The CALL of CTHULHU & Other Weird Stories LE

Just ordered my copy.

Looks like Folio are managing this one better than they did the Mort LE.

They've certainly come up with an intriguing way to manage its launch, as I can't find a trace of it anywhere. Is that good?

>2 terebinth: I can't find a trace of it anywhere.

Just come off the phone from Folio. Apparently the flyers have been posted but it's not on the website yet. I am also told we can expect the May catalogue (yes, catalogue was the word used) by the end of the month. Probably figuring how many more LEs they can release in between.

>2 terebinth: Mailshot only at the moment - arrived in todays post. Keep fingers crossed and wait for postman! I'll add some detail shortly - I'm still taking in the details myself.

Anyone care to speculate what "eco-simulated leather" is?

Otherwise it looks rather good.

Ordered

>4 bookfair_e:

Ah, thanks. The postman generally calls here at about 1PM, a couple of hours yet, so I'll see what he brings. The worst of the Mort situation was the price/limitation issue that led to such a scramble for copies: presumably there'll not be such a rush for this one, or is there a one copy per member policy?

>5 HuxleyTheCat:

100% polyurethane, apparently: http://www.nordalegraphics.com.au/faux-leathers/ .

The cynic in me expects splitting to begin after a decade or two. I'll see if I can get the better of him.

I just noticed a PS on the bottom of the mailing letter:

"Don't forget to look out for our May catalogue coming soon, featuring 10 other new titles plus a standard edition of The Call of Cthulhu & Other Weird Stories."

The Call of Cthulhu & Other Weird Stories – H. P. Lovecraft.

Edited by S. T. Joshi. Prefaced by Alan Moore. Illustrated by Dan Hillier.

Limited to 750 copies.

Includes a print signed by Dan Hillier.

Brief production details:

472 pages printed on Abbey Wove.
Title spread illustration.
6 black and white illustrations with black and gold mandalas on the reverse printed on Natural Evolution Ivory paper.
Hand marbled endpapers my Jemma Lewis protected with Violet Lokta Himalayan paper.
All edges coloured black.
Bound in eco-simulated leather blocked with a design by the artist. 10 x 6.75 inches.
Limited edition print printed on Canson Aquarelle rag paper and signed by the artist.
Print and book presented in a box bound in duotone cloth blocked in gold foil on front and spine with a design by the artist and closed with a magnetic device.
The box has been lined with metallic paper also blocked in gold foil with a design by the artist. 12.25 x 9.5 inches.

Published 18th May 2017.

£345. UK postage £12.

Pre-orders are only being accepted by telephone before 5pm Thursday 18th May 2017.

The May catalogue coming soon, featuring 10 other new titles plus a standard edition of The Call of Cthulhu & Other Weird Stories.

>7 terebinth: Perhaps the sarcophagus (with its magnetic closure device) will protect it for a little while longer, but I also have a cynical internal voice. An optimist would perhaps choose to believe that the choice of binding material had nothing whatsoever to do with cost and rather more to do with appealing to all those who objected to the new fiver.

>9 bookfair_e: £345. UK postage £12.

Mmmm, nope. Not for me. I hope the standard edition is more reasonable, otherwise I can live without it.

They appear to think they've hit a rich seam with fantasy and SF.

>6 terebinth: … is there a one copy per member policy?

If I’ve got this right – it seems Folio have reserved the first 200 numbered copies for those who receive this ‘exclusive preview’ mailshot and who place a telephone order before 5pm 18th May, and ‘One copy per customer only’.

I haven't had the chance to see the book yet so can't say definitely whether it'd appeal to me enough to flash my wallet, but in terms of Folio really going after the sci-fi market I'm still somewhat disappointed they decided to give Cthulhu the LE treatment over some of the other, and I'd argue more landmark, sci fi titles they've so far published.

----- and for those outside the UK? The mailman takes about two weeks.
So much for equity and fairness in distribution.

>14 wcarter: and for those outside the UK?

It's the same old story, Warwick. They treat oversees customers (and, it seems, particularly the antipodean variety) with what amounts to contempt.

>14 wcarter:

Am I fondly imagining it, or have at least some previous mailshots been sequenced to arrive all over the world at roughly the same time? Probably I'm fondly imagining it.

Nothing for me today, which may mean I've not been loyal enough lately to maintain most-loyal-customer status, or just that mail takes a little longer to reach an obscure village in the north east of England.

>16 terebinth: I remember that too, plus they used to have separate allocations of LEs for different parts of the world in the time when the majority of members didn't routinely conduct business via the internet. I know that FS management is not immune from making stupid decisions, but I can't believe that they would be so dull as to annoy particularly the US-based 'loyal customers' for this volume by excluding them from the 200 reserved copies.

I'm not a Lovecraft fan so I'm not interested in having a Cthulhu LE. If I was, and I didn't have a shot at it before British-based FSD sufferers, I'd be quite thoroughly vexed about it.

Edit: This commendably detached attitude survived less than 45 minutes. Hah hah hah.

Does the mail shot indicate what stories are included other than the Call of Cthulhu?

>19 sviswanathan: Dagon, Celephais, Nyarlathotep, The Whisperer in Darkness are specifically named.

ETA - If it follows the usual FS publishing pattern than I would imagine that it would be the Penguin edition text.

Just popped home during lunch to see if I got my mailshot and I was instantly sold!

Photos of the mailshot here for those itching to see details.

Oh, and Folio are still doing 4-time payment plans over the phone.

Dammit, that's gorgeous.

Maybe I'll ... become a Lovecraft fan?

>21 wongie: the enablement here is stunning.

I just called to order Cthulhu plus the Edward Thomas LE (from the States). I am weak.

>16 terebinth: mail takes a little longer to reach an obscure village in the north east of England.

Well it reached this village in the north east of England about ten minutes ago.

I have to admit it looks beautiful despite the endpapers which, frankly, are a mess. I share the reservations of others about the durability of the binding and I see no reason for a solander box. I'll see what the standard edition looks like (and, more importantly, the price point) but this is definitely not for me.

Bring on the May Collection.

I threw myself over the phone and ordered

Thanks for pics >21 wongie:

I didn`t dare to wait for the brochure to show up in the mail

>24 folio_books: Price was something on the order of $575 plus shipping for American customers (I'm reverse engineering the total cost of the order and didn't get quoted shipping separately, hence the guess).

>25 Pellias: I heard someone else ordering over the phone at the same time as me. Perhaps that was you, Øyvind? :)

>23 gmacaree: the enablement here is stunning.

I try to do my best and it's always good to know someone else has succumbed to the same weakness.

>21 wongie: Thanks for the pics. Just placed the order as it looks fantastic!

No brainer.

Ordered the LE directly from the London office.

>27 gmacaree: I called in right after i read your post actually, so if you wrote before you called it might have been me, if not, there are some others that want to be on the safe side .. this will `fly out the window`

Finally an LE I wouldn't have as a gift. First for a while. North of C$600 for an ersatz cover would have given me pause even if I'd cared for Lovecraft.

I think it looks gorgeous, though I'm admittedly a bit concerned regarding the nature of the "eco-simulated leather." Why not use a traditional leather? That said, I do enjoy Lovecraft and I don't think I'll be able to resist this. Just to clarify, you are able to place the pre-order even if you didn't receive the mailing?

>33 sviswanathan: You can pre-order even if you did not receive the mailing

>34 gmacaree:

Thank you! I just wish I hadn't made other substantial purchases so recently...

>33 sviswanathan:

The cost with a full leather binding would have prohibitive for most FS devotees. I have no concerns whatsoever with regard to the nature of the binding and its durability, as long as it is kept out of direct sunlight - but that is true of ALL fine books.

Too rich for my blood. I'll likely go for the standard edition though. I need to save some money for (hopefully) another James Bond and Jane Austen in May.

Very probably I'll go for the standard edition, just as I did with the Mort book.

£345 for what sounds like a plastic binding and six illustrations? The Mort LE was fully bound in reassuringly un-eco leather, came in a lower limitation and cost only £125. The Poetic Edda LE is fully bound in hand-polished genuine cow with five raised bands, has twenty specially commissioned illustrations and still costs less (significantly less at the launch price). Someone please explain what seems to be a very high price for this latest LE offering. The QB-signed Riddley Walker with its thirty-nine illustrations is starting to look like a bargain.

I waited so much for this, and this look would have been perfect, if it was not for that damned eco-leather. That is just cheap, I am terribly disappointed. I would have been ready to pay £500-600 for genuine leather. But plastic is not exquisite, even cloth would have been better.

If they are so concerned about costs, why not do a split release, as other fine press publishers do? 150 expensive leather copies, 600 plastic. Problem solved. They could do it wit The Duke's Children. Will ever anybody do a decent Lovecraft edition? This came so close, but not there... Do it properly or don't do it.

One enormous surge of adrenalin and put in an order - installments.

>39 cronshaw: £345 for what sounds like a plastic binding and six illustrations?

Apparently so. Flying off the shelves? Could be ...

Actually, the one piece of heartening news I found in this mailing came in the covering letter from Tom Walker: "you have exclusive access to one of 200 copies from the strict limitation of 750, and the opportunity to own a low number (my italics) before the edition is made available to the public".

So, as we have suspected from "Riddley Walker", Folio are at last taking the issue of numbers seriously. Buy early and get a low number. I'll wait for a sensible limited edition to try it out

I work at a large media company and a colleague informed me that they have a copy of the book already for review, strictly embargoed until May 18th. I am fishing for information about the binding as I type.

Update: It's the standard edition, not the LE. I should have known.

>21 wongie:

Thanks a lot for sharing the pics.

This is what I call a STUNNING LE. Lovecraft has never received a better treatment than this. I have the Centipede Press edition - although its good but nowhere close to what this FS edition is.

Placed an order for it. It seems that for non-UK members, FS did mail the brochure two weeks before mailing the same to UK members.

Could be my first Folio purchase in almost a year. I've been saving up the voucher they gave us last year I will probably use with this.

>39 cronshaw: "Someone please explain what seems like a very high price for this latest LE offering."

I would imagine something to do with the rather in and hip Dan Hillier (not to mention the gnashing of teeth which must have occurred in Eagle Street over the failure to sufficiently monetise the Mort opportunity). However, cheers Russell, you gave me pause for thought and I have been thoroughly disenabled - order cancelled.

>39 cronshaw: Agree.
There is a name for a Louis Vuitton bag made out of plastic - fake! (At £357 this book must qualify as a luxury item.)

Perhaps there is some advantage - rather than dusting we can simply hose down the bookcase...

>42 folio_books: "Flying off the shelves?"
Sold out yet?

>39 cronshaw: "The Mort LE was fully bound in reassuringly un-eco leather, came in a lower limitation and cost only £125."

The early birds* got Mort for £105.

(* everyone)

>47 StevieBby: It will sell out fast when it`s more properly announced. We can have a bet? I`ll cut my precious beard ..

What it means to fly of the shelves can be discussed, for all i know this book can fly, some slow, some fast, but they fly allright

>49 Pellias: "It will sell out fast..."

I do hope you are right, for FS's sake.

I was thinking of Mort, which sold out in about seven hours.

So, presuming they are not all gone, what do you give? Seven days? Seven weeks? Seven months?

(Not that I wish to deprive you of your beard!)

I agree that `fly of the shelf` would take around 7 days, not more in this case, if only it were announced so that it could be meassured properly (or happily not)

Anyway, i wouldn`t deprive you of anything either

PS The one time i turned my back to LT i lost out on Mort, i will not risk it again

Have a nice day Stevie

Ridiculously overpriced , for me. I'll go for the standard edition.

+1

£375 for plastic leather? Thanks, but no thanks.

As for flying off the shelves - have you seen Cthulhu's pathetic, rudimentary little wings? Not a chance :-)

It would be nice to have some details on the "standard" edition before deciding on the LE version. Unfortunately, the timing isn't helpful: Reviewers are apparently embargoed from releasing standard edition details until May 18 (and I assume that the FS itself will follow this schedule), while the LE -- which I'm told is shipping beginning May 18 -- may be out of stock by that date. (I wonder if this is a deliberate effort by the FS to encourage purchases of the LE.)

On another note, an Internet search indicates that there are many variables of "eco-leather," with some wearing as well as genuine leather. I can only hope that the FS is using one of the superior types on this book.

I felt compelled to order the LE. At worst, I can always return it (presumably paying return shipping) and purchase the standard edition later.

Artificial leather can look remarkably leathery - certainly much more leathery than, say, cheap leather of EP standard editions, and virtually indistinguishable from top quality leather. The only thing missing would be the smell...

Polyurethane can be remarkably durable too; skateboard wheels are made of it ) It can be extremely fragile too though. I had a set of dining chairs in polyurethane that looked like great grainy leather. They cracked all over the place in less than 6 years, and more than half of that time they weren't even used as we were overseas.

Anyway, this is a definite pass for me. The only Lovecraft I ever read was The Call Of Cthulhu, and the only lasting impression I have is that Lovecraft apparently thought that the best way to achieve the atmosphere of horror is to simply sprinkle words "horror", "horrible", "horrified", "terror", "terrible", or "terrified" at least once in every single damn paragraph. I might give Lovecraft another go one day, so I might add the standard edition towards the bottom of my wish list.

But I'm sure this will be among the quicker selling LEs for Folio. Probably won't sell in a week because of the price, but I doubt it will last longer than a year.

Is there a worldwide shortage of Goats or Cows? Why bind in an oil based covering with a weaselly industry name, that is sure to deteriorate like shoes and belts using the same?

>36 dlphcoracl: Thank you for the insight!

Cthulhu and its brochure have been uploaded to the FSD wiki under Limited Editions at:-
http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Groups:Folio_Society_Devotees#Folio_S...
Cthulhu is the 78th. LE published by the FS since the present LE program started in 2001.
The chronological list of LEs can be seen at http://www.librarything.com/topic/192880
The FS has produced between 4 and 7 LEs a year in recent years.
Publishing three LEs by May in a year is not unusual.

>46 HuxleyTheCat: sorry to have caused any dis-enablement, Fiona. Perhaps others on happy receipt of their copy will reignite your interest. I'm simply bemused at the pricing of this edition compared to other LEs of apparently finer bindings, and think your connection of Folio's marketing of this LE, also linked to a simultaneous standard edition, with their regret over not charging more for Mort is probably correct. The latter does now sell for multiples of the original Folio early bird price* after even the most minimally hesitant avians missed out.

Regardless, I hope all Devotees who order a copy are delighted with it, and that it's a commercial success for the company.

(*of £110 - with thanks to Steve above for reminding me)

>60 cronshaw: I'm very glad you gave me reason to think again, and realise I didn't 'really' wish to spend this amount on this book; far better now than after it has arrived. I have a perfectly nice LOA copy of Lovecraft's works which will do for me.

Ordered. Slight reservations about the eco-simulated leather aside, this is pretty much exactly what I would have hoped for in a Lovecraft LE, right down to the new preface from Alan Moore.

I trust FS, given its financial situation, to at least try to do the right thing regarding production and price . I guess we each have to make up our own minds on that. Now, I know nothing about either, I just like the books and buy what I can afford. With reference to this issue of the binding I therefore trust FS enough to believe they know what they are doing, again given their situation. I hope that when we buyers get the thing in our hands we are reassured and issue rebuttals here to all the complainers.

I am not interested in this book at all and am of the view that it truly is a 'limited' edition but sadly only in the sense of its poor literary and production qualities.

>63 scratchpad: I hope that when we buyers get the thing in our hands we are reassured and issue rebuttals here to all the complainers.

I'm not sure rebuttal is required. My view is simple - for that price I want real, actual leather. And, preferably, printed on paper that is specifically not Abbey Wove. So no sale. I await the standard edition. Rebut away ...

I would rather go for letterpress edition that was recently shown by astopi for lovecraft edition. FS LE cheap leather imitation for that price, common. That's definitely would not go well with my taste and what I have in my library. It's like fake LE edition. FS needs to stop that immediately and have leather like The Golden Ass in their leather bound editions for the price they charge. Soon, anyone will be able to make fake leather books and call it a real LE. This is really bad trend for the fine book industry. Look what happened to Franklin Library when it started utilizing fake so called leather.

>64 Chawton:
Production I agree to, but why would it be poor literary quality? Because you don't like it, not your taste? Lovecraft's literary significance can be hardly disputed, pretty much put his mark on 20-21th century horror.

>66 johndunn:

I physically checked that book from Pegana Press. Not sure if astropi did so. But the book is definitely not worth the amount that they are charging (US$400) for just two stories (36 Pages). I was grossly underwhelmed.

Also, I had a quick word with Folio Society regarding the "eco-simulated leather". The key reason why the eco-simulated leather was chosen over conventional leather is that this was the number one choice of the artist Dan Hillier, who has worked with FS and Alan Moore closely on the project. Dan is a vegan (and a Buddhist) and, as such, was very reluctant to work in leather - FS had actually looked at various other coverings including stingray skin, but eventually was happy to work with the brilliant artist's wishes once they saw what they could achieve with the eco-leather. He assured me that once we have the actual book in our hands, we all would agree as to how mind-blowing it is!

The obvious solution to satisfy everyone's desires was for FS to find actual Cthulu cultists and ask them to sacrafise their own mortal flesh to bind this edition and which to propagate their cult. Book lovers get genuine (human) leather, FS don't pay a thing and pass on the savings to us consumers, and Lovecraft-lovers get a genuinely creepy binding that's in tune with the horrific subject material. There, everyone is thus satisfied.

>68 Neil77:
That's interesting, certainly a justification I rarely see used "Our artist is a vegan so no leather binding." That being the case I would have then preferred Folio go down the cloth binding option (which I assume is cheaper) or even highly decorative paperboards. Alice in Wonderland is one of their greatest LEs and is bound only in quarter vellum with decorative paperboards and that in no way diminished it. While I haven't had first hand experience with eco-leather I think there's just too many negative connotations with something that's "imitation." All that said, I still have trust in FS that when they say how "mind-blowing" it is, I have no reason to doubt them.

>68 Neil77: Good to know. Thanks for that.

>68 Neil77: Neil77 Thank a lot. I'm glad you warned me before I spent so much money on it.

