Summer sale 2018

It seems that the summer sale is imminent. The website is already up: http://www.foliosociety.com/category/10208/. The banner indicates that all books in the sale are at half price. I doubt that the books currently on the page are all in the sale. It seems that at the moment all FS books are to be found there. Let's see what the sale will bring.

Would be great if that was the list - perhaps it is, actually?

I see plenty to buy if so.

I can see several new titles that definitely won't be in the sale :-( I suspect this is one of the old
seasonal collection lists - otherwise my bank balance would really have suffered!

I need to cut back on unnecessary expenditures, such as food and clothing. A sale with so many titles at half price would be very injurious to my bank balance.

>1 c_schelle:

Thanks for pointing out the link. If, indeed, this turned out to be the actual list of sale items, at half price I would be spending £280 on eight of them. My top two sale "wishes" are on that list so here's hoping. What really makes me doubtful, however, is the presence of "The Golden Bough" which has hardly been out for five minutes, it seems. I am anticipating the Sale being live from Thursday (the day after the current offer ends) but Folio haven't been as predictable lately.

Could the banner simply be wrong? Perhaps it could be a varied sale up to 50% off and they'll fix the banner before it starts.

Not a chance but it would be devastatingly expensive for me if it were to happen.

One can be but dream....even I would be spending serious money on a sale including that selection, but for me the clincher that it can't be is that the Hornblower set is in it - like Golden Bough it's only just come out.

The sale is now open … my first order is in … (oops).

This is a maybe, and seem a good deal: The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity.

I have many of them others, and find no must haves at this point - at the later stages of the sale i might find a couple

That said, there are some must haves that are not in the sale ..

The new link is http://www.foliosociety.com/category/10215.

Not a lot of additions from previous sales that I can see

Disappointing - mostly the same as the last one where I did spent rather a lot - just a couple I might pick up
that I didn't get in the New Year sale. "The Deeds of the English Kings" is probably the best addition since last sale.

That's more like it! i.e., as boring as the past few sales, padded out with The Oxford Shakespeare, and will spend virtually nothing. In fact, there's a number that I've picked up a lot cheaper in previous sales. I think there's one book of interest (Age of Illusion), otherwise, nix. Ah, well, at least my bank balance will benefit.

Order placed! I haven’t ordered in a while so thought sale was decent, bought:

Never Let Me Go
Comedians
Eugene Onegin
MR James Ghost Stories (not in sale)

Though disappointed East of Eden wasn’t in it!

From Dawn to Decadence for half price? That's something new.

Q: The front page is still advertising the Summer Anthology. However, when I add books to my basket, I see instead a Free Mystery Book. Should I place a call to them to insure I get the anthology, or is that offer truly expired?

Oh dear. One decent title for me. I liked yesterday's fantasy list a whole lot better.

I'm sure we are about to see dozens of posts from supremely happy Folio Society customers thrilled to pad their collection at 50% off. For me, and for the third of fourth consecutive year, this presents a huge DISAPPOINTMENT. I have no fewer than 23 titles on my official "wish list" saved on the website. Only one, I repeat, only one out of 23 made it into the sale. And of course, it is one of the least expensive full price titles anyway, so the value of the potential savings is minimal.

As usual, I am rather frustrated to see no fewer than 99 titles in this sale that I already purchased at a higher price.

I had somehow never before seen the edition of Hassan shown in the sale. Can anyone tell me a little more of the illustrations than the website shows?

>17 folio_books: - Agreed. I had picked out ten volumes from yesterday's list, most of them not even being recent offerings that were clearly not going to be offered at half price so quickly. Of the ten, only one is included in the sale. At least one on my list had been included in previous sales, but are not included in this one.

While some of the titles I was hoping for did not come up and I was surprised since they were in the last sale, I was certainly able to find others to grab and add to my collection, including a few backup copies of ones I read often! My first order is in:

Goblin Market and Selected Poems
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Medieval Comic Tales
Never Let Me Go
John Keats: Selected Poems
The Queen of Spades and Other Stories
Robert Burns: Selected Poems & Songs
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
W. B. Yeats: Selected Poems and Paintings

>20 coynedj: At least one on my list had been included in previous sales, but are not included in this one.

You know, since my earlier post I've returned to the website and note there is still no mention of the sale on the front page, which accords with my original idea that it might start tomorrow. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that what we are seeing now is a work in progress, and more titles have yet to be added. More attractive titles, too. I can only hope so, because as it stands it is a huge disappointment. I had picked ten from yesterday, too, and not one of them made it to what we're seeing today. In the new batch there is one true bargain and a couple I might choose while they're at half price, but nothing to get the juices flowing. It's the worst sale selection I can recall.

>22 folio_books: ...no mention of the sale on the front page

Actually there is, but it's well hidden - Shop our Half-Price Summer Sale - in small print above the scrolling banner, on the left!

My bank account breathes a sigh of relief. Many titles I recall getting in last year's Summer Sale, many others I remember not wanting then nor do I want them now. It feels like only a few titles are on sale now that were not on sale last year, Summer and/or Christmas.

Maybe a sudden 'Last chance to buy' might induce me to place an order, but it does not seem likely.

That's more like it. Nothing in there for me that I don't already own.

>23 bookfair_e:

So there is! It wasn't there when I looked earlier. Even so, I can't believe that's all that will proclaim the launch - surely the launch announcement will be the first slot on the banner? Or do we think that because the sale is so underwhelming hiding it in small print is more appropriate? ;)

Well, I've gotta say, this is more than a little underwhelming. It's virtually the same list as from the Christmas sale.

I'll be grabbing Dawn to Decadence and that's about it.

2018 FS Summer Sale = Much ado about nothing.

I got the Deeds of English Kings and Dawn to Decadence--glad I waited on these two.

>19 Petrichory:
Hassan is the second reprint of the original 1966 issue. It was one of last year's mystery books, so can't have sold particularly well. The illustrations are costume designs for the 1951 Festival of Britain production of the play. The presentation is similar to that in the original Folio Shakespeare series.
With so many people confessing to waiting for a sale price for newer desirable books, I'm not surprised that FS is offering only the bottom of the barrel. That'll larn ye.

I guess I'm one of the only few excited about the sale. Relatively to the long-term devotees here I don't own many FS books and 50% off seems like a great deal so I'm gearing up for a big order.

Maybe this ecstasy is a feeling that as a new devotee I'll live through once; after which I'll join the disgruntled crowd when the same books go on sale next year.

I have been buying Folio books since 2013 and can also find plenty of books to buy in this sale. But I think I also buy a lot less in each sale than others here. Yes - there is a lot of repeat offers but I never have enough money to buy them at once, so glad that I get more than one chance.

>9 inkcentricity: Thanks for the heads up! And >11 c_schelle: for the direct link.

Sale looks a little thin in total books on offer, so I wouldn’t be surprised if more will be added later on. I will just notice here that all sci-fi titles are not on sale. That’s a bit strange I think. Had simmering hopes for American Gods, but alas...

Having said that, there are a few good deals in this Sale for my part. Had waited on Christopher Hill’s both tomes and The Reason Why. The Barzun as well. Never let me go is also of interest. If you’re interested in the writings of Desmond Seward they are all half price now, except Richard III. And if you were undecided on Paradise Lost, Parade’s End or The Spanish Civil War, you get a do over.

These are my first impressions, but I will not order right now. I’ll be on holiday shortly and I will put in my order when I return. Happy buying!

>30 Jayked: With so many people confessing to waiting for a sale price for newer desirable books, I'm not surprised that FS is offering only the bottom of the barrel. That'll larn ye.

There is, of course, more than a little truth in that. I think anyone expecting books published within the last year to be offered at half price were almost inevitably bound to be disappointed. My personal stance on this is to buy the new issues I want more or less immediately on release. Those I don't buy immediately I sort mentally into two categories - definitely not interested (this might apply to maybe 5/10% of a typical collection's offerings) and possibles, usually depending on a much lower price. This is where the half-price sale comes into play. This time, for example, there are four possible sale buys or, to be accurate, one very definite and three possibles. I'll pass on everything else. The one title I was really hoping to see hasn't materialised so the dilemma is do I wait until the next sale and hope it appears then, or buy it at full price to eliminate the agonising possibility of it selling out?

>16 chrisrsprague: The front page is still advertising the Summer Anthology. However, when I add books to my basket, I see instead a Free Mystery Book.

I didn't read anything about a Free Mystery Book. Is that bonus being offered during this sale?

>17 folio_books:. Oh dear. One decent title for me. I liked yesterday's fantasy list a whole lot better.

Alas, Stig of the Dump. I'll miss ye, though I hardly knew ye. :)

That title was a sure thing for me... as of yesterday!

>32 Alendor: I have a middling collection of 450ish Folios and bought shed loads in the last two sales, but can still find £200+ worth this time around. If I hadn't managed to buy the Alexander Trilogy pre-loved then it would have been rather more.

There are some super buys in this sale so l could do with less of the general sense of bah humbug from the forum (particularly from those with collections in excess of 1500 titles - Glenn, I'm looking at you sir :-) )

>35 betaraybill: Yeah, just a glitch. Apparently I had stuff in my basket still from back when there was a free mystery book offer.

>38 chrisrsprague:

Ah, too bad, a free mystery book would have been nice.

Thanks for the reply!

>22 folio_books:
It's the worst sale selection I can recall.
Agreed!

>34 folio_books:
so the dilemma is do I wait until the next sale and hope it appears then, or buy it at full price to eliminate the agonising possibility of it selling out?
That's the bit I've now got past, thank goodness. I love Folio books, and, in spite of extensive thinning, still retain a collection of around 400 (nothing like yours and others, I know!). However, with the odd rare exception, they are very rarely now 'must's. East of Eden was a classic example. I was so looking forward to their edition, but that sort of money is a non-starter. I've gone for the Library of America set - all the Steinbecks for the same price as one East of Eden. Even if not quite as pretty, eminently readable and handleable. Indeed, I'm not sure I'd even bother with it if it did appear in the sale now (but can't guarantee that!).

>37 HuxleyTheCat: l could do with less of the general sense of bah humbug from the forum (particularly from those with collections in excess of 1500 titles - Glenn, I'm looking at you sir :-) )

Bah humbug. (Though you have identified the one title from the sale I'm likely to buy).

And just when I might have been persuaded I was being just a tad unreasonable:

>40 Willoyd:
>22 folio_books: folio_books:
It's the worst sale selection I can recall.

Agreed!

Nah, sorry, it's a bad sale. What we need is for Folio to top these up with a few decent choices. If you're listening, Mole, I have a list ...

Like others, I'm a bit relieved that there isn't more in my shopping cart this time around. There seems to be a good selection, although most have shown up in previous sales so I've already purchased them at a discount.

Sitting in my cart at present are six items (most of which I don't remember seeing in past sales, or at 50% off):

Definite buys:
The Alexander Trilogy
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (alas without a slipcase but a good deal nonetheless, and I like the illustrations)
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym

Mulling over:
Candide
Dubliners
From Dawn to Decadence (I really wanted this when it was released, but it's not really what I'm reading these days)

I'd like to save on shipping and only place a single order, so I will let my cart sit for a while to see if any other volumes are added to the sale.

>41 folio_books: Twelfth Night, The Alexander Trilogy, The Bhagavad Gita, The Deeds of the English Kings, From Dawn to Decadence, Paradise Lost, Foucault's Pendulum, The Spanish Civil War, Gods, Graves and Scholars, The Southern Gates of Arabia, The Oxford Shakespeares, Twenty Thousand Leagues..., The Voyage of Argo; just some of the items on offer. All are magnificent books, well worth a place in anyone's library and at prices comparable to, or better than, trade hardbacks (or paperbacks in the case of the Shakespeares). Just because collectors here may have already purchased these books, does not make the sale bad.

