Folio Archives 69: Folio Bibliographies : Folio 21, 1968-1971, 25, 34, 40, 50 and 60
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1wcarter
Folio Bibliographies : Folio 21, 1968-1971, 25, 34, 40, 50 and 60
The Folio Society has published seven bibliographies over the past 71 years, starting with Folio 21 in 1968, and most recently Folio 60 in 2008. It is not known if any more bibliographies will be produced. Nearly 900 books have been newly published, or issued in new editions, in the eleven years since Folio 60 was published.
In the meantime, the FSD Complete List of Folio Society Books can be consulted here.
Picture of all the bibliographies taken from the web
The five Folio Society bibliographies that I own.
Folio 21 – Folio 25
- Folio 34 -
Folio 50 – Folio 60
Each of the bibliographies will be reviewed in turn below.
Folio 21, 1968
Subtitled “A Bibliography of The Folio Society 1947-1967”, it included a four page essay titled “The Style is the Book” by Sir Francis Meynell and a six page history of the Folio Society by its founder Charles Ede. A five item errata was pasted on the Contents page.
This bibliography is arranged chronologically with each book numbered in sequence, a numbering system that continued to the end of Folio 60. Each book entry is headed by the title in full caps, followed by the author, other contributors, artist, size, pagination, binding, dust-jacket or slipcase details and comments by Charles Ede (some of which were humorous or quite critical).
It contains a large number of illustrations and engravings in both full colour and black & white, taken from the published books, as well as examples of typography, copied title pages and photos of the books themselves.
There is an index of titles and authors, and the book has 203 pages. It is bound in grey cloth with the FS logo stamped on the cover, a red leather spine label, and is housed in a plain textured red slipcase with black top and bottom that is 29.5x 19.5cm. The page tops are stained red, and the spine title runs from bottom to top (upside down to me).
This is a book that was published with obvious pride in what the FS had become in its first 21 years, and looked towards future success.
Comment on last page of book
Folio 1968–1971, 1972
This was a small 60 page book that was an addendum to Folio 21. There was an introduction by Hugh Williamson and it contained 31 B&W and colour illustrations. It was bound in grey cloth and housed in a red and black slipcase. The only difference was that there was now an index of printers and binders. It had the same dimensions as Folio 21, but was published as a Folio Press book, which meant it could be sold to the public and not just members.
I do not own a copy of this book, so cannot comment further.
Picture taken from the web.
Folio 25, 1972
Folio 25 followed the same format as Folio 21, including the additional pages separately published as Folio 1968-1971. It was effectively an amalgam of the two earlier books without any resetting, as it even included the same errata sheet on the Contents page. The extra pages were bound into the back of the book, and still had the page numbering and separate index of Folio 1968-1971. It had the same dimensions and slipcase as Folio 21. The page tops are stained red, and the spine title runs from bottom to top.
This is the rarest of the bibliographies as only 445 copies were printed.
Folio 34, 1981
For a curiously unknown reason, the next bibliography was published at the 34 year mark, and was given a different sub-title as “A Checklist of the Publications of The Folio Society 1947-1980”.
It was in a much smaller format than the earlier bibliographies, being only 22x14.2cm., and issued without a slipcase or dust jacket. The contents retained the same format as earlier editions, but there were no comments by Charles Ede. There is a five page introduction by John Dreyfus and a six page Essay titled Exfoliations by John Letts. A page of notes acknowledges that the entries are less detailed than in earlier editions.
A few black and white illustrations were scattered amongst its 128 pages, but far fewer than in earlier bibliographies, and none in colour. The index covered authors and titles only, and no printers or binders.
The book is bound in dark green linen with black and gilt lines blocked on the front cover, and a spine title blocked in gilt and black. The page tops are stained yellow, and the spine title runs from bottom to top. The colophon states that it is a Folio Press book.
This book is not nearly as impressive as the earlier editions.
Postcard found in my copy of Folio 34. The Bookmark could be torn from the postcard for use. Virtually all Folio Society books in this era had a similar card inserted.
Folio 40, 1988
The dating is more logical for this bibliography, but the inferior small format of Folio 34 is followed. It is again subtitled as “A Checklist of the Publications of the Folio Society 1947-1987”. It was compiled by Tim Wilkinson and Anne Page, with an introduction by Nicolas Barker. There are 49 small illustrations in the text.
It is bound in dark blue cloth with a design in white and gold by David Eccles, and pale blue endleaves. There is a transparent plastic dust-jacket, and the book is 22x14.2 cm. and consists of 160 pages.