>67 Raenas: Raenas I'm not disputing literary importance of anything, just the way this book was made by FS.

>69 wongie: wongue LOL

>71 johndunn:
My apologies johndunn, comment was aimed at two above you.

>68 Neil77:
Stingray would have been interesting, but black goatskin should have been the material though. Shub-Niggurath, The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young would have been happy. And I would have bought the book...

I just ordered from the U.S. too--can confirm do not need a mailer and will do four installments.

>68 Neil77: Thank you. I had a feeling it was something like that, and i respect that myself. They should also decide to use (donated) human leather over animal leather in this case, to do a more precise and authentic follow up on the `necronomicon`.

If the book weight up in paper quality , quality of print. . - and well the overall quality and relative low limitation (for what will become a very popular collectible book on the secondhand market someday), and the signed print of a Dan Hillier (i don`t know his renome in the game) is of quality ..

What i`m saying, it could be good also, but maybe not if one has a fetish on leatherbound books

.. all i know is that in three weeks time, i hold it in my hands and can decide for myself whether i am happy or not

If Folio did eco-leather to commit to their artist's vision I have absolutely no problem with it. That vision may mean that it's not to the taste of some (many?), but if this is the binding that the designer wanted it seems reasonable that it's what ended up being executed. The choice of materials is then an artistic decision rather than a compromise, and it's compromising based on price that would make me really fear for Folio's future. Disagreeing with individual artistic choices is inevitable!

That said, I won't feel 100 percent comfortable with this particular decision until I have the book to hand. My understanding is that there are many possible grades of simulated leather, and if the material is not admirable in person, it'll be sent back.

>69 wongie:

Truth be said, I have no issues with the eco-simulated leather option as it definitely looks classy without having a cow or a goat sacrifice its life for it.

>77 Neil77:
Just to play the devil's advocate, as the main reason of why cows and goats are kept are meat and milk, they don't sacrifice their life for the leather, and it would be just thrown away if not used. So using their skin gives their life more purpose.

It reminds me when "The Golden Ass" came out, so much excitement and after that 24 copies still remain several years later.

>78 Raenas:

Love thy logic :-)

>77 Neil77:

Once the book is in my hands I'm sure all my reservations will disappear. In some ways I do appreciate the artists's stance on no-leather from an ethical standpoint, I mean leather, after all, is just the stripped skin of a dead animal, it just seems so primitive that we still decorate things with, or indeed still have such an affection for, bits of dead animals.

In that sense I'm not opposed to FS moving away from leather, maybe I'm just being too snobbish in thinking eco-leather as a poor-man's substitute or am too "all or noting" with wanting Folio to either go full genuine leather or full cloth but not something in between, at least where materials are concerned.

So Folio's eco-leather is in fact fake leather? Was that confirmed?
I googled eco-leather and the meaning could well be real leather but use a more eco-friendly chemical to cure the leather.

>82 JuliusC: Indeed - the clue is in the word 'simulated'. Somehow I can't bring myself to think of 100% Polyurethane as a particularly environmentally friendly option.

>10 HuxleyTheCat: …the choice of binding material had nothing whatsoever to do with cost and rather more to do with appealing to all those who objected to the new fiver.

Absolutely spot-on!

What would this FS LE edition give me that the Centipede Press Masters of the Weird Lovecraft LE edition does not?

>85 ultrarightist:
I think the design of the FS LE is much closer to what I would expect from a Lovecraft homage. If it just was not for the poor material choice...

Just ordered. I will also be thinning my Folio collection very shortly to make up for that price. But well worth it.

>85 ultrarightist:

My two cents on this: I have the CP Lovecraft and Poe Editions - they are good from reference point of view but I definitely don't consider them to be of LE qualiy. The best from CP till date has been Salem's Lot. Even for Salem's Lot, the quality is superior only if you select the Signed/Limited edition - the gift edition is quite plain Jane.

Just a sort of OT here, but for those that might be interested: Jerad`s (Centipede Press) `at the mountains of madness`anybody have a date?

Edited for stupid typo

As it seems to be causing disconcertion and horror, the binding would seem to be appropriate for the content.

Pass.

Should have been bound in 100% Cthulhu skin. Unacceptable.

I say boycott this edition until they rebound it in real leather. If nobody buys it they will rebound it in no time. You guys complain while on the phone with FS ordering this edition. Of course they would not take it serious.

Eco-simulated is a vegetable (vegan friendly) fiber that simulates calf-skin leather. The texture is not as tough as leather, but has a better feel than plastic.
I'd actually prefer a FS "standard" buckram cover over any "fake" of anything.

Meanwhile, no email or brochure received here in southern CA, and still nothing on the website.

Nice story, made up by FS that they used cheap ass material just because of some illustrator. Meaning, why would company listen to illustrator and not their customers. There are many great illustrators who could of done illustrations for this edition, including famous ones. Things people and companies say to spend less and less and get more for less from its customers. So-called LE edition, just stands on FS reputation, nothing else. I can be in business producing books and making excuses all the way to the bank. Well, I had to use carton boxes for binding since my illustrator was allergic to anything else.

>92 johndunn:

Not sure if everyone on this forum has a similar leather "fetish" as you do. At least, I don't. To me, an expensive LE should definitely confirm with high production standards in line with the subject matter, but "high production standards" does not always mean "leather". In fact, I feel that most of EP editions (leatherbound) look absolutely run of the mill, other than a few exceptions (all in the DLE series). Use "Leather" when its absolutely essential, otherwise what's the point killing an animal just for the sake of "leather fetish".

In olden days, people used to feel proud by hanging the skin of an animal (that they had killed) in their drawing room - I would feel ashamed if I do it today. Mindsets have definitely changed over the years - I completely support FS initiative in moving from conventional animal leather to an eco-simulated leather option, and I am certain that the book will definitely look "mindblowing" and confirm to superior quality specifications.

I don't know if I will buy this or not, but the handwringing and keybord snarkyness is really starting to infect what was once a nice board to read about new books.

>97 jlallred2000: I agree. I've found the comments raised by this LE quite depressing.

>97 jlallred2000:

Well, the edition clearly arouses passions in some of us: better out than in, I tend to think. My offer arrived in today's post, so the FS hasn't written me off after all. I'm not drawn to purchase, Lovecraft doesn't loom large enough in my literary cosmos, and I'm a tad less warmly disposed toward the book than I would be if it weren't bound in something that imitates what it's not, but there we go. At least the FS is being innovative, which to me is its great strength.

Once upon a time I used to think that we should not be using animals for luxury book products (any products even): using leather, glue etc. So although I don't subscribe to that position anymore, I do at least understand where they are coming from.

I suppose now the only advice I would give them would be to refrain from buying products using animal materials and by-products.

This means that we should not expect Folio to cater for a tiny minority of Vegans/Jains etc who would love to see Folio move towards an animal free offering. That would be the death of the LE.

(It's tempting to go on from this juncture and wag my finger and pontificate on why humans should not baulk at using animals for their material needs, but I have found that arguments never really influenced me when the shoe was on the other foot. I think that there are emotional anchors that only grip tighter to it's position when assailed, and should be left to the course of time and circumstance, when perhaps the perspectives change.)

I think there have been some good and interesting comments on both side of the issue here. As with everywhere on the Internet, you just have to have some mechanism to filter out the nonsense.

I wish that we had images of the standard edition. I think that would help me a lot in determining whether or not I want to buy this limited edition.

94: Yup. Nothing here. Considering how popular Lovecraft is in the States (and especially New England), what exactly the Folio Society is thinking I do not know? Unless, there's some copyright laws that exclude them from selling here in the States?

OT: I mentioned this before, Lovecraft has had some beautiful letterpress editions over the years. Most are out of print, but this beautiful edition is still in print (not cheap, but letterpress):
https://www.peganapress.com/h.p.-lovecraft.html

photo sharing websites
certificity.com

>68 Neil77: "Dan is a vegan (and a Buddhist) and, as such, was very reluctant to work in leather . . . ."

But thank goodness he was quite happy to illustrate a book containing references to the ritual slaughter of women and children.

Faux leather on a book in this price range... Sorry but that is a deal breaker for me. It does not have to be a leather binding, but fake leather always feels cheap.

68: First off, the book offers four stories, not two. You sure you really got to "physically check" that book and not some other? Regardless, I won't deny that it's a heck of a lot of money for not many pages. However, it's absolutely beautiful. I wish it were cheaper, but I believe this book represents 9 months of work for the Pegana Press, which consists of a husband, wife, and letterpress.

104: ha! amusing, but to be fair, I don't think there's a correlation. Just because someone enjoys reading horror does not make one a knife-wielding cultist.

105: I have to agree. I really wish they would have used something other than artificial leather. Faux leather is primarily made of polyurethane or PVC. Not really things that I feel are good for the environment. Why not just a cloth binding like Pegana did? That would have been my preference.

> 68 "He assured me that once we have the actual book in our hands, we all would agree as to how mind-blowing it is!"
> 69 "All that said, I still have trust in FS that when they say how "mind-blowing" it is, I have no reason to doubt them."

For most of us, past experience with simulated leather (of various sorts) brings recollections of cracking, discoloration, and other plastic wear-related problems that surface within a short period of time (as early as one reading or even a single summer sitting around with a little sun). So while it may very well be mind-blowing at first, for the kind of money they're asking for it, with care, it ought to continue proving mind-blowing looks 10, 20, or 30 years from now, but it won't if it's just plastic.

Bonded leather, like what EP often uses, would've been better and kept the cost lower than full grain cow or goat hide. Vegan-wise, a thin wood panel cover like the trim found in many luxury cars could've provided a wow-factor and still have been more durable. Alternatively, if leather was so important to the vast majority of LE purchasers, they could've opted for a different artist to eliminate the issue altogether. I don't think it is always key and cheers to the artist for sticking to his principles. What's most concerning, though, is this LE will probably sell out fast and the message FS would take from that is that not only are plastic boards are perfectly OK with customers but that they command a premium, as well, so they may do it more often in the future. I'd only be satisfied with plastic boards if I knew for certain they'd look great for many, many years to come.

Also, for the Necronomicon being bound in human skin - was that something Lovecraft came up with or did that come about later? I don't recall seeing it in any Lovecraft stories (I could be forgetting here); is it possible that idea came about later, like in the Evil Dead movies?

>89 Pellias: Pellias:

Not sure when Jerad's "At the Mountains of Madness" is coming out, but I have a feeling it won't be for a year or two. FS Customer Service couldn't tell me if their new LE includes that story. If it does, I'd be less inclined to purchase the CP volume.

The 1967 Folio edition of The Trial is bound in full black PVC. It is a common book, I’ve seen plenty of them around over the years and I've never seen one with the slightest deterioration of the binding. My own copy is in excellent condition fifty years after its publication. I have no reservations at all about the durability or suitability of the eco-leather binding for the Lovecraft LE.

edited for typo

> 109

That's a really good sign, then. Thanks for the info!

107: first off, Easton Press stopped using bonded leather many years ago. This has been discussed a number of times on the EP group, and yes once they did use bonded but they completely stopped over a decade ago if not longer. Secondly, in "The Hound", Lovecraft talks about a book bound in human leather. Thirdly, there are some books that are bound in human skin. I read a scholarly article on the practice once. Somehow I don't find the thought as stomach-churning as Lovecraft may have envisioned!

>111 astropi:

Many publishers have been named after skins of those who shed them for bindings. Off the top of my head... (no pun intended)

Mr Harper and Mr Collins

Mr Simon and Mr Schuster

Mr Wiley

Mr MacMillan

The industry claimed a few scalps there.

Make no bones about it, some would give an arm and a leg, to become a spine.

Guffaw.

To link a couple of comments: >96 Neil77: "I completely support FS initiative in moving from conventional animal leather to an eco-simulated leather option". I very much doubt that this is a move by FS away from leather, rather a one-off to accommodate Mr Hillier's personal beliefs. I have no problem with that at all, but when >76 gmacaree: mentions committing to "their artist's vision" and this being an artistic decision rather than a compromise, I don't believe this to be entirely true. I think Mr Hillier's artistic 'vision' would actually appear to be a leather-bound book, but the leather which he apparently thinks gives the correct look for the book would unfortunately compromise his personal morality. From a book-design perspective I see no advantages to eco-simulated leather for this book (other than potentially cost, but I don't know the comparative figures so cannot be sure), and if I were paying a designer/artist for their 'vision' then I would hope that they could produce something radical which works holistically (like some of the LEC output), rather than simply using faux-leather due to that artist being a vegan.

I wonder how it will smell. Introducing the specific cocktail of chemical treatments responsible for the Moby Dick LE into the bubbling vat of polypropylene at some stage (I've forgotten all the chemistry I ever knew, but there will surely be a bubbling vat?), perhaps at double or triple strength, would reconcile some of us to eco-simulated leather in a trice, without the need to sacrifice a single quadruped. Alternatively, to intensify the Lovecraft experience, they could go the foetid route. Darn, I should have been in at the production stage here, there could have been a standard LE, a version to satisfy the nose of the leather connoisseur, and an exclusive few copies to release stomach-challenging odours whenever handled.

At least the Mole knows where I am now, ready for the next occasion that would benefit from radical creative input in return for an affordable fee.

Please FS get this book out there so that this interminable discussion can at least shift from the theoretical to the actual.

>115 scratchpad:

Agreed! Let's see the standard edition.

Edited for an afterthought.

> 111

Thanks for the clarification!

Hello everyone, first time poster. Like a few people here I couldn't bring myself to commit to such an order until I had more information about the standard edition. After contacting Folio this was their response:

Our standard edition of The Call of CTHULHU will feature in our May catalogue for £75.00. This edition is bound in a shimmering purple/green cloth "akin to both the ocean depths and mysteries from outer space". The cover is embossed with a mystical design by the artist Dan Hillier and a monstrous gold eye features on the purple slipcase. It is set in Italian Old Style with Goudy Forum as display. It contains 6 black and white illustrations (2 of which are double-page spreads) and features spot varnished endpapers and gilded tops.

Think I'll probably go with just the standard edition

>118 samchez: Thanks for the info. Sounds like a fine edition to me at that price.

>111 astropi: creepy. I love my EP books and know they have real, genuine leather. I think EP uses caw leather now. Correct me if I'm wrong. Whenever I open my book cabinets the smell of a leather is just intoxication, only real leather can smell like that.

>106 astropi:

Yes - you are correct. It has four stories over 36 pages for $400. I have physically checked the book and was grossly underwhelmed, so much so that I returned the book back to Pegana and Mike@Pegana gave me a hard time with that. Had to get Paypal involved to return the book. It looks beautiful but is definitely not worth more than $150-200 IMO. We crib about the price for a Letterpress Shakespeare and there is definitely no justification for the price of this 36 page letterpress book (with no slipcase, traycase etc.). The photographs are much better than the actual book itself.

>121 Neil77: Neil77: Thank you very much. I was about to purchase this book but now, no way.

121: Have to disagree. I think it's absolutely stunning. The illustrations are wonderful, the letterpress is crisp and beautiful, the binding is all done by hand... yeah, it's expensive. However, you know what you get ahead of time. It's not as if they're hiding the fact that it's relatively short. I believe it's closer to 50 pages, since there is also an introduction in Roman numerals that are not part of the 36 pages. Letterpress books are obviously meant for those that love the art of the book. If you're really going for volume, I would recommend the Library of America
https://www.loa.org/books/223-tales
For around $35 you get over 800 pages of Lovecraft. However, I personally never go for volume. I would rather have something brief and beautiful than long and ordinary. So yeah, I have to say the Pegana Press edition while expensive is absolutely worth it. I also found Mike very nice. I can understand why he gave you a hard time. He runs a very small company, their policy is no returns (never know what someone might do to a book). I'm trying to convince him to do a letterpress edition of "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath" which is my favorite work by Lovecraft. Also, I don't think it's quite fair to compare this to the Folio Society Letterpress Shakespeare. First off, the FS is a MUCH larger operation than the two people at Pegana Press. Secondly, how many letterpress editions have there been of Shakespeare's work?? Numerous. You can find letterpress editions of any Shakespeare play. How many letterpress editions of "Celephais" and other Lovecraftian dream short stories? Well, just this edition. It's also limited to 100 copies.

>118 samchez: Our standard edition of The Call of CTHULHU will feature in our May catalogue for £75.00.

Hello and welcome. What a thread you chose to jump in on :)

Well, since Folio were happy to release so much information to you I reckon it's okay to pass on the tidbit I gleaned from my personal Folio Mole. I hope we're paying attention :

"I've enjoyed the LT leathergate conspiracy chat this week - am happy to reveal that rather than cutting costs on this one, the whole thing has cost a small (actually really big) fortune!"

To which my response was if that's the case I think I'd rather have a proper leather edition at a reduced price.

So the "standard" edition is going to be £75? (my eyes are still watering). Doesn't look too good next to Mort and it's maybe a bad omen for the rest of the Discworld series (if, indeed, there are to be any more). They very evidently think they have a nice fat cash cow here, with the SF/Fantasy/Horror fans.

As reported:

"I've enjoyed the LT leathergate conspiracy chat this week - am happy to reveal that rather than cutting costs on this one, the whole thing has cost a small (actually really big) fortune!"

What I find perplexing is that the diet habits of the illustrator should dictate the binding of the book! But, that's me, of course...

>125 drasvola: What I find perplexing is that the diet habits of the illustrator should dictate the binding of the book! But, that's me, of course...

That's me, too. Get a different illustrator, why dontcha?

>123 astropi:

I agree with you out there that there are not too many publishers publishing a letterpress on Lovecraft. And again I do own lots of letterpress books. So, thanks but I definitely don't need your expert advise on what I should be going for if I am looking for volume. I am an art lover as well but I am not biased.

When I appreciate a book, I appreciate it as a whole, not considering who published it and how small a shop it is. When I am spending $400+shipping on a letterpress book, I expect much more than what the book provides. Its beautiful no doubt, although your overwhelming appreciation (that prompted me to get the book and I am not blaming you for that) of the book is an exaggeration IMO. It is in no way, a "stunning" book. The illustrations are nice but not "wonderful". The paper quality used for the illustrations is not up to the mark. I reiterate, the book is definitely not worth the $400. Its grossly overpriced - a price of around $150-200 is more in line with what it delivers. And thereby, I am really not asking to give the book at $35.