As one of the Bah! Humbug! crowd, I do admit that there are some very good bargains in the current sale. But having been buying Folio books for some thirty years, I have quite a few of them already and I long ago decided that I need to be more selective in what I buy. So, my list of possible purchases from this sale is a very short one, with only one book on it, and shipping costs prevent me from placing a single-book order. Other books, some included in previous sales and some only hoped for, would increase that total if they were included in the sale. Alas, they are not. So, I find the sale disappointing, but won't deny that others, with different circumstances or tastes, might find it a very attractive sale.

Nietzsche and nothing else for me.

The only one I'd really quite like is In Xanadu.

I'm taking a break from book-buying as I anticipate my second child in the next couple of months. But I would suggest a few worthy buys for people who don't already own them:

Paradise Lost
Parade's End
Twenty Thousand Leagues
Voyage of Argo
Akhmatova's Poems
Love & War In The Appeninnes
Goblin Market
The Deeds of the English Kings
From Dawn To Decadance
The Alexander Trilogy

Edit: I forgot A Story as Sharp as a Knife! It's lovely.

>43 HuxleyTheCat:
Just because collectors here may have already purchased these books, does not make the sale bad.
Not 'just', no I agree. But it is a factor, not least because it shows how often a fair proportion of this sale is constantly recycled. Whilst some are no doubt attractively priced for those who don't already have them, and there is the odd new entry, a fairly significant number of titles have been offered at lower prices before, sometimes significantly less. They include (these are just ones I bought): The Voyage of the Argo, The Mapmakers, Big Chief Elizabeth, The War of the End of the World, Loving, How the Mind Works, Ascent of Man, Darling Buds of May, Oscar and Lucinda, Taming the Infinite, Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman.
(BTW, I notice that the FS Oxford Shakespeares were £16.95 18 months ago. An almost 50% price rise is going some, making that sale price not quite the bargain it first appears).

I find the sale underwhelming. Some good titles for those who don’t own most they want already. I am considering Interpreting Dreams, The Mapmakers and Memoires from beyond the Tomb. All titles I would quite like but can hardly justify the shipping costs for. May add a couple of full price books I would like such as Kim,Ninteen Eighty four and Period Piece before our tax on books starts. Then again I may not place an order. The sale would have inspired more if a few more older titles that hadn’t been on previous sales or given as free mystery books were included

Oh how I wish I hadn’t seen that fantasy list at the beginning of the thread...! Still, marriage and bank balance remain intact...

>19 Petrichory: Petrichory: I bought Hassan in the last sale and love it, but I do like these kind of exotic curios. The silk binding is sensually tactile and the whole small package is gorgeous.

The Alexander Trilogy is a definite on this list for me this sale as is the Malmesbury. Not sure between the Story Sharp as a Knife or the Barzun though... also contemplating some combination of Nietzsche, Chateaubriand, Grossman, Akhmatova, Kerouac, either/both of the Christopher Hill books, maybe the Dostoyevsky (although it looks a bit drab on the website)

Are any of these titles must-haves?!

Also, I’m waiting in case there are any essentials in any potential “low stock” additions to the list...!

So...nothing to sweeten the deal like mystery books or shipping discounts?

How long will the sale last?

I have ordered Southern Gates of Arabia and The Venetian Empire. As some kind of a joke, I have also added Desolation Island. I have the first four books in the series so the fifth one was clearly indicated. It will be the end of any further effort.

>>38 chrisrsprague:

I can't get rid of the free mystery book. I've deleted it several times but it's still in my basket :-)

>48 Willoyd:

What he said.

I've never seen quite so much Bah Humbug! compressed into a new thread! Surely 50% off a large number of titles isn't that bad, particularly for Folio newcomers and those who've been waiting patiently. I heartily agree with the list of recommendations made by >47 gmacaree: and would highlight From Dawn to Decadence and Parade's End, both great reads, both beautifully designed and produced by Folio. I'd also recommend On The Road and In Xanadu.

There’s now an official banner on the website, but no end date mentioned.

>57 NLNils:

But nothing "new" added. Still only one for me. I'll consider whether it's worthwhile to place an order for one measly title over the weekend. But in a magnanimous gesture of reconciliation I'll withdraw "bad" and replace it with "extremely disappointing". Too much regurgitated bottom of the barrel stuff. As always, in my personal opinion, of course.

>50 KeithDBowman:

When I went through the list, somehow I missed "A Story Sharp as a Knife" even though that was a book that I wanted to buy. After seeing your post, I went back to see that it was indeed on sale. Thank you!

Having only quite recently discovered the wonders of The Folio Society, this is the first time I'm experiencing a sale. With this comes the advantage of not already owning all the juicy titles on the list, so I'm very excited! I just ordered a bunch of books I haven't read, but mean to read and also some books I already own in paperback, but want to upgrade. Here is my list :)

- Crime and Punishment
- Disgrace
- Beloved
- The Drowned World
- The Last Man
- Restoration London
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- In Cold Blood
- On the Road

Just received the brochure. The end date is Friday 10 August.

Thanks @scratchpad.

>61 scratchpad: I would just remind any Aussie Devotees to get their orders in before the 1st July if you want to avoid the new 10% GST tariffs

>59 sviswanathan: You’re welcome!

>56 cronshaw:
Surely 50% off a large number of titles isn't that bad, particularly for Folio newcomers and those who've been waiting patiently.
At the risk of becoming repetitive, my point was that most of the books have appeared in sales before (some for years), many cheaper than this time - I would have lost out if I'd hung on longer. True, a few are new, and some are cheaper than previously, although many by not very much; on the other hand some discounts are exaggerated by hiked prices. So, it's not Bah Humbug at all, just genuine disappointment.

(Later edit: and to emphasise that this isn't Bah Humbug, my first post in the Summer Sale thread last year described it as "the best looking sale in ages".)

>59 sviswanathan:
I don't think anyone's ever reviewed Story as Sharp as a Knife here, so perhaps someone should mention what it isn't. (I have the original Canadian edition, not the FS version, but the new artwork apart, they appear to be identical.) It isn't a collection of short stories from various sources within a culture. It's a handful of longish narratives taken a century ago by one researcher from one narrator whose culture was already under siege. That takes up about a third of the book. The rest is historical background, exegesis and speculation by the author. The narrative doesn't make conventional sense. Events happen and metamorphoses occur that are inexplicable in conventional Western terms. In order to explain them, the author treats them as though they were paintings rather than literature, an approach which allows him to speculate freely. To justify his interpretation he must also make assumptions about the motives of the narrator. There's a huge amount of work involved, but the end result can't be authoritative, and may be a far cry from what you expect from folk tales.

I was really, really hoping for She-Wolves, but I knew it was a long shot. Still too new, I guess.

When I was looking back at my orders for the past sales, I noticed that some books are available for lower prices now, so there is that I guess... From the last 4 sales, all non-OOP books I ordered then are discounted again minus the Ripley novels. Last year had a particularly good Summer Sale for me with 11 books ordered in total (6 OOP, 5 now back in sale). I guess that hyped me up for this year. When all you see is books you do not want or already got in a sale 2 years ago, a feeling of disappointment is hard to repress. Maybe I'll find a book or two if the disappointment has settled down again.

I'll be going over the offers more attentively this weekend to see if there is anything I want to go along with my order from the February and May books.

Edit for sloppy grammar

I 'm disappointed, too. Several of the more attractive offers are books I already bought long ago at full price or with the 10% discount for new books they used to offer. A few others I bought during previous sales, most of them quite a bit cheaper. What little is left isn't worth it with the shipping fees that they're charging these days. But of course this would be more attractive to people who are relatively new to FS and / or who didn't buy new titles as I did.

Crime and Punishment
The Voyage of Argo
And one non-sale title, South Polar Times.

Nothing else really tempts me. I considered One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and On The Road, but opted against them.

Although I own 39 titles from this sale already, I had no problem selecting books from the top of my wish list. My order:

The Alexander Trilogy - finally on sale, yesss!
A Story As Sharp As A Knife - I'm curious about this work, and I think I recall it was low on stock
The Southern Gates of Arabia
Love And War In the Apennines
God's Englishman
Seeds of Change
The Pillow Book Of Sei Shonagon
The Comedians - now only Travels With My Aunt left to complete the Greenes.

Having checked out the Taschen sale and discovered that there were no must-haves this time around, I've just placed my Folio order as follows:

The Age of Wonder
From Dawn to Decadence
The Mapmakers
The Wars of the Roses
The Last White Rose
Never Let Me Go
The Midnight Folk
The Ghost of Thomas Kempe
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

Plus:

The Bull From the Sea

The sale brochure arrived today and for those who are still waiting for it, these are the Folio titles listed as being Low Stock:

Engima; Hide and Seek; God's Englishman; The Mapmakers; From Dawn to Decadence; Eugene Onegin; The Loved One, Midnight's Children; Oscar and Lucinda; The Camberwell Beauty; The Dubliners; Cautionary Tales; Seven Wonders of the World; Leviathan; The History of the Church; Goblin Market; The Earth; Great Railway Bazaar

I think the sale is fine. You cannot expect recently published or popular titles to be sold at a 50% discount. The FS is a business, not a charity.

For anyone who has not considered it, the Book of Common Prayer is a magnificent fine edition, and at half price, an absolute bargain.

It is a facsimile of the original magnificently decorated original, quarter bound in goatskin with marbled boards. Just holding it is a pleasure.

>71 HuxleyTheCat: For me the Taschen sale is much more exciting. Particularly The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel which was high on my wish list. I've been waiting patiently for The Bull From the Sea and The King Must Die to go on sale but to no avail.

>73 kdweber:
The Taschen sale is useless for Australians, as Taschen have a set shipping charge of A$100 per book, even if the book costs only A$10. Ridiculous!
At least the FS has reasonable shipping charges, particularly if you order multiple books.

>66 Bookworm59:
I was really, really hoping for She-Wolves, but I knew it was a long shot. Still too new, I guess
Yes, would think so - unless I've missed one, the newest books in the sale are from 2016, and She-Wolves was published only last year, and if it's been popular, I would guess it'll be a while yet. Having said that, I certainly picked up one of those 2016 books (Mapmakers) in the sale last summer....

>73 kdweber: I thought hard about the Haeckel, Pompeii and Hiroshige, but Hiroshige sold out and I think I'm leaning towards future XL rather than XXL editions of the other two.

Concerning The Bull from the Sea, I decided to go for it now at full price, as I only needed that one to complete the Renault set, and I didn't want to risk losing out.

>70 elladan0891: Thanks for reminding us of A Story as Sharp as a Knife, I forgot to mention that one above. It's not often we see a 50% discount on a fine edition.

>74 wcarter: Too true. Why is everyone always trying to screw the Australians? Every time I feel badly about unfair pricing by the FS in the states I can take solace that the Aussies are getting treated worse ;-)

>76 HuxleyTheCat: The Pompeii is large but a great deal - I picked it up at a previous sale for the same price. I highly recommend The Sixty-Nine Stations along the Kisokaido on sale for $60 (list $150), I happily paid $100 for my copy. I really love the oversized XXL editions but understand the utility of going with smaller (though still large) editions that are much easier to shelve and read.

Even though I have some of the books listed, I went through more carefully and found fourteen books of interest. I need to whittle those down to maybe six or so. I am torn between waiting a bit to see if they add a few others but risking the depletion of others. The goal is to try for a single order to save postage.

I have been on a reading binge again this year and on the road to complete 100 this year - books that is. Ahh, full retirement finally.

>73 kdweber: I've been waiting patiently for The Bull From the Sea and The King Must Die to go on sale

The Bull From The Sea was published in 2017, so there was no chance of it being included. Also unlikely to feature in the next New Year Sale, so if you want the duology - either bite the bullet like >76 HuxleyTheCat:, or prepare to wait at least another year (with no guarantees, of course). Myself, I bought both books as they came out, but I would have been a hypocrite if I didn't - the Theseus duology was in my very short list of suggestions in my profile.