I do not own a copy of this book, so cannot comment further.
Picture taken from the web.
Folio 50, 1998
Folio 50 returns to the more elaborate, and larger format used for Folios 21 and 25, and is subtitled “A Bibliography of The Folio Society 1947-1996”. The compiler is Paul W Nash, and there are numerous essays by Sue Bradbury (A Brief History), Valerie Grove (The Folio Society Today), Frank Delaney (On Building a Library), Robertson Davies (A Lifetime’s Membership), Douglas Martin (The Folio Society and the Art of Illustration), Charles Ede (Some Thoughts on Book Illustration), Quentin Blake (Illustrating for the Society Today), Roderick Cave (Fifty Years of Folio Books) and Paul W Nash (Design and Production in an Age of Change). It is a Folio Press publication in association with the British Library.
The indices have been expanded to include not only an index of authors and titles, but an index of artists, index of printers and compositors, index of binders and index of typefaces. The entry for each book is very comprehensive, and there are added annotations about the books where appropriate. This is indeed a true and comprehensive bibliography.
Black and white illustrations are interspersed throughout the text, and there are 32 pages of colour photos of the books and their illustrations tipped into the book between the essays and bibliography.
The book has 331 pages, is bound in grey cloth blocked on the cover with the FS logo in maroon and gilt, and has a blocked red and gilt spine title. The 29.5x19cm. slipcase is fully illustrated with a montage of black and white pictures from various FS books. The top and bottom of the slipcase, and the book’s endpapers, are maroon.
Slipcase cover
Page from a Folio Society brochure promoting Folio 50.
Folio 60, 2008
This is the latest bibliography published so far. If a Folio 70 were to have been published, it would have been expected this year, and may yet appear.
Folio 60 follows the same format as Folio 50, with Paul W Nash continuing as compiler, but there are only three essays – A Brief History by Sue Bradbury; The Glory Days by Joseph Connolly and The Folio Society and the Making of Books by David McKitterick. It is a Folio Society publication, as by now the Folio press had ceased to exist.
The indices have been expanded further to include an index of typefaces, ornaments and lettering. Both colour and black & white illustrations are copiously interspersed through the book rather than having separate tipped in colour pages.
The book has 472 pages, is bound in grey cloth blocked on the cover with the FS logo in dark green and gilt, and has a blocked green and gilt spine title. The dark green 29.5x19cm. slipcase is illustrated on the front with a cream paper cartoon of Folio Society staff (some of whom are identifiable to those who know them) and the words “60 Years of Fine Books”. The book’s endpapers are dark green.
Slipcase cover
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
The Folio Society has published seven bibliographies over the past 71 years, starting with Folio 21 in 1968, and most recently Folio 60 in 2008. It is not known if any more bibliographies will be produced. Nearly 900 books have been newly published, or issued in new editions, in the eleven years since Folio 60 was published.
In the meantime, the FSD Complete List of Folio Society Books can be consulted here.
Picture of all the bibliographies taken from the web
The five Folio Society bibliographies that I own.
Folio 21 – Folio 25
- Folio 34 -
Folio 50 – Folio 60
Each of the bibliographies will be reviewed in turn below.
Folio 21, 1968
Subtitled “A Bibliography of The Folio Society 1947-1967”, it included a four page essay titled “The Style is the Book” by Sir Francis Meynell and a six page history of the Folio Society by its founder Charles Ede. A five item errata was pasted on the Contents page.
This bibliography is arranged chronologically with each book numbered in sequence, a numbering system that continued to the end of Folio 60. Each book entry is headed by the title in full caps, followed by the author, other contributors, artist, size, pagination, binding, dust-jacket or slipcase details and comments by Charles Ede (some of which were humorous or quite critical).
It contains a large number of illustrations and engravings in both full colour and black & white, taken from the published books, as well as examples of typography, copied title pages and photos of the books themselves.
There is an index of titles and authors, and the book has 203 pages. It is bound in grey cloth with the FS logo stamped on the cover, a red leather spine label, and is housed in a plain textured red slipcase with black top and bottom that is 29.5x 19.5cm. The page tops are stained red, and the spine title runs from bottom to top (upside down to me).
This is a book that was published with obvious pride in what the FS had become in its first 21 years, and looked towards future success.