Edited to correct typos

>125 drasvola: thanks for making my point again.

>125 drasvola:

To your point, I once politely declined an expensive book just because it used actual human bones. Its not just the diet habits but also religious beliefs that gets associated.

>126 folio_books: "Get a different illustrator, why dontcha?"

But, Glenn, Mr Hillier has exhibited at Saatchi, dontcha know? So, to (mis)quote one of my 'favourite' adverts, 'It's because he's worth it!'

>129 Neil77:

Respectfully, I fail to see what either have to do with the binding of a book.

>130 HuxleyTheCat: Mr Hillier has exhibited at Saatchi, dontcha know?

Yes, I looked him up (had to, because I'd never heard of him). Finding he was an exhibitor at Saatchi put the tin lid on it for me, Fiona. Hip and cool. Yessss.

I'd rather have Quentin Blake ;) At least he has no dietary objections to actual, non-eco leather.

Edited for omission.

>131 drasvola:

Because of my religious restrictions, I would not touch a book that has human remnants as part of it.

Hence, I can relate to the illustrator's predicament in this situation.

>125 drasvola: "What I find perplexing is that the diet habits of the illustrator should dictate the binding of the book!"

I wouldn't say they do. Presumably, his diet habits, just like his binding material choices, are driven by his moral principles. His aversion to harming animals dictate his choices in general, whether it's food, clothing, or book binding material.

From the Folio Society Prospectus 1994:

“Members may notice that the binding term ‘elephant-hide’ (the name of the vegetable material originally used to bind large ‘elephant’ folios) has been replaced with the description ‘vegetable parchment’ throughout the Prospectus. We would like to reassure all our members that actual elephant-hide has never been used to bind a Folio book.”

Plus ça change.

Mr Hillier can rest easy in his bed.

>19 sviswanathan:
>20 HuxleyTheCat:

Here's the contents page of the Penguin Classics "Call of Cthulhu".

http://www.librarything.com/pic/5798495

>137 housefulofpaper:

Thanks a lot for sharing it.

>137 housefulofpaper:

Bummer. If "At the Mountains of Madness" -- my favorite Lovecraft story -- is excluded, I'll feel compelled to purchase the CP volume, too, when it's finally ready.

>135 cpg:
Yup

Unlike some here, I can totally see where both FS and Dan Hillier are coming from, and applaud them in their efforts, even though I'm OK with leather myself. However, I was once vegetarian (for health reasons), and I was, and still am, somewhat perplexed by the perceived need to simulate non-vegeterian food/materials. I could never understand the desire for 'vegetarian sausages' or flavoured quorn etc; if vegetarian, then celebrate it, don't go for imitations. So I'm equally perplexed at the desire to simulate leather. Why not simply go for really high quality non-animal products, and celebrate them?

Having said all that, and at the risk of being regarded as snarky, this continues the line of LEs that have not remotely interested me, so I wouldn't be ordering anyway in spite of being deemed worthy of a brochure. But then I'm probably a bit of a dinosaur in thinking that the FS has sadly lost the plot (or at least my plot) in the last couple of years. My bank account has certainly looked a lot healthier of late!

>118 samchez: Thank you for posting! The standard edition sounds great.

I gave in to the LE after an emotional battle over fake materials. Actually, its a little bit more nuanced. I have the conviction that the only fitting material for any true Lovecraft homage should be black leather, preferably goatskin. Apparently, Dan Hillier had the same view, based on the outcome, hence the fake.

The other side was represented by the mad Lovecraft devotee. The artwork is too good, exactly what I was wishing for. And the fanatic in me does not expect a better/more definitive edition from any publisher in the near future. The Centipede Press edition is nothing special, just a fine binding, but does not go to such length to understand the base material as the FS one does.

In summary, I am still wishing for a better edition, but as no alternatives do or will exist in the near future, I am fine with this purchase.

I recall we had a very robust discussion several years ago about Folio marketing + materials actually used. I was merely an observer in the dust-up but I vividly remember high emotion: no prisoners were taken.

It shows you how important these things are to folk.

>143 Raenas:

I absolutely agree with the artwork being on-point. It's unfortunate the majority of the discussion has been overrun with negativity with concerns over the quality of the materials, not that it's not a legitimate concern but perhaps too much focus has been given to it, as I feel the quality of the presentation is absolutely spot-on and sorely overlooked. The design of the booked just oozes Lovecraftian eeriness and it doesn't just look like a book but a tome that one could not unreasonably expect at any minute tentacles to spawn from it and infect you with madness if you stared at it too long or delved too heavily into readings it's dark secrets.

Folio's take on it does appear to be the most design/theme-appropriate binding of any other Lovecraft LE I've yet seen so while I am a little disappointed by the lack of genuine goatskin leather, I am far, far more excited we got a book that looks so Lovecraftian in nature one need not even look at the title on the spine to realise it.

My defence of the binding and eagerness to experience all of this book's positive attributes has actually made me all the more excited to receive it! Ironically, being 30 pages from finishing Pride and Prejudice, I could do with reading an ominous and evil-looking tome, to keep myself sane.

I ordered this immediately. It looks stunning. I'm really not bothered about the binding - as long as it endures, then I'm sure I'll be happy with it, and I can't imagine FS would choose a binding that wasn't up to scratch, artist's preference or not.

And to be honest, I'm not even particularly bothered if it's overpriced on the basis of the materials used. (I'm not nearly expert enough to know whether that's actually the case, but it seems to be being suggested by many here.) There's nothing wrong in my mind with FS applying the principle of supply and demand (particularly for an LE, where you're already paying for the intangible "exclusivity" of a book that could almost certainly be produced and sold far more cheaply were it not limited in number), and if the profit from something like this allows them to continue to operate and to produce other works not quite so popular, then I'm entirely up for that.

>147 johndunn:
That is an unfair characterization of Astropi. He has been a constructive member of the EP forum and this one for many years who, like the rest of us, is willing to share his knowledge and opinions. That is the reason these forums exist. Let's stick to critiquing books and not our fellow members.

>143 Raenas: >145 wongie:

People always have opinions that`s why they are people, and as we know, the one that finalizes the decision is oneself

So when things go a little overboard like this thread has, more or less, it`s content fail to interest me

I appreciate when people have opinions to supply my final decision, but when it goes nearly fanatical about for me small issues, in a repeat, hangup mode then i truly know it, that i am the only one to decide what i want

`This will be my book. There will be 750 others like it, but this one will be mine. My book will be amongst my best friend. It will be a part of my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My book, without me, is useless. Without my book, I am useless`.. i am looking forward to go indeepth in the Cthulu mythos with this volume, light the candles and i know i will love it, mostly because i don`t have prejudices about it, mostly pride ..

I have more love to give i guess :)

>148 jroger1: jroger1 point well taken. My opinion will remain the same. That's actually explains why Astropi thinks he can bully people here with his opinions.

>147 johndunn:

I have seen him picking fights with others in the past. Experienced it first hand this time around. :-)

>148 jroger1:

I agree that this forum is meant to provide a platform to critique books. But bullying others when they don't subscribe to your viewpoint is definitely unacceptable. Case in point:

"Letterpress books are obviously meant for those that love the art of the book. If you're really going for volume, I would recommend the Library of America"

>152 Neil77:
I see your point, but we have had similar discussions in the EP forum. I don't care about letterpress as long as the font is easy to read, and I'm a supporter of (and donor to) the nonprofit Library of America. Astropi and others often disagree with me, but I don't mind. I try to understand all viewpoints and benefit from them. That's why I love to read Eastons, Folios, Franklins, LECs, LOAs and others. They all have something special to offer.

Achtung! Storm in a teacup!

>103 astropi:
I discovered Pegana Press over a year ago probably from researching Charles van Sandwyk works. I contemplated on purchasing from them but I wanted some reviews from them first. How do you compare their Lovecraft to Shelter Booksworks The Colour out of Space?

>153 jroger1:

I totally agree - we are all lovers of fine books - does not matter where they are coming from.

Some people obviously think that disagreeing with them is "picking a fight". I have no problem that Neil77 does not like the Pegana Press Lovecraft. I don't agree with him and I just shared my viewpoint. Even if it did not come across, I do actually value his opinion, and I think it's good that people have different tastes. I don't see how that's picking a fight. I see no bullying here, except from johndunn who in fact blatantly lies by saying "In addition, if you say something opposite to his opinion, he complaints to the moderator on this site." I have never complained to any moderators. Perhaps johndunn received a warning from the moderators, but if so, it's entirely his doing.

At any rate, to answer JuliusC's message: I think they are both magnificent works! Although, there is truly something "extra special" about The Colour Out of Space
http://www.shelterbookworks.com/the-colour-out-of-space/
It's 56 pages, and $500, so it is very expensive. However, the quality is of course sublime, and the illustrations are truly "weird" and unique. I believe Lovecraft himself would have adored this edition :)
If it came down to "you could only have one" I would have to go with "The Colour Out of Space" which is longer than any of the Pegana Press stories and it's considered one of his greatest stories(I would concur). Well, I do hope at some point we can all own a copy of each. Of course, only 40 copies of Colour were made, but hey, if you have one cherish it!


upload pictures
certificity.com

This pic is from the website noted above.

>157 astropi:
One less copy... just put in an order. My inner cultist needs this.

>159 Raenas:
If you ordered one then they are all sold out! It was one left after I ordered mine 4 weeks ago (still waiting on it).

>160 PontusPresents:

You are making me worried! I hope I could order it because there was an actual copy left, not because the site was not updated.

>161 Raenas:

Just email Amy if you are worried! She is always quick on the replies and very helpful. :)

>162 PontusPresents:

Just emailed her. Hands put together for now... I need this badly.

>162 PontusPresents:

I got the last one! She was indeed super quick. It is going to be shipped back from Amy's dealer, so I am not 100% sure whether it was handled with sufficient care. However I gave it my initial trust as I don't really have any other choice. Super happy though!

Raenas, and PontusPresents, congrats to both of you :)
I'm always glad to help your inner cultist, and you will LOVE this! I'm actually surprised it took so long to sell out. This is the definitive edition of the classic story, since it includes revisions in pen by Lovecraft for a reprint that never happened. Share your thoughts once you get this!

ps Back on topic, apparently no FS LE Lovecraft for those of us in the States... :/

>165 astropi: Really? I've already ordered mine, so that'd be a disappointment

166: How did you order? I haven't seen it listed anywhere.

>167 astropi:
Phone. It won't be up on the website until later to prevent Mort 2.0.

>168 Raenas:
They may be preventing Mort 2.0, but 99.9% of FS members (sorry, customers) outside the UK have no idea this book even exists.
The 0.1% who do know about the book (ie. through this forum) have to make an expensive intercontinental phone call to order it.
Most unfair.
At least with Mort, it was online for everyone, everywhere to see at the same time.

>169 wcarter:
In Canada we have a toll-free number. Wonder why not in Oz.

>170 Jayked:

Don't want to erode the salubrious profit margins. :-)

>170 Jayked: In Canada we have a toll-free number. Wonder why not in Oz.

There are times when it seems Folio go out of their way to antagonise their antipodean customers. There's no logic to it at all. I know I'd be annoyed in the extreme if I was on the receiving end.

>172 folio_books:
My conundrum is ........
I love the FS books, and buy far too many of them.
I hate their business model.
Result ........
I buy far more FS books on the secondary market than I would if they were fairer to Australians (and Canadians, Americans and Kiwis).

>173 wcarter: I buy far more FS books on the secondary market than I would if they were fairer to Australians (and Canadians, Americans and Kiwis).

And that's exactly what they deserve. I'm sure they lose more money through being unfair than whatever it is they think they're gaining. That's no consolation to you, I know.

> 169wcarter

That's it exactly. I usually receive my printed mail from them weeks after the books have gone online, and making something like this depend on international mail delivery is unfair and unpleasant. If they want to limit the people who have early access to 'particularly good customers', why don't they at least use email? And those international phone calls are unnecessarily expensive. There's no free hotline from where I live either.

>175 SF-72:
Regarding international calls: buy a small amount of balance on Skype, it is very cheap. Few pennies for an order this way.

International calls are no longer expensive. In fact they are free for me, even on my miserly $25pm mobile plan. Unlimited Calls to Aussie mobiles and landlines and free calls to several international countries including US and UK.

At least you still receive it. I'm sure many FS buyers are like me (living in Vietnam), rarely or never at all receive any prospectus/news letter... from Folio. But I email them fairly often, and have never failed to hear back from them within an hour or two (except holidays of course). Their customer service I think is doing a great job consider how few people they have atm.

However I also would agree they might be able to attract even more frequent customers if they can send our better e-letter/e-prospectus.

>178 vietle:

There is indeed a rare combination at the Folio Society of firstly having exceptional customer service in dealing with individuals but secondly, an odd sense of being all-at-sea when dealing with groups of customers.

This week when I emailed asking FS about the new Cthulhu LE after seeing this topic, FS emailed me back with a black-and-white scan of the prospectus and on the letter, it said "Dear Mr. Sample". That was pretty funny. :)

Link: https://1drv.ms/b/s!ArrWCOrfhNX7pWh23htgS_Vpsmxy

>180 vietle: That's hilarious.

Actually a true traditional LV bag is made of plastic....vinyl coated canvas. So the fake ones would be leather...hence the mass public who buys fake LVs would never know that the true traditional LV is not leather.

>164 Raenas:

Great! The same dealer took a very long time (give or take 4 weeks!) until they sent the copy I ordered to Amy, but she decided to include a loose print of the title page for the hassle and the book is now on the way. :)

- - -

And to make this post a bit on-topic: I was very excited when I heard that FS would make a LE of Lovecraft's work but I have decided not the get this edition. The reason is mainly the price, the paper used (Abbey Wove) and I'm not really into the overall look of it.
I will probably see what they do with the standard edition instead.

> 176Raenas

Thanks for the advice. I have zero experience with Skype, but it sounds good.

> 177LesMiserables

Good for you, but they're not cheap here.

Lastly: The prospectus arrived today. It seems FS bulk-ship these to the Netherlands and then move them on from there by private shipping carriers. No wonder they're a bit delayed, but I assume it's cheaper than Royal Mail with direct shipping to the rest of Europe. Fortunately I'm not that keen on this edition, but if this had been a new Pratchett, for example, I would have been really frustrated. The way I understand it, those 200 reserved copies were already sold out before I even got the information about the book from FS, and I'm sure people who live further away from the UK have a much bigger problem with this.

>184 SF-72: The prospectus arrived today.

Seems you got the Prospectus/Catalogue before folks here in the UK. It would therefore really be helpful if you could list the new titles for us. No Pratchett is not good news.

Thanks!

>185 folio_books:

The prospectus for Cthulhu, I take it. Interesting (and doubtless frustrating for others) if the 200 copies have gone.

>184 SF-72: "he way I understand it, those 200 reserved copies were already sold out before I even got the information about the book from FS"

Which begs the question as to how many of the "specially selected" for "one of our most loyal customers" letters were sent out. If the intention was indeed to give "exclusive access" to the early 200, then as soon as the posting was listed here and Folio started accepting orders from those not included in the distribution, then this situation was always going to arise.

If one was of a cynical disposition, then one could surmise that, having learned from the Mort frenzy, this was exactly the intention. It's the sort of typical marketing bull that we have become used to.

>186 terebinth: The prospectus for Cthulhu, I take it.

Oh. Duh.

>187 HuxleyTheCat: If one was of a cynical disposition, then one could surmise that, having learned from the Mort frenzy, this was exactly the intention.

Ker-ching!

Cynical, moi?

>185folio_books

I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. Yes, it was the Lovecraft prospectus. It's safe to say that I'll get any printed prospectus about new books in May well after the British FS customers. But I expect that will also be sent by email, as opposed to this 'exclusive' offer.

> 187HuxleyTheCat

Yes, their marketing methods have become really unpleasant and quite simply off-putting. I used to enjoy buying from and supporting them, but for a while now I sometimes shrug my shoulders and decide that I really don't need a specific book (or their last catalogue) urgently enough to support their behaviour towards customers. It's safe to say that there are titles that will tempt me after all, but my thresh-hold has definitely become higher with 'secret' sales like this Lovecraft, very limited vouchers, ever rising shipping fees etc.

>190 SF-72: I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. Yes, it was the Lovecraft prospectus.

No worries, entirely my mistake. If I'd taken a second to read it properly your meaning, in the context, was entirely obvious. Wishful thinking, I guess.

Finally! Some love for Lovecraft! I would however love to see a regular/limited edition of ALL of H.P. Lovecraft's works. I've had him in book suggestions forever on Folio's website. I was afraid that despite his hefty influence on the horror genre he would never get any of the attention he deserves from Folio Society. I thought perhaps since he held some strongly racist views in life and was public about it, it might give Folio pause on publishing any of his work. I was unaware whether an author's views on controversial subjects affected any decisions on books getting the Folio treatment or not. I am glad to see this is not the case.

>192 Mister_Fox: They published the Eric Gill Four Gospels (which is wonderful), so clearly not too much is out of bounds for Folio.

>193 HuxleyTheCat: I wonder how many of those who baulked at F.S. decision to publish Nabokov, happily admire the Gill volumes?

The FS have been reading this forum, and have realised that they have discriminated against overseas customers.
I have just received an email from them thus:-



If they have done this to others around the world, there may be a sudden rush for these first 200 copies.
No price is mentioned in the email.

>195 wcarter:

Nice, and i like that (well known) Lovecraft quote.

18`the of May. I`m looking forward to see this edition on the FS website for a little more visual. Bytheway, i have not had this leaflet in the mail to Norway either, but no rush since it`s allready as mentioned been ordered

I have just received an email with no price mentioned.
No sign of mail out of this LE

No snail or e-mail for me in Canada, and I've bought the last 3 or 4 LEs.

No email for me, but as mentioned I bought it last week.

Does this story really warrant the LE treatment? Folio never fail to amaze me.

And no doubt at a very special price for us

No emails for me either. I don't even remember the last time Folio emailed me in regards to anything. Wonder what it takes to be considered one of their most loyal customers :/

I've only got 55 FS LEs so obviously I don't qualify as a loyal customer worth notifying about special sales.