Succumbed to a few more:

Crusader Castles
Cautionary Tales
Great Contemporaries
Monks of War

The sale isn't too bad.

Although I am lucky enough to already have many titles, this is a good sale and I decided to augment my library with:
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
The Alexander Trilogy
John Keats: Selected Poems
A Writer At War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army 1941-1945

What an awesome sale! I don't think I've seen Renault's 'Alexander Trilogy' on sale recently? And I don't recall The Age of Illusion, Wind Sand & Stars, nor The World Turned Upside Down being on sale before? I've ended up purchasing 11 books from the sale, plus 1 other full price. £7 postage for 12 books also seems very reasonable.

>83 fiascoborelli: I bought The World Turned Upside Down in the Winter sale.

>65 Jayked: Thank you for the information! That is a fair bit different than what I expected, but it sounds very intriguing.

Another very beautiful edition and good read for those who don’t have it is Letters To Vicky

>73 kdweber: Upon release I was really excited about the Ernst Haeckel, but after seeing it in person at the beginning of the year I decided that it was way to big for my liking. On the other hand I got the Grand Tour which is about the same size. It was quite a successful sale for me altough I missed out on the Portrait of Rome which was high on my wishlist.

As for the FS sale: I'm not ecstatic about the sale but there are a decent number of books I'm interested in. I currently have 8 books in my basket. Since they don't seem to sell out any time soon I will ponder some more days about it.

Is Every Man for Himself worth buying?

What about the Oxford Shakespeare series? I'm debating between Twelfth Night (the Folio Edition illustrated by the Balbusso sisters), the Oxford Shakespeare and Hassan. How extensive are the notes, if any, especially for the Shakespeare ones? Is Hassan easy to understand?

I took a longer look into the books currently at sale and would like opinions on Foucault’s Pendulum by Eco and Midnights’ Children by Rushdie. I don’t particularly like the illustrations for the first book, except the cover but the story does attract me. For the Rushdie I have no qualms about the illustrations, but I am a bit confused on the narrative. Is it a accessible read, or must I prepare for a slower study of the text? Any and all remarks are very welcome.

>89 NLNils: i am a huge fan of Umberto Eco, and i think Foucault's Pendulum is his best work after The Name of the Rose. I dont have the FS edition, so cant comment on the presentation, but the book itself is a great read, and a real page turner despite its length.
i would say that it is about authors concoting a convincing conspiracy theory, and your enjoyment of the book will depend in part on how entertaining you find them!

>83 fiascoborelli:

Wind Sand & Stars was in the last sale, where I bought it.

>89 NLNils: Midnight's Children is one of the finest novels I have ever read. Superb use of the language, wonderful characters and imagination, I'm not surprised at all that it won the Booker of Bookers. Personally I found it very accessible, although I did find it was taking me quite a long time to get through until I put my mind to it and flew through the last third. The illustrations in the Folio edition are lovely. Thoroughly recommended.

I quite like this sale - I've been tempted into actual action for the first time in ages:

Seven Gothic Tales (on my list for aaaages);
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (a childhood favourite);
20,000 Leagues Under the Seas (which seems fantastic value for £20 with those illustrations); and
Hassan - the mystery one I know nothing about (thank you to >30 Jayked: and >50 KeithDBowman: above for giving me some more details) but I looked it up and some of the poetry really appealed, so I'm genuinely excited about receiving this one.

>88 Lim_See_Min: I bought Every Man for Himself at full price, as, although I hadn't read it previously, I liked the premise and found the Folio treatment to be very enticing. The binding, design and illustrations still have top marks from me, but I was less than engaged with the content and knowing that I would never likely give it a re-read I part-exchanged my copy at Ardis.

If you search the thread for Twelfth Night, you will discover that there are members here who firmly believe that the innards are sheets from the Letterpress Shakespeare edition. If you want extensive notes rather than the plain text, then you really can't go wrong with the Oxford Shakespeare, and the price is a complete steal - it would be worth considering getting both, as they are very different beasts.

I bought Hassan in the last sale and read it quite soon. It's an easy enough read, but not particularly memorable for me and it is likely to end up in the part-ex pile.

Despite a lot of repeats in this sale that I already own, I was able to find a few, and actually whittled my shopping cart down due to lack of shelf space. Purchased:

From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life (only 50 -wait, 49- left!)
Gods, Graves and Scholars: The Story of Archaeology (I used to want to be an archaeologist.)
Love and War in the Apennines
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

After grousing about how there was little in the sale that interested me, I somehow managed to place an order for:

Nicholas and Alexandra
Parade's End
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
The Queen of Spades and Other Stories

So, I contradict myself (whether I contain multitudes I will leave to others to decide). I guess the sale isn't quite as bad as I had claimed, though it certainly isn't as good as I had hoped for.

>95 FranklyMyDarling: This post sprung me into action as of this morning no counters were active. I wasn't going to miss out on From Dawn to Decadence and God's Englishman and thus didn't want to risk holding of ordering until I return from vacation. So, I ordered by phone this time as I will be leaving next Thursday and didn't want the books send out whilst I'm away. FS will hold my order for two weeks, so the books will arrive when I'm back.

I went for a good variety of fiction and non-fiction:

Lord of the Flies (didn't enjoy the hyperinflated marketprices for this book whilst out of print and thus ordered without qualms at full price)
The Consolation of Philosophy
From Dawn to Decadence
God's Englishman
The World Turned Upside Down
Midnight's Children
Never Let Me Go
The Reason Why
In Xanadu: A Quest

Can anyone comment on Paradise Lost? I've been thinking of getting the FS edition for a while now

>98 Roccosem: You absolutely should purchase it. It is extremely well done, if gigantic. At this price it is a steal. It really is a good deal at full price.

>98 Roccosem: out of all the books on sale, Paradise Lost is in my opinion the biggest bargain. my advice would be to buy it now before it goes out of print

i was initially slightly underwhelmed by the 2018 summer sale, especially after last year which had the first (only?) LE sale as well.

that said i initially had 10 books in my basket, which i have whittled down to:
The Alexander Trilogy
The Comedians
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
The Elizabethan Underworld
A Story as Sharp as a Knife
Ring of Bright Water

8 books for just over £160 delivered, including a fine edition. cant wait to get them

>98 Roccosem: Funny enough there is a separate commentary volume by Alastair Fowler that follows the book ;)

: While you think, others do. Think you can, but not act would be folish. Find balance, and balance your thinking now with doing. (Master Joda)

>95 FranklyMyDarling: God's, Graves and Scholars is easily my favourite read from the last year or two. Enjoy!

>92 HuxleyTheCat: A belated thank you for the remarks and praise you bestowed on Midnight’s Children. I duly ordered it this afternoon!

i think this is an excellent sale. I have many of the offers but have been waiting for the Alexander trilogy to come on offer for 2 years , plus I snapped up The King Must Die at the pop up sale at Borough Market in December for £10, so very happy. IMO for new or nearly new FS members this is a great entrance to a beautiful library

Maybe everyone ordered Candide in the New Year Sale at a 40% discount, but now it’s half price. If you want a excellent production by FS not named Paradise Lost, snap this one up in a heartbeat!

i was quite underwhelmed by the 2018 summer sale, as quite a few books were also on sale for the new year sale. Ended up with:
The Alexander Trilogy
Barchester Towers
Disgrace
Good Behaviour
Brighton Rock
The Ghost of Thomas Kempe
The Meaning of Hitler
Loving
The Prince and the Paupe
The Queen of Spades and Other Stories
The War of the End of the World
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Herzog

>107 venkysuniverse: Truly underwhelming! :D

Dawn to decadence on it`s way out (37) therefore order placed.

: Dawn to decadence
: Gods graves and scholars
: East of Eden
: On the road

Wishlist

: Candide (on the fence `cause of the LE)
: A circle of fire and other stories
: Nicholas and Alexandra

Didn't want to order so early as I was hoping to hold off in the event more titles were added to the selection.

Unfortunately, the counter on Dawn to Decadence forced my hand.

Oh well.

-edit. It's now at 35.

Low stock on Dubliners (now 17) also forced my hand, so hopefully there are no late editions to the sale I really want (or enough of them to justify more shipping charges.) I ordered these four:

Dubliners
The Alexander Trilogy
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

I'm waiting for replacements of American Gods and The Summer Anthology which were damaged. Hopefully one or the other shipment will arrive in the next few weeks.

>103 HuxleyTheCat:
Thank you for your comments that encouraged me to look at a book I have never for some reason considered
I am going to order it along with the Mapmakers , The war of the Roses. The last White Rose ,The monks of War and maybe Memoirs from Beyond the Tomb

The only two I’m really interested in aren’t in the sale(new Dickens) so I’m pleased, moreso my wife is, that I’ll be missing out on this one. Finally the wallet wins!

I already ordered:
- The Alexander trilogy
- Parades end
- Surely your joking Mr Feynman
- Midnight’s children
And one of the last copies of From Dawn to Decadence.

I am also tempted to buy some of the poetry volumes in a later order. Does anyone have any comments or recommendations? I am not a big fan of the folio poets series as I find them a bit too large and weighty for pleasurable reading of poetry. Are the “selections” here more readable do people think?

I had not even thought of From Dawn to Decadence, but after all your rave reviews, added to my basket and ordered.

After a forensic examination of the Summer Sale, I am torn between multiple choices.

Which of these would be better value for my hard-earned copper?

Paradise Lost *or* Dawn to Decadence

The Comedians *or* God's Own Englishman

A Story as a Sharp as a Knife *or* The Age of Wonder

Help from fellow devotees would be appreciated!

>117 bookaroo: I ordered Dawn and God’s Englishman, would fill out your list with The Age Of Wonder.

Just placed a phone order for only two books because they've changed the installment plan rules. Now you have to order $300 in books, not $200 to get it divided into four payments.

Is The Voyage of Argo in the Summer Sale a reprint?

I do recall it being 'sold-out' or 'out-of-print' in the last sale.

Or is that just my imagination?

It is indeed the second printing. Not that the print run greatly affects value for FS editions...

>97 NLNils: Good call - From Dawn to Decadence is down to 13 copies this morning. Nice hull.

>103 HuxleyTheCat: Thanks for the mini "review" of Gods, Graves and Scholars. I'm looking forward to it. It had been in and out of my cart a couple of times before I placed the order.

>108 gmacaree: :D. In my defence, besides the Alexander Trilogy, the others were at the bottom of my wishlist and had skipped them in the last sale.

>118 NLNils: Thank you! Much appreciated :-)

>94 HuxleyTheCat:
Thanks for all the input! I took out Hassan and Every Man for Himself. I eventually choose From Dawn to Decadence over the Oxford Shakespeares for it was running out soon while the Shakespeare plays would likely still be in future sales.

I just ordered:
Selected Poems (by Anna Akhmatova)
The Blue Flower
Crime and Punishment
The Diary of a Country Parson
On the Eve (Have been waiting for it for quite a while)
From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life (there were only 14 left)
Goblin Market and Selected Poems (another one which I have been eyeing)
Letters To Vicky
Medieval Comic Tales
Oscar and Lucinda
The Queen of Spades and Other Stories

For someone new to Folio Society (found out about FS less than a year ago and this is merely my 2nd order), I'm really happy about the sale, except that Vita Nuova which I wanted the most wasn't in the sale.

>117 bookaroo:
I'm puzzled by your juxtaposition of titles. The first two pairings seem to offer no obvious contrast in terms of philosophy or genre. (Is it a price issue?)

I can see a contrast between the third pairing: I have yet to read either but one is a study of the scientific view of reality, the other is a study of one particular mythic view. To get a more rounded picture, I suggest you get both.

'folish'

Thank you, Pellias. I shall treasure that new, wonderfully FSD-related, word.

