Spring Collection 2026

First Teaser



The Martian I think.

>1 assemblyman: Agreed. It's likely The Martian.

I think this is a perfect fit for a Folio SE. Have to say I'm generally enjoying the Folio 2.0 popular title choices :-)

Great book, great movie. Now I just have to wait for the Project Hail Mary film to come out - the book was terrific.

It's a great book - as are the other two by Weir. But I already have the edition by The Broken Binding and the one by Curious King on pre-order. So I'm very unlikely to buy this one myself. But I also think it's a great fit for FS and definitely worth a nice edition.

I’m glad to see the positivity in this thread, despite being a bit of a Weir detractor myself. I quite enjoyed The Martian when I read it in high school though I found Project Hail Mary to be wildly overrated (still very enjoyable, I think the hype behind it was just too enormous).

As always excited to see what FS has been cooking up. An SE of The Moonstone or Perdido Street Station would be nice. Probably too soon for an SE of Iliad/Odyssey or Jane Austen.

I greatly enjoyed The Martian, but this time I'll have to agree with those who will say that this book is no FS material. Plus, I already have the SubPress edition.

Also, while I don't have anything negative to say about Project Hail Mary, it's one of those books whose adoration absolutely puzzles me.

I'll join the choir and say it's a fun read, I just don't see myself revisiting it.
>4 SF-72: It's always funny how some titles seem to stack up with multiple publishers in a short timeframe. And SubPress as well, lots of competition here.

I hope they close out The Border Trilogy so we can get to speculating about what the next title of McCarthy's they might pick would be, because now it really gets hard picking a crowd pleaser.

>7 A.Godhelm: Cities of the Plain has been confirmed and should be in either the Fall or Christmas collection. Really hope Folio continues after that with either a box set of The Passenger/Stella Maris, or the early novels.

Suttree! Suttree! Suttree!

>9 kcshankd:

Attempting to wish the edition into existence...

>9 kcshankd:

Your mouth to FS's ear. Suttree is my favorite.

>7 A.Godhelm:

I have been wondering about that. Do rights-holders put their book out there, or is it just a coincidence in some cases, or are several publishers thinking a popular book would do well for them?

"Launching Tuesday 3 March at 4pm...

The Martian - Andy Weir
Conrad’s Fate - Diana Wynne Jones
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Iliad - Homer
Jerusalem - Simon Sebag Montefiore
The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle
Masters of the Air - Donald L. Miller
Perdido Street Station - China Miéville
Station Eleven - Emily St John Mandel"

Featuring no less than three and half LE to SE volumes!

And a little binding breakdown, so far as can at present be certain:

Cloth-bound:
Masters of the Air
Perdido Street Station
The Great Gatsby
The Iliad
The Last Unicorn
The Martian

Paper-bound:
Conrad's Fate
Jerusalem
Station Eleven

>13 FitzJames: Surprised to see four SE's derived from recent LE's all at once! These tend to be Folio's best efforts, so certainly not disappointed, but with at least six books on my buy list, it's going to be an expensive month!

Please don't let Station Eleven be paperbound... I already have the SubPress edition but it's not illustrated, so the Folio is indeed a temptation.

Also, The Last Unicorn is a must.

>14 HonorWulf: Likewise most surprised to see the heavy LE presence. And likewise so glad the Gatsby solander became the new cover. It would have been criminal for that not to be used.

Six! I too can see six for the wishlist, but two absolute must-haves to be getting on with: Gatsby as aforementioned, and The Last Unicorn.

>13 FitzJames: Oh, no, my wallet… Perdido Street Station & The Last Unicorn are absolute musts for me. Earlier than expected!

I am happy with my previous FS version of The Iliad. I have the previous version of The Great Gatsby but this new version looks great and seems to be in a larger format. The Last Unicorn would be a maybe.

I assume Perdido Street Station will be paper bound since the LE was cloth.

I loved The Martian and Station Eleven, and a previous me would certainly have bought them. But the current me is rapidly running out of space, and wonders how long it would be before I reread them. I don't really need another Gatsby or Iliad, and I'll prove myself a heathen but I tried The Last Unicorn and didn't finish it - I think it's a book that one must have a history with. Perdido Street Station looks like a must have, and Jerusalem as well.

>18 assemblyman: The artwork by Yuko Shimizu is too good to pass up! Hard to tell on the Perdido binding -- most of Folio's SE's that have been derived from LE's have been cloth bound. They even upscaled 1984, which was a paper bound LE that became a buckram bound SE, so you never know.

>18 assemblyman: I cannot precisely say:

Oh dear. I see four must haves for me in this collection.

When the LE Great Gatsby was released I thought it beautiful but talked myself out of it as I have multiple other copies/editions. Then I instantly regretted not purchasing it once it sold out. Happy to have an opportunity to partially rectify that.

The Last Unicorn I also seriously considered purchasing but I was unfamiliar with the book and decided to wait for the SE. Gamble paying off.

Jerusalem looks like traditional Folio non-fiction exposing me to a work I didn’t even know I needed or wanted. Folio at its best.

Conrad’s Fate. Picked up four of these in the recent half price sale and now the completist in me demands the rest of the series.

Today I learned that there are 7 Chrestomanci books, not 4 as I had thought, and I have to wait longer to see if they'll do all of DWJ's books.

>21 FitzJames: that’s cloth to my eyes. It’s a thick and heavy tome (was actually hoping they’d do a 2-volume set), a paper binding might not be strong / durable enough for such a weight (?)

Jerusalem is a superbly written book, very engaging. Though the history itself is dark and heavy; I had to take multiple breaks from reading, as certain chapters seemed to be mostly descriptions of one massacre after another.

Happy to see too that the rose gold foiling from the LE of The Last Unicorn reappears here on the SE. Definitely sets it apart.

>24 BorisG: I only hesitate since in the group shot, Perdido has a hint of white at the tail of the spine.

Masters of the Air is a day one purchase for me. Jerusalem is of interest, too. I'm quite glad Folio continues to issue non-fiction titles.

I am definitely picking up the Iliad and the Odyssey (when it turns up whether in this collection or later). I really enjoyed the Wilson translation but I don't love the art enough to spend the LE money on it. I have the Fagles editions as well but I would love to have this set too. Also someone please do Caroline Alexander's Iliad one day please!

Perdido would have been a certain buy but Conversation Tree Press has their edition going on sale in June so I'll probably go for that instead.

Not actually read Station Eleven but its been so highly reccomended might as well read it first as a nice FS edition!

>23 Watry: Yes, Folio is doing all of them in a six book set. The short story collection is being folded into the other six books -- I believe the first two of the four shorts were included in volume one.

>28 zorg2099: Seconded on the Caroline Alexander Iliad! Have mixed feelings about Wilson, but I've never been a fan of the Fagles translations.

>30 HonorWulf: I think the fact Alexander has no interest in doing the Odyssey counts against her chances of being published by Folio one day. But perhaps one of the smaller fine press outfits might have a mind sometime who knows.

I remember you suggested Peter Green in a previous conversation, I plan to pick that up for my next Homer read through. I looked at some excerpts and he seems stylistically very similar to Alexander.

I think I realised how much Fagles embellishes after reading Wilson. I think she has an undeserved reputation by some for lack of accuracy, I think people conflate the more direct and colloquial vocabulary with lack of precision. Stylistic preference is another matter though.