>204 kdweber: That's impressive on both counts! Up until Lovecraft I had only bought one LE but received my letter on day one. What is going on?

>200 LesMiserables:
Lovecraft is a cult classic. If you are a fan of horror, then you understand why his works need an LE. If you are not, then this book is not for you.

This author has a vision with star signs and dark, forbidden tomes. That is what this LE does, giving us such a tome. It is different from the run of the mill facsimile or fine binding LE, as this is trying to create something that could be easily one of the books from his tales.

>205 scratchpad:

The cynic in my thinks they're just a bit complacent in assuming those who have splurged on multiple LEs in the past are the type to do so regardless of whether FS try to sell them another LE as opposed to those who may have bought one or two whom they're specifically trying to court for cash.

>206 Raenas:

Nicely put; The overall design of the front cover with all those demonic runes and pentagrams that make it actually look like a tome that could possess a reader is what immediately sealed the the deal for me. The only thing that could have made my buy it faster was if the runes could somehow glow in the dark too!

>206 Raenas: >207 wongie: Yes, the book looks like it has just materialised out of the imagination of a writer who scribbles feverishly by candle light in some gothic basement. This was what pulled me in straight off. I only hope the real thing shapes up to this impression.

>208 scratchpad:
Indeed. If you look closely at the new image, the golden eye sign is on the solander box. Also like the spiral-like marbling, very nice touch, quite eerie. I wonder what kind of other details will be in the book itself. It is apparent lots of attention went into this.

I hope that FS will continue to release sci-fi, horror and fantasy LE-s in the future time to time. So many wonderful things can be done with these materials that would not fit classic literature or manuscripts. Everybody can do the latter, but the former needs the artistic capacity only FS and a very few others have.

A beautiful edition, for sure. And, I'm just now hearing about it from this thread, over in New Orleans.

I am a Library of America subscriber also, and have Lovecraft as part of that series, so I'll pass on this. I did buy the "Moby Dick" LE for its Rockwell Kent illustrations, and "The Sound and the Fury" original LE for it's colored printing of the Benji story.

Hoping more Agatha Christie is coming. There was a whisper of that somewhere . . .

>210 TriKnighg: I'm with you as regards Agatha Christie. I asked on 11th April "Any chance of some more Agatha from you soon, dear Folio." Their response was "Maybe, David! :-)"

Loving this new Lovercraft but I'm still recovering from Edward Lear's Birds Drawn in March. :(

>212 vietle: Crikey! Eleven more volumes of the Lear still to come?

And we've a ticker on the LE now that it's hit the website: limited stock, 499 left. Can't say I'm expecting a Mort-style rush.

Now that both versions of the book are pictured on the FS website, I have to say that the standard (or is it fine?) edition looks rather lovely as well.

>214 terebinth: And we've a ticker on the LE now that it's hit the website: limited stock, 499 left. Can't say I'm expecting a Mort-style rush.

Quite.

>215 sviswanathan: Now that both versions of the book are pictured on the FS website, I have to say that the standard (or is it fine?) edition looks rather lovely as well.

Interesting. I was going to say it appears to me they've designed the "standard" edition to look distinctly uninspired next to the LE. But the standard edition is not bound in eco-simulated anything, just boring old cloth, so that's the one for me.

>216 the_bb: the only way to find the LE right now on the website is on a hard-to-notice link on the regular edition's page.

It's on the home page, in its own little section.

>217 folio_books:

If you watch the video embedded on the book's page, watch 1:49 to 1:56. The cloth shimmers between green and purple based on the angle of view. I think I'll get the standard version as well.

>216 the_bb: "it's not on the page listing all the LEs" It is, about half way down, below Toilers of the Sea.

>217 folio_books: Au contraire, I think the cloth is far from boring, and the endpapers appear to be plain black, too, which to my eyes would be preferable to the aftermath of a drunken curry night of the expensive edition.

>220 HuxleyTheCat: the endpapers appear to be plain black, too, which to my eyes would be preferable to the aftermath of a drunken curry night of the expensive edition.

I originally described the LE endpapers as a "mess" but your take is far more picturesque. I've ordered the boring version.

>220 HuxleyTheCat: Love it! I agree: for this work I'd much prefer plain black endpapers to ones that seem to have been splattered with the projectile recall of an alcoholic vindaloo.

I had to check the meaning of "vindaloo." Very appropiate description!

>217 folio_books:
Uninspired boring old cloth? I'm with others - this looks like cloth bindings of Beowulf, In Parenthesis or the India set, which are all wonderful.

>220 HuxleyTheCat:
Haha, brilliant. Although I have to admit that I actually find the marbling quite artistic (in a messy way, sure) and pleasing.

Just ordered mine. It sells like hot cakes.

>226 johndunn: Yes it does, pretty steady. Them that say not must eat their own words

>226 johndunn: An expression I never understood, my niece owned a bakery and regularly had unsold hot cakes.

Fifteen in five hours, the working life of a hot cake seller must be pretty leisurely. Plenty of time to chat with the customers and fit in some reading if the boss isn't around.

>229 terebinth: It is expensive, more so than `Mort` just wait until it reaches it`s fans, i said 7 days before, this is day 1 from when it`s properly announced. We can sum up on late wednesday next week

You can have `Magna Carta` if i`m wrong

>230 Pellias:

I like a chap who has the courage of his convictions (even if you mean https://www.amazon.co.uk/Replica-MAGNA-CARTA-Anniversary-presentation/dp/B00B5FB... ) ;)

Late Wednesday next week, hmm, I'd guess at around 350 remaining for purchase. Fortunately books don't go stale.

Once Lovecraft fans have felt the eco-plastic cover they've forked out £345 for they'll be so filled with genuine horror they'll want to order another straight away. Which is exactly why Folio have pro-actively limited sales to one per non-member.

>232 terebinth: Perhaps books don't go stale, but some don't want to chance it.. http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2017/05/17/Wales-charity-asks-people-to-stop-donatin...

Cemetery Dance `Stephen Kings` Doubleday boxes are from similar material, or even cheaper, and THEY sell like hot cakes. And if they do, FS with a wider renome are publishing the almighty Lovecraft, i just can`t see how it can go wrong (for fans that appreciate it that is) .. anyway, i`ll stop nagging :)

>232 terebinth: ;)

>234 xrayman:

I wonder if they would be open to a swap: I've lately spent a few days putting in some sort of order the books donated for sale at my local former seminary, and I'm not sure we have a single copy of the Da Vinci Code, but we do have two entire shelves of James Patterson. Still, I doubt the postage would be justified in either direction...

>236 terebinth: I'm sure they would be happy to swap, but is a former seminary the most appropriate home for them?

>237 xrayman:

Well, I did notice somebody's Guide to the Da Vinci Code among the present stock, and Fifty Shades of Grey, and... oh, suffice to say many other titles that would not have been at all welcome there in the days when Protestant theology was kept under lock and key in a section of the library only available to those over 21, who needed to make themselves familiar with its claims and arguments.

>238 terebinth: I feel the urge to read 'The Name of the Rose'.

>239 xrayman:

You're in luck, we have it! Just a paperback, but yours for a modest contribution so long as it hasn't gone since yesterday ;)

>240 terebinth: If you have a fine copy of the FS fine press edition of 'The Anglo Saxon Elegies', I'll be happy to make an more than modest contribution!

>233 cronshaw:
"...they'll be so filled with genuine horror they'll want to order... "
Or, as Lovecraft would have said, they'll be so horribly terrified and sinister with horrifying horror, they'll plunge on unguided into terrible arcades of the abhorred Folio Society...

>241 xrayman:

Last year second-hand hardbacks of any quality were £2, this year contributions to the Honesty Box for books taken home are at the buyer's discretion, so prospects of anything nearly so desirable are vanishingly slim. Still, if I see it I'll grab it and I'm sure we can negotiate a donation agreeable to both sides.

>243 terebinth: I was, of course, jesting. Now you've raised it as a mere possibility, the anticipation is causing palpitations!

>244 xrayman:

All things are possible :) Having said that, please try not to let this possibility disturb your sleep pattern: I've seen (and bought) two Folio books in the three years of my association with the old college, 100 Best Paintings and Belloc's Cautionary Tales. As with every such outlet, anything at all could be in the next box a donor drops off, but usually isn't.

>245 terebinth: I live in hope. Until you open the next box it both does and doesn't contain the book. Of course it may have a live cat inside (or a dead one).

In order to bring this thread back on topic, I will not be buying the Lovecraft.

I don't think I will either: given my very occasional reading of Lovecraft so far, the semi-simulated eco-bonded plastic leather bound Gollancz Necronomicon will most likely suffice for the rest of my days.

Anyone know how much this will be after the published price? $695 cad right now that's $400 more than Mort. I'm really tempted but at $700 cad I'm sure I'll have a few more nights to sleep on it before it "flies" off the shelves. I do think it's a beautiful volume and I'm really digging the marbling.

>250 EclecticIndulgence:

Couldn't agree more. The page doesn't mention who did the marbling but assuming they went with Jemma Lewis as they have done in the past I don't see why they couldn't use something much more theme appropriate that she is already currently selling:

example 1


example 2

Are these numbered?

From the brochure: ‘Hand-marbled endpaper design by Jemma Lewis developed with Dan Hillier’

I think I can see a face in there but it may be a Rorschach test.

>254 bookfair_e:

Agree, I love his graphics, but not on top of book design. I dig the spirally theme of the endpapers, but the colour is off and I agree that the ones above would have been more fitting. A black and silver ink combo would have been wonderful to give the impression of cosmos.

>251 wongie:
Nice picks!

>206 Raenas:

Well I went off to my recliner and read The Call of Cthulhu this morning. I'm not convinced that it warrants the LE treatment on the story alone, but I can see the illustrative potential of course.

>258 LesMiserables:

I always found it strange that The Call of Cthulhu is the work Lovecraft is most associated with. I am a big fan of his writing (not his ideals though), but but do not consider this story among his top stuff.

At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow over Innsmouth, The Whisperer in the Darkness are my top. However, he has this whole overarching mythos, and one has to read multiple works to get the overall deal. Seemingly less relevant pieces gain greater meaning once somebody is familiar with the atmosphere and concept of his eldritch New England.

Editions are selling faster than I imagined. A shame that my wallet and student status forbids me from lavishly spending at the moment. Those that are able to get their hands on this wonderful edition, I congratulate you. From reading the comments, I've come to understand the sentiments of all of you regarding the direction Folio has taken. I just hope you all realize the luck we've all encountered at the beautiful publication of a Lovecraft book. There aren't many of them out there as beautiful as the one Folio has chosen to craft. Those that compare, or even excel the quality of the Folio's publication are either extremely expensive, limited, or just come up short at what they have to offer regarding content. If you guys have doubts in buying this edition, keep in mind, there's no medicine for regret.

My pocket is not deep enough for the LE but I am considering the standard edition. The thing is I already have the New Annotated Collection published by Liveright in 2014 which also came with an introduction by Alan Moore. Does anyone know if it's the same introduction?

This morning, I was pretty confident that I would order the standard Lovecraft, but I keep finding it hard to make the order because I do admire certain things about the limited edition. Watching the video, the hand-marbling looks different in some shots than others, which suggests to me that the color may look somewhat different in real life. I really love Jemma Lewis' marbled papers, based on the Duke's Children LE, which keeps drawing me back to the LE of this book. I also really like the black page edge coloring, and the way it compliments the black cover of the LE. On the other hand, I love the shimmering purple-green cloth binding of the SE. I think the solander box of the LE may be covered in the same cloth - can anyone confirm that?

>261 Shaliza:

From the brochure and on the Folio website:

'In a brilliant new preface, written for The Folio Society, author Alan Moore traces his own – and the literary canon’s – troubled relationship with ‘Providence’s paranoiac prophet’ and unearths a writer ‘more subtly insidious and more magnificently visionary… than the one that you remember or anticipate’.'

edited to refer to poster 261

A thought on the end papers: The colour and ellipsoidal theme of the end papers remind me a little of what I had imagined the described "things" to look like, which were floating down the rivers and streams in The Whisperer in Darkness, at least in color and weirdness, and not necessarily bodily form.

Do we know yet what stories are included in this new book?

>264 treereader:

From the FS website:

>220 HuxleyTheCat: I just checked-out the video, which, if paused at 2.39 shows that the plain black endpapers are spot-varnished and look brilliant. I think I'll be ordering the standard edition to replace my cancelled LE order.

>260 XiaoGustav: Editions are selling faster than I imagined.

A mere 430 left when I just checked. Hurry, hurry, hurry, you legions of Lovecraft fans!

>266 HuxleyTheCat: Thanks for highlighting that Fiona, that spot varnishing looks fantastic. More haunting and macabre than fluorescent drops of mint and blueberry stirred into thousand island dressing.

Just received an email from FS: delivery on Monday by dps (didn't know they had changed courier).

>269 scratchpad:

I think they've been the usual UK courier for LEs since Mort. And if I recall correctly they eventually communicate a window of an hour within which the delivery will happen, which is very welcome for me as 24 years living here haven't been long enough for me to rig up a doorbell I can hear from the back of the house.

>270 terebinth: The one hour window is mentioned in the email.

>271 fastcare: ?

I like the swirls of the marbled end papers as such, but like others here I find the choice of colours irritating. Wongie's choices are a lot better.

> 265

Hmmm....the link you provided just renders as a question mark icon and doesn't go anywhere for me. I'll have to try a different browser.

> 274

I like the imagery Wongie pointed out better, as well. I was just thinking that it's possible the end papers might have actually been made to imitate something from one of the stories, which if that were the case, it would provide some redemption to the horror that they chose.

>273 scratchpad: ?

I know a cool way of passing the time. Let's join this LibraryThing thing, join a random group and post something entirely meaningless. Cool!

Is it time for our meds yet?

>277 folio_books: I thought for one stupidly naive moment that it might be a message everyone here but me would understand....hey, how do you know we two are the only ones who don't understand it...and so on...

A Thay man wants to swap his sony telephone with `Call of Cthulu`

>271 fastcare: You might want to call FS about that matter, we can`t help you here

Received my "urgent, place your order by the 18th" mailing today on the 19th. Nice to know they didn't forget me. And my bank statement shows on my credit card the order I placed yesterday, plus a second order today that I didn't place. Cheech.

Here is the fine edition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvhk_AZc87U

>281 Pellias: Nice vid and review. Cool effect with the interwoven cloth boards!

>281 Pellias: Here is the fine edition

Thanks for the link. That's the one winging its way to me even as I type.

Down to only 400 of the LEs as of less than a minute ago. Are you counting?

>282 NLNils: Oh, it`s nice allright

>283 folio_books: I want to fight you without gloves ;)

>284 Pellias: I want to fight you without gloves ;)

Me? What did I do?

Don't start panicking yet. There's still plenty of time. Probably ;)

>281 Pellias: Thanks for the link. Kevin seems a good laugh! I love the octopus balaclava (note to Mole: Folio missed a trick there not offering one of those to the first 100 purchasers...).

Well, today I did finally receive my snail mail personal invite to order before 18 May, today being the 19th.

I was momentarily ready to drop the money on the LE but... not when I saw that it was fake leather. I have had bad experiences with fake leather and its lack of durability and no longer purchase anything with it, and certainly nothing pricey with it. For me it's just not worth the risk that it will fall apart.

Fortunately I think the cloth-bound version looks pretty! The cloth with the multiple colors looks a little like what is on Beowulf and I like that cover.

>184 SF-72: I am in the US and my Folio mail is usually sent from Malta.

This is the problem with putting your own morals "I'm a vegan, I don't use leather etc." into your creations, books are a business. creating quality books for the customer is a top priority. Giving consumers what they want, not what you want is the key to good selling practices. Fake leather has no place in a limited edition, I don't care how it's dressed up by nomenclature -- eco-leather, fake leather, polyurethane, faux-leather etc. I'll be getting the regular edition.

Hi folks, I've been looking about to see what word is out there about the Folio edition of Cthulhu today, and have read some of the comments on here about the choice of using eco simulated leather.

It was nothing to do with cost-cutting on the part of Folio and it was part of my agreement to do the book that we wouldn't use leather. As much as I really love the feel and quality of leather as a material I'm opposed to the killing of animals for it, as it isn't necessary, and it wouldn't have sat well with me to have gone ahead for the sake of luxury.

Absolutely understand people's doubt about the eco stuff, but Folio don't mess about when it comes to durability and quality, so I'm pretty sure it'll stand the test of time, especially if it's housed in the solander case it comes in. Being a former lover of leather I was surprised at the quality and feel of this material and was concerned the message hadn't sunk in at first. It's a thing of beauty.

That being said, the core edition is pretty splendid too. You can see a bit more of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvhk_AZc87U starts at 1:38

If you want to ask anything feel free to contact me at dan@danhillier.com.

Cheers!

Dan

>290 DanHillier: Is this a first? I have no skin in this game, but I'm all for direct communication with contributors and illustrators in the future. Thank you mr. Hillier!

>291 NLNils: "I have no skin in this game" And neither will anyone else buying the LE.

>290 DanHillier: it was part of my agreement to do the book that we wouldn't use leather.

Well first thing, welcome to FSD. Second, brave man for walking into the lion's den. I'll come back with my thoughts when the excitement dies down a bit ...

Oh dear...Dan Hillier's intentions may have been good but if the result is the disappearing perspective of this extraordinarily long, depressing and often deprecatory discussion about a book binding being prolonged even further then it will have acheived precisely nothing.

>294 scratchpad: a book binding being prolonged even further

You could always ignore the topic. I often find that helps.

>295 folio_books: Redundant advice.

>290 DanHillier: >291 NLNils:
To my knowledge, this is the first time any author, editor or illustrator has ever made a comment on a Folio Society Devotees thread - and I think it is a great idea!
Welcome Dan, and please tell us anything else that you think may be relevant or of interest to purchasers of either edition.

>297 wcarter: Yes, it would be great if the producers rather than merely us consumers took part in discussions, but that Mr Hillier has felt the need to enter the forum to defend the choice of material to a group of usually quite knowledgeable book buyers, is interesting. "I'm pretty sure it'll stand the test of time, especially if it's housed in the solander case it comes in" is hardly a ringing endorsement of the product.