Perhaps because I have focused on LEs lately, there were many titles here that caught my eye. I look forward to receiving:
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym;
Enigma: Battle for the Code;
Fear and Trembling;
Greek Science;
Seven Gothic Tales;
A Story as Sharp as a Knife;
Leviathan;
The Deeds of the English Kings;
Structures: or Why Things Don't Fall Down.

I have resisted the siren lure of From Dawn to Decadence so far because Folio's description makes it sound like it's far too post-modern for my liking. Has anyone read it?

Just a heads-up -

Dawn to Decadence down to five copies.

Now's the time for anyone on the fence.

>127 Cat_of_Ulthar: That`s me. Over there, with the microwave, the soft ice, what do we have in common. We saw the light of day through accident or whattever.

I bet the highlanders and f.ex Sean Connery use the term `folish` when they relate to FS books. Not to be mistaken by foolish, but maybe something in between (that can be discussed at a meeting someday with cake and coffee). I am Shhhhean Connery, i have an edition of YATTD in my folish collection. I also have the complete Jane Austen burgundy set, which is not that folish, i love all my FS books, even the folish ones. My favourite is Rob Roy, it would be William Wallace, but FS have not yet any books about him in their assortment. To my knowledge, but they have of that b***** Longshank. Now he was foolish. I have written the customer service and offered them a wishlist, my folish books i give to Michael Caine as a joke, rest is for keeps.

Anyway, treasure it you must! Have a nice weekend :)

Does anyone know if the low stock items will go to "out of stock" or "out of print" when they are all gone.

As I remember Folio have not been very constant on this issue and I find it confusing. Fair enough if it goes out of stock it can not be purchased for sale price but it will not be totally out of print.

This is actually one of my very few complaints in regards to FS, it makes it more difficult to plan your spending, especially if one is on a tight budget.

I think they should have a difference between "low stock" and another one saying "going out of print" so we knew what to expect.

I could be wrong about this issue but I seem to remember some confusion about it previously.

Interestingly neither 'out of stock' or 'out of print' have been used for the sale item Dawn to Decadence - the counter has just hit zero. Instead it is listed simply as 'sold out'.

>132 WinterGloaming: I don't think there's any way to know, and I agree it is frustrating and confusing. I would welcome counters on all books once the stock was low, clarification regarding out of stock vs out of print, and would probably purchase more volumes directly from FS if I had this information.

>133 paulmoran: Dubliners is also listed as 'sold out'.

I think 'sold out' invariably means it'll be restocked.

In contrast, A History of the Indians of the United States is currently listed as out of print.

From Dawn to Decadence is currently at -1... oh my I hope it does not mean one of us will be disappointed (touch wood since I bought it merely hours before it was sold out!)

>135 adriano77: Not that logical I'm afraid. The I Am Legend LE is also listed as sold out.

>128 Cat_of_Ulthar:

I have resisted the siren lure of From Dawn to Decadence so far because Folio's description makes it sound like it's far too post-modern for my liking. Has anyone read it?

I've dipped into it; I've read a few other books by Barzun. I can't begin to tell what made you think of postmodernism in connection with him so not sure how to answer, but if you are wondering about the technical aspects, level of difficulty or intelligibility, rest assured he's a very easy writer. Clear prose and uncomplicated ideas.

For some reason seriously tempted to place a second order and wanted opinions on:

The Mary Renault Alexander set
Cloudstreet

They both look beautiful, wondering if they are worth buying in nice editions. Hard to find meaningful reviews online.

Out of stock means it will be restocked. LE books won't be restocked for the obvious reason (it's limited to X copies).

Dubliners are also at -1 now.

>141 Alendor:

That would be Dubliner, then, presumably ...

>139 RRCBS: I haven't read Cloudstreet, but the Alexander Trilogy is one of my favourite Folio reads

>142 folio_books: Sometimes Glenn. You truly are funny, i bet you giggled a lot when you wrote that, haha .. did you squirt coffee on the keyboard?

: Dubliners are not hard to find secondhand, almost a giveaway. Dawn of Decadence can / will be worse methinks at a sensible price

: Dubliners, Dubliner, and then there were none ..

I already had From Dawn to Decadence in my cart, from before it sold out, and I placed my order including it. It looks like I missed out though since it sold out before I placed my order. Oh well...

My order:

From Dawn to Decadence (I assume I'll be notified this one is out of stock)
The Alexander Trilogy
A Story as Sharp as a Knife
Paradise Lost
Parade's End
The Radetzky March

>139 RRCBS:.
I read Cloudstreet when it was first published and bought the FS edition in a sale a year or so ago. I enjoyed reading it so much in this beautiful edition and it’s a book I believe is worthy of the FS treatment. Tim Winton is of course a wonderful writer Buy it

My Summer Sale basket is already worth 550 pounds!

I am now thinking of adding Parade's End (priced at 50 pounds) to the basket.

Can fellow devotees advise me about the value proposition of Parade's End?

Should I succumb and order? Or should I postpone this purchase?

Still waiting to see if there'll be any other new books added to the sale before I finalize my order.

I'm really on the fence right now about the Alexander Trilogy. Does anyone remember if this series was ever for sale for more than 50% off before? Or is the current 50% off discount the lowest this series has ever been priced?

Thanks everyone.

>148 eric923:

I'm pretty sure this is the best offer so far.

On the Alexander topic: I was really underwhelmed by the artwork by Geoff Grandfield in Touching the Void, and from the thumbnails on the webpage I can’t see much stylistic difference here. I guess I feel the same about him as others do about David Hughes (who I do like)...

Does anyone else have any aesthetic opinions about this set?

>150 KeithDBowman:

They're not my favourite FS illustrations, but I'm not disappointed either. Some are somewhat mediocre, while others are really good and have interesting layers / depths.

>138 LolaWalser:
I had another look at Folio's page for From Dawn and I suspect I was confusing it with another book but thanks for the response.

Enablement is the worst!

So far bought:

Never let me go
The last man
The comedians
Ghost stories
Alexander trilogy
Loving
Cloudstreet

PLUS these orders inspired abebooks orders!

Singing sands
Epitaph for a spy
Wide Saragossa sea
Tiger in the smoke

AND it’s strongly tempting me to order the remaining Tey and Allingham books I need even though they’re not on sale! All this bc I started to unpack my collection and remembered I’m missing a nice edition of never let me go!!

I ordered

Goblin Market
Candide

And I was going to get Twelfth Night but I don’t think it can fit with my bookspace, so I decided to get Persuasion to further my collection and support FS.

Oh, that was difficult but I have shortened my list to fill in some wants/needs to six.

Parade's End (I loved FS The Good Soldier and the BBC film of Parade's End - Cumberbatch wasn't it?)
The Radetzky March
Under Milk Wood (for some reason I do not have that Hardy)
With Napoleon in Russia
A Writer At Large
The Zimmermann Telegram

Now I lay me down to sleep.

>155 Forthwith: You are in for a disappointment if you believe that Thomas Hardy wrote Under Milk Wood.

>156 HuxleyTheCat: Was it Tess or Jude who did not go quietly into that good night??

>151 SF-72: Thanks, it’s in my basket...! (Still waiting a few more days to see if they add any more to the sale.). I notice the Malmesbury has a low stock counter also...

Dubliners, Dawn to Decadence, and King John all appear to be Sold Out.

Thanks KeithDBowman and SF-72 for the feedback.

I agree I'm pretty underwhelmed by the illustrations in the Alexander Trilogy as well. But then honestly, I personally find for the prices we pay for these books, that there's far too few illustrations for me to care sometimes. I guess I'm just more interested in the content material, binding and paper quality and typography instead. I love nice illustrations, but I find with the stingy amount of illustrations in folio books that any good illustrations are just icing on the cake. For folio it can sometimes be strange while you're reading and then suddenly, after 40 plus pages and 3 chapters later you get one random illustration. By that time I often forget there were illustrations for the book to begin with. lol

Imo, I'd say one illustration every 15 to 20 pages would be more appropriate. But that's just my opinion. Maybe I'm asking for too much here.

Still on the fence about Alexander.. doesn't seem like it will sell out, so wondering if I should wait for the new years sale to see if it gets cheaper. Trying to cut down on spending lately. So far only have 4 books in my cart, which I'm quite proud about. =D

Also on the fence for On the Eve...

>159 eric923: On the Eve is a lovely volume with great art that is so horribly dull and pointless. Hope that helps!

>155 Forthwith: Hmm, that newly legalized CBD Hemp Oil is stronger than I thought.

Owning and having read part (first 2) of the Alexander Trilogy, I would not recommend these books to anyone not particularly interested in Ancient Greece. Even if you are, the books can be quite tough reads. I did not care about the protagonist in either book and they most definetely were not pageturners. I finished the first two on willpower alone, wanting to like them but not liking them. Therefore, I stopped at that point.

Stylistically, the illustrations are ok if not a bit childish. The Greek vase design and shapes do fit the timeperiod, the colours don't. My biggest beef with the books is that the titles on the spines are almost luminescent white. No matter where I put them on a bookshelf, they always look out of place. Way to modern for the font and the subject matter.

In case anyone is on the fence with Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas, there are currently only 20 copies left. This is selling fast as I believe it was around 150ish when the sale started.

>162 Fierylunar:
To each his own opinion, but I enjoyed the Alexander Trilogy, and found them entertaining na easy reading. The illustrations are stark and geometric, but remind me of a modernised version of Greek vase illustrations.
Historical fiction is one way of bringing the past alive.
I would recommend them.

>164 wcarter: Nothing wrong with historical fiction for me, I absolutely love the genre. Having studied classics at university, I particularly enjoy titles that bring ancient Greece and Rome to life. This series did not do that for me (whereas e.g. Rosemary Sutcliff's Eagle of the Ninth or Robert Graves' I, Claudius did). The same goes for my significant other (who I met during my time at uni), who disliked the first book so bad that she did not even attempt the second one.

As you said, to each his own. I'm glad you like them, I just wanted to share my view and add some criticism that I felt was lacking here.

Anyone have any inkling whether there may be an LE sale this year (whether coinciding at all with this summer sale or not)?

>166 hiphopopotamus: Unless the mole is willing to speak up, nobody knows. FS has been quite adamant in stating that it 'might' be the only LE sale. They did not promise for it to be a yearly thing. Then again, I don't foresee many LEs (apart from Odes of Horace, Call of Cthulhu and The Wanderer) selling out any time soon, so who knows?

>167 Fierylunar: good to know, thanks for the info

>167 Fierylunar: Just to add a parenthesis to your parenthesis FS sent me an email titled "Final copies of The Wanderer" on 19th of June claiming that 2/3 of the books are "already" sold.

>167 Fierylunar:
Cthulhu seems to have stalled at 56, which makes me sad for some unfathomable, incomprehensible, unadjectivable reason.
You know, I don't think the angles in this room look quite right?

>164 wcarter: The illustrations are stark and geometric, but remind me of a modernised version of Greek vase illustrations.

And I, for one, love Geoff Grandfield's illustrations though I do believe they work much better in monochrome (eg the Greene sets) than in colour.

So I emailed FS about adding another book to an order and asked if any additional books would be added to the sale...answer was no :(

Hello, first round was The Queen of Spades, Barchester Towers and The Alexander Triolgy which I have had my eye on for a while but now I keep looking at The Spanish Civil War and Desmond Seward's War of the Roses series, any opinions on the last two would be most welcome before I take the plunge!!

DHL apparently decided that my Norwegian hometown was really in the UK, couldn't find it, and returned my package to FS...

I noticed Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas changed from "Sold Out" to "Out of Print." Thank you >163 F.Trier: for the warning. Got a copy before it was too late. Also ordered:
Crime and Punishment
The Midnight Folk
The Prince and the Pauper
Melville The Complete Shorter Fiction
Lord of the Flies (not on sale)

>163 F.Trier: Thanks also to you for the heads-up, mine was the penultimate copy secured after too much dithering and vacillation...!

