Easton Press Compared To Folio Society!

Hello,

I am a collector and reader of Easton Press books and am very interested in the Folio Society books. I have been looking at them online and was wondering if any of you experienced collectors of Folio Society own Easton Press books and how these two publishers compare by quality, looks, and which do you prefer. I don't own any and like the looks of them because they remind me of my Harper Collins Tolkien Deluxe Edition books.
Thank you for your comments and feedback!
Dennis

I collect both and like most of their publications, but the two publishers are quite different. FS usually commissions new illustrations and resets the type so that it is very clear and easy to read. They also use newer and better translations where that is important.

EP, on the other hand, usually reproduces classic editions, often from the late 1800s. They do not reset the type, so that some of their copies look "muddy" when you try to read them, but the classic illustrations are very often superior both in quality and number to the more modern ones. EP always sews in a ribbon marker and binds their books in leather, whereas FS has no ribbon marker (except in their limited editions) and binds most of their books in cloth or buckram, usually with very attractive designs on the front cover.

Both publishers have been raising their prices significantly in the last year or so, and the quality of EP's deluxe limited editions has been less uniform lately. Many of us find significant bargains from both publishers on the secondary market.

Hi Dennis, come over to the Folio camp! :) Welcome!

Further to what >2 jroger1: has said, I would say that FS volumes show a far greater range of binding materials and designs, with both usually carefully reflecting the subject matter, whether its Egyptian sail cloth used as the binding for 'Riddle in the Sands', marbled boards for 'The Book of Common Prayer', vegetable parchment for 'A History of the Crusades', 'star-dusted' cloth for the 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy', or metallic buckram for the recent 'Dune' volume. Folio binding design thus appears markedly more innovative and adventurous than that of ES, and when FS use leather, it is usually Nigerian goatskin or similar. Beyond binding materials and binding design, Folio use a wide range of high quality acid-free paper types and type settings, and as jroger1 has indicated they invest a lot in illustration work, either in commissioning new illustrations, or in researching and unearthing old rare ones, as they did for 'In Cold Blood' and 'Ring of Bright Water'. The quality of reproduction of John Martin's 24 mezzotints in Folio's recently released Paradise Lost is truly superb. FS slipcases increasingly carry designs which complement title and binding design, occasionally with novel features such as the rifle sight hole cut in the slipcase for 'Day of the Jackal' which slides neatly over the head of de Gaulle on the front board of the book!

Easton Press is creepier. I've lost track of the number of times a famous person has died, and I receive an email the next day asking me to buy a retrospective on that person's life...

Other than that, see above.

>1 Tolkienfan: I forgot to mention Folio almost always commission their own excellent introduction to each volume they publish, though I don't know whether EP do this too.

Thank you all for your feedback and helpful information on the comparisons from EP to FS books. I have joined this group because it looks very active and there are a lot of knowledgeable people who are passionate about Folio Society books. I would like to have a variety in my home library and read other stories besides classics, although I really do love reading the classics.
One more question: is it worth getting a membership with the Folio Society and buying books from them for full price because their prices look to be pretty high compared to being sold on eBay? If you do have a Folio Society membership do you get any discounts or lower costs than what their book prices list for on their site?
Thanks again,
Dennis

>5 JustinTChan: Not creepy; rather, clairvoyant. ;-)

I want to reiterate one point made by other posters above: the quality of the FS typography far exceeds that of EP. Typography is essential to good printing, and this is a critical differentiator between FS and EP.

I agree. EP essentially photocopy the pages. I started with EP because of the leather bindings (they do look pretty as decor) but ultimately they tend to feel bland or the same. Every standard release has that 70s brown silk moire endpaper. Not much sets each volume apart outside of the board design and some potential interior black and white sketches. EP is in the stone age for website processing, international customers have to call in.

Look at it this way, both companies mass produce the books, the secondary market is ripe for the most part. Don't buy these for investment, this isn't a high demand market from the collector perspective. Choose based on what is more important. So if you want a book for decor and not reaaly to be read much i'd say consider Easton but Folio hands down if you want the better reading experience and still have some semblance of shelf appeal.

Thanks gatsby61 for your feedback which is very helpful to me. I agree with you on the collecting side and not buying either companies books as an investment. I buy these for my own pleasure of owning great works of literature for reading and admiring the beauty of the book, illustrations, and to one day pass them down to my kids.

Exactly!

