last!

Oh yeah, a while ago I made an LEC acquisition myself. I paid $75, so I may have paid more than I should, but it was still the best price I could find. The condition is fine- in my opinion. Actually, no problems at all except for a crase on the spine (not really a big deal in my opinion, since the spine is in fine condition except for this crease along the leather), and no slipcase. The slipcase is not such a big deal since I can always just make my own. Anyway, the book is:

Poor Richard's Almanac

signed by Norman Rockwell. It's a book I have wanted for a long time. So $75, fine except for small crease on spine and no slipcase (no letter either). I thought it was a fair price, thoughts?

That's a lot less than I paid for my copy (with slipcase). It sounds like a very good deal for this title.

101) Sounds good to me!

Just picked up a mint copy of The Jungle with the Monthly Newsletter. This is only the third time that I have replaced an existing Easton Press volume with its LEC forebear - I couldn't resist the Upton Sinclair signature.

>104 kdweber:, congrats, great catch!

104 - I want that one so much. Congrats!

I myself didn't haul in a LEC, but I did get a nice complete copy of the Heritage Confessions of Rousseau for $11 (plus $10 store credit) at my book job today.

Big haul today, six LECs arrived in the mail. Four have the same limitation number and are in perfect condition (look unread) including the glassine wrappers but missing the monthly newsletter. Another was fine with no glassine but included the newsletter and announcement while the final book had only a near fine slip cover:

The Dead Sea Scrolls
The Koran
The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter (Ambrose Bierce)
Virgil Eclogues
Virgil Georgics

Total cost under $300.

107) Ooo, the Koran. The Heritage was stunning - I can only imagine what the LEC looks like.

Although, that list only has five titles.

>107 kdweber:, great haul! Enjoy them!

>108 WildcatJF: I forgot to list Trollope's The Warden.

Fine score, Ken! I have always felt The Dead Sea Scrolls was one of those gems of the press--not a canonical work, but a fascinating read by an outstanding scholar (I still intend to collect his biography of Jesus in the Folio Society edition before it goes out of print).

I also love the two works of Virgil, the Eclogues for Erni's idiomatic, yet modern illustrations (would he have done the illustrations for the new Arion Press edition of Sappho!), and the Georgics for a perfectly conceived and executed edition of this work: the Mardersteig design, the handmade papaer the Bramanti wood-engravings, and the superlative translation by Dryden. I realize there are many who can't stomach heroic couplets, but I think they are very apropos for Virgil and suit this particular work especially well. I consider this work one of the LEC's very finest.

Does anyone know if the Georgics slipcase came with a label? My copy does not have one and I like to store LECs on the shelf with the slipcase spine out to protect the books.

In my travels today I got three LEC's. None have letters, but they are all in very good plus condition with slipcases (one still had the glassine wrapper on it!):

Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas/Edy Legrand - $50 (store credit)
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome/John Griffins ($35, cash from books traded in)
Saint-Simon's Memoirs with art by Pierre Brissaud ($45)

> 113
I own Twenty Years After (one of my five LECs). It is in pretty good condition, but yours sounds like it is superior. I really enjoy the color pictures even though it is a more recent vintage and I do not believe it was hand-colored. I have the monthly letter for it. I do not own a scanner, but I think there is a copier at work that I can use to scan and email myself the result. I will try it, though I am not so great with that particular technology. I will try to post it to the Dropbox site (also, something I have not tried yet). Actually I just re-confirmed that I have the letter. It is is fine, crisp condition, sadly better than the book!

And you know I am jealous of the Saint-Simon since I was considering purchasing it but you convinced me that the Heritage Press copy was probably close enough! Since then I have more than spent the money I saved by your advice on other books! So I am glad for it.

114 - My Twenty Years After still was wrapped in the glassine, so the spine is as radiant as the front and back boards. It's arguably in the finest condition I have of any of my LEC's. The back of the book states that Legrand's work was hand colored, if I recall correctly. As for the letter, that would be great - I could put it up with the post I do on it in the future if you don't mind. :) Make sure you chat with ironjaw to get access to Dropbox.

As for Saint-Simon, I bought it more so because I'm a huge fan of Pierre Brissaud's work, and wanted a LEC with his signature. The front boards of both editions are pretty similar, and while I haven't compared the two side by side, I was pretty happy with the Heritage edition before getting this one. You'll get a chance to see the two in comparison in the near future, so I hope it will reaffirm your choice. ^_^

>114 UK_History_Fan:

Yes, Jerry beat me to it--Legrand's illustrations were reproduced via photogravure then hand-colored with stencils (pochoir process) in the studios of Walter Fischer--this same technique was common to all the Dumas books from the 1950s: The Three Musketeers, The Queen's Necklace, Marguerite de Valois, and The Man in the Iron mask.

Is Marguerite de Valois an LEC? I hadn't seen that title before. I recently saw pics of the illustrations of Queen's Necklace and that immediately moved to the top of my wish list. I am jealous of the condition of your Twenty Years After. My slipcase is pretty heavily beat up and the spine has some darkening to it, nothing unbearable though. The book feels a little loose and well worn but no splitting is evident. I'm sure if handled carefully it will return years of enjoyment. But then at $31, it was also cheaper than yours and has the letter. Though I think for $19 I would have purchased a better condition if that were an option.

For whatever reason, these three Dumas books all have bad slipcase issues; the paper flakes easily, and the cardboard they used is very flimsy and prone to break. I have all three of these books, and maybe one would be called excellent condition with the other being very good. Very difficult to find mint condition of these

>118 chase.donaldson:

Five in the series, chase--see 116 above.

And, yes, you're absolutely right about the slipcases--they are beautiful with gold foil and the color-coded edging, but they are too flimsy for these heavy books. Indeed, the books put quite a strain on the binding, as >117 UK_History_Fan: remarked. These should have really been two-volume editions with thicker paper, as was the first LEC Three Musketeers.

Ahhh it appears I am missing one on my shelf...I need to go hunt it down

Received a fine copy of Fathers and Sons today. It truly is a pleasure to see a 60 year old book looking so well. Slipcase worn and repaired, but for 25, no problemas.

I remember having read this ages ago, a bit is coming back as I read thru it, but the earlier book did not have the fine Fritz Eichenberg wood engravings from the block. I'm looking forward to matching the story with 'da pitchers'.

Ah, Fritz Eichenberg! What an asset he was to the Macy companies over the years--from the Heritage Press Crime & Punishment to the LEC's Diary of a Country Priest. One of these days I hope to see the very rare edition of Robinson Jeffers' poetry that he illustrated for Random House before he began his association with Macy. And I think no one will ever improve on his illustrations for Jane Eyre.