>170 Cat_of_Ulthar: Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn ;-) ;-)

My order is finally in after many twists and turns. Realised I couldn’t wait any longer as Mapmakers and Thus Spoke Zarathustra were running low. Anyway, here it is:

ITEMS ORDERED
1 x The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym @ £15.95
1 x The Age of Illusion @ £18.95
1 x Barchester Towers @ £22.45
1 x Cautionary Tales and Other Verses @ £15.95
1 x Enigma: The Battle for the Code @ £20.95
1 x On the Eve @ £18.45
1 x God's Englishman @ £19.45
1 x The Ghost of Thomas Kempe @ £14.95
1 x Interpreting Dreams @ £23.95
1 x Love and War in the Apennines @ £17.95
1 x Memoirs from Beyond the Tomb @ £19.45
1 x The Midnight Folk @ £17.45
1 x The Mapmakers @ £23.95
1 x Nicholas and Alexandra @ £24.95
1 x The Radetzky March @ £18.45
1 x The Wolves of Willoughby Chase @ £14.95
1 x The Warden @ £14.95
1 x Wind, Sand & Stars @ £14.95
1 x Thus Spoke Zarathustra @ £20.95

Note that at the time of writing only 2 copies remain of Mapmakers and 15 of Nietzsche.

Nice mix and total amount of books @Andreas12! The Half Price Sale well taken care of on your part. I just want to add that God’s Englishman is also selling out. One to watch for if you’re in the market.

Just for the fun of it: The prospectus arrived today, by which time some titles had already sold out. I'm so glad I don't need to rely on those.

>180 c_schelle: mine arrived today as well. I don't know why they don't send them out earlier, if they state that the sale will start at a certain date I don't think that would affect the business negatively. Luckily all the books I'm interested in are don't seem to sell out any time soon.

My order, placed on 21 June, has arrived today in the UK.
Will open this evening.

My prospectus arrived yesterday, five days after placing my order. The mailing originated in the Netherlands. I have not received the order yet, but it shows as despatched on the FS webpage.

Anyone know if the John Donne has been translated into modern English?

>183 IPDaily:
John Donne wrote modern English. The spelling, as with any writer before Dr Johnson, may occasionally be archaic, but the sense and vocabulary should be open to any present-day reader.

Oh dear, all my sale books are At Warehouse... except the still-pending Jules Verne...

This does not augur well, I’ve been here before...!

>177 Andreas12: That is an impressive order!

List of Folio Society titles showing “Limited Stock” counters (not including books from other publishers) and the number of copies left.

The Ascent Of Man – 144
The Bhagavad Gita – 83 - 78 LEFT
The Camberwell Beauty and Other Stories – 105
Cautionary Tales and Other Verses - 75 - 63 LEFT
Crusader Castles – 100 - 89 LEFT
The Deeds of the English Kings – 97
The Earth - An Intimate History - 128
Italian Food – 76
The Elizabethan Underworld – 97 - 90 LEFT
Enigma: The Battle for the Code – 25 - 19 LEFT - SOLD OUT
Eugene Onegin – 21 - 7 LEFT
Feudal Society – 77
John Adams – 91
Goblin Market and Selected Poems – 10 - 4 LEFT - OUT OF PRINT
God's Englishman – 21 - ONLY 1 LEFT - OUT OF PRINT
Good Things – 343
Greek Science – 168
Hide and Seek – 102 - 92 LEFT
The History of the Church – 75
Letters To Vicky – 115
Leviathan – 18 - 14 LEFT - 10 LEFT
The Loved One – 87
Medieval Comic Tales – 50
The Monks of War – 117 - 112 LEFT
On the Eve – 56
Oscar and Lucinda – 110
Restoration London – 163
The Southern Gates of Arabia – 87 - 78 LEFT
The Surgeon of Crowthorne – 119 - 115 LEFT
Thus Spoke Zarathustra – 3 - OUT OF PRINT
The War of the End of the World – 96
What are the Seven Wonders of the World? – 58 - 54 LEFT

edit for update

updated again

>187 bookfair_e: You did monk’s work on compiling this list. Thank you for the effort!

>187 bookfair_e:
Good work!

>187 bookfair_e:
Thank you very much!

>187 bookfair_e:

Above list updated.

I normally read ebooks on my kindle and in my own language (Dutch), but I always liked bookshelves filled with beautiful books. After looking for beautiful editions, I found Folio Society and planned to start collecting them after creating a custom bookshelve first. I still have to start with the bookshelve but now with this summer sale, I decided to splash already the money and start collecting. I mostly ordered non fiction for now.

Don't know which ones to read first, so if any of you have read some of these books and can recommend some, feel free to do so! :-)

Copy/Paste from order confirmation:
1 x The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science @ £22.45
1 x The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym @ £15.95
1 x The Ascent Of Man @ £24.95
1 x The Alexander Trilogy @ £52.45
1 x Big Chief Elizabeth @ £19.45
1 x Cautionary Tales and Other Verses @ £15.95
1 x One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest @ £18.45
1 x The Darling Buds of May @ £12.95
1 x Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems @ £24.95
1 x Desolation Island @ £15.95
1 x The Earth - An Intimate History @ £24.95
1 x Enigma: The Battle for the Code @ £20.95
1 x The Fatal Shore @ £24.95
1 x A Circle in the Fire and Other Stories @ £19.95
1 x Gods, Graves and Scholars: The Story of Archaeology @ £24.95
1 x Greek Science @ £24.95
1 x The Ghost of Thomas Kempe @ £14.95
1 x Seven Gothic Tales @ £19.95
1 x The Meaning of Hitler @ £14.95
1 x Hide and Seek @ £17.95
1 x In Cold Blood @ £15.95
1 x Impossible Journeys @ £14.95
1 x Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde @ £12.95
1 x Love and War in the Apennines @ £17.95
1 x 'Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman!' @ £19.95
1 x The Midnight Folk @ £17.45
1 x Nicholas and Alexandra @ £24.95
1 x The Prince and the Pauper @ £14.95
1 x The Queen of Spades and Other Stories @ £19.45
1 x Ring of Bright Water @ £15.95
1 x Restoration London @ £18.45
1 x The Radetzky March @ £18.45
1 x What are the Seven Wonders of the World? @ £13.95
1 x Over Sea, Under Stone @ £13.95
1 x Structures: or Why Things Don't Fall Down @ £19.95
1 x The Comedians @ £15.95
1 x Taming the Infinite @ £19.95
1 x The War of the End of the World @ £27.45
1 x What Katy Did @ £14.95
1 x The Wolves of Willoughby Chase @ £14.95
1 x Wind, Sand & Stars @ £14.95
1 x The Zimmermann Telegram @ £17.45

Also ordered two books without reduction:
1 x War Horse @ £29.95
1 x The House at Pooh Corner @ £34.95

>192 MilM: Impressive, very impressive! And welcome to the society of financially ruined book collectors with overstocked shelves of unread books. You will soon find out what I’m talking about—the FAD (Folio Acquisition Disorder). Once again, welcome.

>192 MilM: Behold! Instant Library!

>194 Sorion:

Now all it needs is the bookshelves to display the beautiful books.

Hello to Folio experts :-). I have a question for you: how much did you paid as shipping fee? on the advertisement in paper i received it was indicated a flat-cost for 2 or + books of 6.99, but on the website the price is still the "normal" fee. has someone managed to get the discounted delivery price?

>195 folio_books: I hear IKEA delivers ;)

>197 Sorion: 😂😂😂🤮

(The shelves on my son’s Billy bookcase are sagging under the weight of a few Mr Men books...!)

>196 margot2012: It is FS policy to have a fixed rate. The price depends on your location (UK, USA, Canada, Australia or Rest of the world aka ROW), but any customer should have the same price, no matter the amount of books. If you feel like you overpaid, I would contact customer support and ask them to check whether or not you paid too much.

>198 KeithDBowman: Isn’t that the truth. My daughters have been through two sets of them already!

Appears as if I won’t get ‘The Mapmakers’ as it’s been marked as ‘refunded’ on my order status, despite there being a handful of copies remaining at the time of purchase.

Also, Nietzsche is showing ‘pending’ whereas all other items are showing ‘at warehouse’. Could this be an indication that I won’t receive that one too? There were just short of 30 copies when the order was placed.

I’m somewhat disappointed on missing out on the first one, I must say, but perhaps this isn’t uncommon?

>201 Andreas12: It’s not uncommon for this to happen in sales with books running a counter. I haven’t experienced this myself as of now, but as soon as counters go live on books I want, I immediately put in my order. If it actually makes a difference I don’t know.

>202 NLNils: I see. However, you would think that since the counter automatically drops by one unit, when the order is placed, that you were assured your copy. But I guess that makes too much sense, right?

Anyway, I’ll follow your advice from now on. Lesson learnt. :-)

>203 Andreas12:

I think it does drop automatically when an order is placed. I believe the problem lies in the fact that those who have it in the basket can still place an order after it has gone out of stock and hence it's common that the count goes down into the negative numbers.

My personal guess is that they do not exactly pack by date/time of order (I think they do split by location? I believe it was brought up that certain people were responsible for packing for a certain location.) Hence, the current situation.

I would think that an order placed when there were still over twenty orders should be safe enough though.

Maybe Folio Society should code in a round of checking (to see if any books have gone out of stock) when entering the 'your basket' page and remove any that have gone out of stock. It would, not only prevent disappointment after purchasing only to realise you will not get the book, but also improve sales since one is very likely to get another book (or two) instead.

>187 bookfair_e:

See thats just what I mean and posted about in this thread in post 132.

I guess that both, Enigma: The Battle for the Code and Thus Spoke Zarathustra has had "limited stock" notification but the former is listed as "sold out" while the latter is now listed as "out of print", I mean how are we supposed to know which books will be what.

I know FS might think the uncertainty will shift copies faster but I am not so sure about it. A notification about a book "going out of print" would shift far more copies faster I think and a "going out of stock" would still shift copies due to not having the option to get it for sale price.

Very hard to prioritize money of one has to gamble like this. Just change the notifications to "going out of print" and "going out of stock" instead of "limited stock" so we know what to expect.

Though yes I know someone might think that "limited stock" is more exciting cause then we have to gamble :-)

With Folio it's always best to assume that "sold out" and "out of stock" really mean "out of print". That's the case most of the times. Sometimes an out-of-stock book is back in stock fairly shortly, but such cases are rather rare in my experience. To avoid disappointment, simply treat all such books as OOP. If you see a counter and want the book - just buy it.

>205 WinterGloaming: I know FS might think the uncertainty will shift copies faster
I very much doubt this is the case. I think that good old British, ahem, nonchalance is a better explanation.

I very much doubt that the person flipping the switch on the website to indicate "out of print", "out of stock", or "sold out" is in any position to know if the title will be back in print or not - they're just flipping the switch as told. Add to that the possibility that the website may automatically show a default message when the availability count drops to zero or below, before the desired message is actually displayed...and then which message is the default one?

All of this confusion does lead to one sales advantage: it encourages us to order early and not wait for a sale or price drop only to risk limited stock issues. Idle/surplus stock is always a negative...they want to move it as fast as possible.

Question for all...when will the next sale be? I want a copy of Dune but would obv rather not pay so much for it...but with the cost of shipping to Canada, might be worth just adding to latest order...

>208 RRCBS:
January

>208 RRCBS:
But Dune is a popular title, and like many other titles that sell well, may never appear in a sale.

>208 RRCBS:
Agree with >210 wcarter:. The chances of Dune featuring in the next New Year sale are in the neighborhood of zero. It's a very popular title that had no problems going through multiple prints at full price since its release only 3 years ago. I don't think it will be included in the next few sales, if ever. Some time in the future they might decide that they mostly satisfied the demand and won't be issuing another print, so they might end up throwing the leftovers on sale to clear stock, but I wouldn't be betting on that. If you really want it, just bite the bullet and order now.