For all that Fagles was my introduction to Homer and I think the artwork in those Folio editions were just about perfect for me. So no regrets picking them up right before they sold out.

This is the most interesting collection in quite some time for me!

As has been echoed by some on this forum, a Folio set of Fitzgerald's translations would be epic.

>31 zorg2099: Yes, I really enjoyed Peter Green's translation, which was recommended to me from some Greek-speaking friends. It doesn't have the pomp and circumstance of some of the others, but I've always valued fidelity to the language over elaboration, so it appealed to my personal tastes.

Only one for me in this collection, the Diana Wynne-Jones. I have a couple of the others in previous Folio formats. I've been a member/collector for over forty years and I've always said that when they produce a collection that offers me nothing I'll be gone. Dangerously close!

>35 folio_books: It is an unusual collection in that four of the nine are SEs of previously issued LEs. It was a smaller pool of choice for you this time round.

>28 zorg2099:

Good to know about Perdido Street - I'd forgotten about that.

The one I really want is The Last Unicorn. I'm glad they did a standard edition with a much nicer cover (to me) than the limited edition had.

>5 PJ-Reads: well I was half right depending on how you look at it!

>13 FitzJames: Quick turnaround on some of those LEs. Lots of good picks here.

I suppose if Folio are going for one LE every month, then three or four SE versions per collection will probably be the new normal.

Masters of the Air strikes me as a good companion volume to Bomber Command by Max Hastings (Folio Society, 2018).

They are covering both the UK and US aerial attacks on Germany in detailed narratives.

>28 zorg2099: >30 HonorWulf: >31 zorg2099: Fagles was my introduction to Homer too and I found it easy to read and enjoy; I was expecting a slog from THE classics. Maybe a bit too muted and not much in the way of unique style or a sense of drama (I am very far from a scholar or literary expert). I read the Penguin Classics and have thought many times about getting the FS version but never pulled the trigger. I have the FS Fagles Aeneid which is stunning, but it’s not like the Homer volumes match.

On the other hand the Wilson translation would be a new experience which is intriguing. I also quite like the Hicks-Jenkins art though I understand why it’s not for everyone.

In short it’s a tough pick, the overall more “classic” Fagles translation/design or the more contemporary Wilson volume. Decisions…

>41 EasternWapiti: Masters of the Air is really good. Much better than the Apple TV mini-series. I see FS has designed it to match Band of Brothers. Nice.

This collection has spurred me to order "Jerusalem" and "The Martian" from my library.

Despite all the love Station Eleven gets, I found it really flat and the culmination of the storylines was underwhelming.

Conrad's Fate is a must buy for me.

This is a strong start for 2026 Folio standard editions.

It's quite rare that I'd be interested in every book of a collection, but in this case, I wouldn't mind getting each book - except maybe The Great Gatsby since I already have the purple SE and The Last Unicorn since I got the LE. Guess one more copy of each won't hurt.

yoooo

A good release by Folio Society, of all the books previously published as a LE I own all the LE editions except the Scott Fitzgerald one, of which I own the older/purple version. So, for me this time around it would be Jerusalem by Simon Sebag Montefiore and Masters of the Air by Donald L. Miller, and possibly Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel.

Some high resolution photos:
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/static/cms/media/JERU-jerusalem-spring-26-reveal...
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/static/cms/media/CNFT-conrads-fate-spring-26-rev...
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/static/cms/media/GGAT-the-great-gatsby-spring-26...
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/static/cms/media/spring-collection-2026-reveal.j...
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/static/cms/media/STEL-station-eleven-spring-26-r...
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/static/cms/media/UNIC-the-last-unicorn-spring-26...
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/static/cms/media/ILLI-the-iliad-spring-26-reveal...
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/static/cms/media/MART-the-martian-spring-26-reve...
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/static/cms/media/PRSC-perdido-street-station-spr...

>48 m00nwalker77: Very helpful. Thanks!

>48 m00nwalker77: Based on the photos, can we accurately determine those that are cloth/buckram binding and those that are "blocked textured paper" binding?

I expect Conrad's Fate to be paper binding to match the earlier 4 books.

The Martian are Great Gatsby are most likely cloth from the photos. Perdido and Last Unicorn also look very much like cloth when zoomed in. Iliad as well when really zoomed in (it'd better be, with what looks like silver top edge gilding).

Not sure about the others though, particularly Station Eleven and Jerusalem.

>42 PJ-Reads: Ah well I choose not to choose between them hehe. If you're unsure you could take a look at the comparisons here: https://www.iliadtranslations.com/compare which may help your decision.

I would say that one of the strengths with Wilson is the steady iambic rhythm which gives it a pleasing flow over long passages, a strength that may not come across in short excerpts. Un-rhymed iambic pentameter is of course very different from the dactylic hexameter (ie. The Epic Meter) of the original but it is the closest functional equivalent in English, its place as the English "heroic meter" firmly established since Milton's Paradise Lost.

As mentioned earlier, going by her extensive introduction and translators notes, and having compared against some other translations I think accusations of lack of accuracy are misplaced, rather it might be more accurate in some respects being up to date with the latest scholarship (keep in mind though I'm no expert! Just my impression). Nevertheless, the more colloquial vocabulary may be a negative for some people. One of her arguments though is that following Alexander Pope's first attempt, English translators have often had a tendency to write in an overly grandiloquent manner in order to sound "literary" while the actual voice and tone of Homer is more straightforward, though not simplistic per se. Some might feel her approach is an over correction perhaps.

As long as you like the artwork I think either of the Folio editions would be a pleasing addition to your shelf regardless of which one you end up choosing.

I'm really glad I resisted the LE Last Unicorn since I didn't like the cover at all, while this one looks really nice.

>52 SF-72: I was hoping when the LE was released that they would use the slipcase image like they have now done with Gatsby but I like the one they have gone with.

>51 zorg2099: The strength of Wilson's translation is its accessibility -- it's very digestible to a modern reader. And it is, by and large, a scholarly translation. The two biggest criticisms are over simplification -- for example, she intentionally conflates the various Greek tribes of time (i.e. Achaeans, Hellenes, Argives) as "Greeks" to make it less confusing to a modern audience, among other modernizations; and she also takes a more explicit approach in the translation that was originally more implicit (i.e. where the rape of a woman is alluded to in the original text, she'll directly call it out; and she also implies more black-and-white bias on certain characters and cultures that are more shades of gray in the original text). For most readers, though, these types of things will mostly go unnoticed.

>54 HonorWulf: I'd agree: accessibility and speed. There's also been criticism of the fact that she basically cuts the line lengths in half, and tends to view Odysseus in the worst possible light. Daniel Mendelsohn is interesting on the latter point.

Finally, it can be argued that, by privileging accessibility, her translation lacks some of the beauty and power of previous versions.

I find her version refreshing; I like it. But I'm glad I have the Fagles, too.

>26 FitzJames: "I only hesitate since in the group shot, Perdido has a hint of white at the tail of the spine."

That hint of white looks to me to be a continuation of the illustration on the front board.

>56 TheEconomist: Exceedingly happy to be wrong here!

>50 Ibkay: Station Eleven is clearly and sadly paperbound. I was shown a close-up in the Folio fans page on FB.