Comment on last page of book
Folio 1968–1971, 1972
This was a small 60 page book that was an addendum to Folio 21. There was an introduction by Hugh Williamson and it contained 31 B&W and colour illustrations. It was bound in grey cloth and housed in a red and black slipcase. The only difference was that there was now an index of printers and binders. It had the same dimensions as Folio 21, but was published as a Folio Press book, which meant it could be sold to the public and not just members.
I do not own a copy of this book, so cannot comment further.
Picture taken from the web.
Folio 25, 1972
Folio 25 followed the same format as Folio 21, including the additional pages separately published as Folio 1968-1971. It was effectively an amalgam of the two earlier books without any resetting, as it even included the same errata sheet on the Contents page. The extra pages were bound into the back of the book, and still had the page numbering and separate index of Folio 1968-1971. It had the same dimensions and slipcase as Folio 21. The page tops are stained red, and the spine title runs from bottom to top.
This is the rarest of the bibliographies as only 445 copies were printed.
Folio 34, 1981
For a curiously unknown reason, the next bibliography was published at the 34 year mark, and was given a different sub-title as “A Checklist of the Publications of The Folio Society 1947-1980”.
It was in a much smaller format than the earlier bibliographies, being only 22x14.2cm., and issued without a slipcase or dust jacket. The contents retained the same format as earlier editions, but there were no comments by Charles Ede. There is a five page introduction by John Dreyfus and a six page Essay titled Exfoliations by John Letts. A page of notes acknowledges that the entries are less detailed than in earlier editions.
A few black and white illustrations were scattered amongst its 128 pages, but far fewer than in earlier bibliographies, and none in colour. The index covered authors and titles only, and no printers or binders.
The book is bound in dark green linen with black and gilt lines blocked on the front cover, and a spine title blocked in gilt and black. The page tops are stained yellow, and the spine title runs from bottom to top. The colophon states that it is a Folio Press book.
This book is not nearly as impressive as the earlier editions.
Postcard found in my copy of Folio 34. The Bookmark could be torn from the postcard for use. Virtually all Folio Society books in this era had a similar card inserted.
Folio 40, 1988
The dating is more logical for this bibliography, but the inferior small format of Folio 34 is followed. It is again subtitled as “A Checklist of the Publications of the Folio Society 1947-1987”. It was compiled by Tim Wilkinson and Anne Page, with an introduction by Nicolas Barker. There are 49 small illustrations in the text.
It is bound in dark blue cloth with a design in white and gold by David Eccles, and pale blue endleaves. There is a transparent plastic dust-jacket, and the book is 22x14.2 cm. and consists of 160 pages.
I do not own a copy of this book, so cannot comment further.
Picture taken from the web.
Folio 50, 1998
Folio 50 returns to the more elaborate, and larger format used for Folios 21 and 25, and is subtitled “A Bibliography of The Folio Society 1947-1996”. The compiler is Paul W Nash, and there are numerous essays by Sue Bradbury (A Brief History), Valerie Grove (The Folio Society Today), Frank Delaney (On Building a Library), Robertson Davies (A Lifetime’s Membership), Douglas Martin (The Folio Society and the Art of Illustration), Charles Ede (Some Thoughts on Book Illustration), Quentin Blake (Illustrating for the Society Today), Roderick Cave (Fifty Years of Folio Books) and Paul W Nash (Design and Production in an Age of Change). It is a Folio Press publication in association with the British Library.
The indices have been expanded to include not only an index of authors and titles, but an index of artists, index of printers and compositors, index of binders and index of typefaces. The entry for each book is very comprehensive, and there are added annotations about the books where appropriate. This is indeed a true and comprehensive bibliography.
Black and white illustrations are interspersed throughout the text, and there are 32 pages of colour photos of the books and their illustrations tipped into the book between the essays and bibliography.
The book has 331 pages, is bound in grey cloth blocked on the cover with the FS logo in maroon and gilt, and has a blocked red and gilt spine title. The 29.5x19cm. slipcase is fully illustrated with a montage of black and white pictures from various FS books. The top and bottom of the slipcase, and the book’s endpapers, are maroon.
Slipcase cover
Page from a Folio Society brochure promoting Folio 50.
Folio 60, 2008
This is the latest bibliography published so far. If a Folio 70 were to have been published, it would have been expected this year, and may yet appear.
Folio 60 follows the same format as Folio 50, with Paul W Nash continuing as compiler, but there are only three essays – A Brief History by Sue Bradbury; The Glory Days by Joseph Connolly and The Folio Society and the Making of Books by David McKitterick. It is a Folio Society publication, as by now the Folio press had ceased to exist.