In reference to my previous comments, >201 Andreas12: and >203 Andreas12:

I recently got an email from Folio informing me that ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’ had run out of copies and that I wouldn’t receive one, despite that there were just short of 30 copies remaining at the time of purchase. Needless to say, I would receive a refund and that they were sorry.

So, I just wanted to comment on the fact that one can't be certain of a copy despite these, in my opinion, large enough numbers, and that one would do well to consider that for future reference. And maybe these weren’t news to some of the long term members, but it was to me in spite of being a ‘member’ for years.

I wish that Folio would fix this in the future to avoid disappointment. Because my experience is that I usually require some days to think through my acquisitions during the sales, such as how much I can afford, which books I think I’ll read, and doing research on the editions. And when there’s a counter displaying how many copies that remain, you develop a sense of comfort that you still have plenty of time to consider. But obviously, that is a false sense.

I also got an email saying - Regrettably Dawn to Decadence & Thus Spoke Zarathustra have run out and there are no further copies available even though it showed 20 copies remaining. As a new member this is disappointing. I'm starting to wonder if they give priority to long time members.

>212 Andreas12: Maybe the new website (tm) will finally fix things. It would appear this is not a web-related issue but a logistic issue at the warehouse(s), where orders get packed seemingly at random sometime later in the week (e.g. LE shipping for early orders). There should be a fix for this by making the database smarter or by packing the orders chronologically. Whether or not FS cares enough to actually do this is an entirely different matter.

Edit to add >213 michaelxx: Seeing the amount of complaints here the past few years, it would appear that they do not. I'm sorry you were unable to get these books, hopefully the rest will still be able to make up for the loss.

>214 Fierylunar:
I agree, they don't go around selecting orders for the dismembered of long standing first, that simply wouldn't be feasible financially. I think the problem is a combination of several factors. Firstly, Folio's systems have been slightly out of sync historically, and I doubt that changed. So although the website says there are x copies remaining, I think sometimes the actual number of copies in the warehouse might be slightly off either way. Then there is a "feature" that allows a customer to complete purchase even after the book sells out if the book was added to the cart before the counter hit 0, which then takes the counter into negative. Then when the orders are dropped, they're not picked in exact order of purchase, so if you buy a book when there are 30 remaining, it all depends on how fast the last 30 sell out. If it takes several days, you're safe - your order will be dropped and picked before the book goes out of stock. If the book sells out in a day or two, and the number of books sold don't match the number of books in the DC because of inventory discrepancies and/or the shopping cart bug, it's up for random grabs.

>215 elladan0891:
Another possibility - whilst the website might decrement the counter in real-time, Folio still process telephone and postal orders, and if these are applied in batches the counter could reduce accordingly and suddenly drop below zero - then it's pure chance as to who gets the last book and who will be disappointed.

>215 elladan0891:
>216 rampkr:

Make sense. It's possible they want to account for cancellations/returns before processing these "bulk updates."
Really could be any number of reasons. If the software is really bad, or it's legacy software that just
got a shiny coat of paint, then it's very possible they can't handle these kind of things in real time.
You'd be surprised how much good software develpment costs and how many companies don't want to invest the $$$$$$
to properly redo old software.

If the FS facilitate a downcounter, they also signal that "wait for the sale" - they would want people to buy full price books also. The more they facilitate, the more spoiled we as customers will be. Even if the FS garantee a happy customer so to speak, they need that balance of sharing and caring .. oh, i`m tired today, i lost my final thought. How good or bad it ever was, we will probably never know .. there it was .. we buy at our own risk, if we want a product, we simply buy it - the sales are a bonus, we all know what pops up in these sales also, it only demands a little experience and to be a little deductive.

LE`s are of another matter, and should have no nonsense to the counter (if they fix this for the LE`s, they could easily put it to use on more standard editions anyways)

So, i really ended up where i started with my argument :)

I have also received a message this morning that Dubliners was sold out and I would not be receiving my copy. As I was tracking the countdown on that one, 17 copies were remaining when I placed my order online, and it was another two days before it listed as sold out. Very frustrating, and seems to be happening to more of us this sale, if I'm not mistaken. I am also surprised that I am just now finding out, as it's been 10 days since I placed my order. If they are just now pulling my books, it's no wonder there is not a copy left.

I emailed them yesterday. No response so far. I thought I'll try ebay, but wow these books are selling for 2-3x the original price.

>219 wdripp: Very frustrating, and seems to be happening to more of us this sale,

That's certainly been my impression. I can't remember it ever happening to me but I'd be annoyed if it did, especially with 17 (or more) apparently remaining at the time of purchase. If they ever had a system that worked in real time, it looks like it's broken. Again.

Here's a job for Super-Mole ...

>221 folio_books: I have had two or three books cancelled in the past because they were out of stock. None recently, and either counters weren't being used at the time, or I didn't pay attention to them.

Honestly, if there had been just a few copies left when I ordered I wouldn't mind so much, but when there are 18 copies (or 30 as another member noted above), it is a problem and should be corrected. I did respond to their email with my concerns. Perhaps if enough customers do they will take a look at their system for fulfilling orders.

Thankfully, Dubliners doesn't appear to be too hard to find on the second hand market.

I can understand if this happens with 2 or 3 copies towards the end, but not with 18 or 30. That's a very shoddy and unreliable system and should be improved upon.

>223 SF-72:
Yes, it can certainly be improved, but...

>221 folio_books:
...a real-time system is likely out of the question as it would be prohibitively expensive for Folio's budget.

>> 224 ..a real-time system is likely out of the question as it would be prohibitively expensive for Folio's budget.

I beg to disagree - as an ex software engineer I'd suggest it should be relatively trivial to get this right.
The very first basic step should be to recheck the availability of books when a saved order is sent in.
That in itself would fix the majority of the problems.

I transmitted my on-line order two days ago and it is just now showing up as received. Whatever "system" that they have is woefully inadequate. This kind of delay in recording an order is likely part of their inability to track the number of books remaining.

It could be that they have downsized too much.

>225 RogerBlake:
Understood, but the disconnect between the electronic world of the software and the physical world of the books in the warehouse is pretty significant. To overcome that gap one must spend a considerable amount of money on equipment, especially if that gap includes a significant amount of time between status updates.

Every small or large bookseller has to know their stock levels at any one moment and even small bookshops with few staff and IT resources are likely to have a greater range of books on sale than the Folio Society.

If a business does not even know what is in its stock, does it not raise some fundamental questions about the accuracy and reliability of their accounting systems, their management reports and annual results?

>228 Chawton: "If a business does not even know what is in its stock, does it not raise some fundamental questions about the accuracy and reliability of their accounting systems, their management reports and annual results?"

It does, but the simplest and arguably most likely solution is that the people picking and packing orders are a little overwhelmed at the moment. I would imagine that in times gone by, when the Society employed more staff, everyone would pitch in to help when a sale was on.

A case for Occam's Razor, I would suggest.

>227 treereader:

But the ordering system already knows how many books are in the warehouse. All they have to do is prevent more orders being made than numbers of copies available, and the thing stopping that seems to mainly be the problem of people saving baskets with books available, but which are subsequently bought by someone else. Hence the basket then contains books that have already gone unavailable by the time the order is finally placed. To recheck availability at the time of ordering rather than just when the book is placed in the basket point should be a minor change, not requiring any further connections with the warehouse systems.

Then the problem goes away because at the warehouse they have the correct number left for the orders placed!

I'm certain they have a system to keep check of the stock count, right? So, if when a book is bought, the count goes down by one for that book and when it's an order placed by phone or post, when they key in the order, the count goes down by the right number too, then there really shouldn't be any reason why the numbers will not match up. If there is, well, then is Folio Society losing books for no reason or something? That's not very cost-friendly. I really do think that is all that is needed to make sure that the system is in sync.
Edit for clarity: I'm not saying the current system is not flawed. It is. Yet, if it worked properly, I think it should be fine.

Of course, there's still the other problems such as 'being able to place an order for a book even when it has sold out as long as it was in the basket', those are other problems. (For this problem, I really think just coding in a round of checking when one presses down the button to view the basket and removing any books that have sold out will be good enough. I may be spouting nonsense though because the only little bit of coding I have learnt is on robotics so I'm not 100% sure how it would differ)

I just realised that many of the LEs have some discount on them. They're way over my budget so I've never paid any attention. Could someone advise if this is a sale or 'usual'?

>232 Lim_See_Min: You're absolutely right. Another LE sale, to be imminently 'officially' announced? From the quick glance I had the discounts seem more or less the same as last year. £50 off Cthulhu might have pushed me over the edge but, alas, it doesn't seem included.

oh no, literally all the limited editions on my wishlist now appear to be on sale. well, there go my savings i'm afraid

>233 Levin40:

Limited Edition sale is now listed under "What's New" on the Shop page.Until 31st August.

Both the Edward Thomas and Rupert Brooke have decent discounts, you can now snap them both up for £250. Other than that, I have my eye of Riddley Walker and the Liber Besterium, though not sure if the reductions are large enough to entice me. No counters on any of these yet so there should be time to mull on it.

Why would anyone buy a new LE? You likely won't be rewarded with a low limitation number, and if you wait a year you may save 50%. In the case of the Dali, $520. Anyone who paid full price for it not very long ago has been dealt another low blow.

I've been following this group for a while and decided to join the discussion regarding the countdown system. I submitted my order for Dubliners on June 22 with the counter showing 25 copies remaining (at least that is my memory). If i was convinced that all the books were delivered to those who placed their orders before me I'd have no complaint. But I question if that is the case. I was also frustrated by the fact that I received no timely notice from Folio that the book had sold out. It was only when I checked my order status one week later that I saw the book marked as "pending" (as it still is). When I emailed Folio they confirmed it was sold out, making it harder for me to find a good copy on the secondary market as others had snapped many of those up in the intervening days. As the consensus is that a "mole" follows this site I thought I'd add my voice to chorus in the hope that Folio will address the issue. It would be a shame for them to lose customers as a result of an issue that should be easily fixable. Happy hunting to those of you still planning your purchase (particularly with the addition of LEs to the sale).

>232 Lim_See_Min: I just realised that many of the LEs have some discount on them.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. It is, in fact, the second LE sale, though I have to say it's not as tempting as the first one. The discounts are not as generous - mostly 20%. There are some higher but not as much as 50%.

But here I am ready to be tempted, armed with the "savings" I made by way of the extremely disappointing "Summer Sale" so let's make the most of it. As it happens, the title with the most discount (43 percent) is the one sitting on top of my wants list from current LEs, so that one's straight in the basket. Second on my list only has a 20 percent discount, not enough to tempt, given the massive amount of shelf space (that I do not have) it would take up, so no. But the third and last item on my shortlist of wants is there, also under £200, so I'm taking that one. So, out of the current Folio LE catalogue, there's only one I don't have.

To decode, first one is the Pearl Manuscript, second Hansel and Gretel. And, having been propelled to first and only on my current LE wants list, Japan.

Edited to add:

>239 Redshirt:

Hello and welcome :)

Don't forget to check out the FSD Wiki which will tell you everything you need to know and a whole lot more besides:

https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Groups:Folio_Society_Devotees

What I find something of a joke is that they list The Count of Monte Cristo with an 11% discount although it sold out within a short time of its release and certainly wasn't available for this sale. Is that still in the system from the introductory discount or did someone add this by mistake as part of this sale?

>230 RogerBlake:

The warehouse might not be the only place a book can exist. I don't see any evidence that saving or placing a book in one's basket reserves any copies. The website and ordering system are likely two separate pieces (minimum) with asynchronous code linking them together. The latter system was likely put in place when the Folio was still only mail-order and in-store sales (pre-internet). Folio probably has access to the website code but almost certainly doesn't have access to the ordering system code (those are almost always purchased from outside). The warehouse people putting together orders may not be handling them in order. They may not even be able to fulfill them in order since there are at least three ways to purchase (online, phone, mail) and the orders come in differently.

