Folio Archives 100: 100 Greatest Paintings; Photographs; Portraits 2001; 2004; 2006
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1wcarter
The Folio Society Bok of the 100 Greatest Paintings by Martin Bailey 2001
The Folio Society Bok of the 100 Greatest Photographs by Mark Haworth-Booth 2006
The Folio Society Bok of the 100 Greatest Portraits by Martin Bailey 2004
I felt that these titles were suitable ones to mark the 100th. review in the Folio Archives series. Despite their similar titles, they are different in significant ways, as will be described below.
The Folio Society Bok of the 100 Greatest Paintings by Martin Bailey 2001
This was the presentation volume for 2002, and was received free by members of the Folio Society who signed up to receive at least four books during the following year.
As with all these titles, the selection is totally subjective, and the selector in this case was the art historian Martin Bailey. There is a two page introduction by Bailey, followed by the 100 paintings, each described in detail on the verso opposite a colour reproduction on the opposite recto page. Biographies of the artists appear in a separate section at the back of the book.
The 230 page book comes in a blue slipcase that has a painting reproduced in colour printed on paper that has been pasted on the front. The book is beautifully bound in dark blue cloth gilt blocked on the spine with the title and on the cover with the names of the artists. The slipcase is almost square at 29.8x27cm. The endpapers are plain dark blue. The paper is a light gloss in order to take the photographic reproductions.
Slipcase
Brochure
.
The Folio Society Bok of the 100 Greatest Photographs by Mark Haworth-Booth 2006
Unlike the 100 Greatest Paintings book, this was not a presentation volume, but a book for purchase that cost A$100 (about £55 in 2019) when released.
This time the selection was by Mark Haworth-Booth. The layout is the same with an introduction by the selector followed by the 100 photographs, each one appropriately described. They vary from the first daguerreotype ever taken of a Parisian street, to iconic pictures of cities *eg. New York) and personalities (eg. Christine Keeler).
The 220 page book comes in a black slipcase that has a montage of black and white photos printed on paper that has been pasted on the front. The book is bound in black metallic buckram inset with a daguerreotype portrait photo on the cover. The spine has the title in silver. The endpapers are light grey, and the dimensions are the same as the Paintings volume above.
Slipcase
Prospectus clipping
.
The Folio Society Bok of the 100 Greatest Portraits by Martin Bailey 2004
Martin Bailey returns to select the images for the 100 Greatest Portraits. This volume was also sold for A$100, but it differs from the others in two significant ways – the slipcase is a plain brown with no cover illustration, and although the book is the same height, its depth is only 23.5cm, 3.5cm less than its fellows.
There is no change in the layout compared to the other volumes, and the book runs to 219 pages with the artist biographies again being at the back of the book.
The binding is ¾ dark brown buckram, and the cover board is printed with a reproduction of the Mona Lisa which is integral with the binding rather than being pasted on. The spine title is gilt, and the endpapers are pale gold.
Prospectus clipping
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
The Folio Society Bok of the 100 Greatest Photographs by Mark Haworth-Booth 2006
The Folio Society Bok of the 100 Greatest Portraits by Martin Bailey 2004
I felt that these titles were suitable ones to mark the 100th. review in the Folio Archives series. Despite their similar titles, they are different in significant ways, as will be described below.
The Folio Society Bok of the 100 Greatest Paintings by Martin Bailey 2001
This was the presentation volume for 2002, and was received free by members of the Folio Society who signed up to receive at least four books during the following year.
As with all these titles, the selection is totally subjective, and the selector in this case was the art historian Martin Bailey. There is a two page introduction by Bailey, followed by the 100 paintings, each described in detail on the verso opposite a colour reproduction on the opposite recto page. Biographies of the artists appear in a separate section at the back of the book.
The 230 page book comes in a blue slipcase that has a painting reproduced in colour printed on paper that has been pasted on the front. The book is beautifully bound in dark blue cloth gilt blocked on the spine with the title and on the cover with the names of the artists. The slipcase is almost square at 29.8x27cm. The endpapers are plain dark blue. The paper is a light gloss in order to take the photographic reproductions.
Slipcase
Brochure
.
The Folio Society Bok of the 100 Greatest Photographs by Mark Haworth-Booth 2006
Unlike the 100 Greatest Paintings book, this was not a presentation volume, but a book for purchase that cost A$100 (about £55 in 2019) when released.
This time the selection was by Mark Haworth-Booth. The layout is the same with an introduction by the selector followed by the 100 photographs, each one appropriately described. They vary from the first daguerreotype ever taken of a Parisian street, to iconic pictures of cities *eg. New York) and personalities (eg. Christine Keeler).
The 220 page book comes in a black slipcase that has a montage of black and white photos printed on paper that has been pasted on the front. The book is bound in black metallic buckram inset with a daguerreotype portrait photo on the cover. The spine has the title in silver. The endpapers are light grey, and the dimensions are the same as the Paintings volume above.
Slipcase
Prospectus clipping
.
The Folio Society Bok of the 100 Greatest Portraits by Martin Bailey 2004
Martin Bailey returns to select the images for the 100 Greatest Portraits. This volume was also sold for A$100, but it differs from the others in two significant ways – the slipcase is a plain brown with no cover illustration, and although the book is the same height, its depth is only 23.5cm, 3.5cm less than its fellows.
There is no change in the layout compared to the other volumes, and the book runs to 219 pages with the artist biographies again being at the back of the book.
The binding is ¾ dark brown buckram, and the cover board is printed with a reproduction of the Mona Lisa which is integral with the binding rather than being pasted on. The spine title is gilt, and the endpapers are pale gold.
Prospectus clipping
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2Jayked
Don't know about the others, but the general editor of the 100 Greatest Paintings claims that the 44 specialists hired to write the commentaries had considerable input in deciding which painting would represent each artist. The result to me is a pretty sterile collection without the overarching philosophy you find in , say, Kenneth Clark.
3emgcat
>1 wcarter: Thank you again for another interesting look at folio books. Only a week ago I bought a copy of the 100 Greatest Paintings and I am now on the look out for the other two. I think that the quality of the reproductions is excellent and I have enjoyed browsing through the book.