>58 dyhtstriyk: I thought as much after zooming in the photo, what a bummer :-(

I wonder if Folio actually saves any significant costs going with paper over cloth covered boards.

I'd rather they just add the 5-10 USD to the book price and always go with cloth or buckram boards.

Oh my! I think there hasn’t been a collection in years where I instantly knew I must buy at least two books. I have been waiting for years for a nice Last Unicorn edition. Instant buy. And of course the Great Gatsby is a no brainer, I am a huge fan of Shimizu’s art

I think I might actually prefer the standard Gatsby to my LE. Hmm, trade down may be on the cards!

>61 cyber_naut: The spine is equally fine:

>62 FitzJames: I do feel a little bit of regret for getting the previous edition as it was already speculated a new edition based on the LE was forthcoming. But I did get it on the sale and it was a pretty good price. Plenty of other things to drain my wallet I guess!

>62 FitzJames: This seems to be a larger size than the previous edition which sold out in the sale. I've a feeling the new edition may sell out on day 1 of release - it looks so good

>64 RavenSeeker: If it is the same scale as the last year's LE, then it ought be ~9¾ inches tall.

And the colour choice for the cloth of the solander, and thereby the SE cover is superb, is it not? The type they commissioned likewise: perfect. The 2013 edition's type choice for the spine was a little lacking.

>65 FitzJames: In that case, it is only a little larger - the purple edition is 9" tall. I assume the new SE will have the Chuck Palahniuk introduction. I agree, the SE cover is terrific so I'll definitely buy it even though I've got the old edition. The Jerusalem cover looks good too so I'll likely pick that one up as well plus The Templars if that is back in stock by March

>51 zorg2099:
I found she just missed too much out. I'm no expert on the original Greek or quality oftranslations, but it felt almost abridged., not helped by the modern colloquialisms. I had bought the hardbacks, but couldn't finish, and gave them away. So disappointed after all the raves. Subsequently bought the Peter Green translations. Far less publicity but so much more satisfying.

>62 FitzJames: one of the reasons I’m considering trading down from the LE. It’s a mild annoyance that the title isn’t shown on the side of LE enclosure. And the enclosure is - for me - unnecessarily large versus the size of the book.

Nice that the recent LEs have promptly received the SE treatment.

Looking forward to Perdido Street Station, depending on the price.

However, if the aofrementioned ones should really be paperbound, I’m wondering how they’re getting away with this. Increasingly expensive releases (e.g. Neuromancer) as well as sky-high shipping cost outside UK, unreasonable increase in ROW pricing, and then subpar materials.

At the end of the day, if they’re paperbound what’s so different compared to regular hardcovers, apart from 3-4x the price. Not that many illustrations most of the time either.

>69 inkwell-007: I'm with you in generally avoiding bindings with paper over the hinges, but even those remain head and shoulders above trade hardcovers: archival quality paper (the single most important materials choice) and sewn bindings.

From Emily St. John Mandel's Instagram, three shots of her upcoming Station Eleven:

Pages have appeared for the upcoming Spring Collection, and as such binding materials previously assumed can be confirmed:

Cloth-bound:
Masters of the Air || £100 | £115 ROW | $145 US | $200 CA
notes: fold-out aeroplane plans to pocket

Perdido Street Station || £90 | £105 ROW | $130 US | $180 CA
notes: dual black & met. copper ink printing, ribbon bookmark

The Great Gatsby || £85 | £95 ROW | $115 US | $160 CA
notes: t.e.g., dual black & gold ink printing

The Iliad || £115 | £135 ROW | $165 US | $230 CA
notes: a.e.g. gunmetal, dual colour ink printing, ribbon bookmark, poss. cloth-covered slipcase, foiled in gunmetal likewise

The Last Unicorn || £75 | £85 ROW | $110 US | $150 CA
notes: t.e.g. rose gold, dual black & green ink printing, ribbon bookmark

The Martian || £75 | £85 ROW | $110 US | $150 CA
notes: die-cut slipcase, met. endpapers

Paper-bound:
Conrad's Fate || £49.95 | £55 ROW | $70 US | $100 CA

Jerusalem || £100 | £115 ROW | $145 US | $200 CA
notes: ribbon marker

Station Eleven || £60 | £70 ROW | $85 US | $120 CA

---
Edit: Of those LE to SE titles in the collection, it appears Perdido Street Station and The Great Gatsby share the LE textblock, as their full title pages carry '2025,' whilst The Iliad and The Last Unicorn carry '2026.'
---
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/conrads-fate
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/jerusalem
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/masters-of-the-air
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/perdido-street-station
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/station-eleven
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/the-great-gatsby-fitzgerald
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/the-iliad
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/the-last-unicorn
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/the-martian

https://www.foliosociety.com/row/conrads-fate
https://www.foliosociety.com/row/jerusalem
https://www.foliosociety.com/row/masters-of-the-air
https://www.foliosociety.com/row/perdido-street-station
https://www.foliosociety.com/row/station-eleven
https://www.foliosociety.com/row/the-great-gatsby-fitzgerald
https://www.foliosociety.com/row/the-iliad
https://www.foliosociety.com/row/the-last-unicorn
https://www.foliosociety.com/row/the-martian

https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/conrads-fate
https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/jerusalem
https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/masters-of-the-air
https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/perdido-street-station
https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/station-eleven
https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/the-great-gatsby-fitzgerald
https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/the-iliad
https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/the-last-unicorn
https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/the-martian

https://www.foliosociety.com/ca/conrads-fate
https://www.foliosociety.com/ca/jerusalem
https://www.foliosociety.com/ca/masters-of-the-air
https://www.foliosociety.com/ca/perdido-street-station
https://www.foliosociety.com/ca/station-eleven
https://www.foliosociety.com/ca/the-great-gatsby-fitzgerald
https://www.foliosociety.com/ca/the-iliad
https://www.foliosociety.com/ca/the-last-unicorn
https://www.foliosociety.com/ca/the-martian

>72 FitzJames:
Thank you for all the information and links.

>72 FitzJames: Thank you. Very helpful.

>72 FitzJames: Thanks for this - very interesting. I'm considering buying the new Gatsby edition and note the page count is 236. I've already got the older 'purple' edition which has 158 pages + 20 introduction pages at the front. Trying to account for the difference, I'm guessing that the new edition must have a pretty long introduction by Chuck Palahniuk. Do you know if this is the case ?

>75 RavenSeeker: I cannot say that I do sorry. Palahniuk's afterword to the LE is called the introduction here, but the SE's title page still bears '2025' and calls it the afterword in the photographs. The margins might be a tad more generous in this edition, but beyond that I am unable to account for the difference in page count.

>76 FitzJames: Thanks for your response - I guess I'll find out the reason next month

>75 RavenSeeker: Definitely down to typesetting, here's a comparison of the two. Palahniuk's afterword only takes up like 6 pages.

>78 wongie: Thank-you. That causes me to reconsider buying this. Much as I prefer the artwork in the new edition, larger type doesn't float my boat

>79 RavenSeeker: the type size seems very similar. It is mostly the line spacing that is increase.