In short, there are many reasons and opportunities for the problems that frustrate us customers to be more than simple. If they were simple and inexpensive to fix, wouldn't these inventory issues been fixed long ago?

>242 treereader: "The website and ordering system are likely two separate pieces (minimum) with asynchronous code linking them together. The latter system was likely put in place when the Folio was still only mail-order and in-store sales (pre-internet)."

I think you are likely to be very close to the truth, as the processes were certainly separate while the dMR was in existence, and I can't imagine too much investment in IT has gone on since. Each order was processed manually during standard office hours and, as far as I remember, it was a single person who was tasked with this job, so orders could be delayed at times of staff shortage.

In absolute fairness to Folio, they indicated the low stock items in the brochure.

Sometimes I feel that some people expect Folio to be like Amazon, my own view is thank god they are nowhere near like Amazon.

The Faerie Queene shall not* escape my grasp this time. Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha.

*Unless it sells out before late August.

>244 gmacaree: I asked FS back in February how many copies there were left of The Faerie Queene and the answer I got was 127. I highly doubt* it will sell out before the sale is over, and I'm hoping to secure a copy myself! (I started reading Book One yesterday and was very happy to see the LE on the sale once again!)

*it definitely won't happen

>243 HuxleyTheCat:
Not like Amazon, no, but how about like Slightly Foxed or a number of small to medium publishers with a fair-sized backlist, whose ordering and dispatch system is impeccable? And nobody there is bragging publicly about how they've turned an outdated loser into a model of efficiency.

>246 Jayked: I have no personal experience of Slightly Foxed but I am aware that it is a tiny company even in comparison with Folio. With a very limited inventory and only 8000 subscribers, the problems of doing things well would not be large. If Bob Gavron had still been alive, who can tell what level of investment would have been made in order to move with the changing trends, as it is, it seems to me that the current ownership are trying to make the company generate profit without the investment. Many of us here were customers of Folio before Mrs Omnishambles got her paws on it and I would hope that many of us have the opportunity to still be customers long after she has enhanced her Linkedin profile sufficiently and moved on.

my advice to anyone thinking twice on Faerie Queene, is snap it up. it may be a challenging read, but illustrations/production values are fantastic.
this LE sale appears to me to be FS clearing the decks with their more niche productions, before forging on with their faster selling recent offerings
whilst i am slightly saddened by this, i can see their rationale; if certain LEs (im looking at you Pomona) dont sell many, if any, copies in a month, how long can a business look to keep stock without reducing prices?
the Japan and Hansel and Gretel are especially appealing, but with The Pearl Manuscript having such a large discount, can anyone provide any advice on this one?

The A to Z page is now missing the Thomas, the Grimm, and the Riddley Walker. Can't they get anything right?
>248 stumc:
Pearl is a small volume -- necessarily, being a facsimile -- set in a larger decorated solander box. The cover is good quality leather with a fairly flamboyant gold stencil. The facsimile is faithful to the original, which is well-worn and faded with a few naïve coloured illustrations. The appeal is that it's the original text of some of the most important Middle English poems. Sir Gawain apart, they are religious in nature. If you won't like the content, I don't see much upside to the purchase.

>244 gmacaree:
>248 stumc:

Bwahahahaha , glorious day is the one where Faerie Queene is finally mine !
I could not bring myself to buy at full price but patience has been rewarded.

I'm keeping more gunpowder for the rest of the year ( still hoping for a CvS LE ! ) and hoping the Door will pop again in a sale.

249 thanks for the advice, much appreciated. is as i thought, even with the large discount The Pearl Manuscript is probsbly not for me.
i was originally going to get the Lovecraft LE before it sells out, but now im torn between that, the Japan set and/or Hansel and Gretel.
also, im wondering if/when The Wanderer will get a low stock ticker

>251 stumc: i was originally going to get the Lovecraft LE before it sells out,

The question I would ask myself is, if it sells out will I be devastated? If the answer is "yes" then I will buy without further delay when Folio is counting down. If the answer is "mildly upset" then consider other alternatives, posing the same question in each case. Relying on the secondary market as a safety net for LEs will test your nerve and your patience, especially in the short term (say, the first two or three years after selling out).

With the Lovecraft you have the additional option of going for the standard version instead, which has the distinct advantage of not being clad in artificial leather.

>251 stumc: i quite like the artists choice of using an alternative to leather, that said is it worth an extra £250 over the "standard" edition? probably not

i saw both the Hansel and Gretel and Japan books at eagle street, and they were both very impressive

tough choices to make!

I have the Hansel and Gretel on my wish list, but I had credit card problems last week and they still haven't sent the replacement. I hope I get it in time to not miss any books.

>253 stumc:

aside from the binding arguments for/against the LE, don't forget the additional 8 mandalas that appear on the opposite side of the paper for each illustration page in the LE and not in the SE. i.e. the rather cryptic statement from the production details "Printed with 8 black and gold mandalas on the reverse".

I think they are stunningly hypnotic to behold.

After a long stay on my wish list, Hansel and Gretel are on their way.

F@#$%!!! Just 2 days after I broke down and placed my second summer sale order, they go ahead and kick off an LE sale! My wallet raises an objection.

My second order was for the books from the middle of my long wish list, but low on stock:

The Surgeon of Crowthorne - solely on the strength of recommendations of fellow devotees
Midnight's Children - although there is no counter, I just don't want to miss out on it. Folio doesn't always add counters
The History of the Church - looks like a beautiful edition, hoping it reads much more like a medieval chronicle than a theological work
Restoration London
The Loved One
The Oxford Shakespeare: Hamlet - my first in the series, interested to see what these Oxford editions are about, especially the scholarly content

Considering my book purchases over the last month, Folio and others, I'll wait till August before getting a couple of LEs. Just need to keep an eye on The Door In The Wall counter.

Crisis averted! At the beginning of the sale my cart stood at 20 volumes with little to no room in my library to keep them. I managed to whittle it down to 10 volumes but still was hesitant as two of those were multi-volume sets. Along came the Limited Editon sale and a (expensive) solution. I swapped out those 10 volumes for The Faerie Queene and Hansel and Gretel for my first ever direct from Folio Limited Editon purchase!

So long summer holidays, outings with friends, aircon, lunchtime; my primal instincts cry for pity but the heart screams of lust.

>258 dbshee: i guarantee you will not be disappointed with Faerie Queene!

as for Hansel and Gretel, although i dont own it yet, im pretty sure you will be very happy with it

>258 dbshee: The Faerie Queene and Hansel and Gretel for my first ever direct from Folio Limited Editon purchase!

Faerie Queene was the first proper LE I bought and though I now have fifty (ish) it's still my favourite, by some way. Prepare to be astonished :)

Can't comment really on Hansel and Gretel as I don't have it - yet. It's arriving tomorrow ...

>260 stumc: >261 folio_books: Hansel and Gretel is beautiful and well worth the money charged for it. I'm consistently surprised it's not more popular at it's price point.

>145 sviswanathan:

I received my order last week. To my delight, unlike last year, my sale books appear to be in great condition, though I haven't inspected the interiors yet. I was also pleased to have limited my purchase to six items, but I fear now that the limited editions sale will test that resolve...

Thank you all for the reassurance. LE's have always seemed beyond my reach and the selection has often left me uninspired. Although I've owned the Aeneid LE for a few years its reputation as one of the least desirable volumes kept me from seriously considering future ones. Owning a few of the "fine" editions was enough until now. I've been eyeing a few others since the order was placed this morning as well as scouring ABE. Anticipation will be my worst enemy these few weeks while I wait for the Faerie Queene... Cheers!

The Door in the Wall good book to get, opinions? Anyone have it and can comment?

Hansel & Gretel is gorgeous, if you like the Fairy Books, this is a great one. Large and impressive in size and design.

My order arrived yesterday, all safe and sound, packed by Sylvia! Now for the fun of reading them and waiting for the fall editions to be released! I can't wait!

I received:

Goblin Market and Selected Poems
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Medieval Comic Tales
Never Let Me Go
John Keats: Selected Poems
The Queen of Spades and Other Stories
Robert Burns: Selected Poems & Songs
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
W. B. Yeats: Selected Poems and Paintings

I received my order yesterday as well. The outer box seems to be made of sturdier stuff than prior examples. The corners were all sharp and hard, and unsurprisingly, given that, the contents were pristine. Packed by "Elizabeth."

The South Polar Times (the one non-sale title I picked up) is an astonishing book. This is going to keep me entertained for a very long time.

Thanks for the welcome. I've been enjoying following the group for a while and have already used the wiki a number of times. And thanks to the various posts I discovered Thornwillow books (keep going back and forth on their Frankenstein but I can't quite get comfortable with the illustrations) and the Evan Dahm illustrated Moby Dick. And I will live vicariously through the group as people acquire some of the LEs that are currently on sale.

I received my summer sale order too but weirdly enough the card which says who it was packed by is missing (in both boxes). Maybe I'm just going blind (I flipped through it quite a few times though upon realising) or someone forgot to add it in.

Hmm, looking at all of these comments, I'm wondering if they did improve on the quality of the boxes or something, as both my boxes were in a rather good shape for delivery-packages and only 2 books were damaged in the corner. This is much better as compared to the previous package I had received (during the New Years Sale), which came looking like someone played not only football but also basketball with it (and expectedly, some of the books were quite damaged, with the bottom of the spine all wrinkled up). I was worried the same thing would happen and I'm both surprised and delighted that it did not.

A modest summer sale for me this year. I purchased the following titles:

Fahrenheit 451 (not on sale)
A Book of Mediterranean Food and Other Writings
Italian Food

I’ve never read anything of Elizabeth David’s before, but I love cooking and these books look beautiful!

Just the one book purchased in the sale this year, one from my wish list;

The Age of Illusion by Ronald Blythe

A nicely restrained binding, that, as so often, looks better in the flesh than it does on paper. Evocative photos that look an excellent choice (on first impressions). My one very tiny criticism is that, again at first glance, I would have liked a slightly larger font size (I like the font itself, Perpetua, for reading) and slightly less white space round the outer margins (top's OK, others don't seem quite as balanced).

All in all, very pleased, and good value at the price.

Edited to correct title (thank you >273 overthemoon: )!

>272 Willoyd: I did a double take there: The Age of Illusion ;-)

>271 kannekills: Elizabeth David's books are very enjoyable, just for the reading, not to mention the cooking.

>273 overthemoon:
Oops! Thank you!

>266 Comatoes: The Door in the Wall good book to get, opinions? Anyone have it and can comment?

------

I note that no-one has yet offered you their view on this LE. I have a copy and am very pleased with it. The book contains a good assortment of Wells’ short fiction, illustrated with atmospheric photogravures by Alvin Langdon Coburn. The book itself is large but relatively thin, with a cream-coloured and soft-textured mould-made paper that is pleasing to the touch but is (in my view) only just of adequate weight for the large size of the pages. I like the overall design of the book and its solander case, with the brown shades used for the case and binding in harmony with the tone of the paper and the photographs. The book is a pleasure to handle.

The photogravures by Coburn took me a while to appreciate - they are predominantly dark and soft focus - but as you encounter them embedded in Wells’ stories they reflect the often sombre and foreboding subject matter of many of Wells’ stories and add to the overall experience of reading.

I am happy to commend this LE to you.

>266 Comatoes:

Don't outthink this one.