That Fathers and Sons does look nice - I've seen only the Heritage, but it's hard to go wrong with Eichenberg. Congrats!

I picked up some cheap/free Heritage Press books last weekend:

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane/Sigmund Abeles (Conn.)

Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll/John Tenniel (Conn.)

The Iliad by Homer/John Flaxman

Two Plays by Anton Chekhov/Lajos Szalay

Billy Budd and Benito Cereno by Herman Melville/Robert Shore (Conn.)

In all. .60 for the bunch. Not bad, eh? Shame not a one was complete in any fashion, but I did FINALLY get one of the Lewis Carroll books.

I picked up a copy of the HP Manon Lescaut which brings up a question. How does one know when purchasing an HP volume, when it was printed? I had assumed I was purchasing a book from 1935 and indeed the only copyrights in the book are from 1935 but the included Sandglass was from 1949 so I'm assuming I actually bought a 1949 reprint. How can one tell the difference from the book alone?

>123 WildcatJF:

I have long trumpeted the Melville edition as one of the Press' finest achievements. I will be interested to hear your thoughts.

>124 kdweber:

You can't. Only by comparing the copy to a sample which has had the year of printing verified--this is either done via the Sandglass or accompanying ephemera such as mailing carton or bill. Very hard to come by.

125) I have the New York HP run, and it's a very wonderful book indeed. I got the Connecticut edition to do a comparison post in the near future. I did put up a post on the NY edition not too long ago...

http://georgemacyimagery.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/heritage-press-billy-budd-and-...

124) Yeah, it's sort of a guessing game without proper documentation, as Django mentioned. I can guarantee your Lescault is from 1935 if it has Brissaud's signed print on the title page...but there's too few instances of that good fortune.

122 Have not seen any of those you mention unfortunately, I did pick up a copy of The Adventures of Simplicissimus last year, one reason being the great oversized wood engravings by Eichenberg.

123 Thanks, Wildcat, it was interesting to note in the monthly letter that the illustrations for the LEC were the same as the earlier Heritage Press edition, but while the original woodblocks were used to provide the electroplating for the Heritage edition, the same woodblocks were resurrected to provide true wood engraved illustrations for the LEC. The book is printed on Curtis Rag, but the engravings are printed on a fine, rather tender Japanese paper, nice.

I was happy to find pristine, glassined copies of The Sea Around Us and Memoirs of an Infantry Officer in the January Oak Knoll sale on books from the library of Deborah Evetts, a fine bookbinder. Ms Evetts designed the bindings for the 2 LEC's and I was able to purchase her presentation copies, along with The Officina Bodoni: an account of the work of a hand pres, 1923-1977 by Giovanni Marderstieg. Prices were pretty good because of the 20% off.

127) Simplicissimus is nice, isn't it? I've had my eye on that one, but the price from my favorite shop has been a bit out of my league ($90 I believe), so I'm hoping it'll see a slashing this summer when I head back out there.

As for your Father and Sons, that sounds like how the Club handled Crime and Punishment, which were taken directly from the blocks Eichenberg did for the Heritage original if memory serves.

>128 WildcatJF:

Eichenberg's illustrations for the Heritage Press Crime & Punishment were true blockbusters: the original 1938 HP Crime and Punishment--the version sold through bookstores-- sold out quickly and the membership in the Heritage Club rose dramatically as a result of the success of this book. Eichenberg was never shy on assignments afterwards, and when the LEC members were polled after the war on what books they wanted, Crime & Punishment was a favorite--with Eichenberg's illustrations which had become as iconic as Tenniel's were for the Lewis Carrol books.

My 1948 LEC Crime & Punishment is missing the Monthly Letter, unfortunately, so I'm not sure if any changes or additional illustrations were made, but it once more proves that the Heritage Press was not the poor relation of the LEC, but a fine press in its own right--until the end of the Macy era.

Simplicissimus is a marvel, but a behemoth. How do you go about reading a book of this size - a lectern? Certainly is is too large to balance in the palm of one hand.
Simplicissimus was my first LEC, found last year as I travelled across the States on my way back from Oz to Europe. Upon my return I investigated further, and after reading Jerry's write up of Vanity Fair I realised that this was my style of publisher, of course we don't see many of these in Germany. After much searching; many disappointments; near misses; false trails and red herrings (rather a lot of these) I finally received Vanity Fair yesterday, complete with all the trimmings, and I have to say I am absurdly pleased with it. Once I have escorted my dogs over the frozen fields I shall return to my warm library and spend the rest of the day with it, bask in its splendid floral exuberance, chuckle at those so appropriate pictures, run my fingers over the letterpress indentations and possibly go so far as to reread it!

( http://georgemacyimagery.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/limited-editions-club-vanity-f... )

I've picked up a few Heritage Press editions lately, but the two I am most pleased with are the two volume Plutarch's Lives and Lysistrata (both with the Sandglass). The Plutarch is striking and quite comfy to lay with in bed to read. When I saw it was two volumes, I was afraid the font would be too small, but it's perfect. I've been on a little Cicero kick and am so happy I picked it up.

The Lysistrata is also wonderful with the Picasso illustrations, and I love it when plays or poetry are done in oversized editions, like Folio's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

129) Aye, I don't have a Monthly Letter for my Crime and Punishment, either. There may be one new image for it, since the LEC split the work into two parts and there are two title pages, but I don't have my Heritage any more to compare.

130) Congrats on Vanity Fair - it is indeed a very lovely edition. Hopefully your slipcase is in better shape than mine (i.e. busted). There are more like Vanity Fair out there to hunt down, which I don't fully recall off the top of my head - a lot of the early John Austen LEC's have a distinctive look to them that are very similar to Vanity Fair.

131) Plutarch's Lives will be seeing a LEC/HP comparison on my blog in a few months when I check them out. I like the look of the Heritage edition more, but the size of the LEC volumes (9 in all if I remember) is a little more bearable for the reader. Glad you're happy, though - I'd like to have that, myself!

I could use the Sandglass for Lysistrata if you're a member of our Dropbox. :)

>132 WildcatJF:

The similar Austen-illustrated volumes (two LARGE quartos with illustrated paper dust jackets), are Pickwick Papers, Gil Blas, Smollet's delightful Peregrine Pickle, and Bennett's The Old Wives' Tale. Spenser's Faerie Queene would have been another but Austen's death meant the bulk of the illustrations were by Agnes Miller Parker.