Edited for typo.

There are those out there with the same philosophy as Dan, that likes the binding because it is not real leather, and wouldn`t want it if it was, i have found them

Second, about standing the test of time (for how long a time spand would that be?) The only things that will probably stand the test of time is the pyramide of Giza, and for example Lascaux cave paintings and things like these, oh, and yes plastic if science doesn`t have other plans

A basic rule of thumb: If things are properly taken care of, they would last longer than if they were not, and if this book should be bound in any leather of any kind it should be from humans (preferely donated) like Necronomicon (probably not donated). Cthulu ate humans

I just want to make my point clear, as i think this leather thingy is starting to be boring (and has been from the start, as i have witnessed it before that also with a boring progress of dialogue and no sober outcome)

>290 DanHillier: Cool you found your way Dan, looking forward to have this volume in my hands

>290 DanHillier: Many thanks, Dan, for kindly dropping in and providing additional insight. I find the illustrations you created for this edition beautiful and wish you further success in your future work. Many Folio Devotees will be reassured to read your words about the quality of the polyurethane used to simulate the leather in this edition, and I think you're correct that Folio would ensure that the final look and feel would be of as high a quality as possible.

My concern has not been so much that an artificial material has been used in place of real leather for this edition (provided that it is indeed durable), or of the design of the binding (which looks magnificent), but that like the polyurethane, the actual pricing strives to simulate a volume bound in finest goatskin.

One question please: while your impressive artwork for this edition appears to suit the genre brilliantly, the colouring chosen for the marbling has left many of us bemused as it so jars with the macabre black of the binding and with the haunting monotone of your illustrations. Would you be able to share with us the reasons for the colour choice?

>300 cronshaw:

Well, we've the Folio Society version: "Jemma Lewis has hand crafted hypnotic endpapers which gives (sic) a foreboding, antiquarian air to the book's occult interior": which to me reads as some way further down the road to careless marketing hype than J W-B would ever have ventured. I am one, and I think I've noted that there are a few of us here if we are in a minority, to whom the singularly garish organic excess of the endpapers seems ideal for their purpose, a suggestion, though not unbeautiful, of lively visceral repulsion augmenting all the darkness and occult menace.

>301 terebinth: thanks for pointing that out, I'd missed it completely. I agree the marketing hype stuffed with a Lovecraftian quantity of adjectives is unhelpful. Good art speaks for itself.

Interesting to note your take on the 'lively visceral repulsion'. For me it's more scary clown than darkness and foreboding, but then it's all so wonderfully subjective, isn't it! Regardless, I'm sure at a limitation of only 750 that this edition will prove very popular with Lovecraft fans and sell out quickly, despite the price.

So the main thing with the choice of material for the cover was that it felt like it was made from leather, or preferably something more sea-monster-like, and the original material I chose was a very soft textured eco whatsit that felt weirdly like octopus skin or something, but after a lot of testing and talks with the binders TFS use it was felt that it wouldn't be suitable for the rigours of binding and its longevity might be compromised, so they went for something not a mile off that is very soft and leathery to the touch. It feel like calf or goat skin I guess.

As I said before, I love leather as a substance, I just dislike how it is procured (and leather is a co-product, not a side-product of the meat industry, which I'm strongly against due to the animal cruelty and the environmental devastation it is at the forefront of. I'm not here to preach, and what you eat is no business of mine, but people have remarked on this here).

As for the end papers, we were looking at options, and we all wanted something that offset the blackness of the book with something that felt cosmic, visceral and a bit over the top, and Jemma gave us several options with the colours chosen. This was the unanimous choice. It would have also been very nice to have had a dark, subtle and perhaps more sober end-paper too, but this just jumped out at us. I haven't received my LE copies yet, but the colours are not as bright as on the Folio website, as is usually the case with online photos of paper, due to them being backlit by your screen.

Hope that helps.

I'm here because it's fun to find people into this stuff and novel to me to stick my oar in, and I like engaging with people. I never expect to make all happy with anything I do, but I'm well pleased with and proud of the end result and the Folio people are too.

I hope those of you who buy it love it too.

I'll be away for a bit but will check in again at some point.

Thanks again Dan for getting back so promptly, and for being willing to stick your oar in!

Regarding the marbling, that the colours are not as bright as on the Folio website is good to know.

Thanks for your insights Dan. While you say you don't expect to make all happy I'm confident that of those who bought a LE pretty much everyone will indeed be happy, despite the nitpicking, with the book once they have it in their hands.

>290 DanHillier:

Thank you for posting in this group, Mr Hillier, quite probably the very first time that anyone connected directly with the Folio Society has ever done so. As one who questioned the relationship between binding and what I called "diet habits," let me please first mention that I have nothing against vegetarianism as an ethical stand. In fact, I admire it. Secondly, I wish to express that I find your artistic work, and the illustrations for the Lovecraft book, absolutely magnificent and one hundred percent apt for the work. Congratulations on a job very well done. Lastly, I have bought the standard edition.

>303 DanHillier:

Hi Dan, thank you for taking the time to post here. I was somewhat skeptical about the eco-simulated leather, but I appreciate that it sounds like you and the FS team put some thought into the material. I respect veganism/vegetarianism as a standard, though I don't practice it, but I am usually not fond of simulated products that imitate the appearance of animal products. Were other options considered, such as a high end cloth or other textile binding? Still, I do appreciate the consideration put into the material choice, and "sea-monster-like" concept sounds rather interesting.

Regarding the end papers, I noticed that in the video, some of the images make the colors look very bright and others very pale, so I figured it was probably somewhere in between. I loved Jemma Lewis' work on the Folio Society's limited edition "The Duke's Children," so I was excited to see her work being part of this edition. As a Lovecraft aficionado, I ultimately decided to order the limited edition, but it was a hard decision both because I wasn't sure about the binding material, and because the cloth used on the standard edition looks so excellent. Is the cloth on the solander box the same cloth used for the binding of the standard edition? It looks like it, but its hard to tell from images.

>290 DanHillier: I just want to say that I love your work on the illustrations for this volume. I will be getting the standard edition due to limited funds and an overall love of the two coloured fabric used. The only thing that I miss is the marvellous marbled endpapers (wich i love unlike What sedan like the majority) of the limited edition but it is a fair trade off given the price. Keep up the good work and I hope you will do more work for the society in the future.

Edit: Just wanted to add an afterthought: Woulden't it be awesome to have some Edgar Allan Poe stories produced in series with this? I would love to see Hillier interprete Poe's work.

Wouldn't be the first time that Folio have resorted to faux materials. Their very first "extra," the 4 vol 1001 Nights of 1958 used vegetable parchment instead of the real thing, presumably to spare the sensibilities of members attached to lambs. The spine of mine is still in pristine condition, protected by kitchen waxpaper that replaced the original glassine or whatever it was called. Can't say the same for Folio leather bindings of the same era, unless they were protected by dustcovers. Leather isn't necessarily a durable product, and nobody has come up with a definitive way to protect it. Sooner or later it falls apart.

I am more than confident that the solander box and sane library practices will keep the binding, eco-leather or not, in reasonable shape. The feel is what I'm most curious about, especially after Dan Hillier's comments above.

I like the endpapers in the LE, though I too think I would have preferred something more like what wongie found. Will wait until book is in hand to make the final call though. I find that often design decisions I think might be questionable work perfectly when the book arrives, and conversely books that seem perfect from afar reveal their flaws up close.

>307 sviswanathan: My initial scepticism about this intriguing LE concerned what appeared to be egregious pricing for a binding of euphemistically re-branded plastic; also what seemed to be garish marbling out of keeping with the tone of the binding and internal illustrations. However, it does seem from what Dan has said that this particular polyurethane isn't at all your usual fake leather type of plastic, such as has typically been employed by low-end publishers to cut costs, but hopefully something altogether more refined and which may add its own distinctive 'Cthulhu' feel. The binding design certainly looks gorgeous in the website images.

Further to what you say about the varying appearance of the marbling, and regarding what Dan has said about the intensity of the colours, I've just noted on the video (at 31 secs) that the marbling there appears nothing like that shown in the still images. The video shows a marbling far more subtle in tone and texture, so much so it actually looks a completely different design, one far more appealing and which to my eyes seems far better suited to the work and binding. How weird that marbling can appear so very different in a still image and a video! However, since no two sheets of marbling will be the same, I do wonder to what extent the marbling employed in this LE will indeed vary from one copy to the next. I'd be disappointed to receive the garish version, but quite delighted with the more subdued one we see in the video.

I look forward to reading the reviews from those who receive the first copies, hopefully with further images posted here!

>311 cronshaw:

I am also hoping that the marbling turns out more like the more subdued version shown in the video. I definitely plan to take some pictures when my copy arrives, to share here.

My thoughts on the "eco" version, aimed squarely at Folio and not the illustrator. One, if it is decided that the binding material should not be leather, don't charge a leather price. And two, on the issue of what the binding material should be, don't let the tail wag the dog. Change illustrator if necessary. I don't, blame Dan Hillier for his principles, but the Folio Society must make their own commercial decisions. In this instance I think they were wrong. I want the book and I quite like the illustrations so I've ordered the standard (what's this "core" nonsense?) edition, which I'm glad Folio saw fit to co-release. I'd have been happier still if they'd chosen a more comfortable price point. It's starting to look like they see £75 as the appropriate price for anything remotely above "normal". I have a feeling SF and fantasy fans are going to find themselves ruthlessly exploited if recent releases are anything to go by.

>309 Jayked: Leather isn't necessarily a durable product, and nobody has come up with a definitive way to protect it. Sooner or later it falls apart.

As does everything, indeed. Even the pyramids. Leather does seem to have been the binding material of choice for centuries and I think that speaks for itself. I find it disconcerting it should be challenged as a very obvious choice (if it wasn't obvious why search for an artificial alternative?) not on grounds of durability but on religious (Buddhist) and/or lifestyle (vegan) grounds.

>298 HuxleyTheCat: .. Mr Hillier has felt the need to enter the forum to defend the choice of material to a group of usually quite knowledgeable book buyers, is interesting. "I'm pretty sure it'll stand the test of time, especially if it's housed in the solander case it comes in" is hardly a ringing endorsement of the product.

I agree, it's not. I think he's being honest, though.

Two final points to add. First, to acknowledge Dan's courage in putting himself in the firing line and talking directly to the consumers. Lastly to say, if there is any doubt, that I think the LE is a beautiful piece of work. I might very likely have bought it, if only ...

Leather in itself is of course no guarantee of durability, Folio's leather bindings from the '50s and '60s mostly seem the hardest of their books from that period to find in pleasant condition. Then, experiences in various fields leave me far from confident about "eco-leather", presumably a recent formulation, as so far the only really dependable way science has found to investigate whether a flexible material will still be stable and flexible after 50 or 100 years seems to involve waiting for 50 or 100 years.

Respect from me for Dan's standing by his values, and from any standpoint it's good to see a vegan-friendly limited edition. Should there really be a "leather price", i.e. is goatskin actually markedly more costly to use than any likely substitute? I'd take a little convincing.

As already confessed, I'm lukewarm on Lovecraft, not a customer for the LE and probably not one for the standard edition either. The LE looks set to sell out some time before the Herefordshire Pomona despite the latter's head start, and faster indeed than most Folio limited editions, so congratulations all round on that score: and I do feel a certain power of persuasion in both designs.

I expect that the cost of leather depends to an extent on how much treatment it requires. In the days when ladies wore gloves, you expected to find on them (the gloves) evidence of a misspent youth in the way of scars and scratches in the skin. I've never seen that on a Folio book cover. In the shoe industry, paradoxically enough, only the most expensive products carry such scars. Most makers homogenize the leather by "polishing," a process which involves getting rid of impurities and even, if need be, stamping on a design replicating the natural appearance of untreated leather. This is not the same as bonded leather, which is made from a slurry of leather waste, then stamped. Shoe purists (they exist, it seems) complain that polished leather delaminates quickly under bad weather conditions. Shoes endure much harsher conditions than books, but it seems that all leathers are not equal. I wonder just how strong the "hand-polished" leather on the Poetic Edda, for example, really is. One would hope that it would last a lifetime, but early Folio editions mostly haven't, unlike survivors from previous centuries. In my experience, dust-jacketed cloth does better.
The same is true of silk. The first editions of the Joan Hassall Jane Austen faded so badly so fast that I stopped buying them until they were reprinted in standard cloth. I note, happily, that recent publications such as Genji -- the most expensive fine edition -- use "Art Silk," where Art stands for artificial. I don't recall anyone complaining about that.

>314 terebinth: I've been trying to feel more than lukewarm about H.P. Lovecraft as an author, having become quite taken with Dan Hillier's illustrations and the binding design by Folio. However, having today read The Call of Cthulhu on-line (which felt like wading chest-deep through a swamp of adjectives and adverbs in vain search of a glimpse of characterisation), and having also just read the excellent New York Times review of Lovecraft by Charles Baxter, I've yet to convince myself that the writing itself is worth buying either of these wonderfully produced editions. Regardless, Folio does deserve full credit for yet again being impressively innovative and creative; if I do imbibe too much Merlot and unsoberly press 'Place Order' one late evening, it'll be an effect of the dark forces of bibliomanic covetousness rather than feeling high H.P. love for the craft of the author.

>314 terebinth: I believe Folio 90 will sell out before The Herefordshire Pomona.

>316 cronshaw: And H.P. Lovecraft the author is still more palatable than H.P. Lovecraft the man!

I think the FS LE will probably end up being one of, if not the most beautiful Lovecraft anthologies ever made. Easton Press released "The Dunwich Horror And Others" which is hard to find, and is not in the same league as the FS edition. Centipede Press released a huge edition of Lovecraft which is now out of print and very expensive. It too, is not in the same league as this FS LE. Clearly, this is not a book for everyone, but I personally am very glad Lovecraft is getting the recognition he deserves from the FS (about time :)

308: Poe is an absolute genius! I'm a little torn about another Poe LE. Unlike Lovecraft, Poe was recognized in his time and not long since he passed away as a genius, and you can find beautiful limited editions of his work featuring artwork by Dulac, Harry Clarke, Rackham, etc.
In fact, Easton Press released a limited edition of his works not long ago with brand new illustrations. It has yet to sell out, and I'm wondering if the Poe market for limited editions is saturated?


image hosting free

Good to see Mr Hillier contribute.
Still I concur with the comments about the tail wagging the dog.
I wouldn't ask someone to take on a contract that violated their ethics.
But then again where does one stop? I'm pretty sure the glue used will be animal based. Did the wood that made the paper deprive some flying squirrel its habitat?
Slippery slope.

Chthulhu fans may find this Kickstarter project interesting:-
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/786059328/cthulhu-wars-the-art-of-richard-l...

Stock down to almost 330. At the price that's pretty good, isn't it?

>322 scratchpad:

Certainly beats my rash estimate above of 350 copies left by late Wednesday this week :)

>322 scratchpad: Very. Much faster than I was anticipating, and I think I'm one of the most enthusiastic about Folio's choices for the book (in this thread, at least).

>322 scratchpad:

Yeah, it seems pretty solid to me. About one hundred people have bought copies since I ordered mine Friday morning.

>319 astropi: Are you referring to the two-volume slipcased Centipede edition? The one with the Lovecraft photos in the second volume?

>322 scratchpad: Stock down to almost 330

Only 324 left as of a few minutes ago ...

The countdown ticker should always move downwards in jerky jumps rather than one by one. It's not linked in real time to actual on-line and phone-in orders: at the time of the phenomenon that was the Mort LE, dMR staff explained that Folio's IT system being only mid-20th century at best requires some poor soul to manually adjust the figure every few hours or so, during tea breaks.

Having verified my humanity, the arrival of a Lovecraft LE inspires my first post.
It arrived with a sticker on the outside box saying 'DO NOT TURN OVER' which made me wonder if it would drag me into some eldritch dimension if I dared to do so. However, I survived the unwrapping.
Perhaps it's psychological but my first impression of the binding was that it felt slightly otherwordly. A bit leathery, a bit rubbery, but not unpleasant. I've never felt a sea monster but I can imagine one might feel like this. And, to my mind, it does look beautiful.
The marbled endpapers are indeed much less garish than they appeared in pictures online. The gold ink changes colour subtly with the angle of the light, echoing the two-tone effect of the solander box.
I suspect those who have expressed doubts about this volume will be pleasantly surprised if they actually handle one.
If you are about to receive one, enjoy :-)

Got a mail from DPD saying my Cthulu would be delivered today.

I think is the first time I've ever had notification that a Folio parcel was in transit.

I've mailed and moaned at length in questionnaires that them not notifying us that a parcel has been sent is absurd in this day and age. They blame their computer system.

I've had parcels returned to the society because the delivery firm haven't been able to get to my flat, so not left a card and I've had no way of knowing that a parcel was waiting for me.

>329 Cat_of_Ulthar: Thank you for the review. Any chance of a couple of images?! It sounds wonderful, and very good news that the marbled endpapers are less garish than the fluorescent vindaloo of the on-line images. You're making me think I ought to add 'merlot, one bottle' to my supermarket shopping list.

>329 Cat_of_Ulthar: "The gold ink changes colour subtly with the angle of the light, echoing the two-tone effect of the solander box."

Thank you for sharing your impressions, and especially for noting the above. I noticed on the Folio Society's twitter account, they referred to "metallic marbled endpages" but the images posted online didn't really give much hint at that, other than the fact that they looked noticeably different at different points on the video. I'm looking forward to getting mine, but it hasn't shipped yet... Glad you are enjoying yours.

Question: is the cloth on the solander box the green-purple shifting cloth used to bind the standard edition?

>330 mpreed:

There was much confusion, as I recall, over the UK shipping of the Mort LE, with notifications from a company that didn't in the end perform the task - something like that - but DPD took over, and have delivered the two LEs I've ordered since then, Edward Thomas and Riddley Walker, with notification of the day and in due course the hour. Standard FS orders as far as I know are unchanged and unscheduled.

Yes, the cloth is the shimmery colour-changing type, I presume it's the same as the standard edition.
I would like to add a couple of pictures as requested by cronshaw (331) but I'm new to this and not sure how yet. Are there any instructions on the site?

