Letterpress Shakespeare numbering

I just used my $100 voucher to get Henry IV, part I. And it arrived quite quickly here in Nederland, Colorado. But I was somewhat astounded when I opened it, finding that although it was printed in 2009, my copy is numbered 87. I realize that it may not be the most popular of Shakespeare's plays, although I think it is at least the most popular of the histories. I bought four other of the Letterpress Shakespeares, and quite soon after they were released, and the lowest number was 331, with two of them in the 700's.

So the question is, is it just a fluke that I got such a low number, or is that common? That is, does anybody know if, after they print and bind 1000 copies, do they just send them out at random? Does anyone have a higher numbered copy that they received some time ago?

Or could it be that they really have sold only 87 copies of this wonderful play in three years?

And for those of you who have been to the Member's room recently, do they have copies of these Letterpress Shakespeares on display there?

No idea about the numbering, but I think Henry IV gets lost among all the other Henry plays and related War of the Roses plays. And that's a shame, because I think it's probably the greatest of his English history plays. It certainly towers about all three Henry VIs! Such a brilliant melange of humor, history, and drama, merged in a way probably unprecedented on stage...

I get the impression that the Letterpress Shakespeare sell quite slowly. That said, Folio has definitely sold more than 87 copies of Henry IV, part i. I wonder what the story behind your copy is. Perhaps it's worth inquiring?

If you get the opportunity, some pictures would be much appreciated. I've yet to see any good photos of any of the History plays.

>3 menteith: I doubt I can do any better than the pictures that are available on the FS website, which really depict the purplish accents of the marbled paper. my camera missed them altogether. here is a link to Henrv IV: http://www.foliosociety.com/book/HP1/henry-iv-part-1.

Wow, very pretty!

That's about when I stopped buying every volume and I'm probably not alone. This means that the limitation number from an earlier subscriber is now free for the open market.