The indices have been expanded further to include an index of typefaces, ornaments and lettering. Both colour and black & white illustrations are copiously interspersed through the book rather than having separate tipped in colour pages.
The book has 472 pages, is bound in grey cloth blocked on the cover with the FS logo in dark green and gilt, and has a blocked green and gilt spine title. The dark green 29.5x19cm. slipcase is illustrated on the front with a cream paper cartoon of Folio Society staff (some of whom are identifiable to those who know them) and the words “60 Years of Fine Books”. The book’s endpapers are dark green.
Slipcase cover
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2folio_books
An inspired choice for this series and an excellent, detailed review. Your Folio 25 is in better condition than mine!
3affle
>2 folio_books:
And mine! My spine label is a bit worn, but with a very nice interior. On the other hand I paid only £2 for it.
>1 wcarter:
Thank you for the survey, Warwick.
And mine! My spine label is a bit worn, but with a very nice interior. On the other hand I paid only £2 for it.
>1 wcarter:
Thank you for the survey, Warwick.
4folio_books
>3 affle: On the other hand I paid only £2 for it.
I can't remember but I feel safe in saying mine was rather more than £2 (bargain, Alan!) but less than £20, I think. And yes, spine-label wear on mine, too. If I could pick up one as good-looking as Warwick's I might be tempted but mine's good enough for now.
I can't remember but I feel safe in saying mine was rather more than £2 (bargain, Alan!) but less than £20, I think. And yes, spine-label wear on mine, too. If I could pick up one as good-looking as Warwick's I might be tempted but mine's good enough for now.
5boldface
Excellent overview, Warwick. Many thanks. I would just add, though, that Folio 34 was issued with a glassine (a kind of glazed tissue paper) wrapper.
Judging by the number of new books now being issued, rather than publishing a complete bibliography to date, which merely repeats all the entries from 1947 to 2006, would it not be more practical to reissue Folio 60 in conjunction with a fully detailed supplement, with further update volumes appearing in the coming years? Or maybe they're planning a giant Folio 75 for 2022!
Judging by the number of new books now being issued, rather than publishing a complete bibliography to date, which merely repeats all the entries from 1947 to 2006, would it not be more practical to reissue Folio 60 in conjunction with a fully detailed supplement, with further update volumes appearing in the coming years? Or maybe they're planning a giant Folio 75 for 2022!
6folio_books
>5 boldface: would it not be more practical to reissue Folio 60 in conjunction with a fully detailed supplement, with further update volumes appearing in the coming years?
I think that's the way it has to go for the future plus/or do the whole thing online, as has been suggested on several occasions. Twelve years without an update is a long time, and an awful lot of books. In the meantime we have the complete list of books published by the Folio Society on the FSD Wiki. I'd be the first to say it's not as satisfying as holding an up-to-date Folio bibliography in your hand or (second best) flicking through the official comprehensive online bibliography. But we need something.
I think that's the way it has to go for the future plus/or do the whole thing online, as has been suggested on several occasions. Twelve years without an update is a long time, and an awful lot of books. In the meantime we have the complete list of books published by the Folio Society on the FSD Wiki. I'd be the first to say it's not as satisfying as holding an up-to-date Folio bibliography in your hand or (second best) flicking through the official comprehensive online bibliography. But we need something.
8folio_books
>7 EclecticIndulgence:
I haven't noticed this particular listing yet but I wouldn't be surprised if it was the copy they've been trying to sell for months, if not a year or more. One seller started around two-three hundred pounds and, over a period, has gradually reduced it to around 40. Still no takers. It's not even as well-preserved as my copy, never mind Warwick's.
I haven't noticed this particular listing yet but I wouldn't be surprised if it was the copy they've been trying to sell for months, if not a year or more. One seller started around two-three hundred pounds and, over a period, has gradually reduced it to around 40. Still no takers. It's not even as well-preserved as my copy, never mind Warwick's.
9wcarter
>5 boldface:
Interesting. Mine does not have the glassine dust jacket, and it is not mentioned in Folio 60. Thanks for the information.
Interesting. Mine does not have the glassine dust jacket, and it is not mentioned in Folio 60. Thanks for the information.
11wcarter
>10 affle:
Oops!
Oops!
12emgcat
If you had a choice, I was wondering which bibliography you would you buy? I have none at the moment.
13bookfair_e
>12 emgcat:
Last September at the PBFA’s York National Book Fair, I had a conversation with Folio’s archivist who had just completed the final draft of Folio 70 which she thought was to be made available online as a PDF file this Spring.