Edit: Sorry, that was in response to 332 sviswanathan.

I'm still waiting on my Edward Thomas, let alone the Cthulhu :(

Ugh, latest I can leave work and head home for lunch is at 1 and I'd have to head back at 1345. My Cthulhu's delivery window is 1345- 1445. This is killing me.

My delivery window is 16:03-17:03. If the driver knew what fearsome and terrible forces were at work in the back of his van, I'm sure he'd deliver it sooner ...

>334 Cat_of_Ulthar:
EVERYTHING you need to know about the Folio Society and FSD is on the wiki, including how to post pictures to a thread. See -
http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Groups:Folio_Society_Devotees#How_to_...

Apologies if I'm the last one to notice, but I'm surprised to see in the new printed prospectus that that the usual exclusions applying to the current £20-off voucher - postage, LEs etc. - specifically exclude the Lovecraft LE for which, it says, the discount code can be used.

338 wcarter: Thank you, I shall check that out later.

>339 terebinth: But the website won't accept the discount for the LE, saying "conditions not met".

>341 HuxleyTheCat:

Curious. The prospectus couldn't be more explicit:

"*Enter voucher code HMACXX to redeem. Minimum spend excludes the cost of postage, non-book items and all limited editions apart from The Call of Cthulhu & Other Weird Stories. Cannot be combined with any other voucher."

>342 terebinth: Indeed, it does, as I can now see in my own copy, but it can't be applied at checkout. It would be interesting to hear if anyone has tried to apply it to a phone order, and what they are told. Can you imagine the chaos that will ensue, should someone conform to the T&Cs and receive a discount...

>342 terebinth:
>343 HuxleyTheCat:

I 'phoned Folio as I pre-ordered and received my copy today.

Usual Folio cock-up. The discount code should apply and should be accepted online. I will be refunded the difference.

Goodness only knows what will be done with all of the other customers affected this way, whether one will need to claim - or receive an automatic reimbursement.

>343 HuxleyTheCat:

Indeed, not to mention (as it were) the further option of placing an order for the LE by post, using the order form provided: hard to imagine the FS would get back to them and demand another £20.

>344 bookfair_e:

Ah, that's nicely resolved, then. So in effect there's a £20 introductory discount on the LE, except it excludes anybody who's placed an order for £150 worth of standard editions in the past week. FS idiosyncrasy is alive and well :)

So my delivery window was 1345-1445. I went home not expecting anything to turn up. Just as I got ready to leave the DPD knocks at my door bang on 1345! I should have given the man a medal. Of course I ended up not leaving for work on time. Please, nobody tell my boss the real reason I was late from lunch!

So, my observations. The eco-leather most definitely does not feel like your usual 4-legged critter skin. It is rather rough and rubbery, almost like soft neoprene. I'm not too bothered by it not feeling like real leather, I have enough genuine leather books and this eco-leather most certainly does feel very unique.

Design wise, spot on, the only issue I have is that the eco-leather makes the debossed runes rather difficult to see. I was looking at it next to a south-facing window at lunch time on a clear and sunny day so despite having plenty of diffuse light I was struggling to see some of the detailing on the near black-body surface of the book. Then again I was in a rush so may have been somewhat lightheaded in trying to garner details whilst rushing some photo jobs and worrying about being late from lunch.

Marble end papers: Look fantastic, if you have any of FS Letterpress Shakespeare you'll know what to expect, same high quality work with a more noticeable metallic tinge. It definitely is vibrant and stands out in my opinion so I am still not entirely convinced of its suitability given the black-body nature of the binding, I think something grey would have been more appropriate and the endpapers they used should have been used on the interior of the clamshell case isntead which is what they were trying to reflect. That said I'm not complaining, while it might not be exactly theme-appropriate, great workmanship is still great workmanship.

Artwork is what makes this edition, it is just absolutely spot on! The double page spreads are just phenomenal! My photo doesn't do it an ounce of justice.

From my 5 minutes of rushed fondling I'd say my 345 was well spent despite the eco-leather. Given the unique feel of the material, the overall design of the binding and perfect artwork I'd say it was a better purchase than some of my previous LE purchases of the same price bracket like the Golden Ass.

Oh, and the contents; I'm no Lovecraft expert but it appears some of his more stronger works, or at least those whom some fans of his cite as some of his better work ie Colour out of Space, Rats in the Wall and The Outsider etc are most definitely included.

>347 wongie: Cheers for the review! It does look very nice indeed.

ETA - PS don't forget to claim your £20 refund!

After seeing those photos I certainly have no regrets about my purchase. Looking forward to my book making it Stateside

>347 wongie: Cheers for the review. Waiting eagerly for my copy today :)

>347 wongie:

Thanks for the photos. If it doesn't feel like leather, what does it smell of?

>351 folio_books:

I'll give it a sniff and let you know once I get home in an hour's time!

>352 wongie: I'll give it a sniff and let you know once I get home in an hour's time!

Take it carefully, no deep inhalations. Sniffing neoprene can be addictive :)

>347 wongie: Many thanks for the review, and for kindly taking the trouble to upload images for us! The binding looks great, as it does in the FS website images, and it's good to know that the illustrations appear impressive and that you're happy with the purchase.

I don't know whether it's a mere matter of lighting, but the marbling in your images still looks startlingly bright, far more so than in the FS website video.

So, a some additional observations now that I'm at home and at leisure to fondle.

Firstly, the sniff test... It has to said I'm usually a poor smeller as it is but I can't actually pick up any distinctive odour emanating from the eco-leather.

I've also noticed that due to the blackness of the material any dust specs that happen to land and stick on the cover stick out like a sore thumb. They brush off easily enough though, but if you happen to have a dusty reading room or surface you might want to consider buying a air purifier! I've already noticed some minor white smudging on the back after handling it. This is definitely a book you might want to give a quick wipe down before putting away.

>354 cronshaw:

Definitely a matter of lighting, I used a flash in my initial images. Below is probably a bit more representative along with a couple more images without the flash.

>355 wongie: Still a really beautiful book. Congratulations! What number do you have.

Very nice `Wongie` though i don`t want to look to closely at the pictures as of yet, i am to eagerly awaiting my own copy and want the "wow" factor to be present, and i hope it comes. But i learn`t that you are happy. Congrats!

>356 johndunn:

23. I definitely like this new direction FS is taking with regards to sending their numbered editions according to when they were purchased.

>357 Pellias:

Yes, definitely happy, sorry for the spoilers!

>355 wongie: Many thanks again for the further details and images! :)

>347 wongie:

That has to be one of the most striking LEs I've seen. It looks truly magnificent and I've been wavering, if not slavering, over it since news broke of the secret offer of special access to the first 200 - contained exclusively in an envelope which arrived at my house while I was frustratingly over 250 miles away on holiday. When I got back I had narrowly missed the deadline and was cursing my bad luck.

Despite my excitement, I confess that at that stage Lovecraft was known to me by name and reputation alone, despite the shameful fact that a brand new paperback copy (well, new in 1979) had been sitting unopened on my shelves for nearly forty years. Cometh the hour, cometh the book! I took up the living embodiment of the browning version, crackling with the brittle decay of aeons, and began 'The Call of Cthulhu'. On the back of my copy there is a solemn warning to the reader that "you would be best advised not to read late at night if you hope for untroubled sleep." Sound advice indeed! I woke my wife up twice with uncontrollable laughter.

Now, I love creepy stories. They are one of my favourite illicit pleasures. Lovecraft is often bracketed with the likes of Poe, M. R. James, Algernon Blackwood, etc., all of whom I admire immensely, but unfortunately the name that kept popping up in my mind as I read, that refused to remain incarcerated forever in the depths, was David Icke.

But, to be more serious, I think, for me, one of the gravest problems with the story is not the material, which is promising, but the manner of the telling. The tale is told at second or third hand and suffers accordingly. There are a number of characters whom we never get to know or empathise with. Maybe that's impossible within the compass of a short story. For me, for all the horrific nature of the revelations, the flat reportage style fails utterly to stir any excitement, let alone fear or anguish. Perhaps Lovecraft's genius emerges gradually, over the course of several tales. I hope so. But I now think I'll give this LE, beautiful though it is, a miss.

One thing did strike me, however, and it comes in the very first paragraph where the narrator is explaining why he alone is the harbinger of this earth-shattering news - the story has had to be pieced together from disparate scraps of personal papers and reports and articles published in far-flung journals and obscure periodicals. He goes on, unwittingly to predict the dangers of the internet age: ". . . some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."

>360 boldface:

This is not the first time we have concurred http://www.librarything.com/topic/256828#6051414

I say this, not wanting to come across as a crusty irascible cantankerous naysayer, spoiling the excitement of the convinced. Rather, as genuinely puzzled card carrying dismembered, who can't see the literary merit in it.

If you're looking for literary merit in Lovecraft, you'll come away disappointed. If you're looking for heart-racing horror, you probably will too. But for me what Lovercraft does exceedingly well is craft a world of unknowable, slow-burning dread. It's cosmic-scale horror rather than human-scale horror, and his mastery of it makes him interesting. To me, at least.

>362 gmacaree:

Thanks for your interesting angle on Lovecraft. When I used the term 'literary merit' I was conscious of how subjective it was. I mean, I did enjoy the story in some regards, but I just think there are so many other greater works out there that Folio could do.

Unless of course as I intimated in http://www.librarything.com/topic/256828#6051414 that Folio choose this for the illustrative potential first and foremost.

I suspect they did.

> 342

I didn't order the Lovecraft LE but was able to redeem the discount ($30 off $225 state-side) with a pre-tax/pre-shipping total of less than $225. In other words, it must have allowed shipping to count towards the $225USD.

>361 LesMiserables:

This is a 45-minute 2006 BBC Radio 3 documentary about/ introduction to Lovecraft, which has mysteriously found its way onto Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1GVG8l5DE8

>365 housefulofpaper:

Thanks, listening to it now.
'The Call..' at 28m

363: Well, I would argue this is a dangerously slippery slope. If we go by the old "there are better, more important works out there to publish than so-and-so", what exactly would be published? Who decides? As James Fitzjames Stephen once noted:
Who, it may be asked, takes Mr. Dickens seriously? Stephen notes that Charles Dickens is really nothing more than a "gad-fly"
(from the Cambridge Companion to Charles Dickens).
And thus, I question the term "literary merit"?

365: "and visiting fellow at Miskatonic University" ho ho! most amusing :)

>365 housefulofpaper:

Or, if you only have 4 minutes, there's

https://youtu.be/XxScTbIUvoA

>362 gmacaree:

Well spoken. Lovecraft is not a great writer, in the sense of weaving sentences from words at least. It is his imagination, concepts and vision he establishes that make him exceptional. Reading Lovecraft only works with people who also have great imagination themselves, and are able to think forward his implications and unsaid terrors in the midst of dreary New England.

>367 astropi:

I am compelled to agree. Lovecraft has a huge following, influenced pop culture, countless writers and movies. If something defines literary merit to me, it is the capacity to bring joy to people through writing. If a book excels at that, then it has merit. Not everybody has to like it. Who are we to dictate taste? In my eyes Twilight or Fifty shades of grey have merit too. People enjoy them. If I had to say what Folio should publish, they would be books that people love, in a worthy physical format. Why should the Folio experience be denied from those who do not share the same taste as some others?

>367 astropi:

Yes, I point to this in my comments. http://www.librarything.com/topic/256828#6055410

>368 cpg:

Very good!

If Wikipedia's figures are correct, the two best selling authors of all time are William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie, both of whom, especially the first, have been well represented in Folio lists: the next three in line, Barbara Cartland, Danielle Steel and Harold Robbins, not so well yet. I'm innocent myself of four of those top five, but I'd guess that the main reason why the FS hasn't turned to the latter three is that not enough of their readers would want to fork out £30 or £40 a time to own their books in well designed and lasting editions. For better or worse, the modern FS does seem ready to publish whatever it thinks will sell, with I expect some lingering scruples as regards the general opinion of the literary quality of its lists.

>369 Raenas:'s wish seems to me fairly thoroughly granted, the books enough people love I think generally do get taken up by the FS unless copyright demands are too severe. Personally I don't find the new FS as useful as the old FS in seducing me to look at work that has somehow passed me by, because what happens when I do isn't nearly so dependably rewarding as it used to be, but that's just an observation, emphatically not a cry of frustrated entitlement.

>344 bookfair_e:
I ordered the LE along with Mani & Roumeli on Friday, and the discount code was not offered. I just sent a note to Customer Service to see if they will fix this.

>347 wongie:
>355 wongie:
Great pictures; thank you for posting!

Only 314 left.

>372 terebinth: Personally I don't find the new FS as useful as the old FS in seducing me to look at work that has somehow passed me by, because what happens when I do isn't nearly so dependably rewarding as it used to be.

Agreed. And what you won't find in at least the last thirty years is them publishing a book they have every expectation of not selling well (and being proved right) but publishing anyway because of literary merit.

>358 wongie: "I definitely like this new direction FS is taking with regards to sending their numbered editions according to when they were purchased."

Not quite, it would seem. I ordered at about lunchtime (UK time) on day 1, and have ended up with number 188. I find it hard to believe that 187 people beat me to it.

>376 PeterFitzGerald:

Don't estimate the power of the Faddict. The ability to destroy a membership is insignificant against the power of the Faddict.

>376 PeterFitzGerald: It sounds likely that the first 200 of the limitation was kept aside for those who ordered before 18th May, but that within that batch the allocation was random.

>376 PeterFitzGerald:

Did you order on the 11th or the 8th? Thread history shows you saying you ordered on the 11th however the mailshots first started arriving on the 8th. So assuming numbers were assigned in order then between the time I ordered at 1pm in the afternoon on the 8th to when you ordered on, presumably, the 11th 165 copies were sold in those 3 days.

I'm not sure whether that's likely so perhaps Cronshaw's hypothesis is correct.

>379 wongie:

On the 8th, shortly after this thread first appeared - just didn't post about it for a few days (mainly to defend the choice of binding, which had become quite the FSD controversy by then). I'd guess I was in the first 20 or so to order it.

>380 PeterFitzGerald:

Well in that case Cronshaw's hypothesis is most certainly correct and that the 200 set aside were randomly distributed which then begs the question what the point was in setting those aside. They've merely replicated the same problem. If Folio don't want the hassle of sending them out in specific order they're probably better off just not hand numbering them and simply having a "1 of 750" printed in every single copy.

>303 DanHillier:

Dan - thanks also from me for posting here. I have bought the LE, I had a chance to unwrap it last night and I do indeed love it.

It is definitely one of the most striking books that I own, entirely befitting its subject-matter. I am also thoroughly impressed that the solander box for the LE has had as much attention lavished on it as every other aspect. It's sitting proudly in its shimmering green and purple hues, awaiting the next unfortunate soul to pull open the mysterious magic (or should that be magnetic) clasp.

I think my next order of business should be to get the fantastic print framed - if anyone who has a copy has any suggestions on how to do that affordably, please do let me know!

The standard edition has appeared on abe books although the seller describes it as a limited edition. A snip at £760 and post free.

Usual disclaimers!

>383 bookfair_e: The standard edition has appeared on abe books

Do we have to guess who might be so unashamedly greedy?

>384 folio_books: On this occasion it's not the usual suspect.This seller was also pretty quick off the mark with the Mort LE too, selling several copies for, I think, £450 each.

edited to add detail.

>385 bookfair_e: On this occasion it's not the usual suspect.

Ah, that's me, judging too hastily again. Now you've got me curious to see if it's the second on my list, so I'll have to take a look.

Author Lovecraft and keywords Folio Society are returning nothing, for me.

Try just searching Call of Cthulhu with no other search criteria and then select the option to show only listings in the UK and it'll be the highest one there.

>387 folio_books: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?bi=h&ds=20&sortby=17&am...

>387 folio_books:
The publisher is listed as "Folio Press London"
Free shipping from the UK to the US! I could barely resist.

>388 wongie:
>389 bookfair_e:
>390 elladan0891:

Thank you all. Free shipping is the clincher. Do we think Lovecroft fans are stupid enough to fall for this?

>376 PeterFitzGerald:

I ordered on the evening of the 8th, by phone, and I've got number 101.

I have no. 31. The solander box looks to imitate the normal edition, or perhaps the normal edition looks to imitate the solander box.

Delighted with it. It has an interesting feel, almost rubber, and there is an exquisite attention to detail. I even love the opaque envelope for the print with the sticker on it - and I can take the print out without disturbing it.

I just ordered my copy (Dan Hillers chiming in pushed me over the edge), I threw Riddley Walker into the cart as well.

Hi folks, I've uploaded a couple of amateurish videos to my instagram page if you want to have a look at the regular edition - www.instagram.com/mrdanhillier

Thank you.

>383 bookfair_e:
It's a long, long time since I studied law but, if you scroll down the item description, the potentially incriminating phrase, 'This edition, based on its sister limited edition ... ' suggests either a person sadly deranged by prolonged contact with the horrors described by Lovecraft, or else a liar.
Do the 'Usual disclaimers' cover misrepresentation or fraud?
I hope Lovecraft fans are not dumb enough to fall for this blatant profiteering :)

>396 Cat_of_Ulthar:

I'm not clear what could be incriminating about the quote, which is lifted directly from the Folio website. The whole listing, though - I've only just looked it up - certainly seems among the most egregious attempted FS-ralated ripoffs.

>396 Cat_of_Ulthar:

This a crystal clear case of misrepresentation. Not limited and not even first edition.

>397 terebinth:
The (potentially) incriminating part is that the seller is presenting it as the limited edition but, based on their own text, is aware that it's actually the standard edition, as shown in their picture.
Alternatively, they just cut and pasted some text, didn't read it, and actually don't know exactly what they're selling.
Either way, it's not a good advert for them.
(Not that I want to drag us too far off-topic here.)

>395 DanHillier:

You have definitely raised the bar in demonstrating how involved an illustrator could be ........ Its my most favourite FS Limited Edition till date and I own more than 20 of the best LE's along with the complete set of Letterpress Shakespeares.