>11 Tolkienfan: Tolkienfan You write that illustrations and the beauty of the book are important to you, in which case I would offer an opinion that the quality of reproduction of the illustrations doesn't even reach 'ok' in Easton Press books. I have a few EPs and the only ones which I am happy with do not have colour illustrations. I once did a side by side comparison of the EP Beowulf with the LEC which it was based upon, with Lynd Ward's wonderful imagery: the washed out, bland reproduction in the EP was enough to ensure I never bought another EP. They made a decent job of All quiet on the Western Front (line drawings) and Leaves of Grass (woodcuts) and I do not know what the Deluxe LEs are like, although I've read that they are much better than the standard copies.

This is a topic which we return to from time to time on this forum, so if you do a search you'll fine plenty of viewpoints to inform you. I would also suggest searching the George Macy forum for comparisons with LEC and HP, and the Fine Press Forum for comparisons with Franklin.

Its simple - overall FS beats EP hands down.
FS quality, illustrations, variety, bindings and customer service (EP are appalling if you are outside USA) are all better than EP.
EP books look boring on the shelf as well.
EP Deluxe Limited Editions are OK, and fit between the FS fine editions and FS LEs.

>7 Tolkienfan: Although you can often source books issued some time ago more cheaply on eBay than direct from Folio (if still in print), Folio's legendary customer service means that you should be happy with any purchase direct from them. Moreover, after you have purchased either four volumes, or spent over £120 on a fewer number of volumes (I think the US equivalent is $240 but another Devotee will correct me if I'm wrong here) to become a member, you then access member benefits. The chief of these consist of (1) A 10% discount on all newly released volumes (standard, fine and Limited Edition), (2) access to three seasonal sales per year (with variable discounts up to 75% off, though with most sales volumes offered at around 30%-50% off RRP) and other intermittent offers (for example at present you get $20 off if you spend at least $120 plus receive a free Folio notebook, and this can be used in conjunction with the 10% discount for the new releases this month) (3) regular mailings including prospectuses and the bi-annual Folio magazine to maintain your addiction, (4) An awareness of belonging to a unique and quite mad family spread across the globe whose monetary expenditure reveals they value Folio books more highly than food, clothes, cars and holidays. (5)... There are possibly more official benefits but they escape me...

>7 Tolkienfan:
I don't know where you are located, but it could make a difference. Shipping costs from the UK to the USA or (from what I understand) to Canada or Australia are quite high and need to be figured into the equation. Conversely, shipping an EP book from America to the UK would be expensive.

>15 cronshaw:

$200 for US membership last I knew. I've been well over that so it might have changed, but I don't think so.

>7 Tolkienfan:
If you're still wondering about membership,you just have to buy books for an amount of £120.
Then you're automatically a member for 1 year.I wanted to check the site to be sure,but the 'membership' link seems to be dead.

The sales are exclusive to members,and in-between these sales you'll have regular offers; 20% books on Sci-Fi,buy Heart of Darkness and get 50% off Conrad's Congo,for example.Hmm,I'd say the sales are very well worth the money,even if you won't very often see books being discounted at more than 50%.As a budget student,I managed to buy 9 books so far from them,thanks to the offers. :)

And yes,I have yet to see an edition that is more beautiful than a Folio book.

Shipping to Canada is relatively cheap at $12 for the first book and $5 there after. Can't be much different to the US.

I am located in Florida, so if I decide to start buying directly from Folio Society in the near future I hope the shipping wont be too much. I did win three eBay auctions today on Folio Society books and I cant wait to receive them and compare them to my Easton Press books. The three I bought are: Diary Of A Nobody, The Greek Myths 2 Volume Set, Mapping The World. If they are what everyone is raving about and I get hooked I will probably back off of Easton Press and start filling my home library with Folio Society instead.

>20 Tolkienfan: Those three are older editions, though still well produced. Diary of a Nobody is a cute cloth-bound volume with charming line illustrations and blocked in a design by the same artist, quite typical of the more modest early volumes I'm quite fond of. Folio editions over the past two decades have grown steadily more adventurous in binding design, with increasingly sumptuous materials and finishes, as you can see comparing volumes currently available on the FS website with the images of older volumes shown on eBay, Amazon and abebooks.

Enjoy your first Folios!

>7 Tolkienfan:

I might add that FS have an interest-free installment plan of up to 10 months (depending on value of total purchase) that sweetens somewhat (or complicates, depending on your point of view) your decisions on expensive orders.

>20 Tolkienfan:
As Cronshaw points out, FS quality (and price) has improved significantly in recent years. The books you have chosen are older ones, still good, but not as good as current offerings. Many of the older FS editions have their own quirky charm, but lately they have just become better and better.