The Martian is square backed. One of my red lines for buying a Folio book, sadly

>75 RavenSeeker: In most but not all FS books I have, pages with illustrations are not counted as pages. However, in the Great Gatsby LE they have been counted. Most of the illustrations are double page spreads and the blank alternate sides have been counted as pages too. 44 pages in all. Maybe the same approach has been taken with the SE. If the 'purple' edition didn't count pages with illustrations then that would account for 44 of your difference. Palahniuk's afterword is only 6 pages.

>82 Pendrainllwyn: Many thanks - I think you've solved the mystery. The illustration pages aren't counted in the 'purple' edition

>82 Pendrainllwyn: Great eye, I've gotten so used to Folio not counting illustrated pages that I didn't even notice they did so here.

>78 wongie:, >84 wongie:

Apparently, your content is 'not viewable' in my region (UK). Is anyone else seeing that?

>85 Cat_of_Ulthar: Sorry, I'm just used to uploading shots onto imgur which doesn't operate in the UK anymore, and never could find an easier alternative platform, I just use a vpn to get around it.

edit: how about now?

>86 wongie: Looking good. Thanks :-)

>85 Cat_of_Ulthar:

Is anyone else seeing that?

Yup.

>88 folio_books: After >86 wongie:'s edit, I can now see the pictures rather than just a purple box with the message. Are you still having problems?

>86 wongie: Thank you. Very helpful to us in the UK.

I've read a couple posts that imply some of these spring collection titles could go out of stock pretty quickly upon release.

I'm curious which titles the community thinks could possibly go OOS.

>91 BreakBeatDJ: Even the fastest selling standard editions take a month or two to sellout -- I believe last year's Neuromancer was one of the fastest at five weeks, after which it was reprinted with a second printing. But in terms of the new collection, The Last Unicorn and The Martian are probably the two that will move the most briskly, imo.

>92 HonorWulf: Thanks. I'm not too concerned I won't get the books from this collection that I want. I just enjoy getting to know the way this hobby moves.

>93 BreakBeatDJ: Folio Society standard editions are relaxing to collect compared to limited editions and some works from other presses. Finding the money to buy all the ones I want, and the time to read them all are two different problems

>93 BreakBeatDJ: Was curious so I looked up the numbers. Of the 2025 standard edition releases, five have sold out including Neuromancer (1 month, 1 week), Piranesi (3 months), A Bear Called Paddington (3 months, 1 week), The Night Circus (4 months, 3 weeks) and A Canticle for Leibowitz (5 months, 1 week). The first four have been reprinted and the last one is pending restock.

The Martian signed edition sold out in about 5 minutes:

https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/the-martian-signed-edition

>96 HonorWulf:

Blink and you missed it.

Fortunately for me, I don't really like this edition, which is good considering I already have the edition by The Broken Binding and the one by Curious King on pre-order.

>97 SF-72: Looking forward to ordering the unsigned edition tomorrow. I've become a fan of Dániel Taylor after his work on the Culture novels.

>97 SF-72: I’m curious . . . what don’t like about the FS Martian?

>99 BreakBeatDJ:
I don't like the artwork, which is of course just my personal taste. It would have been a bit of a problem if I really had because as mentioned, I already (will) have two editions and am glad I wasn't tempted by a third one.

>98 HonorWulf:
To each their own, it's just not my cup of tea.

>100 SF-72:

Yeah I get that. I’m on the fence. I don’t have a copy of this book and am not on the others you have/pre-ordered.

What time do these go live tomorrow?

>102 BreakBeatDJ: 4pm BT / 11am ET

The new collection page is up (but still can't order)

https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/new

https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/new

>104 BreakBeatDJ: It'll be live in 45 minutes at 4pm BT / 11am ET.

I think I'm going:

Martian
Gatsby
Unicorn

tbh, I could add at least three more. A very nice selection imo.

Is it common for Folio for put up only part of the initial print run up as inventory? The Iliad seems to only have 285 copies available which seems rather low...

Launch print runs:

Conrad's Fate (~1800 copies)
The Great Gatsby (~2100 copies)
Jerusalem (~1500 copies)
The Last Unicorn (~2600 copies)
The Martian (~2400 copies)
Masters of the Air (~2500 copies)
Perdido Street Station (~2200 copies)
Station Eleven (~2600 copies)

EDIT: The Iliad launched with 300 copies, which is indicative of a partial shipment received. The number should increase once the rest of the books arrive.

>108 HonorWulf: Unless The Iliad has had only a partial print run delivery.

Edit: I do apologise! I didn't see >107 zorg2099:. As you were.

Perdido, Gatsby and Martian for me. The former two definitely look like they're worth downgrading from the LE, especially Perdido. I was dithering too much on Illiad but in the end I still can't stomach the artwork, so maybe i'll wait till it's a low stock item.

Annoyingly I ended up too worried about the Lost World being all sold before the launch today and bought a copy last week, seems I could have saved myself a tenner.

>110 wongie: Perdido does look nice. I think I actually prefer the look of the slipcase to the LE's box.

>111 Cat_of_Ulthar: Same here, I never thought the moth design on the LE case particularly matched the interior artwork all that well which the SE already looks to be an improvement on.

For the first time in over forty years as a Folio collector, nothing for me in this collection.

>113 folio_books: If only I could be so lucky.... a record six for me!

>114 HonorWulf: Which 6?

>113 folio_books: Is it because you aren't drawn to any of these books or their designs? Or because you already have previous editions of these books and don't see these as upgrades?

I'm starting from scratch in terms up upgrading hundreds and hundreds of trades and paperbacks, so I can always find something to buy in these collections.

Perdido is an easy buy for me and although I've not read it, Station Eleven has been highly recommended to me by more than a few people whose taste I trust so Im quite willing to go for it blind. I'll probably end up getting the Iliad despite the illustrations...

Issue is that although I would have been happy to make a day one purchase, due to Current Events I have no idea when the books would get to me. All my shipments from North America and Europe have always been routed to me via Dubai or Doha... I have 3 packages stuck in courier warehouses right now.

Oh well, hope everyone else enjoys their purchases!

>115 BreakBeatDJ: Station Eleven, The Great Gatsby, The Martian, Perdido Street Station, The Iliad and The Last Unicorn. I almost always get SE's that were previously issued as LE's since those typically have the best bang for the buck... and there are a whopping four of those in this collection.

Perdido ended up under my pain threshold so will go in the buy pile for summer. I like the design of The Martian and Last Unicorn and the prices are ok, but not sure I want to re-read either.

>118 HonorWulf: Yeah, same list as mine. Started with three today, will grab the other three in the next couple of months. in general, I have a pretty strict read what I have first, then buy more policy. Right now, I have no books on my shelves that I haven't read. Having said that, this community is priming the pump for some FOMO purchases.

>120 BreakBeatDJ: Yes, this is a great place for FOMO fuel... guard your wallet well!

>117 zorg2099:

Oh dear, I hadn't even thought of that aspect of it.

>122 SF-72: I know its a minor thing in the grand scheme of things, even in my immediate vicinity well away from the conflict zone, here in the Maldives there are about 2,000 European tourists stuck here who flew in on Middle Eastern airlines trying to find alternative flights back home. But I don't want to go too far off topic.

This country is too small for direct cargo flights from the couriers like Fedex and DHL, they just get pallets on other carriers. Everything coming from the west transits through the middle east. I had a package containing a second hand copy (from the US) of Gibbet Hill from Conversation Tree Press showing a status of being at Dubai International when the conflict broke out. I guess it found its way to a European repatriation flight or something and its now in CDG in Paris together with my previous Folio order containing Canticle, Hamnet and Mansfield Park.