The illustrations, the presentation, the binding - all speak for themselves. What a magnificent presentation - had Lovecraft been alive, he would have been immensely proud of this book...

400: wow, some serious praise :)
Do you have a ranking of all your LEs? Curious what #2 etc. what might?

>401 astropi:

Sure - here you go...

#1 The Call of Cthulhu & Other Weird Stories
#2 would definitely be the Robert set - Egypt, Holy land and Nubia
#3 Wind In The Willows
#4 Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
#5 Alice
#6 Tales from the 1001 Nights
#7 Hansel and Gretel
#8 Moby Dick
#9 Door In The Wall
#10 Letterpress Shakespeare - Set of 38
#11 Candide
#12 Riddley Walker
#13 Gulliver's Travels
#14 Just So Stories
#15 Fifty Fables of La Fontaine
#16 Golden Ass
#17 Duke's Children LELE
#18 Sound and The Fury
#19 Toilers of the Sea

Mine just arrived. Thrilled with it, although I wouldn't put it at the top of the LE pile like Neil.

>402 Neil77:
I've tried doing that, but I can't. Its like choosing your favourite child.
Every LE has its good (and sometimes bad) points.

>400 Neil77:

I share your sentiment. Of all my LE Folios Call of Cthulhu most definitely stands out the most design/art-wise though not my absolute outright favourite Folio, it's tied with Moby Dick, and Chester River's HoD still holds the honour of being the one sole book I would save in a fire. In terms of overall quality and cohesiveness of design elements (as far as Folio LEs go) I think Alice in Wonderland still holds top spot.

Just received my book. What a disappointment. It feels like a cheap rubber. I hate to rain on your parade but this was cheaply made but FS but they still charged a fortune for it. FS new path, "get more for less." Even my EP LE's feel much better and more luxurious that this $575 plus $35 shipment book. I'm glad that you like it guys but I'm really disappointed in this so-called Limited Edition. I think FS realized that if they will make more than 750 books it will lose its appeal quickly. I'm keeping it because of the low number and Lovecraft stories but expected so much more for this $$$. Actually, when I picked up this book from the Post Office, the package felt very light. So, I immediately suspected that this book was made cheaply. My all other FS LE's books felt heavy and pleasure to behold. This one is totally different story. This book should of been FS regular edition not LE. Just want to vent to my fellow collectors after spending so much money for something that did not make me happy.

In addition, what about that poster/picture separate from the book. Is it only for the first 200 buyers than others who will get higher numbered books will not miss much. Disappointment. D-

The divergent views of this LE are really striking. Some love it others hate it! I haven't received my copy but obviously FS is doing something right, to excite this level of interest both positive and negative.

>407 jlallred2000:

My own views are pretty pedestrian I admit, having only the online description and images to go by. I haven't held it in the flesh, so to speak.
My gravamen stems from both the binding used and its threnodic description.

Would someone who has received a copy be able to let us know the stories included please? Having the LOA edition and only dipped into it previously, it would be helpful to know which stories the FS edition contains in order to better inform the decision on purchase.

>409 HuxleyTheCat:

See posts 265 and 347

>410 drasvola: Sorry Antonio, but images are blocked for me at the moment.

>411 HuxleyTheCat:

Dagon
The Statement of Randolph Carter
Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Familty
Celephalis
Nyarlathortep
The Picture in the House
The Outsider
Hertbert West-Reanimator
The Hound
The Rats in the Walls
The Festival
He
Cool Air
The Call of Cthulhu
The Colour Out of Space
The Whisperer in Darkness
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Haunter of the Dark

>412 wongie: Many thanks!

>406 johndunn:

I have juts received it, and my optimism was immediately destroyed. It feels and looks cheap. The artwork is still amazing, but the materials used just make the whole thing feel wrong. The botched solander label printing also does not help. Very distracting among my other books, so I put it back into the box it arrived in...

>414 Raenas: The botched solander label printing also does not help.

Are you referring to the blocked title and design on the spine of the solander box, slightly off-centre? My copy is that way but, I can live with it, although at the £345 price tag I can see why there may be some dissatisfaction.

>232 terebinth:

With just over 40% unsold at the close of play on Wednesday, your guesstimate was pretty good. Have you made a place for Magna Carta?

>415 bookfair_e:

Sadly, it is not just off-centre. It is not straight. The gaps between the printing and the edges are the opposite on the bottom end. Putting it amongst well done books instantly fires up anybody with just a hint of OCD. It is very visible. For £345, I do not think it as acceptable.

>416 Raenas: Putting it amongst well done books instantly fires up anybody with just a hint of OCD. It is very visible. For £345, I do not think it as acceptable.

Do you think your copy is more crooked than others? That would give you a good case for a swap, though you would lose your low number if you had one. But if you're unhappy with any Folio book, for any reason, you can return it for refund or replacement, depending upon the issue. They can't compensate you for the extreme disappointment, though.

>416 Raenas:

Does it differ from the Folio website images?

Folio may be able to replace the solander box and you can retain the book with its low limitation number – I think Folio have done that for others with other LEs.

To my fallible eye the box in image 2 on Folio's website looks slightly off-centre, but not crooked. They once replaced for me the solander box for the Four Gospels which had been water-damaged in transit. Don't know how they would deal with it now that they have a different distributor.

I will not be a buyer of this LE because I am not seriously interested in Lovecraft. If you don't encounter Lovecraft in your youth (I didn't), I think it is hard to forge a relationship with him once you are an adult.

I think the eco-leather (plastic) binding represents a failure of imagination on the part of Folio. The problem with the plastic is that it is trying to be something it is not: leather. It is inauthentic, and to many I think that is unpleasing. Let plastic be plastic! I am sure there are ways that a striking binding employing plastic could have been imagined. Moreover, Lovecraft would have been perfect for a non-traditional use of materials, given the nature of his writing. There are many ways plastic could have been employed to great effect, rather than being forced to simulate what apparently someone wanted: the feel and appearance of leather.

Also, I have to comment on the contradiction between the FS editions of Riddley Walker and Lovecraft. In Riddley, the effort was to make the design elements suggestive of the work itself. I think Folio did this quite successfully. However, to my knowledge there is nothing about Lovecraft suggesting that he would have cared at all about a moral respect for animals. He was a virulent racist whose writing likened racial minorities to "beasts." He dehumanized human beings by calling them animals. So I find it somewhat amusing that the LE binding is meant to convey a respect for values completely foreign to Lovecraft (although admittedly congenial to the illustrator).

>414 Raenas: I can feel you pain, seriously. I would never complain if it was around $345 but $575 is just greedy and no excuse to charge this kind of money for this so-called LE. Wrong direction by FS since from now on if I don't know material well enough I would not take another chance like I did with this book and would not make a purchase. I also put it back behind my other LE's but my wife wants me to return it ASAP.

I was also confused by solander box since I don't understand if it was trying to imitate FS regular edition to show to people who will buy their regular edition that it was somehow related/connected to the limited edition. The solander box should of been made with some beautiful dark fabric with the same sign that displayed on the front cover of this book. Limited edition should in no way replicate their regular edition even with solander box. Wow, pretty confused by my decision to buy this book. Very disappointed and frustrated that I have to take time now to return it.

>414 Raenas:

Someone will be very happy that you did take the time to return it because there are already less than 300 copies available for purchase and when it is sold out in two or three months they will be grateful for your effort given what the price will be on the secondary market.

>421 johndunn: podaniel I think you addressed that message to me. I never cared about what it will be on the secondary market since I buy my books to read and enjoy. I can't justify $575. I'm attorney and doing very well financially but would not waste my money on such inferior product. My wife, friends and relatives believed that "Golden Ass" was worse $575 but they failed to understand me paying $575 for this book. So, this is not just my opinion.

> 417

No one need risk losing their number, low or high: just ask for a replacement solander box!

This is all very confusing - some think this is the best LE ever, others feel it is so bad they are returning the book.
I am not particularly interested in the contents, but if it was a superbly presented publication, I would buy it as an art work.
Still plenty left in the FS shop, and rate of decline slowing, so no urgency to purchase yet (or ever).

Gave my solander box another look and the blocking seems fine to me. I must have gotten lucky.

My copy number 70 has just arrived. I have never read Lovecraft but decided to try this interesting FS edition. I like the solander box and the little magnetic closing. The book sits well within the clamshell like Odes of Horace and Pearl,like the marbling and quite like the "Eco leather"which is very like rubber to me. I don't see it as fake leather at all but as something quite different. The artwork is wonderful and the print wrapped in a clear paper at the front looks somehow lovely. I think it is a well put together FS LE. It is far from my favourite limited editions but not one I am sorry to own I may not get as much enjoyment from reading the text as I get from many of my other FS books but it is an edition I will enjoy spending time with

Agree... should have been leather or other exotic material. Imitation is a compromise. For this price there should be no compromise.

>427 shdunne:

I concur with your observations having just received my copy--number 134.

I own quite a few Folio LEs and think this one is very well done. The illustrations and book design are outstanding.

>404 wcarter:
I quite agree. They all have their own merits.
But I would probably put Moby Dick near the top, or Le Morte D'Arthur. And the white and gold binding of the Fairy Queen is absolutely gorgeous.

Edit: That would be Faerie Queene, of course.
It's still gorgeous, though.
Toile vendome-covered wooden case, the handy little strap to remove the volumes, just beautiful.
And exceedingly heavy.

>404 wcarter:

True - its very difficult. And that's the reason, the rankings keep changing.

I received my copy of this limited edition today. My original plan was to take some pictures and share them here. However, by this point, others have posted pictures already, so I'm not sure if that is necessary. If anyone wants additional pictures, let me know, and I will be happy to post!

In the meantime, I will offer my impressions of the book, after an initial inspection. My book is numbered 234. I ordered the book on the morning of Friday, May 19th, the second day it was available for public order. There were approximately 420 books left after I ordered mine, which means that, in theory, my book is almost 100 lower than where it "should" be.

Overall, I like the book, but, its not perfect. Here are my likes and dislikes:

Likes:
Solander box. I love the purple-green changing cloth used. In fact, I nearly ordered the standard edition, because this cloth was so beautiful in the video. With the magnetic clasp and interior design, it appears that the design of the solander box was viewed as part of the overall design, and not just an accessory.
The art, including the separate signed art print. Dan Hillier did a lovely job.
The overall "image" of the book - the black design is stunning.
The black page edges - they complement the covers, but also, I think that colored page edges are a great, and under utilized design feature. Gilding is nice, but colored edges have a different appeal.
The marbled end pages. I think that the metallic paint used on these looks much nicer in person than on the screenshots. I loved Jemma Lewis' work on the Duke's Children, and I love her work on this book.

Dislikes:
The "eco-simulated leather" feels like what, on other works that I own, is called "leatherette." It has a soft and pleasant feel, but it does not feel like as high a grade of material as good leather, or good cloth. This is not a deal-breaker for me, though I can understand that others may be less happy with it. I think that the overall design of the book overshadows this. That said, I think that if leather was off the table, other kinds of authentic, high quality binding could have been explored rather than seeking to imitate the aesthetic of leather.

so my verdict is overall positive, and I find this book very beautiful, and I am looking forward to reading the book in this form (I read through the Penguin edition of this book in paperback years ago). But I don't prefer this binding material.

This is a minor observation about the book, it's not a criticism:

The original Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics edition featured endnotes by S. T. Joshi. They took the form of a brief mini-essay on each story, a suggested "further reading" list, and then specific notes keyed to superscript numbers in the main text (as one would expect to see in any Penguin Classics edition, of course).

For the Folio society edition, the reading lists and end-notes have been dropped. and the mini-essays moved to the preliminary matter headed The Stories.

I agree with all of Sviswanathan's comments (432). I would add one additional observation: When held in one's hands for more than a few moments, the eco-simulated leather feels clammy. I suppose that some would argue that this provides a "Cthulhu-skin-like" impression, but I think it's simply annoying.

>435 Raenas:

The Cthulhu-skin-like feeling would have been provided by the stingray leather. Folio was considering it, but got dropped due to the artist. That thing would have made this book outstanding, but no meaning in complaining anymore. What's done is done, hope that Folio learns.

> 435Raenas

Unfortunately, the way the book sells so far they'll only learn that they can use inferior materials that don't appeal to a lot of people as well as charge very high prices, and the book in question will sell anyway. At least as long as it's in the fantastic genre.

>435 Raenas:
Hello Raenas,
(I don't know you so please don't take this personally. It's just a few general questions for the FSD clan, based on various posts in this thread.)

Stingray leather might well have been outstanding as a binding material but the question for Hillier and others is a moral one. Put it this way, if a stingray is swimming innocently about in the ocean doing whatever stingrays do, why would you or anyone else assume it's okay for you to catch it, kill it and use its skin to bind a nice book?
I'm minded of a gag in, I think, one of Terry Pratchett's books (anyone remember which one?) about a creature whose skin is highly prized by hunters but, as the author puts it, the creature also prizes its skin highly because it needs it to keep its insides in.
Should Hillier put making money (i.e., what the punters want) over his moral scruples? Should Folio steamroller over the moral scruples of their artists or writers?

> 437 Should Folio steamroller over the moral scruples of their artists or writers?

Of course not. What they should do is employ a different artist. That LE cries out for leather.

>437 Cat_of_Ulthar:

Hello Cat_of_Ulthar

I think nobody is suggesting steamrolling over their colleagues' wishes or requiring them to forego their morals. Morals are subjective and inherently differ across people, and there is no situation where everybody can be satisfied. Fine press books is an industry where leather binding is a top go-to material and people who sustain these businesses expect it. Therefore, the customer base should come first, not the supplier. Choose a different supplier who is actually willing to satisfy the industry's requirements.

As for the stingrays, they are raised on farms not differently from cattle or goats. The leather is used for clothing and binding, while the meat is consumed. I am against mistreating animals or hunting them selflessly without restraint, but not against keeping them for meat and other products.

Of course if Folio had went with a different artist they would have ran the risk of hiring one that might not have captured the weirdness of Lovecraft that I think Hillier has done very successfully. I had a quick cursory look on Google at other Lovecraftian works of art and if I was given the choice of having a full and real leather binding with potentially that kind of art, or this eco-leather version we got in the end with Hiller's artwork I would choose what I have now.

The whining is intense omggggggg

The fact is that there are plenty of folks - myself included who are happy as can be with the outcome of this beautiful limited edition.

Statements like "this LE screams for leather" are really just the poster screaming for leather. Lol

>441 jlallred2000:

Whining?

Well ok then.

I would say that it is reasonable criticism, which is not only usually tolerated but welcomed by healthy robust communities.

Okay. Let's think about it. At this point in time, FS will not be able to swap this cheap binding for a sting ray ones. Why even continue to discuss it. Let's hope FS continues to use real leather when creating its limited editions. In addition, let's also hope that FS will do a better job on making solander boxes as well since I don't like the one I have for my"Golden Ass LE." It's definitely not up to LE quality and standards. FS need to have much better materials, quality and presentation for their LE's in order to satisfy people like us who don't mind spending so much money but for the book that is well made and up to LE standards. Can't just make limited edition with whatever material you want and call it a day. LE books should have a lot of prestige with quality of its materials and presentation, that would truly separate it from FS regular editions.

>443 johndunn:
What's wrong with the Golden Ass slipcase? Seems solid enough to me with the title on one side. I am very happy with this publication.

>443 johndunn:
>444 wcarter:

It's a lot more solid than the slipcase to the Arion Press The Moonstone (although, granted, that has a Swarovski crystal stuck onto it).

>444 wcarter: Feels too cheap like all current solander boxes for FS regular editions. Should of been made same way as in LE "Aeneid" and "Metamorphoses."

We seem to be at cross-purposes here; The Golden Ass doesn't have a solander box, it has a slipcase. A solander box encloses the entire book without exposing the spine to the atmosphere. FS seems to be leaning more and more towards slipcases (Poetic Edda, Duke's Children, Riddley Walker, Edward Thomas, etc), partly for economic reasons, partly because some members prefer to put the spines on display. It's ironic that they're doing so at a time when museums and libraries everywhere are giving up slipcases because they cause damage to the books inside. In the short term it doesn't matter; long-term, books in solander cases will be better preserved.

>447 Jayked:

I would prefer solander boxes too, but I don't think in a home setting it makes it would make such a difference. In the institutions the books are repeatedly slipped in and out, at home it is substantially less frequent.

>444 wcarter: I agree. I think The Golden Ass is a superb LE production, including the handsome and sturdy slipcase.

>448 Raenas:
That's generally true, but when the slipcase is covered in canvas or other rough material that continues inside, as in Edda and Riddley Walker, then early damage to the contents is likely. And of course the spine is exposed to the elements.

A solander box definitely protects the books better and in a limited edition I find it far preferable to a slipcase. While the FS editions with a slipcase are superior to 'regular' hardbacks that come without those, a solander box is superior to a slipcase.

>447 Jayked: I don't think it's ironic if a publisher follows wishes of its customers rather than museum conservation standards. But I'm not even sure that FS is actually leaning towards slipcases. Only 4 out of 10 last LEs are slipcased; also 4 out of the previous 10, and 3 out of 10 before that. They've always released some of their LEs in slipcases. And if you take Letterpress Shakespeare into account, the opposite is true, as FS stopped offering the slipcase option.

Anyway, I'm not a museum, and preserving books for posterity is not one of the reasons I buy them. I buy them to read, and I buy nicer books for tactile and visual pleasure they give me. I like seeing their spines. So slipcase, which does a good job keeping dust out and protecting books during shipping, is the perfect book protection device for me. I always found that hiding books in solander sarcophagi or turning slipcases spines inwards is a bit like boxing/turning a painting to face a wall in order to conserve it. I do appreciate that some people prefer the increased book protection over the looks, but I suspect that you're a minority among bibliophiles (I might be wrong though). To each his own.

And personally, I don't just prefer slipcases, I actually find solanders a real turn-off. They take up significantly more shelfspace, and they mostly look terrible. A shelf full of Letterpress Shakespeares looks more like a folder shelf in an accountant's office than a bookshelf full of books. So turning back to the Cthulhu LE, I think it's commendable that FS finally made a solander case that doesn't look like crap. Good job, FS. Plus this is a very rare case when even I'd agree that a solander is actually appropriate - the book looks like a dark, magical tome that is better hidden away.