The small 8 volumes of the LEC Plutarch are a nice size for reading in bed, but there is an odd characteristic of these volumes I haven't noticed in other books: the corners of the books are so sharp, they really dig into the palms of my hands when I hold them. It seems to be a result of the very thin, though very stiff boards, and the fact the boards are cut without any radius. I experienced this again last week when I was rereading the life of Pompey the Great in this edition. I have to say I think the Heritage Plutarch is just as easy for reading. The volumes are larger of course, but nothing like the Austen volumes mentioned above.

>132 WildcatJF: I'd be happy to scan it for you, but I'm not a member of the group Dropbox. I do have my own Dropbox account, though, so if you send me a PM I can put it there (or email it). I'll probably scan it next weekend, so let me know if you want copies of any of the other Heritage Press Sandglasses I have:

The Decameron ('40)
The Gallic Wars ('55)
The Grapes of Wrath ('40)
History of Ancient Rome (Norwalk, '72)
Typee ('63)

133) Thanks for clarifying, Django. :)

134) I'll PM you once I have a chance to think about it - I'm about to dig into my university schoolwork, and it's gonna keep me busy for a while today.

I just bought some LEC with the monthly letters from ebay

- A Voyage to the South Seas
- New Arabian Nights
- Man and Superman

136) Man and Superman is lovely! One of my favorites! I could use the letter for it whenever you get the time, ironjaw.

!36

Did you get those from the seller in Colorado, ironjaw? Several nice editions auctioned the other night with plenty of bidding. The bummer is that one last offering, Russian Folk Tales, came a few hours after the bulk finished and I(everyone) missed it for 19.95.

Yes I did, It was my birthday yesterday, so I thought I could spend some money and get some LEC books on top of the ones I am buying from Robert :-)

I will share the LEC letters in the Dropbox folder as soon as I get them

Well a new arrival sets unwrapped on my desk for the last three hours, I've been excited all day as tracking confirmed the package 'was out for delivery', but with so much of interest at the Folio site, I forgot...Oooooohhhhh. Will remedy immediately...first, love the packing, this book could float down the river like Moses and stay dry...run into rocks and stay safe...well this is quite someting to see and feel... only book I have bound in...corduroy.

Happy Birthday, Faisel! I think you will really love New Arabian Nights--not among the top LECs as far as illustrations and design, but a great collection of storiesl

> 140
Perhaps I missed something, but what book are you talking about?

>141 Django6924: Thanks Robert! I did not have a chance to celebrate anything yet as I have been from one meeting to another and just came back from Bruxelles this evening. Nothing called Valentines Day here in Europe, well at least northern Europe :-)

Yay! Some more of my Heritage Press orders came in:

The Lives of the Twelve Caesars (w/Sandglass)
The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche (w/ Sandglass)
The Age of Fable
The Eclogues
The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini (w/ Sandglass)
The Woman in White
On the Origin of the Species (w/ Sandglass)
The Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle (w/ Sandglass)

One of standouts for me is The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche, as Edmund Dulac is a favorite illustrator of mine. I also love the format of The Eclogues and the binding for On the Origin of the Species. The only one I'm disappointed in is The Age of Fable. It doesn't feel like a Heritage Press somehow, more like a regular hardcover with the dustjacket removed and placed in a slipcase.

Off topic, but I thought people here might appreciate it. I also got a stunning book by G.P. Putnam's Son ( The Knickerbocker Press, 1900) Friendship: Two Essays by Cicero and Emerson for $5.50. Besides the beautiful spine and cover, each page has a intricate gold and blue border. Really a little treasure!

Which edition of The Age of Fable did you get? The original version illustrated by Stanley Hayter (a very desirable edition) or the later one with Joe Mugnaini's illustrations--which may be even more desirable if you are a fan of his surrealistic art, which I am? I think your disappointment is odd--unless the copy you have is a later one--a Connecticut Heritage Press. I know that many of these later Heritage Press printings from Norwalk or Avon just don't have the unique character that distinguished all the books with a New York publication address. I have both New York editions, and both are wonderful.

>145 Django6924: Mine is the Stanley Hayter illustrated edition ('42). I should have been clearer - it isn't the illustrations that disappoint but the binding. While I like the illustration on the spine, I don't like the quarter binding with the tan and then rust with this material (or the slightly slick feel of it). That really does remind me of a jacket-less hardcover. I think I also don't like the paper; it feels a little thin to me but perhaps this is my imagination. I do love the tissue thin paper LOA uses, so perhaps it is a quirk of mine reserved for this book. One thing I really do like about it is the decorative endpapers. I wish publishers would utilize this space more. Anyway, I hope it will grow on me!

>140 olepuppy:

Our Town, 1974., I think the only corduroy LEC binding, only one I have, that's for sure , very different, and being very clean, quite sharp in texture and color.

How did you like the HP 'Elegy Written in a Country- Churchyard?

> 147
Though I have not read it yet, I like it a lot, being a huge fan of Parker's woodcuts. Also, i like the nice touch of the blue ruled lines and wide margins so the eyes are drawn immediately to the illustrations and not the text. But I must say it is one of my least favorite cover designs. It looks as though the silver has rubbed off or a lion is sitting on a cement block ready to pounce, quite contrary I am sure to the intent of the book designer.

Revolt of the Angels - Anatole France. One I've been looking at for a while having really enjoyed Penguin Island. In very fine condition for the book with very good slipcase and monthly letter laid in. Unsigned, of course, so a rare affordable price from one of the big London antiquarian dealers.

Huxley - I'd love to see the LEC. :) I adored the Heritage edition of the book, so I'd like to see if it's something I need to invest in myself. :) Congrats (and it too is wonderful to read!).

>149 HuxleyTheCat:

I can't believe you haven't already picked that one up! Jerry is right--a great read. My Heritage doesn't have the Sandglass so I'd love to hear what the ML has to say about the genesis of this book--one of the few times the LEC used illustrations that they hadn't commissioned.

151) Robert, I have the Sandglass - I'll bounce it your way if Huxley lacks the letter.

Thanks, Jerry!

Yesterday received the lec fairy queene and morte darthur.
I too have succumbed to the allure of busywines website.
Sadly neither had the monthly letter, though the price was fairly low and the books are fine. Bought them from the bookseller put forward by busywine, different drummer books. So hard to know which seller to trust.

Would like to give my thanks and appreciation for the efforts of busywine in helping me decide which books I want to buy.