Great to hear that FS has improved its quality over the years. I look forward to buying some of the newer titles soon. I did pretty well with the three titles I picked up on eBay and spent around $55.00. They all looked and were described to be in near mint condition. I would love to purchase a copy of Dune, but at $125.00 I'll have to wait to save up before I can pull the trigger on that one.

>23 wcarter: "lately they have just become better and better." A somewhat subjective view, I feel. They've undoubtedly become more commercial, but whether they have become 'better' is at least debatable.

I wonder what the split is on old vs. new design. To my tastes, the older folios are quaint (at best), whereas the newer ones possess a more modern (and so to me, pleasing) design sensibility. But I'm on the youngish side for this group -- could this perhaps be a generational thing?

Hmm, this thread won't let me post more than about 120 characters....

>26 gmacaree: I think there have been classics and clunkers at virtually every period of Folio history. I think the new Folio Dune is masterful but there again I think that about The Castel of Otranto from the '70s or Uncle Silas from the '80s. Homogeneity of book design is a key factor for me in appreciating a book and I think that there have been periods in the past where design was more imaginative than now. On the other hand, there are some really great illustrators working for Folio at present. For low or ordinary price-point books I feel that materials and craftsmanship was possibly better at some periods in the past, whereas there is a greater range of appealing publications at the moment. So, swings and roundabouts.

> 32

Well, I've brought this up before. But everything is more expensive now.
I could cite burger prices. Same beef, same bun. Percentage wise, the price is much higher.

Fine Press Publishing is just more noticeable, because it was always a tiny market
to begin with and the physical book industry is slowly dying for reasons other than general inflation. So I don't know if we can say quality has gone down relative to price, because the price you are seeing no longer means the same thing as it did 5 years ago.

>20 Tolkienfan:

Mapping the World was the year 2000 Presentation Volume (sent to all members when they ordered four books to renew their annual membership), the first I received - I don't think it differs at all markedly in quality or design criteria from current Folio practice, though others may not agree.

>32 EclecticIndulgence:

List prices do seem somewhat more deterring than a couple of years ago, but I'd not take the new Paradise Lost as an example: yes, it's nearly twice (in the UK) the price of the edition illustrated by Blake, but that was twelve years ago, and while the earlier edition has just four pages of notes the new one comes accompanied by a commentary volume that's as substantial as itself.

I do plan on continuing to buy EP because to me they are quite elegant, prestigious, and so much more affordable than the FS. I can get a brand new title sent monthly from the 100 Greatest Books Collection through EP for $44.00 which includes s/h. You really can't beat that type of a sweet deal down. I am also going to start incorporating some of the FS books into my library as well because I really do love their individuality when it comes to their style, colors, and design and the slipcases are a bonus to me.

>35 Tolkienfan:

I buy from both companies but prefer the classic, leather library look of old, so the vast majority of my books are EP. Most of the the FS books that I have purchased blend in well with EP even though they are not leather. Examples include the Ancient Empires volumes, Patrick O'Brien series, and Pliny's Natural History. The one exception to the rule for me was the FS Andrew Lang Fairy Books, which are just amazing and the in my opinion, some of the most beautiful books ever produced by FS.

Mapping the World is superb -- I really love that volume!

>36 Arknight:
This is has nothing to do with books,but whenever I see your names,it reminds me of Arkham Knight (Batman)...

I'm glad to hear some feedback about one of the titles I picked up and I'm looking forward to receiving it. I was really drawn to the colors and illustrations on the slipcase.

I also collect, and enjoy, both EP and FS (and LEC and HP and a few other publishers).

It's silly to make statements such as FS is simply superior to EP due to text quality. Folks who only collect letterpress make the same condescending statements when comparing LEC to FS. Most people (judging from my circle of friends) can not distinguish letterpress from offset lithography. I do find that whatever printing technique EP is using today creates very readable, crisp text. I think EP has improved in this area compared to 20 years ago.

Regarding illustrations -- while I applaud FS for their original illustrations, they are not used in all FS books (see my very enjoyable 20 volume Master & Commander FS set). If one does not care for the art, it is actually a detractor for the book. There have been many FS books I will not buy because of the illustrations. I similarly have many on my shelf that I really wish had different illustrations. I also have some that work well. I'd prefer to have reproductions of Norman Rockwell or N.C. Wyeth illustrations for many of my texts over what modern artists are doing today. BTW, even though I love LEC and HP books, many of their illustrations are also very unappealing (whoever illustrated the Jane Austen books for those books comes immediately to mind).