I imagine they are trying to figure out alternative routes, perhaps on the direct flights from European airlines that now take a big detour on the way, (or else just waiting to see what happens) but I may have to wait a while.

>123 zorg2099: oh dear, that on top of everything else, I hope the books will find you in the not too distant future

I also immediately ordered Great Gatsby and the Last Unicorn, together with Piranesi (finally).
Definitely cannot remember the last time I ordered at the same day they released a collection…

Still the shipping costs almost made me cry. I really hope this time the express is really going to be express instead of three weeks like last time.

Happy shopping everyone

>113 folio_books: Same for me. Almost bit on The Martian, but not really. Fist time since 1991 that I have not made a purchase at release time.

>113 folio_books:

Almost the same for me--totally understand.

I would get Station Eleven, loved it, but have the SP volume.

Definitely getting Perdido Street, Conrad’s Fate and adding H is for Hawk. Thinking about Jerusalem. Will wait for Summer collection to save on shipping.

Instead of Folio Society Devotees this forum seems to becoming Folio Society Disparagers!

>113 folio_books: >125 LG2: >126 podaniel: I'm sure there will be more of interest in the Summer collection. The bulk of this collection has been SEs of LEs.

Nothing must have here for me but I rarely buy anything on release.

>128 wcarter:

I'd love to buy from them but there's less and less appeals to me these days. Their genre choices rarely match my tastes. Sad, after over forty years.

>113 folio_books: For the first time in over forty years as a Folio collector, nothing for me in this collection.

Actually, I have found one - Diana Wynne Jones to the rescue for the second collection in a row. I'll hang on and see what they come up with next time, though I'm not hopeful.

>131 folio_books: It seems likely that the next collection will have DWJ's The Pinhoe Egg, no?

>132 Watry:

It's quite possible but eventually they're going to run out of her books. Perhaps I'll be gone before then ...

>123 zorg2099:

As you say, there are bigger issues connected to this, but that still doesn't help with your problem. I hope you will get your books, and in a timely manner. During Covid in particular, some of my parcels from the US took strange routes. A drawing circled the LA area for over a month, moving from warehouse to warehouse, then it suddenly flew to Japan - I'm in Germany. The Japanese mail carrier managed to get it here directly within days. Another went to Eastern Europe and then here. It must have been about available flights, too. Anyway, I wish you luck.

I'm not sure if I've ever placed an order during release week before, if I have, it was a while ago. I ordered 4 - Martian, Perdido Street, Station Eleven and The Last Unicorn.

Stock levels after the initial 24 hour feeding frenzy:

Conrad's Fate (~1675 left / ~125 sold)
The Great Gatsby (~1925 left / ~175 sold)
The Iliad (~150 left / ~150 sold)
Jerusalem (~1400 left / ~100 sold)
The Last Unicorn (~2075 left / ~525 sold)
The Martian (~2000 left / ~400 sold)
Masters of the Air (~2350 left / ~150 sold)
Perdido Street Station (~1950 left / ~250 sold)
Station Eleven (~2350 left / ~250 sold)

Over 2,100 new books shifted, with The Last Unicorn and The Martian being the clear favorites.

Once again, The Iliad appears to have only gotten a partial shipment, so expect that stock to increase as books hit the warehouse.

>128 wcarter: I'm still very much a devotee! :-)

This Spring collection is very strong from my point of view.

The only books I'm skipping for now are Great Gatsby and Last Unicorn, and only because I already have the previous Folio Gatsby SE and got the Last Unicorn LE. Hardly any space at home for duplicates.

I'll probably "upgrade" the Gatsby SE eventually, and may consider selling the Last Unicorn LE and instead get the SE since the text block / trim size are identical between the LE and SE.

I feel silly having splurged on a perdido special edition now.

>138 snottlebocket: I know part of my own hesitation to jump on FS LEs is expecting most of them will show up as SEs later. For now, that doesn't seem to have affected their success with LEs, but presumably it could, if people come to expect it.
>123 zorg2099: How do books handle what I presume is a very hot and humid environment like the Maldives?

I considered two titles to be instant buys.

Masters of the Air
Jerusalem

In another two instances, the Folio Society lost the sales to the Library of America. I rejected all three of the science fiction titles and instead ordered the recent LOA edition of Octavia Butler's Lilith's Brood. And I rejected the suggested companion volume Band of Brothers and instead ordered the recent LOA volume World War II Memoirs: The European Theater. It includes Elmer Bendiner's book The Fall of Fortresses, making it a better companion volume for Masters of the Air.

So I picked out a better overall selection and paid less money for it.

In the case of The Iliad and The Great Gatsby, I already own two different Folio Society editions of each. I do not need three.

>134 SF-72: Thanks! Will see how it goes I suppose. One of my UPS packages (one the 20 remaining Faun standard copies recently listed from Conversation Tree) just started moving. Spent 3 days stuck in Kentucky after being turned back mid-air I believe but is now in Cologne with a new expected delivery date of Saturday. Fedex still seems to be figuring things out. I'll consider my next Folio order once Fedex have sorted themselves out as that's the carrier Folio uses for both express and standard for here.

>139 A.Godhelm: Books seem to hold up fine in my home. Air conditioning cuts down the humidity and keeps the rooms cool too. They don't tend to do too well in "native" conditions like my old school library back in the day which didn't have air conditioning.

I'd like to get Gatsby, The Iliad, and The Last Unicorn, but I already have three versions of Gatsby and two of The Iliad; TLU I haven't read yet, so I will defer purchasing. My very small house has to have some limits.

Nice looking collection, but nothing for me.

The softened secondary market has been pretty good to me lately. I recently picked up The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Maigret volumes and sets one and three of the Hornblower books, completing the series.

New titles will have to wait until the next sale.

"Full bound in Buckram textured paper"

Hmm what exactly does buckram textured paper mean?

https://www.foliosociety.com/ca/jerusalem

>144 abysswalker: Paper, bearing the texture of Buckram, the fabric.

Well I would love Perdido Street Station, I had asked for it. But at that price, I'll pass.
And Jerusalem has been on my wishlist for a long time, but again, too expensive.
(considering I am in ROW, postage, possible customs duty...)
I'd happily take any defective copies.

Could anyone let me know where Last Unicorn and Perdido were printed?

>146 overthemoon: I hear you. However, I think included with their pretty expensive shipping is DHL Express to ROW, isn't it? And VAT is included, along with some nice profit for FS. So there shouldn't be any customs duty if I'm not mistaken.

>147 inkwell-007: The Last Unicorn:

"Printed on Arena Natural Rough paper at Memminger MedienCentrum AG, Memmingen, Germany, and bound at Josef Spinner, Grossbuchbinderei GmbH, Ottersweier, Germany"

>148 FitzJames: Thanks! Interesting that they chose this paper for this release - I like it but wonder why it was used.

>136 HonorWulf: In the four days since release and still just a couple of hours short of the release time, The Last Unicorn has sold, give or take a few, 1,001 copies, with remaining stock sitting at a neat 1,600.