Edited for typos.

The shimmering, seductive, iridescent shell, luring you in to the dark, corrupting tome within?

Like those books in Unseen University's Library which warp reality if you let them out ...

Which, in a way, is what any good book does; shapes one's view of the world.

I'm with you, I buy books I want to read and I enjoy the craftmanship that went into their creation. It would be nice if they turn out to be valuable when I'm old but it's not the main motivation.

Not particularly anti-solanders but you're right that the Shakespeares do look a bit like a load of box files, albeit a bit more colourful than most. Still, if they protect the contents I guess I'm okay with their not looking very exciting.

>452 elladan0891:
50 years ago I'd have agreed with you entirely, which is why the books I bought then bring very little visual or tactile pleasure now. Posterity can take care of itself, I preserve for me. I do agree that FS could do a great deal more to make solanders attractive. Cost is probably why they don't, as JWB indicated in one of his blogs.

I'd have to confess to preferring solander boxes on aesthetic grounds - they make for a visually quieter room, and the special occasion of spending time with a boxed LR begins with the special occasion of meeting its binding. That would certainly include the Letterpress Shakespeare, but for contents I prefer the LEC edition and so those stand naked all on a single shelf while my three volumes from the Folio series are unlikely to be joined by any more.

>455 terebinth:
Very British ) Reminded me of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WU5fT7Q9uw

>452 elladan0891:

I like traycases, but I do agree that they aren't strictly necessary. I think the Cthulhu traycase justifies itself as it's part of the overall aesthetic.
Most times it would be better to save on the cost and let people who want traycases commission one for themselves.

These guys do great work at a reasonable price:

https://www.bookslipcase.com/

Although wooden slip/tray cases probably overkill for most books.

>182 cu29640: "Actually a true traditional LV bag is made of plastic...."

My ignorance is all-encompassing!

Still, I guess most people spotted my rant (>47 StevieBby:) for what it was...

To be a little more precise: I've no objection to using alternative materials - provided all the elements are coherent and expressive of the text (yes, even the "mouldy blotches" on Ridley Walker!).

In fact it is (VERY) brave of FS to innovate considering the risks. A leather binding is a safe bet, coming with centuries of tradition, expertise and craftsmanship.

What really irked me was the price - hard to justify compared to the standard edition, or even the Letterpress Shakespeare.

Fortunately Lovecraft pulls no strings with me. But I hate the thought this is FS's new direction.

It looks like this edition will not sell in couple of days. It slowed down considerably now and I think this edition will take as long as "The Golden Ass" to get to really low numbers before it sells.

This is slightly off subject, but if we ordered prior to the 18th do we not qualify for the mystery book ?

>460 DoItCarl: I didn't receive a mystery book with my order of Cthulhu on the 8th.

>461 gmacaree:
I didn't either, but apparently we do qualify for the free book since the LE is a part of the May collection!
Just contact them and they'll ship it to you separately !

just received my Cthulhu LE

Thoughts: its beautiful, it doesn't smell chemically. The Eco-Leather feels fine and looks very durable. The end papers are some of my favorites (next to the ones on Travels in Arabia Deserta). The art is gorgeous. The solander box looks great, glad the replicated the standard edition binding because that cloth is awesome. I am less happy about the magnetized clasp and would prefer a normal solander box, but that hardly detracts. Very pleased with my purchase.....will look nice next to the Mort LE.

>463 jlallred2000:

I've shelved my standard edition next to Pratchett's Small Gods.

FS has made a promotional video for the LE in which the artist talks about his illustrations -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2d669mDfjk

I noticed that there are already a number of reviews of the new Folio Cthulhu on YouTube by happy buyers.

>465 groeng: Where, I did not see any reviews of this LE by "happy buyers" on youtube. just FS one.

The ones I noticed are all of the standard edition, e.g.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wvhk_AZc87U

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ur13WTpzRbg

Was wondering if anybody living in the states can tell me how long it took after ordering it took to receive the book? I would think with the postage cost it would be fairly quick. I ordered it Monday and it still says processing.

>468 Carl64:
You will probably receive the book while the FS website says it is still processing in your account. The FS is notoriously inaccurate (or slow) in this regard.
The selling rate of Cthulhu has slowed significantly - still 241 left.

>468 Carl64:
Since Folio changed distributors, orders are usually despatched the following day, and take about a week to Canada (unless there's a public holiday in there somewhere). LEs used to arrive faster, but my last couple have also taken about a week.

>468 Carl64: less than two weeks

Thanks for the info!

I was able to get a tracking number after emailing Folio and it looks like it will be here by early next week. You would think Folio would send you a tracking number automatically for all their LE books due to the cost.

> 470Jayked

I'm really jealous about that week to Canada. Unless I pay express shipping (or buy Limited Editions that have this automatically) I have to wait about a month for my Royal Mail bag from the UK to Germany.

>474 SF-72:
It wasn't always thus. If there's an upside to Folio deducting GST at source, it's that customs don't usually open the mailbags. I live less than a 2-hour drive from where incoming mail is sorted, so I don't have to wait as long as those in the distant outposts.

Regular shipments to the US (Atlanta) have been irregular over the past 2 years, taking from under a week to a full month.

> 475 Jayked

I don't even want to think about the hassle I'll have to deal with after Brexit. So far this is really just the British and German postal services being really slow. (It really shouldn't take a month to cover that distance, even with M-bags.) Once customs get involved, you can add several more weeks to that. And since so far FS seem incapable of filling the documents out correctly (they do so for Germany when they don't even need to), there will be even more hassle. In those cases, I have to drive to a customs station to pay their fees and get my package. I'm not looking forward to it.

Received my copy today and it only took six days!

Overall pleased with my copy great illustations and art work love the handmarbled end papers and will frame the signed print.

Clearly, inspired by the FS's newest publication :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va7Zmu1dd1E

>480 astropi:

Don't know how it will turn out, but my best Lovecraftian game yet was Darkest Dungeon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlRBzoKN4NY

These games needs to be played in a dark basement at night for a full effect that is.

I'm a late poster to this thread but thought I would set out my feelings on this book. I love it! Admittedly I am a Lovecraft fan so I am biased but this book is the nicest Lovecraft book I have owned since my Arkham House editions ( which I replaced with the very nice Barnes and Noble complete Lovecraft to save shelf space). We can all quibble over the selections - I would like to have seen The Dunwich Horror included - in fact I would have preferred a complete edition or at least a bigger selection.

The solander box is very nice. I love the way it changes colour from different angles - presumably it's The Colour Out Of Space! The endpapers are magnificent. But I am disappointed it's not bound in leather. Yes, the binding is attractive and has a sort of strange rubbery feeling which is quite tactile. But at the end of the day leather would have smelt and felt nicer. Lovecraft deserves a nice old distressed type of black leather and leather is the time honoured book binding material par excellence. The use of an artificial substitute cheapens the book.

Is it right that the eccentric foibles of the artist should dictate how a book is produced for the manufacturer and the purchasers? In my view FS, who are paying for and taking on the financial risk of the production ( not to mention the readers who are investing their cash in the book) should have the final say. I don't mean to offend Mr Hillier who is a fine illustrator and has done a great job, but it's quite arrogant to foist a minority view on everyone else. If I had been the FS I would have looked for another artist. I feel guilty saying this because I love Mr Hillier's illustrations in this book - he is the perfect Lovecraft artist because his work is intricate and mysterious and does not make the mistake of trying to give a literal presentation of Lovecraft's mysterious horrors. But I think it wrong that the artist should be allowed to dictate the format of the book.

>483 Quicksilver66: Welcome to the club of people who are not happy with this robbery, cheap imitation of a leather. Huge disappointment. I sent it back, at least you kept it. In addition, I didn't find anything special about Mr. Hillier's illustrations that seems like same picture with different graphics to me. I would prefer much better illustrations with pictures of actual monsters and scenes directly from the book like the one here https://genius.com/Hp-lovecraft-the-shadow-over-innsmouth-chap-i-annotated. Fits the book much better than what Mr. Hillier produced here. Mr. Hillier's illustrations do not evoke any feelings at all, except disappointment, at least in me. I also can take some graphics from previous illustrations and do post production in my Adobe photo shop. I do that for my landscape pictures all the time. This book could have been so much more and a standard by which all other LE's can be judged, instead its just became bunch of excuses from FS and Mr. Hillier of why it did not get to that point.

the sour grapes make a fine whine ;)

I love my copy of Cthulhu and although some of the comments have made me pause and think I am more than happy with the purchase. For me, everything about this copy works even the eco-simulated leather.

i keep checking back, hoping its out of stock. but its still in stock, and its my birthday coming up. so i guess im getting myself a present lol.

As one of the club of people who are happy with this (I think) beautiful artistic creation, I'd like to expand on a previous post (in the light of a parallel discussion of favourite LEs).
I accept that the reference to eco-simulated leather was probably a mistake. It's not leather. Okay. But, having said that, to me it does feel similar to a suede jacket I have so not unlike leather. It also reminds me of the rubber bricks I used to dive for in the school swiming pool long ago. So a strange, ill-defined sort of texture. Other-wordly, I thought when I opened it up and held it for the first time and I still think that.
It certainly doesn't smell of leather. Personally, I can't detect any strong odour from it, which I agree would be a disappointment if you expect the leather smell. But what would you expect Cthulhu to smell of? Rotting fish? Maybe, but would you want to live with it in your house?
Overall, I think it feels strange, and that's very appropriate to a Lovecraft volume. It feels different from anything else on my shelves.
The solander box is stunning. The shimmering, colour-changing cloth is beautiful and evokes the shifting of worlds and dimensions that is such a part of Lovecraft's cosmos.
The book itself is equally striking. It seems to suck up the light in a 'none more black' sort of a way, making it hard to distinguish the eldritch symbols circled around the shining gold rune in the centre.
Hillier's illustrations are, for me, gorgeous. It's a matter of taste but, personally, I prefer the suggestion of a monster in the shadows to the explicit showing of it in the foreground. That's what makes Alien such a great movie for me: mostly you never quite see the ravening creature in all its rubber-suitedness. And Lovecraft leans towards suggestion on many ocassions, using words such as 'indescribable' or 'unnameable'.
All-in-all, this is likely to be near the top of my list of favourite LEs if and when I ever get around to putting one together :-)
Edit: corrected and amended a few bits

>489 Cat_of_Ulthar: Cat_of_Ulthar Having received my copy yesterday, I most whole-heartedly agree with your most excellent, thoughtful assessment of this stunning book. Heart pounding, mouth dry I opened my package (careful to keep all the packing material pristine for possible return)...I needn't have worried...all that hand-wringing was totally unnecessary. My high expectations were rewarded. I love the soft, almost warm feel, of the binding....I know it's not leather, thus never had breath, but it does feel like it has an otherworldly life in the touch of it, weird but appropriate. Illustrations awesome, detailed and attention grabbing. Cool. The marble end papers are luminescent with bold colours and glow lava-like as one tilts the book: not garish at all, but so uniquely beautiful. All of this contained within the same colour shifting luminosity of the solander box, I gasped at its fabulousness, purple, green, ... electric.

So, I have done it. I quelled the butterflies and wrote my first real post as a FSD. I've quietly educated myself here for the last couple of years. I've taken note of the many wonderful recommendations from this amazingly generous and passionate group. I have such gratitude for all that I've learnt here...and have a wonderful library to prove it! Thank you.

>490 trickytrix: Great 'first real post' - welcome! Please contribute as much as you can and have time for, as this would be a very boring group if everyone just lurked... :-)

>490 trickytrix: wrote my first real post as a FSD

Welcome trixieg, indeed.

>491 HuxleyTheCat: Thank you for your kind welcome! Will lurk less ;)!

Hi Glenn! aka 'My first unofficial FSD friend of 2+ years' : You've welcomed me from the very beginning - thanks for your advice and observations. I have much respect for you :)!

>494 trickytrix: My first unofficial FSD friend of 2+ years'

Glad you made it, eventually :)

Glad you like it--I am currently reading my copy with my ten-year-old son who loves the feel of the "creepy" binding.

>496 podaniel: Yes! It is a very tactile experience. Lucky boy! I hazard a guess that your son will remember and appreciate this time with you and this most unusual book :).

>497 trickytrix:

Absolutely--I also have the Arkham House published H. P. Lovecraft books which we will turn to next.

>490 trickytrix:
Thank you for the kind words and welcome :-)

>490 trickytrix:

Really glad you are enjoying the book!

61 copies left...

Well, looks like it's sold out



Also, I know everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, but I think this is ridiculous!!

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You can of course view the review here:
https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/the-call-of-cthulhu-limited.html

and again, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but giving the book a poor review because you do not agree with the price is disingenuous at best. Why the FS allowed his review in the first place I do not know. Obviously this person did not purchase the book and is only complaining about the price (which admittedly was high, but that does not take away from the quality of the book)!

Also, it's not a "beautifully bound leather book".

Also, also, wouldn't it have been signed by Dan Hillier?

>504 treereader: I think only the print is singed by him. At least the website doesn't state otherwise.

>502 astropi: i agree that reviewing a book you dont own, and slagging it off to boot shouldnt be allowed.

on the LE itself i left it to the last minute to buy (with about 5 left) and am very happy with it. whilst i know the eco leather isnt to everyones taste, i personally think it looks and feels fantastic, and the book, solander box and overall presentation make it a unique LE.

That review is missleading. If it`s missleading it`s not relevant, thus it should not have been "allowed", at best it should have been corrected or be met with counterarguments

>504 treereader: >505 c_schelle: The print is signed yes! Discreetly on the down right corner by Mr. Hillier. It is also a gorgeous print, printed on high quality cotton? paper. The best stand alone print from FS i own, and i don`t own many ;) I`m serious, it`s gorgeous! I will probably wall it someday .. soon.

The FS Edition is absolutely beautiful! However, I am downsizing. If anyone is interested in a copy of this now OOP Limited Edition, please send me a pm. Please note that I am in the USA.

They must have found one last copy because I just bought the last one! I am hoping it says 750/750. I wanted to postpone till payday, but when they told me there was only one left, and after looking at all the photos on this thread... My fiscal discipline went out the window!

509: If I had to guess, I'd say it was one that was returned for some reason, or possibly a number that got returned... BUT, all that said, congrats! It's a beautiful book. Second only to a few letterpress Lovecraft books in beauty in my opinion, and all that Lovecraft fun will give you an appetite for more weird tales :)

I am very excited to receive it in any case. This is only the second LE FS book I have sprung for (the other was the facsimile of Alice’s Adventures under Ground). I only have a handful of books from them. But the call of Cthulhu was very strong with this one- I started dreaming of a mysterious black book lurking on my bookshelf, and I realized that I had to get it, if only to silence its call.

I read Cthulhu on my Kindle years ago, and I remember thinking at the time that this is one of the best, strangest, horror stories I’ve ever read. I look forward to reading more of his stories in a tome more worthy of the subject matter.

511: There are of course lots of writers that, in my opinion, are no less "good" than Lovecraft, just not as famous.

www.centipedepress.com

Centipede Press is pretty much the ONLY press that has published many of these amazing "weird tales" in any collected (and beautiful) editions. Most of the titles are sold out, but add them to your wish list.

>511 Ravenflite:

And you will find that strange colored clamshell on your bookshelf, always here somewhere at the corner of your eyes. You catch yourself glimpsing at it ... or is it the contrary ?

Astropi- I will certainly add Centipede Press to my watch list. Horror is not really a favorite genre of mine, but I do have a soft spot for H.P. Lovecraft. I am looking at Thornwillow Press for my next major purchase- I really like the look of their Shakespeare Sonnets, however it is surprisingly difficult to find any review of it or even pictures of the book other than the couple press photos on their site. For the price of the half leather edition I can acquire half a dozen or more regular Folio editions. Not sure which would bring me more pleasure. Sadly my means are not unlimited.
Goblin_Investor- Hopefully this black edition of Cthulhu with hidden runes embossed into it’s midnight bound cover will slumber peacefully in it’s otherworldly color shifting solander reliquary and bother my sleep no more.

>514 Ravenflite: If you need some pictures from Thornwillow books I can sent them to you. I own all their already released Kickstarter books, but they are all half-cloth editions. There are some threads on this forum and the Fine Press Group where people already posted some pictures.

Yes I have been searching using Google image search for Thornwillow press and have turned up very few pictures of their books. Their description of Sonnets half leather indicates it’s printed on ‘felt paper’ which is quite intriguing. I am unfamiliar with whatever this type of paper is, and how it might be compared to their vellum paper editions. I sent them an email but haven’t heard back yet. I am also tempted by their Pride and Prejudice for a few dollars more- however I confess I already own an 30 year old Easton Press copy of the work and am not sure I can justify another.

For Lovecraft aficionados, Hippocampus Press has a nice 3-volume set.

Does anybody know if the regular edition is likely to be reprinted? I never really kept an eye on it - not my thing - but a friend of mine expressed her interest today. She only just discovered FS through me and the secondary prices for this book are quite steep. I know none of us can foresee the future, but some members here have sources I don't, so it can't hurt to ask.

>518 SF-72: I don't have a crystal ball, but I feel a bit pessimistic about a reprint. The standard edition didn't seem to sell super-fast and I have some vague impression that these slightly finer examples in the £70-125 price range get fewer reprints than those in the lower price bracket. Still, I hope to be proven wrong: I have the standard edition and it's a wonderful book that I'd like to see in the hands of as many people as possible.

I highly doubt it too...the last time i asked them about some reprints(about a week ago), they said that they had a "very long!" list of books and i somehow doubt that Cthulhu would find its place in that list just now. But it is a beautiful book! One of my favourite FS designs from the 2010s. I am so surprised (and glad!) that it didn't sell out sooner. Higher secondary prices for this book isn't surprising to me. If there can be people ready to buy/sell Mysterious Affair at Styles for £200, then anything is possible.

I was very happy to purchase when it was in stock; the production values to me defy the list price. The slipcase has a glittery finish up close, the cloth with the purple/green effect, gilded tops, just overall a beautiful production.

On the Facebook group it’s listed for $275; on eBay it’s well over $300 plus taxes.

Thank you all very much, I've let my friend know.