I had a couple of trips this week which resulted in a bit of a splurge on nice editions!:

Revolt of the Angels - France (LEC)
Twenty Years After - Dumas (LEC)
A Raw Youth - Dostoevsky (LEC)
The French Revolution - Carlyle (LEC)

The Wood and the Graver - Eichenberg (Imprint Society)
Fables - Gay (Imprint Society)

Alice's Adventures Underground - Carroll (British Library Facsimile)

Rob Roy - Scott (FS - Ann Muir boards plus George Tute wood engravings)

A History of England - Jane Austen (FS facsimile edition with Ann Muir boards)

Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (Thames and Hudson / George Braziller. This may well be my favourite buy of the week after the Eichenberg! @ £10 for an immaculate condition book, slipcased, bound in a very nice cloth, with excellent reproduction of the illuminations and a commentary on each one. My interest in illuminated manuscripts has been heightened by a visit to the British Library exhibition, and I was delighted with the serendipitous opportunity to acquite a book like this so cheaply. To give a comparison in terms of quality, I'd say that it's a considerably nicer-produced book than the FS Bestiary, with the pages being much closer to those in the Liber Bestiarum.)

> 154
Perhaps I misread your post, but are you saying Different Drummer is trustworthy or you are disappointed and that is why it is hard to know which seller to trust?

> 155
You have no difficulty finding LECs in the UK or were you traveling abroad?

I was in the UK. LECs are not particularly common here, and those in nice condition are usually vastly over-priced compared to what they can be had for in the US, but I was armed with: prior research, a well-practised spotter's eye, and the luxury of time: in return I was rewarded with a fair old dollop of good luck.

> 158
Good for you! So far all of my LECs have come from on-line shopping. Though I live in a major city (Chicago), and while I am certain there are or were LEC subscribers here, I find all of the local bookstores to be completely overpriced on any of the books I collect: Folio, Easton, Franklin, Heritage and LEC. It would be nice to know where to look since the in-person inspection is always so much more fulfilling than the anticipation of mail order and the risk of a condition not matching one's expectation.

> 156
I found them to be trustworthy. As posted on the booksandvines site. Hope I can find more lovely books from them in the future.

>159 UK_History_Fan: I agree, and the in-person inspection also allows for the opportunity to 'negotiate' a little on the price, given that a) a cash transaction will save the seller a significant wadge, and b) a buyer on the shop floor is worth two in the ether.

A couple of points with regard to value: the seller of my Revolt of the Angels priced it at about a third of his usual starting price for LECs which, I assume, was due to the lack of signature. Conversely, Twenty Years After (from a different seller) was priced much lower than The Three Musketeers (also available but I already have it), even though Twenty Years After has Legrand's signature whereas The Musketeers is unsigned. I can only assume that the seller there was going on popularity of the title rather than any other factor. A Raw Youth (from a different seller still) was an absolute steal, and one that I had been tempted by at vastly more cost earlier in the week.

A repeat of what I posted in my blog's thread of my new goodies:

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy/Fritz Eichenberg/Vassily Verestchagin (both volumes)

Ferdinand and Isabella by William H. Prescott/Lima de Freitas

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky/Fritz Eichenberg

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck/Fletcher Martin (Conn.)

The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, trans. by Richard Burton/Valenti Angelo (all 3 vol.)

On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin/Paul Landacre

Omoo by Herman Melville/Reynolds Stone

The Writings of Thomas Jefferson/Lynd Ward

Sherlock Holmes: The Later Adventures by Arthur Conan Doyle/Sidney Paget et al.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley/Mara McAfee (Conn.)

The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope/Donald Spenser (missing Sandglass)

>162 WildcatJF: A great haul! Congratulations. Some of those I have, some I'd like to have, and one I think is inspired - The Origin of Species. I think that's a truly gorgeous edition.

163 - Thanks! I should have mentioned here that these are all Heritage books. The Origin of Species is nice, indeed. I haven't seen the LEC offhand, but the Heritage is lovely regardless.

Yes, I was aware that it was the HP edition, and that's the one I have. I think that the major difference with the LEC edition is that Landacre's (excellent) illustrations have blocks of a single colour, which is quite striking, (there are a couple of examples here http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?bi=0&bx=off&ds=30&pn..., and the slipcase is of the woodgrain type (I really like those) but I've not seen a really affordable copy and it would have to be 'very' affordable to tempt me to upgrade.

Although I have several Heritage Press editions, today I received my first LEC! It is Two Plays for Puritans and is still in the glassine wrapper. I think the spine illustration is striking so very happy with my first acquisition.

>166 Tanglewood:

Congratulations! Nice you found one still with the glassine wraps. That particular edition has one of the most striking spine designs of any LEC, and George Him's illustrations are just right, I think, for these plays by Shaw. I was never completely convinced by Him's illustrations for Zuleika Dobson, but here he strikes just the right blend.

PS: Your first, but I'm willing to predict not your last.

Just received an unread (pages uncut) copy of Volpone. I love the pochoir illustrations by Ben Sussan.

I just bought the 7 volume LEC Gibbon set. I read the comments of others here on LT and while I can be quite a perfectionist about my book condition, I decided I would not spend the money required to obtain this set in pristine or like new condition. A set that I would only characterize as near fine sold recently on eBay for well over $700. Mine cost considerably less than half that (ABE purchase). Yes there is some damage to the spines, with the usual flaking and discoloration, and some of the very top 3 mm or so is missing on a couple of volumes. Nonetheless, the books themselves are in fine condition and likely unread with no corner wear. All of the volumes except the first and last made that cracking sound a new book makes when gently opened. The illustrations are lovely and quite well reproduced with a lot of detail clarity.

My biggest disappointment was with the paper. I can only describe it as resembling newsprint in terms of both color and texture rather than the luxurious high quality paper I've come to expect from LEC. It does appear to be printed letterpress but the color seems unappealing given the other high production standards of this book.

Who else owns this sets that can comment on their impressions of the paper stock quality?

>169 UK_History_Fan: I thought that eBay set in great condition went for $690. Your comments make me glad I didn't bid.

"Who else owns this sets that can comment on their impressions of the paper stock quality?"

I've no issues with the paper at all. It's thin but seems of nice quality, takes the printing well, has a pleasing colour and is rather nicer to read from than the india paper used in my 'Deluxe edition' Lord of the Rings.

It seems there is no recession, at least among the George Macy devoyees. Sounds as if everyone has been busy with acquisitions.

I acquired a few LECs myself: the 1952 Baron Munchausen in Fine condition, Tartarin of Tarascon like wise in two volumes, the second book published by the Club, Leaves of Grass purportedly in Fine condition (I haven't received it yet), and The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson. The Emerson book is a beauty on the inside but falling apart externally so I will have to rebind it.

Now I only need Rip Van Winkle to have all of the Club's first series. And I reached an LEC goal by acquring 500 LEC titles.

I have all posted on my LT library wth many cover pictures. I have some pictures missing from my hard drive crash of year before last, but I hope to have a digital camera shortly so I can replace any lost pictures.