>149 inkwell-007: according to this Reddit post, the text block of the standard edition might be identical to one used for the LE:

"It appears to be the exact same text block and trim size as the 2025 LE, including the Arena Natural Rough paper."

Edit: apart from the title page date, noted later in that conversation.

>147 inkwell-007: Customs duty depends on the value and whether my parcel is chosen by the customs inspectors (I think they check one in ten). I've had a few nasty surprises.

>152 overthemoon: Yes, but isn't customs included in Folio purchases? That's part of why ROW is more expensive, I thought.

>153 inkwell-007:
Depends on the country. Australia yes, maybe not Switzerland.

Got my shipment today and have to agree, both the Great Gatsby and the Last Unicorn are absolutely stunning! I am really glad I bought them, such wonderful editions. The Last Unicorn especially, the cover art looks amazing.

The Iliad's partial shipment of ~296 copies is now OOS.

>156 FitzJames: That might explain why it seems to no longer be findable on the site.

The Iliad is back, with 796 copies available (First Printing).

>158 BreakBeatDJ: Restocked within the week, quite good, tho' still on the lowish side for a print run (~1,092), I wonder if a second stock refresh will come later?

Is it usual for an order (ROW) of two titles to be sent separately? I am wont to order singly, so wondered if it boded ill or nothing at all for one title to be despatched while the other remains processing.

>160 FitzJames: I had an order split once but it was 6 titles including the Gormenghast trilogy boxset. This was a few months back when their website wouldn't update your account with the tracking number so when I emailed a few days after placing the order they gave me both tracking numbers. Hasn't happened before or since; Also ROW.

No issues with delivery.

>161 zorg2099: Thank you kindly! The Great Gatsby was despatched, and with luck then, so too will be The Last Unicorn.

And as a follow-up, the separate parcel containing The Last Unicorn has been despatched. Unsure why they would send them singly, a day apart, but there it is.

More copies of the Iliad have been delivered apparently, up to 1298 now.

>164 zorg2099: That would I think bring the total print run up to ~1,700, much healthier for a SE.

Has anyone received Station Eleven and had issues with blue rubbing (likely from the slipcase) around the top of spine and top of the front and back covers? I’ve now received 4 copies (3 replacements) all with this issue. It seems like a systemic issue unfortunately.

>166 icewindraider: I have it and didn't notice it before you pointed it out. It's barely noticeable on my copy in a couple of spots and not something I'd personally return. But it's a paper bind with no protective lamination and is going to mark quite easily.

>166 icewindraider: Could you post some examples?

>128 wcarter:
Instead of Folio Society Devotees this forum seems to becoming Folio Society Disparagers!
That's been a long term call, but I'd tend to disagree now. I certainly think it was going that way, but I think the new generation of fans - those who enjoy the genres etc that FS feel are more profitable - are gradually taking over. Personally, I've moved on with my book buying (FS is too repetitive and simply not sufficiently interesting or decent value any more), but I do enjoy threads such as your looks back at older editions, which still prompt purchases (on the secondary market) for me! And every now and again (if not for a couple of years now), something comes up, usually in a sale!

>170 Willoyd: "I think the new generation of fans - those who enjoy the genres etc that FS feel are more profitable - are gradually taking over."

Can you say more about this? What is the new generation of fans taking over? What are they replacing?

>171 BreakBeatDJ: Folio's pivoted to more popular genres and contemporary work over the last decade or so, publishing less classic and esoteric material than they used to.

>172 HonorWulf: Thanks. It’s interesting to go looking for used Folio books and I can see what you’re saying more clearly. As someone who hasn’t read much popular genre I feel like the FS gives a good sampler of genre fiction. But I get what you’re saying. I’m trying to maintain a 2-1 ratio of genre to classics for my folio purchases. I’m letting the FS sort of curate my mainstream book collection. But I’d love to see more off the beaten path American writers, like Walker Percy.

>169 icewindraider: Yeah, that's pretty bad, and my first thought was that it looked like mould. For a brand new purchase, paying top dollar, its unacceptable. If this is the third replacement for identical problems, then Folio's QC is lacking, never mind the product.

>174 LesMiserables: It's not a QC problem -- it's a poor design. The slipcase (not pictured) has a dark blue printed design that wraps into the interior of the slipcase and rubs against the light yellow paper of the book cover (which has no protective lamination). All of the copies will experience this to some degree or another. Mine is barely noticeable -- two very minor blemishes that I wasn't aware of until I saw this post.

>175 HonorWulf: Fair enough, and my final comment references product. But the QC part should be initiated by FS to stop these going out. Obviously they are preferencing cash over customer satisfaction here. They might just, stop the mailing whilst they redesign a slipcase with a material that doesn't run. That would be the right thing to do.

>176 LesMiserables: I agree, it should have been caught in the design phase. Not sure why the printer wouldn't have flagged it since it's obvious when you look at the materials being used. That said, the blemishes are so mild on my copy, I can probably remove them with a kneaded rubber eraser.

I've found two textual errors so far (I'm on chapter 4) in FS's 1st printing of The Last Unicorn (and presumably the LE, which I hadn't read yet) that aren't present even in the latest paperback release or the kindle edition. They're minor, but clearly they've been introduced somehow during the editing process of this specific edition. So... my opinion of FS's QC is taking hit after hit. Will these be fixed in subsequent printings? Who knows.

I hadn't purchased Station Eleven yet, and now I won't be.

>178 dhowarth333: Disappointed to hear this.

>178 dhowarth333: Interesting, what are the errors? Good to note that Folio's edition is the original 1968 first edition text, and not the revised edition text that was updated in 2007.

>171 BreakBeatDJ: The "Folio 2.0" topic has been quite heavily discussed in other FSD threads.

I would like to point out that the recent mix of FS titles are indeed more profitable for Folio, and not just "... FS feel are more profitable" - I think fundamental profit/loss accounting is quite objective - you are either financially profitable or not.

If the reports are true, the modern mix skewed more towards contemporary and popular titles over the classic and niche ones literally saved Folio from the brink of financial ruin.

>180 HonorWulf: I have every edition, and hadn't even considered that they might simply revert to the first edition, complete with the (few) typos that have been corrected in later editions. I haven't progressed past chapter 4 yet, but so far:

Chapter 1: "... head, she wondered, But suppose they are RIDING together, somewhere far away? What if they are hiding and waiting for ..." "hiding", same as the first edition and of course the Gregg reprint, but corrected later

However, this one I can find nowhere else, so presumably it somehow crept into the FS. I have no explanation:

Chapter 3: "... but Rukh pushed HIS back down and sat on him." should obviously be "him"; I cannot find this typo anywhere else

Admittedly this is a minor thing, but still disappointing. I wonder whether later in the book the towers will be "wry" or "awry", and such. What troubles me is the notion that somehow the "his" above (possibly the only example) might have crept in due to some automated editing tool.. I have no clue if this is a valid concern.

>182 dhowarth333: >182 dhowarth333: Do you think Folio scrutinize texts for typos like this? I wonder what kind of due diligence Folio carry out in the course of getting a book ready for a Folio edition.

>183 Elysium72: I would hope so. Proofreaders and technical authors earn their crust with such mundane but critical tasks.

I shudder to think that Folio have gone beyond their Sci-Fi mania into the realm of actual downsizing to AI bots to replace honest folk.