It is one of FS's finest efforts in the LE genre and it is an incredible faithful and accurate facsimile of one of the iconic 20th-century private press books. Several FSD-ers complained that "it did not have a leather binding", "the paper over boards used in the binding was poor quality", yadda, yadda, yadda....... . They completely missed the point because this is what the original looks like and what a true and accurate facsimile SHOULD look like. The only significant difference between the FS facsimile and the original?? The photographs in the original have a luminous quality and depth not fully captured in the facsimile because the originals were hand-developed and hand-pulled by Alvin Langdon Coburn himself.

Just buy it.

Get it. It is marvellous at a good price with the sale

>266 Comatoes:

If you do a forum search on "door in the wall" it will lead you to (amongst other useful things) this lengthy thread on the topic: http://www.librarything.com/topic/222469

A follow up on >109 Pellias:

Steppenwolf
- -
The Book of Common Prayer
Candide
The Last White Rose
Nicholas and Alexandra
Ten Days That Shook the World
The Wars of the Roses
A Writer At War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army 1941-1945

Considering putting in a second order for the sake of taking advantage of the sale prices despite having no interest in the selection previously. Not altogether logical but I'm craving newness.

So far I'm weighing up Ring of Bright Water and In Xanadu.

Both seem somewhat interesting and they're very different to what I'd typically go for.

Does anyone have input on either?

>281 adriano77: I really enjoyed In Xanadu and have read several more by Dalrymple as a result. The cover art was a discouragement but the content and better produced photos were sufficient incentives.

Watching the Tour de France yesterday, through Ardèche and Cevennes, I decided to purchase Stevenson's Travels with a Donkey, which has been duly added to an order along with some Pushkin plus The Classical World. Two orders and that's the Summer sale done for me for this year, having thought about Hansel and Gretel from the LE sale, but deciding to give it a miss.

>283 HuxleyTheCat:

Surprised you hadn't picked up Travels with a Donkey before, as it's been around forever. Stevenson rarely disappoints and certainly not with this one. Talking of disappointment, Hansel & Gretel. I was tempted by the sale and took the plunge. I'm not convinced it should have been an LE. Fine, maybe. The solander is a most bilious shade of turquoise and I can't hide it out of sight on a shelf. I'm sure others will disagree, but that's my hoenest opinion.

I often don't pay much attention to the non-Folio books available on the FS website, and I only just realized that "The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity" is both on sale and no longer available. This is the sort of book that I never realized I had wanted, but now I wonder how I can live without it.

>285 sviswanathan: It is a part of a set. With the Oxford dictionary (multiple volumes) and the Oxford dictionary of the middle ages (3 volumes). I wanted it too but all in all, i simply don`t have time to it other than on hobby basis. So i came to the conclussion i don`t want it just to be better at crosswords.

That said, i think many of the offerings FS put out on sale from other publishers could be found cheaper elsewhere. Bookdepository etc. But this edition were clearly a good deal .. moneywise .. and it`s many out there as you probably know https://www.bookdepository.com/Oxford-Dictionary-Late-Antiquity-Oliver-Nicholson... this is free shipping so you wouldn`t loose out much to the deal from FS.

>281 adriano77: I very much enjoyed Ring of Bright Water, written by a man who is happier with otters than with people.

>284 folio_books: Well that's the thing about books which have been around forever, it always seems like one has forever to get around to purchasing. I had it in my basket several titles previously during various sales, but it always got chopped, prior to purchase. I tend to agree about the colour of the H&G solander, but if I had been sufficiently tempted by the text, I'd have shelved the book and put the box in the loft so I wouldn't have to look at it. It's not as bad as lime green, though...

I’m mulling over one last order before the sale ends...

American Gods
The man in the high castle
Ring of Bright Water

Considering The Drowned World but see mixed reviews of the book online. Has anyone read it and really enjoyed it?

>282 CarltonC:

>287 overthemoon:

Thank you both.

>286 Pellias: Thank you, I'll take a look :)

>288 HuxleyTheCat: I tend to agree about the colour of the H&G solander, but if I had been sufficiently tempted by the text, I'd have shelved the book and put the box in the loft so I wouldn't have to look at it.

That would be a reasonable solution, but I wouldn't be comfortable shelving any Folio without its protective case.

>288 HuxleyTheCat: It's not as bad as lime green, though...

On that point I have to agree. There've been a couple of horrors lately.

>291 sviswanathan: Your`e welcome my friend!

>289 RRCBS:
I enjoyed it very much after only buying it because it was on sale I liked the binding and the story is memorable and haunting

>289 RRCBS: I read it and promptly gave it away.

I read it, Drowned World, and loved it

Just noticed that the Alexander Trilogy is down to 3 copies. Now would be the time for anyone still sitting on the fence...

>297 Levin40: the Alexander Trilogy is down to 3 copies.

I took the risk and hung on until it appeared in the sale, whereupon I snapped it up. For anyone needing one final gentle push I'd urge you to get this lovely set while you can. You'll regret it if you miss it.

Too late, all gone ...

>276 edgeworn: Thanks for the review, so appreciated. Your enthusiasm is duly noted. I have ordered and received my Door in the Wall. Looking to escape into the door over the next few months when I get time to read it. I love the edition, has a rustic, steampunk feel to it, very pretty and understated. I received an edition number 766.

>277 dlphcoracl: Why do you have to be an enabler? LOL, just kidding, thank you for the push, I took your advice and just ordered it and I didn't overthink once :)

>278 shdunne: Thank you, I did just that, I agree it's a marvelous edition

>279 HuxleyTheCat: Thanks! I will take a look at the thread you posted

Placed my last order for a good long while:

American Gods
The two Renault Theuseus books
The Last White Rose
Circle in the Fire
Ring of Bright Water
Travels with a Donkey
Richard III
We
War at the End of the World
Wolves of Willoughby Chase

>298 folio_books: I'm one of those who purchased the trilogy earlier in the sale and I'm quite happy to have obtained this one. Eventually, I hope to purchase the other two FS Mary Renault books, if all goes well.

I didn't really want to submit another order, but I'm strongly considering buying "the Book of Common Prayer" while it is still on sale, and probably something else along with the it, to make the shipping costs worthwhile.

The Book of common Prayer is one of FS most beautiful standard/fine editions in my opinion. I paid full price and am considering another from sale as a gift for a friend.

>97 NLNils: This post sprung me into action as of this morning no counters were active. I wasn't going to miss out on From Dawn to Decadence and God's Englishman and thus didn't want to risk holding of ordering until I return from vacation. So, I ordered by phone this time as I will be leaving next Thursday and didn't want the books send out whilst I'm away. FS will hold my order for two weeks, so the books will arrive when I'm back.

I’ve been quiet the last few weeks here on LT. I ordered as described above and when my order was sent out, both God’s Englishman and From Dawn to Decadence were refunded. By asking to hold my order for two weeks, I presumed they held the books for me. Nothing to the contrary was relayed to me over the phone. This is not the case I learned after inquiring by e-mail. So, this really left me dejected. God’s Englishman I will acquire fairly easily, although not at the great sale price. From Dawn to Decadence will be out of reach for a while, which is such a shame...
So to pay forward the advice provided to me by FS customer service. If you order in a sale, don’t ask to hold your order (at least in case of books with a running counter). Instead when you are unable to receive the order yourself, give a address for a family member, friend or neighbour to avoid the same disappointment.

>304 NLNils:

That's very bad form. They really should have held your copies for you. Thank you very much for the warning.

Can you order something and then put your mail on hold with the post office? In the US that would work, since FS shipments (for me, at least) are ultimately delivered by the USPS.

Or, you could always deliver to a neighbor or family member.

FS was definitely in the wrong, though. You paid, they took your money. Bad form, indeed.

Can anybody tell me what A Story as Sharp as a Knife is about?

I've read descriptions here and there, but I still fail to understand what kind of book it is. Everybody raves about it, saying it changed their outlook on poetry and literature, but I'm still wondering where the beauty lies with this book. I'm considering buying it, and there aren't better people than you guys to ask about it.

I might also buy On the Road. When I joined the Folio Society around 5 years ago, I really wanted to buy, but discounts were rarely over 30% on this book.

>307 Kainzow:
Here's a copy of what I wrote in another thread:
"I don't think anyone's ever reviewed Story as Sharp as a Knife here, so perhaps someone should mention what it isn't. (I have the original Canadian edition, not the FS version, but the new artwork apart, they appear to be identical.) It isn't a collection of short stories from various sources within a culture. It's a handful of longish narratives taken a century ago by one researcher from one narrator whose culture was already under siege. That takes up about a third of the book. The rest is historical background, exegesis and speculation by the author. The narrative doesn't make conventional sense. Events happen and metamorphoses occur that are inexplicable in conventional Western terms. In order to explain them, the author treats them as though they were paintings rather than literature, an approach which allows him to speculate freely. To justify his interpretation he must also make assumptions about the motives of the narrator. There's a huge amount of work involved, but the end result can't be authoritative, and may be a far cry from what you expect from folk tales."
It didn't change my outlook on literature. Although it carries a large amount of scholarly apparatus, it isn't scholarly in approach. It's one man's free interpretation of a rambling narrative. I found it boring and unconvincing. Obviously others disagree.
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I don’t think there have...and I had emailed FS at he beginning of the sale and they said there wouldn’t be. Some books from other publishers were showing for me last night.

>309 EclecticIndulgence: Thank you for the offer and kind gesture. I struck on a secondhand copy a few days ago for not a lot more money and am awaiting delivery. To own half of the Hill offerings really didn’t jive with me. Thus, corrected.

Folio has just emailed me to say sale ENDS TOMORROW (Friday 10 Aug) AT MIDDAY
(I got caught out last year when they first changed this from the previous midnight end time )
So it doesn't look like they'll be any extension.

>312 RogerBlake: Tanks for the heads up. Yesterday I thought they were a bit late with their sale extension, but now I know why. As it doesn't get an extension, I had to stop pondering and ordered:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Foucault's Pendulum
The Midnight Folk
Never Let Me Go
The Queen of Spades and Other Stories
Twelfth Night
The Oxford Shakespeare: Richard III
The Oxford Shakespeare: Timon of Athens
Hansel and Gretel and Other Stories (LE)
I have some one other LE in mind to buy, but since I have time till the end of the month I will think about it a bit more.

>312 RogerBlake: Folio has just emailed me to say sale ENDS TOMORROW (Friday 10 Aug) AT MIDDAY

I haven't had that email yet but I'm surprised. Like you and a few others I was expecting it to be extended by a week. It suggests to me that something is coming soon (perhaps the Wilfred Owen LE?). Or maybe they're taking unpredictability to a new level.

all the sale books in my basket have suddenly disappeared. In fact the entire sale seems to already be gone. I guess midday falls a bit early today.

>315 afje96: the entire sale seems to already be gone. I guess midday falls a bit early today.

It wouldn't be the first time they've done something like that. Very frustrating for people who like to wait until the last minute.

>313 c_schelle: I have some one other LE in mind to buy, but since I have time till the end of the month.

Don't leave it too late!

Oh wow, was just about to pull the trigger on another £100 worth of books when the sale disappears a couple of hours earlier than advertised. Your loss, FS (although, I'll probably go and spend the money on more LP Shakespeare instead, in which case the loss is more like mine...).

>315 afje96:,317

Just call or email, they'll still honor the sale, especially if you point out the midday thing.

>316 folio_books: Especially since I now see a counter on the Faerie Queene. I don't know if I will ever read it in its entirety, but they are just such gorgeous books.

>317 ubiquitousuk: I also think what >318 treereader: said is true.

>319 c_schelle:

As I've said here on several occasions, it was my first LE and is still my favourite. You have to experience it to fully realise how beautiful it is.

I pulled the trigger last night on my only order of the sale:

Reformation
A Story as Sharp as a Knife
No man is an island
The Zimmerman Telegram

>320 folio_books: I took the plunge using the voucher for the new website. I'm excited to hold the books finally in my hands.

>322 c_schelle:

Congratulations! Be prepared to have your expectations exceeded :)