THIS MAY BE OF INTEREST TO SOME HERITAGE PRESS COLLECTORS. i also have posted 75 Heritage Press books, many in Fine to Mint condition. Some titles include The Nibelungenlied (Fine), Typee (Mint), Salome (Mint, but a later printing than the 1940s one), and the extremely hard to find Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (FINE in 3 vols.).

Any interest? Just email me the title(s). I'll send you the condition, price, and photo if available. All have very nice slipcases and all but a couple have A Sandglass present.

Email me here: donald.floyd1741@att.net.

>172 leccol: Congrats on reaching 500 titles, a real milestone! I'm hoping to get to 100 this year.

The only way I reached the magic number if 500 LEC titles was to be a subscriber from 1965 to 1985, then I bought the rest as I could afford them. My first subscription copy was The Sonnets of Petrarch and my last copy in 1985 was The Secret Sharer. Having 20 years as a one owner of LECs got me used to getting all LECs in Mint condition, and I have kept them that way. It gave me a reference for the condition I desired for all other LECs. I can't tell you how many LECs purchased from book sellers that I have returned because of condition.

As you pursue your collection, never feel badly about returning a book. Discrimination is the key to building an enviable collection. I never accepted a near Fine evaluation. A book is either Fine or not Fine, and if not Fine, I wanted a description of why it was not Fine.

> 170
I always include S&H charges in the price as it is still cash out the door (the eBay sale to which you refer was around $40 shipping).

> 171
Thanks for your impressions, perhaps it will grow on me. But it is the very first LEC book I've owned where the paper resembled newsprint. But that may have something to do with the era most of my current collection comes from (1960s, 1970s, with a smattering of other years). Like I said, it is a minor disappointment, and I'm otherwise quite pleased with the set and with the seller who was scrupulously up front about any flaws and provided sufficient pictures so that when I unwrapped the books they appeared exactly as I expected.

> 172
Congratulations on a milestone to be proud of! I have been voraciously buying them since the first of the year (mostly going after the more affordable titles to build a base for my collection and then I can acquire the truly expensive ones gradually). Of course "mostly" and "gradually" are relative terms :-)

> 174
Your interpretation of descriptions made me laugh. But the number of sellers who grade very good condition LECs as Fine also make me want to cry. I completely agree with "A book is either Fine or not Fine, and if not Fine, I wanted a description of why it was not Fine." I love the ABE listings for LECs in fine condition but with spine fade/darkening, split slipcases, bookplates, etc. If a book has a damaged spine or a split slipcase then IT IS NOT IN FINE CONDITION!

>169 UK_History_Fan:

I don't own the LEC Gibbon as I have never had the happy congruity of being able to afford it and of finding a truly Fine copy (the times when the one condition applied, the other did not). I have seen a copy of it several times, and had no issues at all with the paper which was thin but opaque, and seems the best way to print a work with so many pages! The smooth texture I'm sure was necessitated by the small font used for the footnotes, as a textured or woven surface would not have taken a clean impression. Toned papers are always an issue--usually I prefer a bright, neutral white, but the use of a somewhat sepia palette, given that was the color of the printing of the illustrations, seems harmonious. I rather like the sepia for the Piranesi etchings, and feel stark black on white would have lost the somewhat antiquarian feeling for the set, but this is purely a matter of taste.

Make you a deal, UK. When my own personal recession ends, if the volumes are truly in the condition as described on eBay, I will buy them for $50 more than you paid in total.

176
Thanks for the offer but I think a couple things might have been misunderstood.

1) I did not buy the $700 set on eBay, I bought on ABE

2) the books I bought were not as nice as the eBay set but my point was to me the eBay set was no better than near fine (I still saw some spine issues in the pictures) and my set is close enough for costing less than 1/3 of the eBay set (yes that one was superior, but not enough so to justify a $500+ extra outlay)

3) I was a little surprised and disappointed by the paper used, but quite pleasantly surprised by the book condition overall and I have no regrets that I purchased

So sorry, but I plan to keep them :-). If anything, I might get a custom slipcase made at some point as I don't like the one that it came with since it is splitting and does not fully cover and protect the books. My familiarity with LECs is just beginning but I have never seen a slipcase like that before and would have assumed it was not original if the eBay set didn't appear to have the identical case.

Thanks for your impressions of the paper.

Found a nice copy of The Age of Fable yesterday and am glad to add this mythology to my LEC's. I like Joe Mugnaini's lithos and especially like the pen and ink chapter headings.

The bookseller also had a portfolio of prints called The Easel, an elephant(or larger)folio of 30 or so numbered prints reproduced from Heritage Press editions, limitation 9500. Anybody know anything about this production?

>178 olepuppy:

Congratulations, olepuppy! I very much like that edition of Bulfinch, with Mugnaini's wild illustrations. Very interesting contrast to the Heritage Press original with Stanley Hayter's somewhat controversial, but equally fascinating, illustrations.

The Heritage Press brought out at least two portfolios of artwork during the Macy years--The Van Gogh Album and The Rembrandt Album--as supplements to their publications of Lust for Life and R.v.R.: The Life of Rembrandt. They also sold art prints over the years of famous illustrations from the books: "Main Street Mansion" from Main Street, "Song of Myself" from Leaves of Grass (the Rockwell Kent illustrated edition), "It Was a Golden Afternoon" from the Arthur Rackham-illustrated The Wind in the Willows, and many others. I have not heard of a portfolio of prints called "The Easel," but perhaps this was someone's collection of all these art prints of Heritage illustrations issued individually?

>179 Django6924:

Thanks, Django, I'll be on the lookout for the HP edition so that I can see the other illustrations.

If you go to eBay and look for Heritage Club, category Art, you'll see 4 examples of repros from The Easel, all numbered 2399/9500. I don't know if these come from a later onetime reissue of prints or if members subscribed to the limitation and received them one at a time. The uniform perfection of the ones I saw too briefly makes me think the former.

I think you are right, olepuppy. These are all illustrations from the books issued over the years, but these were made after the Heritage Press was sold by the Macy family (note there are dates from the 1970s on these).

Of course a limitation of 9500 is a bit preposterous, but I can't help believing that prints like this are actually somewhat harder to find than the books they illustrated.

Yes, I'm a bit surprised that, with the high limitation and the seemingly good quality of the prints, we have not heard anything here before. I looked thru the previous threads, zip.

Following your link to ebay, olepup, I saw that rather lovely woodcut by Boyd Hanna. Now I have two additional books on my wish list: The LEC Longfellow Poems and the Peter Pauper Leaves of Grass. Cheers!