>184 LesMiserables: Precisely this, yes. I think we all should be able to reasonably assume that at least two sets of actual human eyes have gone over each and every word of each and every text before it is published. Will this ensure 100% "accuracy"? Absolutely not; in fact, sometimes editorial misjudgment is the cause of errors. And that is one of the more charitable interpretations of what happened in the second instance, above, that I can conjure from my imagination. The most optimistic I can think of is that this was an actual mistake in all previous editions, and that Beagle himself might have requested the change of both "hiding"-->"riding" and "him"-->"his", because these were his original intentions, which seem unpoetic but at least are conceivable artistic choices. The most pessimistic of the three possibilities is of course that AI was used to scan and edit, which recalls to mind the early days of optical character recognition, when it was initially far overused and produced some ludicrously corrupt results.

>185 dhowarth333: Folio doesn't edit any of the licensed text -- the text is published as provided by the publisher. They do typeset the text, so it's remotely possible an error crops in during that process. As you've confirmed, the first grammar issue mentioned is in the original 1968 published text, so that would definitely have been carried over here. Not sure about the second, but perhaps Customer Service could confirm whether it's in the text that they received from the publisher.

Looks like 35 more signed copies of the Martian have made it into the Folio Vault. Assume that's new, haven't spotted it before.

>186 HonorWulf: I find all of that more or less unacceptable. Folio Society *is* the publisher, so I'm not sure I even understand the first bit; they have an obligation in my mind to edit. While I find FS's Customer Service exemplary in the area of replacing damaged books and suchlike, I wouldn't bother with a question such as that if their attitude is that the text isn't their responsibility.

>188 dhowarth333: As best I recall, I've always seen the colophon state something like "this Folio Society edition of so and so book follows the text of X year *with minor emendations*." I've always taken that to mean that Folio does some level of proofing or at least leaves the door open for them to do so if they wish. My copy of the Last Unicorn has such a statement as well.

What the actual practice is I'm not certain of course. It may well depend on the specific arrangements with the rights holders for a given book.

>188 dhowarth333: It's just how licensing of copyrighted material works. In this case, Folio is a Reprint Publisher and will have a Reprints Rights agreement with the actual Publisher (i.e. Penguin who owns both Viking and Bodley Head). The contract will have an emendations clause to cover things like punctuation, spacing and typos that crept into the text beyond the author's intent. Material changes to the text, though, would create a derivative work, which would be prohibited by the license. As an aside, I did check three older versions of The Last Unicorn and they all had the first grammar issue. Wasn't able to find an instance of the second, which is why I was curious to see if it was due to a very old version of the text, or whether Folio inadvertently introduced it themselves.

>189 zorg2099: Exactly the point I was going to make, but a bit earlier than me.

That said, I seem to always find a typo or two in every Folio book, going back to the letterpress days.

>166 icewindraider: I do see that but, like >167 HonorWulf:, it's not the sort of thing I would return a book for. I think I've seen it with more than a few Folio titles over the years, actually, and not just recently but I never thought it a big issue so I haven't kept track of it. If I find myself at a loose end one day, I will drag a few older titles off my shelves to check.

>191 coynedj: My experience is that Folio are certainly not perfect (Hitchhiker was a particularly painful example) when it comes to textual accuracy, but they are a lot better than just about every other book I've read.

>190 HonorWulf: The latest American edition was published by Ace Books, which with a little research I find is also owned by Penguin these days, as is Viking, but there have been several subsequent editions in the U.S. with attendant changes in text since 1968. Despite Gollancz's oddball ad copy, The Last Unicorn in the U.S. is not a "long lost classic" or whatever it was (I can't recall clearly) the cover of their recent edition so hyperbolically stated. If it hasn't been in print continuously, it's been relatively close over here.

In any case, these sorts of errors creep in. I take the presence of the second typo I mentioned ("his" rather than "him") to be something that happened under Folio Society's watch, since scrutinizing every edition available to me (which is every one I'm aware exists) doesn't turn up an example of the error. I've been on vacation for a week, so I haven't had a chance to read onward from Ch. 4, but my hope is that this is the last of the problems.

I won't even speculate why they reverted to the 1st edition text, if indeed they did.

>193 Cat_of_Ulthar: That is fair. No publishing house is perfect, and most are much worse. Small press imprints in particular are sloppily edited, in my experience. The horror. After some initial dismay, I am prepared to forgive FS :-)..

>171 BreakBeatDJ: >172 HonorWulf:
Sorry not to respond quicker - have been away. Honorwolf summed it up well: FS changed direction a few years ago, and nowadays concentrate primarily on science fiction, fantasy and other popular contemporary fiction, as well as comic strips etc. They used to publish classics in depth (see their complete run of Anthony Trollope, Thomas Hardy, and others), but nowadays focus there on a relatively few popular titles (lots of recycling!). They've run their non-fiction down fairly substantially as well. Financially it's worked, but they've inevitably left a lot of previous fans high and dry. As an example, I've gone from buying anything between 20 and 40 books a year from them to only 2-3 in the past 4 years, although a fair proportion of that drop is as much down to their prices nowadays as to the titles. I'm not complaining one jot however - it's prompted me to explore a whole range of other publishers in all sorts of areas, and I'm loving what I'm finding! I explained above why I still lurk!

>195 Willoyd: Thanks. Yeah, that's the narrative I'm seeing here about The FS.

I don't super mind the change in direction, though I could do with more literary fiction and less pulp, but one of the issue I have always had, which seems to be compounded now, is the tendency to publish the same authors over and over again. For instance, I don't really care for Murakami. I get that he's important, but he's not my thing. I'd rather a more diverse selection, personally. There is a very short list of authors for whom I'd want to own everything they wrote as a Folio edition, but there are a lot of modern literary masterpieces I'd buy in a second if Folio ever published them.

I'm never gonna be the person buying the newest Andy Weir or Bond or whatever, because I want really good prose from the novels I read, but that's fine. They gotta pay the bills. But mixing it up more would get me back to buying more frequently.

Also with the non-fiction it's all recent stuff. Why should I buy an FS version of, say, a Mary Beard book when I've got a hardback in perfect nick that's four years old?

For the same reason you buy Folio at all.

>198 InVitrio:
I agree entirely - one of the reasons I hardly buy any FS nowadays. I used to buy a lot of travel particularly, and they produced some really good editions of classics until fairly recently (eg Freya Stark, Isabella Bird, Gertrude Bell amongst others).

>199 Noel_G:
For the same reason you buy Folio at all.
Well one of the main reasons I used to buy Folio was that they produced books I wanted to keep and read that were otherwise hard to obtain in anything better than than paperback at best. As Invitrio suggested, that's not the case when I've already got a perfectly decent trade hardback. There are occasions when the added value makes it worthwhile (Andrew Chaikin's A Man on the Moon was an outstanding example), but all too often it just isn't.

>200 Willoyd: Or sometimes the Folio edition is WORSE. Beard's Pompeii for instance. Trade hardback had better illustrations.

>201 InVitrio: Never been convinced that Mary Beard deserves the Folio treatment as a historian. More of a celebrity academic with media access to the masses.
But then again, this isn't new. Folio have departed over the years from that safety of margin that time gives us. I'm sure that it's well within the realms of possibilities that we will see FS in the future publishing newly released works from authors in vogue.
Or maybe not.
But certainly a departure from the norm that was foundational and sustained Folio through the years.