But don’t hold your breath, JWB in his blog promised something similar, to be published autumn 2017!
Last September at the PBFA’s York National Book Fair, I had a conversation with Folio’s archivist who had just completed the final draft of Folio 70 which she thought was to be made available online as a PDF file this Spring.
But don’t hold your breath, JWB in his blog promised something similar, to be published autumn 2017!
14wcarter
>12 emgcat:
Folio 60 is the obvious choice as it covers more books.
Folio 60 is the obvious choice as it covers more books.
15Mooch360
Personally, I would go for the most complete one, unless you are primarily interested in the illustrations.
16emgcat
Thank you all for your advice and I'll go on the hunt for Folio 60. I have been hunting out lots of secondhand Folio books having read these interesting threads. Now I have too many books and not enough time to read them! It is certainly an addiction.
17wcarter
>16 emgcat:
Remember, Folio 60 only covers books published by the FS up until 2006. More than 950 books (almost 40% of the total) have been published by the FS since 2006 because instead of publishing 15-20 books a year back then, they now publish 65-75 new titles a year (69 in 2018, 75 in 2017).
Remember, Folio 60 only covers books published by the FS up until 2006. More than 950 books (almost 40% of the total) have been published by the FS since 2006 because instead of publishing 15-20 books a year back then, they now publish 65-75 new titles a year (69 in 2018, 75 in 2017).
18emgcat
>17 wcarter:
Thank you for clarifying the situation, Warwick. I still think that Folio 60 will be fascinating and I will discover other books that I have never heard about before. Let's just hope that they do publish a new bibliography to cover all of the more recent publications.
Thank you for clarifying the situation, Warwick. I still think that Folio 60 will be fascinating and I will discover other books that I have never heard about before. Let's just hope that they do publish a new bibliography to cover all of the more recent publications.
20SimB
Hi bookfair_e,
Was this Alice Ford-Smith? She was handed the baton by Paul Nash and we did swap a couple of emails a few years ago about some obscure Folio findings which this group helped establish. As Warwick has pointed out there has been a huge outpouring from the FS since Folio 60. I would love a hard copy of the complete bibliography, which would be at least 2 volumes, but I suspect the practicalities mean that a PDF is the most sensible solution.
Was this Alice Ford-Smith? She was handed the baton by Paul Nash and we did swap a couple of emails a few years ago about some obscure Folio findings which this group helped establish. As Warwick has pointed out there has been a huge outpouring from the FS since Folio 60. I would love a hard copy of the complete bibliography, which would be at least 2 volumes, but I suspect the practicalities mean that a PDF is the most sensible solution.
21bookfair_e
>20 SimB:
Yes, it was Alice Ford-Smith of Bernard Quaritch Rare Books. She happened to be at Victoria Hall’s exhibitor’s stand where I was attempting to discover if Victoria had any work in progress for Folio (the Wilfred Owen LE was due for publication the following month) but Victoria wasn’t forthcoming!
Yes, it was Alice Ford-Smith of Bernard Quaritch Rare Books. She happened to be at Victoria Hall’s exhibitor’s stand where I was attempting to discover if Victoria had any work in progress for Folio (the Wilfred Owen LE was due for publication the following month) but Victoria wasn’t forthcoming!
22Lady19thC
A friend of mine gifted me the Folio 60 as she had stopped buying from them and knew I was still a member (back in the day) and always on the look for older copies of various classics. I treasure it!
23Glacierman
As FS has transformed themselves into essentially a trade publisher, I doubt you'll see another bibliography. Their output is too massive.
24Bibliophile-I
Does anyone know if the 1967-1971 volume contains comments by Charles Ede, or, was that just done for Folio 21?
26SimB
> 24
The 1968 - 1971 vol does not contain any notes by Ede, but there are some notes by Brian Rawson and Hugh Williamson which do fill in some of the direction of the FS at the time.
The 1968 - 1971 vol does not contain any notes by Ede, but there are some notes by Brian Rawson and Hugh Williamson which do fill in some of the direction of the FS at the time.
27Bibliophile-I
I just received a copy of Folio 60 and absolutely love it! Thank you to Django6924! I think I’ll hunt around for Folio 50 and Folio 21. It seems to me that 21, 50, and 60 are the essential Folio bibliographies to have. 21 for being the first one, 50 for the essays, and 60 to have all of the previous bibliographic entries.