I just knew you would like Hanna's work, Huxley! Trust me, the rest of his work on the Longfellow edition is on an equally high plane. Good luck, though, finding the Peter Pauper Leaves of Grass at anything like an affordable price: I have looked for years and it has always been just out of my purchasing capabilities when I found a nice copy, or it was a tattered, taped together copy the times when I could have afforded a Fine example.

I liked the colored woodcut also, Hux, and thought the same about Longfellow, race ya!

Bill Majure has a PP LoG for 350, a bit rubbed, didn't realize the size of the book, 14.5x9.5

>184 Django6924: "I just knew you would like Hanna's work, Huxley!"

And one tries so hard to be enigmatic!

Well, we had the Gibbon and the Count of MC, so, next challenge is a sub-£100 LoG.

>185 olepuppy: That's not fair - you have an ocean's worth of head start!

A little while ago I mentioned during my last Heritage Press haul that I was waiting to hear on a price for the rest of the lot. The person in charge of the library sale doesn't think they will sell in the sale, so I will be getting them for an unbelievably low price. 50 books = $50. A dollar a piece. Most are Connecticut era books, but whatever I don't have or want I can trade in and get other books for 4 to 5 times the amount I'll be paying for them.

:D

>187 WildcatJF:

Nice haul! Don't assume that all the Connectiicut era books are inferior. There were a few in the early period that were quite nice and a few that never had a NY version--the Rackham-illustrated Ring of the Nibelungen and the Horatio Alger volume, for example.

My recent acquisition is LEC Sartor Resartus, published in 1931. I had it for the last 10 years in a VG+ condition, with a little discoloration of the back and without SC. Now I got a copy that - I believe - was never opened and touched since 1931, which really surprises me because the book is quite interesting. So the previous copy is on sale now. I bought it in 2001 for $45. Is anyone interested in getting it for $30 + S&H?

188) Not all of them are, that is true. I intend on keeping the ones that are exclusive to the era as well as excellent copies of books I'm interested in that I may not have from the NY timeframe (that are difficult for me to find).

>187 WildcatJF: What a steal, even by HP standards!

Three more LECs acquired yesterday:

The Prince and the Pauper
The Poems of William Cullen Bryant
The Poems of John Greenleaf Whittier

Does anyone know the binding material of the Whittier vol? On abe there are descriptions of it being bound in black morocco and in green sheepskin. My volume is green, but I also saw a copy that was orange, which was quite strange. The spine on mine has a bit of an orange tint, and I was wondering if the orange copy had originally been green. Incidentally, my copy had a book plate indicating that it came from the same library as my copy of The Travels of Lemuel Gulliver - call me sentimental, but I think it's rather nice that these two books have been reunited.

>187 WildcatJF: wow!

>188 Django6924: Having recently seen the Rackham illustrations for the Ring, that's one book I would definitely like to find.

>192 HuxleyTheCat: green sheepskin, I'm guessing the orange is faded

I believe the American poets series were all bound in sheepskin which didn't hold up well. The Whittier LECs did have an orange tint to them, but I believe the color was originally green. Yes, I just looked in the bibliography and Whittier was bound in full green sheepskin. The only one of this series I have is the poems of Poe which is bound in black sheepskin. It is scheduled to be rebound at the first of next year.

While on the whole, volumes of poet's oeuvre have not been very successful, either for the LEC or the Folio Society, the American Poets series is a very happy exception to the seeming rule that a single illustrator seldom does justice to a poet's entire body of work--or even a large selection therefrom. The Whittier and Bryant volumes are both very aptly illustrated, in my opinion, and the others in the series are even better. Helen Sewell, who did the iconoclastic Jane Austen illustrations for the LEC earlier, hit just the right note I think, with her illustrations for Emily Dickinson--no mean feat! The watercolors the Beers did for Emerson's poems are some of the most beautiful little illustrations I've ever seen, and again entirely apposite. I've already remarked on Boyd Hanna's Longfellow illustrations, a case of where the illustrations may be artistically superior to the poetry itself, and Steiner-Prag's Poe illustrations fare about as well as any artist could with Poe, although for many Doré's illustrations for "The Raven" said all that needed to be said about illustrating Poe's poems.

Of course the pre-eminent American poet got three volumes dedicated to his work. I've not seen the first Leaves of Grass, which was unillustrated, but Macy himself felt he made a mistake in using only the text of the first edition, which left out many of Whitman's greatest poems. The second I've not seen either, but despite its apparent desirability, I don't think I'd be happy with a LOG illustrated by photographs--even by Weston. I haven't seen the Shiff-era Song of the Open Road, but a single poem illustrated with Aaron Siskind's art I feel sure isn't my cup of tea. I'm much happier with the Heritage Press edition with Rockwell Kent's art. But in the end, I'm still loyal to my Doubleday-Doran Leaves of Grass with the American Regionalist illustrations by Daniels--to me, they capture the essence of Whitman as no other have--even Boyd Hanna's.

I cannot agrre with Django about the LOG by Whitman. I have all LEC 3 books, starting from the book # 2, printed in 1929. Even without illustrations, this book got several important awards. It is hard to blame Macy about the absence of the pics in that publication, as the concept of the LEC edition was not completely cooked yet. There is a front page facsimile copy from the 1st edition - it was very hard to get to copy as only very few copies of that edition were alive by that time.

The Weston edition of LOG is absolutely astounding. Ed Weston was very proud of this work, it is often mentioned as his great achievement in his art. Weston asked Macy to give him enough liberty to avoid "exact matching" of the text and photograph, but eventually there was a lot of matching! I am sure you will enjoy possessing this book, Django, when you get a right chance. It is one of my favorite books of the collection.

Siskind's art is also amazing, and the book is amazing. I do not regret a penny of the sum spent for this edition of LOG's single poem.

So I got my lot of 50 or so Heritage books today, despite unfavorable weather. Most of the ones I am definitely keeping are in really good shape, beyond occasional spine fading or slight spider webbing. I wager that for sure I'm keeping close to 20 of them without question. I need to determine the other 30 or so in terms of availability of New York/LEC editions and if I like the look of the Connecticut books enough to hold on to them for the time being. I'm really jubilant about it. :) I'll list them all when I get the time to.

