Washington Irving's The Life of George Washington - new cloth bound book set??

http://www.eastonpress.com/prod/9D0/Washington-Irving-s-THE-LIFE-OF-GEORGE-WASHI...

So now EP is getting into cloth bound books? Is this testing the water for more directly competing with the likes of Folio Society?

That's what I thought when I saw it too.

Ick. Leather is the only advantage ep has

>3 UK_History_Fan:
Exactly what I was thinking.

As is becoming customary, Easton's website says something different from their marketing email. The email says the limitation is 1,000 sets, but the website says 800.

Folio doesn't do dust jackets. As far as I can tell, EP will be charging $99/volume for a standard clothbound book with dj and no ribbon marker. It's a good deal for them, I suppose, if enough people will buy them.

Can't see this working out well. EP really doesn't put the effort in the content or quality to be be able to compete with clothbound books. The leather binding is their only real differentiator. If they abandon that, they might as well close their doors now.

Incredibly overpriced.

Dust jackets? Really?

"Featuring custom-designed dust jackets that when placed side by side, reproduce the famous 1851 painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware"

My idea of a dusk jacket is of something detachable. From the pictures on the website the book looks quarter bound in printed paper? Unless the dust jacket is only a quarter size then in that case I'm ROTFL. But if they are venturing on the other side of the pond then they would have to start commissioning introductions and up to date text or else what's the point. I buy EP books because I like the way they look, but the contents sometimes is less desirable.

>7 Studedoo: You captured the essence of the matter in a nutshell.

EP has done cloth-bound/facsimile books before. A few years back they introduced the First Editions Library, where they did facsimiles of the first edition of "famous" books with a slipcase. It didn't last long, and I don't know how many books they did. I would guess this is testing the waters on something different. At that price I doubt they will sell many, and this series won't last long.

Like any company, they want to increase sales, and EP seems to try anything possible. It wasn't that long ago that they tried a line of "book related" items. You can still buy a $200 bookshelf from them and $75 bookends! Or a $75 "Accent bookshelf" that looks to hold about 10 books!

http://www.eastonpress.com/cat/Decor_1-161?BusinessUnitKey=efd15307-3dbc-454c-a2...

Hurry! Quantities limited!

Well, it would be nice to have a real review at some point by someone who can get their hands on one of these. We seem to be just speculating so far.

I found this line interesting:

"this is the first offer in the Easton Press BY DESIGN clothbound imprint."

>6 supercell:
>10 JuliusC:
Whether it was an eye or a brain malfunction, I can now clearly see the ribbon marker in the photographs. Thanks for the correction.

I emailed customer service about the dust jacket and received this reply:
"Yes, you can remove the books from the dust jackets.
Thank you for your e-mail."

I could be mistaken, but didn't people also quaff when EP released their first DLE? "Outrageous! $400 for a book! EP is not the FS, they will never sell such a book..." and yet, they're doing a pretty darn good job of selling such books. I mean, I'm not surprised by some of the messages above, but for those with an open mind I suggest giving it a chance. That said, I personally do NOT like dust jackets. On the other hand, other publishers I really enjoy such as Centipede Press have also been into dust jackets. Apparently, a lot of people really like dust jackets for whatever reason. Ah well. It is an expensive set, although it looks to be substantially larger than the typical EP book. I'm not sold on it, but as I said, I'll keep an open mind.

>5 jroger1:
The website has now been corrected to reflect a limitation of 1,000 sets.

I don't mind the cloth covers or dust jackets but I'm wary of the printing. Hopefully, they'll typeset the text for once. A high price point for what looks to be standard trade hardcovers. Time will tell.

17: One thing I want to know, is this set hand-numbered? It should be, and I hope it is.

>18 astropi: Why? I've never understood the allure of hand numbering. I get the reason for adding a limitation. I too crave the connection (however tenuous) of the author's, illustrator's, or designer's autograph. But why should one care about the numbering from some poor underpaid intern or clerk? I always assumed that books were hand numbered because it was cheaper and quicker than setting type.