I do agree that where the illustrations are the same between LEC and EP, that the LEC productions are superior in boldness, color, clarity. Most of my EP books tend to have just one illustration on the frontispiece, which is generally fine.

So then we come to the bindings. Isn't it comparing apples to oranges to even compare FS to EP bindings? I find both attractive though. Since I have collected a lot of science fiction from EP, I see that while the bindings are similar in that they are leather, they are all unique as well. EP and FS both create books of various sizes and design, and I appreciate the beauty and feel of both of them.

It comes down to titles. While there has been and likely will continue to be some overlap, the publishers generally publish different titles. Restricting ones choice to just the FS will deprive your library of great works of literature that can be acquired through EP (or on the 2nd hand market via LEC/HP).

When the same title is produced by both publishers (again thinking back to the Master & Command series) then it's great to have a choice. For me it comes down to which illustrations appeal more to my taste, with cost as secondary factor if it's a large series of books.

-Shawn

Shawn,

I completely agree with what you stated in your post on all areas you elaborated on. I don't believe in putting down or degrading any of the publishers out there and the type of product they are selling. Everyone is opinionated and has a right to love and support what they prefer when it comes to books. I am not going to be swayed or manipulated into choosing one publisher over the other because I collect what I like which is Easton Press, but will also keep an open mind to add other publishers to my library that appeal to me.
Great input on this topic for discussion!

I will say, from what I saw in the one Easton Press catalog I got, the prices were higher than Folio for the books I saw listed. I also wasn't that interested in the somewhat (scammy? late night infomercial feel?) off editions of a sort of time life short bio of someone famous. For the books I was interested in, the bindings also weren't to my taste - really looked old and boring, and they didn't manage to present them in a way that really made me want to pay "just 4 installments of $75 a month" for one book. That also made me feel infomertialish... I just made up a word there. The presentation just wasn't great IMHO.

But then again, I'd passed on Folio the first time I saw an insert thinking it was a membership club a la columbia records, so I thought I ought to get an Easton Press book to compare. I ended up comparing the used EP and Folio editions of Gullivers Travels from Abe Books. While the 1971ish Folio isn't anywhere where as nice as the modern Dune level Folio, it's - in my not so humble opinion - noticeably better than the EP version I got. I pretty much had all the issues listed of EP, the text was blurry - almost as if it had been photocopied. The illustrations were not great, the paper felt cheap, and the leather wasn't anything for me to write home about. Suffice it to say, I haven't yet purchased another Easton Press book. That book is in my secondary shelf at my office rather than taking up space at home. And while I'm willing to bet EP has improved (Folio certainly has in my opinion) - I really don't want to pay their "new" prices.

Finally, my cousin ordered a book from that catalog because he thought I recommended EP (It was a busy family gathering, and I was more like, hey look at these neat leather books). It took over 4 months to arrive. I mean, it's not even coming from the UK like Folio, and when I order from Folio it's 1.5 months at most... And EP CS couldn't or wouldn't say what the delay was - it certainly wasn't shipping... you'd have to courier it with a random hiker who forswore any modern travel methods to make something take 4 months in shipping WITHIN the US!

So yea - EP isn't very strong with me, but of course you might have a different experience. I do have a fellow book lover at the office, and while it took awhile of seeing my Folio's rotate through, he also looked at the EP I got. He was likewise not very impressed. Folio was a different matter, and he has ordered 2 books from the May Collection.

>42 jp10558:
"I pretty much had all the issues listed of EP, the text was blurry - almost as if it had been photocopied."

The blurry text is the biggest bugaboo about some EP books - not most of them or even a large number - but too many are photocopied from inferior texts or else their photocopying process was poorly done. Shawn (>40 sdawson:) is correct that most eyes can't tell the difference between letterpress and a good offset print, and most EP books are easy to read. But there are too many that aren't. The worst case I have run across is their deluxe limited edition of "20,000 Leagues," which had letters running together so badly that some pages were almost impossible to read. (I returned the book.)

But on the other side of the coin, I usually prefer EP's illustrations. I know it is a personal choice, but to me the classic illustrations of Gustave Dore and other 19th century illustrators are vastly superior to most of the more recent ones. Besides the quality, the classic artist usually included 50 or 100 or more illustrations per volume, whereas we are lucky to get 10 or 15 from the newer ones.

I can't get over EPs utter lack of ethos, not to mention standards, they'll publish drek from the likes of Donald Trump in the same binding as Proust.

Hahahahahaha!