I believe it was Huxley who asked me about my recent hoard of books from this weekend's shopping trip to the northern Chicago suburbs. Here were my finds (some of these are not at all difficult to obtain but I list them for completeness):

Goldsmith, Oliver - She Stoops To Conquer
Ibsen, Henrik - Peer Gynt
Petronius - Satyricon
Jonson, Ben - Volpone or The Fox
Cooper, James Fennimore - The Spy
Cooper, James Fennimore- The Pilot
Browning, Robert - The Ring and The Book (2 Vol)
Aristophanes - The Birds
Fielding, Henry - Tom Jones (1952 2 vol edition)
Maupassant, Guy de - Bel-Ami
Spencer, Edmund - The Faerie Queene (2 Vol)
Balzac, Honore de - Droll Stories (3 vol)
Turgenev, Ivan - Fathers and Sons
Stevenson, Robert Louis - Travels With A Donkey
Vasari, Giorgio - Lives of the Most Eminent Painters (2 Vol)
Recinos, Adrian - The Book of the People: Popol Vuh
Dostoevsky, Fyodor - Crime & Punishment (2 Vol)
Mithcell, Margaret - Gone With The Wind (2 Vol)
Buck, Pearl - All Men Are Brothers (2 Vol)

I will comment a bit more on them later tonight if I get time, but for now, I will leave you with this: Faerie Queene was my most satisfying purchase in that it was at the very top of my wish list and the Vasari set was the one in the best condition (truly mint, including perfectly preserved dust jackets with no hint of aging/toning and a mint slipcase). All of the above came with the Monthly Letter and Publication Announcement (what is the official name for these little slips of paper?) except for the Droll Stories set which was probably the worst conditon overall, yet still a VG copy with fine book internals.

>198 UK_History_Fan:

Although you were disappointed in Droll Stories, you might be interested in knowing that a subscribers' poll in 1937 (or thereabouts), Droll Stories was in the top ten of favorite editions. Dwiggins' editions--the LEC Plutarch, Rabelais, etc.--were smallish, beautifully printed, but not illustrated in the way we associate illustrations with the LEC. Lots of tasteful and beautiful ornamentation, but not usually in depictions of charaters or incidents. When Dwiggins did illustrate, as in the Heritage The Scarlet Letter, the illustrations are beautifully drafted but curiously lacking in dramatic insight.

198) Ah, that Crime and Punishment is a beauty. I'm reading it at the moment. I'd love to have the letter for it when you get the time!

That list of Heritage books will come Thursday or so, once I get through all of my school work. XD

> 200
Not a problem. I can try to get the letter posted this week to the Dropbox folder unless you prefer another transmission.

> 199
Perhaps this one will grow on me with time. I do not dislike it, it is just not my favorite LEC production. I do prefer books with copious illustrations (at least LEC). Plus with the lack of monthly letter and the mere VG condition, if it had not been reasonably priced ($50), I probably would have just skipped it. Interesting that you should mention the Rabelais set (I assume you mean the multi-volume Gargantua & Pantagruel). I paid a pretty penny for a very nice copy of this set recently (books are in NF condition, slipcase is only VG/VG-), and though I do like it, I was surprised by the simple illustrations and lack of adornments.

201) Dropbox is fine. :)

198 Thanks for posting your list of purchases - quite a haul, and several that I'd love to get myself. Only once have I been in a bookshop that had more than 20 LECs, and that was one of those London dealers who price according to their postcode rather than the book. If I'd been a wealthy individual I'd have snapped up at least a dozen but alas could only afford one: I couldn't resist a completely mint Don Quixote with Legrand illustrations which due, I presume, to lack of signature just crept in below the £100 mark.

That's a good price for the Legrande Quixote. I never noticed before that Legrand never signed it. What's 100 pounds: about $120. I paid about $275 for mine three years ago. Mint condition, but no slipcase so I had one made.

>204 leccol: more like $160

> 202
I will try to take care of both Monthly Letter requests this weekend.

Okay, so here's that massive 50 book haul I got:

KEEPING:

The Republic by Plato/Fritz Kredel (Conn.)

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane/John Steuart Curry (Conn.)

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis/Grant Wood (Conn.)

Anna Kareninaby Leo Tolstoy/Barnett Freedman

Notes from Underground and The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky/Alexandre Alexeieff

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon/Gian Battista Piranesi

The Iliad by Homer/John Flaxman (better copy, Conn. sandglass but NY printing)

The Lives of the Twelve Caesars by Suetonius/Salvatore Fiume

The History of Rome by Livy/Raffaele Scorzelli

The Federalist or the New Constitution by Alexander Hamilton et al/Bruce Rogers (Conn.)

The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin/Fritz Kredel (Conn.)

Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana/Hans Alexander Mueller

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson/Edward A. Wilson (Conn.)

Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley/Edward A. Wilson (Conn.)

The Call of the Wild by Jack London/Henry Varnum Poor (Conn.)

Le Morte Darthurby Sir Thomas Malory/Robert Gibbings (Conn.)

3 Plays by Euripedes/Michael Aryton

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain/Honore Guilbeau

Poor Richard’s Almanacks by Benjamin Franklin/Norman Rockwell

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair/Fletcher Martin (Conn.)

The Travels of Marco Polo/Nikolai Fyodorovitch Lapshin (Conn.)

The Pathfinder by James Fenimore Cooper/Richard A. Powers

Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle/Sidney Paget et al (better, unmarked copy)

And the ones I’m not keeping (but will document! These are all Connecticut editions):

The Prairie by James Fenimore Cooper/John Steuart Curry

The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy/Agnes Miller Parker

Symposium by Plato/Eugene Karlin

The Odyssey by Homer/John Flaxman

The Sea-Wolf by John London/Fletcher Martin

Utopia by Sir Thomas More/unillustrated

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce/Brian Keong

Paradise Lost by John Milton/William Blake

Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe/Eugene Delacroix

The Red and the Black by Stendhal/Rafaello Busoni

Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad/Lynd Ward

Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev/Fritz Eichenberg

South Wind by Norman Douglas/Carlotta Petrina

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy/Agnes Miller Parker

Plus I also got alternate copies of Rights of Man, Billy Budd/Benito Cereno, The Spy, The Master of Ballantrae, Crime and Punishment, Jude the Obscure, The Deerslayer, The Aeneid, Penguin Island, Cyrano de Bergerac, and The Virginian. I’ve gone through all of the books and kept the best editions (which the two I distinctly recall are up above in my Keeper pile). Most are complete; only a scant few were missing their Sandglass. So, on the whole, I’ve greatly expanded my collection and have plenty to photograph in the days ahead. I was able to find an ideal box for my Leaves of Grass and put Sandglasses to a couple of my books missing documentation, too. :) Expect updates over the next week!

Great haul! Some of these I would, from a design standpoint, rate higher than their LEC counterparts--especially the Doestoevsky Note from Underground/The Gambler--a striking design and a beautifully-made edition of two fine works.