So it's agreed then? These don't have dust jackets but rather, dust vests?

Brilliant marketing on EPs part. They were probably going to only do a 1000 print run. Why not promote it as a limited edition of 1000.

I think its dust jackets..but the photo is a mockup hence you can't see the actual separation of the jacket.

$100 a volume seems excessively high, even if there's a limitation. Folio Society set volumes are generally $50-$60, and I feel their production standards are generally better than EP's. The dust jacket painting gimmick is something that not everyone would desire, so to me that doesn't really contribute any value. Are you willing to pay a real premium for a fairly ordinary production that has a limitation? The answer for me is no.

Setting aside the quality discussion, FS set volumes that I have collected in the past have gone up a bit. The Lang fairy books are now at $95 each, the O'Brian novels $63-$75 now. Those are the two recent sets I collected from FS.

$100 is at the top end I agree, but is not too far out of line.

sorry, to clarify I was referring to box sets such as The Alexander Trilogy, which is $190 for 3 volumes, or The Foundation Trilogy, which is $150 for 3, as opposed to individual volumes that together make up a set, like the ones you referenced.

I actually don't mind Dust Jackets - The majority of the books I collect are regular editions, so they have DJs. The key is that they need to be designed nicely. This set looks a bit "Readers Digest" to me. Like I said, I think EP has a single USP (leather) and these books don't have that USP. No harm in them trying new things, I guess -- but I do think they would be better investing the effort into modernising and improving their leather book designs, which are often somewhat dated/gaudy, when they could be quite slick with no extra cost.

I'd also question why someone wouldn't just buy an early edition of this for less money.

>26 Studedoo: and/or improve their typography

I just wonder if these are still made in USA. if so then I can appreciate them...but if Made in China like Bradford's books then they have to be be really good to strike my interest.

28: If it's made in China I won't touch it. One of the appeals with EP is that they're made in the USA. For those who say their books are not on par with the FS I would disagree, but I'm not going to get into that now (and for the record, I have quite a few FS books). At any rate, I don't believe these will be made in China.

What's wrong with China?

>30 ironjaw:

I must admit that I personally try to avoid books printed in China on ethical grounds. Generally I only purchase books printed in the UK, USA or Europe. For me it is about the greed associated with outsourcing jobs and production "overseas", coupled with many Chinese-made products being barely fit for purpose (If it is an engineered product or tools, I try to go with German or American). To be fair, most Chinese printing that I have seen seems OK (albeit very often glossy over-white pages), but my moral code requires me to avoid, if possible.

>31 Studedoo: Of course I see your point. I thought that given "China" and "printing history/art" is almost synanomous, the quality would also be so but can see where manufacture/factory in massive scale and outsourcing can hurt. I wonder if there are any traditional book binders in the same sense as fine book binders here in Europe and US that might have some wonderful editions.

China is good for Model Making etc... Just depends on how well the process is managed from the states by the source.

I just don't see these books being printed in China, part of their marketing is that they take pride in their books being made in the USA.

Here's another life of George Washington set that EP did a in 2003 by James Thomas Flexner.





I'm sure the EP price was less than $100 per volume when I bought the set. Nice printing, b&w photos/images throughout each volume. The one volume epitome of this biography by Fexner (red volume to the right in the first picture) was included in the Founding Fathers biography set from around that same time period.

> 29astropi I wholeheartedly agree.

How does Washington Irving's biography stand in terms of an essential text

37: It's considered a classic, and arguably the greatest biography on one of history's greatest leaders.

Any further news regarding this set? The website indicates that the set should be available in June. Has anyone ordered/seen a copy? I'm curious to see what the spines look like without the dust jackets. I sure wish they'd issue this set in leather.

This set is sold out or has been removed from the EP site.