I have uploaded photos of the requested LEC Monthly Letters and publication announcements (I really wish someone would enlighten me on the official name for these little card-like pages) to the Dropbox shared folder under 1948 All Men Are Brothers and 1948 Crime & Punishment. They are merely passable in terms of legibility, but given that I do not have a scanner, this was the best I could do for now and I am no photographer.

Today was the first time I realized the "little announcements" are printed on exclusive Limited Edition Club watermarked paper. I am sure everyone will recognize the graphic. It is the last file in the 1948 All Men Are Brothers folder.

>209 UK_History_Fan:

They are simply called Announcement Cards.

Ah, thank you, I have been wondering. Some sellers refer to them as Prospectus, perhaps to distinguish from a monthly letter, but I have seen some copies of the LEC Prospectus and understand how it is different.

Received yesterday the lec count of monte cristo from 1941 with the lynd ward illustrations. Still with the glassines with the books in fine condition. Im à happy camper.

>212 Virion: Wow that's a good buy, Virion

I've received an LEC Evergreen Tale, King Midas and the Golden Touch.

The good news is that I like the story and the very different Eichenberg lithos and it has the monthly letter for the three tales that year and that the book is a stamped presentation copy with the letters F E written in and signed by the illustrator.

The bad news is that there is more damage to the binding than described and that the whole book smells of mildew, also undescribed.

Anyway I've e-mailed the seller and await a reply. I don't know if the book can be cleaned or not.

Also received Sermon on the Mount, some wear, lovely book.

Paul, did you see what I wrote in the celand Fisherman thread about King Midas?:

"I very nearly acquired Eichenberg's personal copy of King Midas from the Evergreen Tales last week. It was very reasonably priced, but I quibbled when the seller requested what I thought were unreasonable additional p&p charges and, in a fit of pique, cancelled the order. I think I've made a mistake..."

Apparently the 'fit of pique' was well-timed, Fiona, the long distance after-hassle probably would have aroused 'great pique'. I e-mailed Saturday night and have heard nothing today but expect to hear from them tomorrow, we'll see. And I did forget completely your previous mention.

I also cancelled an order from the same for asking additional shipping for what I thought was a normal sized FS edition about three years ago, after I had bought several nice books previously. Of course, this time I should have verified condition first...like going to a fast food takeout window, when you check the contents of the bag all's OK, when you don't check somethin's missin!

>214 olepuppy:

olepuppy, I have never seen a copy of The Sermon on the Mount in any bookstore; what would you say is the pre-eminent attraction of this book that might account for this scarcity?

>217 Django6924:

I can only guess, Django, that the subject of the book is one that people love more than a typical peace of fiction, classic or no. There are no illustrations, the stunning Cockerell hand marbled paper boards don't really seem to fit the story. The French-fold design for the text is quite nice and the paper is very smooth, both of which help to highlight the word.

I got out my copy of "The Sermon", and I agree with Olepuppy. I love Cockerell marbled paper, but it is used out of place on this book, It is much better used on certain 19th century novels such as Jekyll and Hyde. Also the very modern slipcase design doesn't fit with the rest of the book. I don't know about the popularity of the book. I received my copy through my subscription to the Club. Overall, the book suffers from some design flaws,

Three new LECs in fine or near fine condition (sadly, sans Monthly Letter) for under $100 including shipping: The Lyrical Poems of Francois Villon, The Sea Around Us and Travels in Arabia Deserta. Also, my HP copy of Westward Ho arrived. Perfect condition, unread, with Sandglass - $8 after shipping.

>220 kdweber: "HP copy of Westward Ho arrived. Perfect condition, unread, with Sandglass - $8 after shipping"

Unbelievable. A classic novel, wonderful illustrations, letterpress printing--why aren't books like this being snapped up by people? The Everyman's Library edition (no illustrations, no letterpress) is over $40 and a new paperback edition from Amazon is $10. One day someone may realize what treasures these books are.

>220 kdweber: You are a lucky fish. Were they on sale at the Arizona Book Gallery? Last time I looked a swag of them had gone - but still some good buys left, I do believe.

The reasons that HP books don't sell well are multitudinous:

1) There are too many titles available. The LEC Published 1500 titles each month so a conservative estimate of HP copies is probably ten fold or 15,000.

2) Many LEC titles are now available on the internet and these tend to make the HP titles less lucrative to collectors.

3) The EP reprints bound in full leather offer more appeal, especially to young collectors.

My experience with HP is that of a hard sell. I need to sell my HP, EP, and FS titles to make room for my LEC collection. I have only been able to sell about ten HP titles in the last year. Buyers like my books because of their Fine to Mint condition, but they tend to like the leather-bound EPs over the HPs regardless of the low HP price. When I pointed out to one buyer the quality of the Typee color illustrations over those of the B&W EP version, he replied he wanted all leather-bound books in his book case regardless of the illustration quality or the letter press printing.

I have 70 HP copies all with slipcases and Sandglass. The condition of most varies from Fine to Mint. I don't know if I will ever be able to sell the HPs regardless of their low price.

>222 SophyWestern: You guessed it. I would have bought more if I had know the condition was so good.

>223 leccol: Sad but true. Such nice books and so much bang for the buck. I don't buy many because I'm willing to splurge for the LEC (usually, also a bargain) but I would have bought more of them when I was younger if I had known about them.

223) That does appear to be the case. A lot of booksellers don't tend to like HP's because of those factors you mention. It just makes it easier on us to get good books, I suppose. :)

I'm not much taken by EP editions. The photo on the front of their website reminds me of one of those 50s' Good Housekeeping illustrations showing you how to brighten up your home and impress your husband's boss when he deigns to come to dinner. I find it oppressive. This is obviously unfair to EP and mainly due to my having spent too much of my childhood in just such a room, furnished (unsuccessfully) for just such purposes with faux-leather books. As a result I dislike too much uniformity in books and love a variety of binding designs and materials. Sometimes, yes, leather or part-leather is fine. Other times...well, I prefer the Folio Society/LEC approach of finding the right materials for the book, rather than squeezing the book's personality into a leather jacket, however well crafted. And some books simply don't seem to justify such a binding. I can't, for example, ever see myself wanting to buy a leather-bound Mayo Clinic Book of Home Remedies.
But I agree with wildcat - if EP's popularitykeeps HP prices down, I can live it with it!

I feel like a dummy and, if this is already in this thread, I failed to find it... What is "HP"?

>227 jshorr: Heritage Press - in a nutshell, the mass market version of the Limited Editions Club (LEC). HP books are discussed in many LT threads in this (George Macy devotees) group.

I've definitely heard of heritage, I just didn't make the connection. Thanks for enlightening me!

HP means Heritage Press? All this time I thought it meant Half Price.