Mary Beard is a proper academic. That she can connect with the masses does not undermine her work. Oliver Taplin is similar but for some reason has never been picked up by the telly.

>203 InVitrio: What is a proper academic though? I mean, take SPQR. Everyman and his dog knows that foundational myths have purpose. What really is the point of 'debunking' Roman Foundation myths for half a book?

Someone who lectured for decades, held a Fellowship at a Cambridge college long before anyone had heard of her, and took the head professorship there in 2004?

>204 LesMiserables: If Mary Beard can't be considered a 'proper academic' then I don't imagine there are many people who can be, and I have bad news for the milions who work in academia. Plus, public scholarship/scientific communication is an essential academic skill, and one that is lacking in many academics, so her celebrity status and 'media access to the masses' very much counts in her favour, rather than against.

And also, no - not everyone knows foundational myths have purpose. Whilst I'm sure you're very knowledgeable in this area (and so maybe aren't part of the target audience), that has likely biased you so that you assume the average person has a higher level of knowledge in this area than they actually do (curse of knowledge). I'm guilty of doing this myself - I'm a marine ecologist and constantly assume people are familiar with concepts that, whilst very basic to me, probably require at the bare minimum a degree.

>206 Xandian97: Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying she isn't a proper academic, of course she is, in alignment of what passes for it these days. More to the point, I'm pointing out she is also a celebrity academic, and perhaps this category has eclipsed her proper academic status, and governed her rise to prominence. Why precisely she is a celebrity academic is up for debate. Fierce contest abounds in this area: is it the luvvie socialism, or the mad professor look, or is it the oh so vogue feminism? I'm unsure what the consensus is. These are all hotly contested on the ether.

It's because she's an excellent communicator. Certainly in her academic generation that was not a given for most academics. I remember D. M. Lewis. Truly brilliant academic, very dull lecturer.

I don't get the "what passes for it" reference either, given that barely any academics have ever had any popular name recognition ever. Many of the radio intellectuals were not academics. E.g. Gilbert Harding. And then there's Patrick Moore - who never possessed any academic qualifications at all...and who could hardly be considered woke.

>204 LesMiserables: 'What really is the point of 'debunking' Roman Foundation myths for half a book?'

Fact-based history as opposed to evidence-free mythography?

History is often obscure but I think the job of historians is to dig through the documents and other evidence to try and work out what is actually - or at least likely - to be true. Romulus and Remus might have existed but do we have anything solid to back that up?

Foundational myths do indeed have purpose. But whether they count as history is another matter.

Edit to add that wikipedia describes Beard as a 'classicist' which would make her field of study a bit wider than just history.

>207 LesMiserables:

Point taken--but I'm just looking for an entertaining writer and Mary Beard is definitely that. As for "proper academic," Tom Holland, who FS has published more books from, is not an academic at all, but I love reading his books (and listening to his podcast, The Rest Is History). I kind of dread "proper academic" writing.

>207 LesMiserables: I understand you, your snide comments, and your casual misogyny perfectly, all the more so for having also previously read your comments on Emily Wilson, and to be honest I’m appalled. There’s just so much wrong with what you’ve just typed out I don’t even know where to begin in unpacking it…

Here’s hoping that feminism remains in vogue for a long time yet – clearly it’s still necessary if an accomplished academic can’t be discussed without her appearance being brought up. I mean, really, ‘mad professor look’? She’s an entirely ordinary looking woman. Somehow I doubt you bring up physical appearance when discussing male authors.

I’m aware my direct tone in this post could be called blunt, harsh, or even openly contemptuous, and so may end up being flagged and removed – but at least it is consistent with the spirit of the post, and doesn’t carry the venemous and spiteful undertones evident in yours.

Actually, whilst it's late and I'm too tired to unpack it all and type up a critique of your post myself, let alone trying to maintain a constructive and concilatory tone whilst doing so, I can just ask ChatGPT to. I know AI is unpopular, but it can be quite good, and reading it's response to my prompt 'Please evaluate the tone, phrasing, and biases of this post’ alongside post 207, I can't find I disagree with any of it's conclusions:

Overall assessment:
The passage is rhetorically dismissive rather than analytically critical. It relies on insinuation, vague generalization, and loaded descriptors instead of specific evidence. The tone is arch and faintly derisive, with a posture of “reasonable doubt” that is not actually substantiated.
________________________________________
Tone
• Condescending and arch: Phrases like “what passes for it these days” and “oh so vogue feminism” signal a knowing, slightly superior stance.
• Performatively tentative: “I’m unsure what the consensus is” and “up for debate” create a veneer of neutrality while still planting negative suggestions.
• Snide rather than direct: The criticism is delivered through implication and tone rather than explicit argument.
________________________________________
Phrasing Techniques
• Hedged disparagement:
“I’m not saying she isn’t a proper academic… in alignment of what passes for it these days.”
→ This structure nominally concedes a point while immediately undercutting it.
• Vague generalities:
“These are all hotly contested on the ether.”
→ Appeals to unspecified debate instead of citing actual critiques or sources.
• Caricature through labels:
“luvvie socialism,” “mad professor look,” “oh so vogue feminism”
→ Reduces a complex academic career to stereotypes and aesthetic or ideological markers.
• False balance framing:
Suggesting multiple “possible reasons” for her prominence creates the impression of legitimate controversy without demonstrating any.
________________________________________
Bias Indicators
• Elitist declinism:
“what passes for it these days” implies a broader decline in academic standards without evidence.
• Status-policing bias:
The “celebrity academic” framing assumes visibility undermines scholarly legitimacy.
• Gender-coded critique:
o “mad professor look” focuses on appearance in a way disproportionately used against women.
o “vogue feminism” trivializes feminist scholarship as trend-following rather than intellectual work.
• Ideological dismissal:
“luvvie socialism” functions as a cultural stereotype rather than a substantive critique.
________________________________________
Key Pattern
The post does not argue why this author’s scholarship is lacking. Instead, it:
1. Suggests her prominence is suspect
2. Offers culturally loaded explanations
3. Avoids committing to any one claim
4. Maintains plausible deniability through hedging
This combination produces a tone that reads as petty, insinuating, and dismissive, rather than rigorous or good-faith criticism.

>211 Xandian97: If I could “like” a post, I would do that for this one! I tend to just ignore the snide posts, given how long it’s been happening and that responding tends to do no good and just feeds it.

>211 Xandian97: There is a Satre quote that I quite like that puts online (and sometimes in person) trolls into perspective:

“Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre

I tried a while ago to have a good faith conversation with LesMis about why he said reading Walter Scott constituted more of an "investment" than Jane Austen and after about ten posts back and forth I couldn't get him to reasonably articulate his point of view.

Learn from my wasted time and cut your losses early.

>213 PartTimeBookAddict: Yes, it is frustrating to engage people that enter into conversations without good faith, a term that should be taught in school and accepted as the right basis of all conversations.

>211 Xandian97: What a great use of ChatGPT! Nice!

>211 Xandian97: Thank you.

>213 PartTimeBookAddict: I tried a while ago to have a good faith conversation with LesMis
The final straw was defending a racist/holocaust denier lol now I just link him his overly dramatic goodbye post whenever it's appropriate.

>200 Willoyd: "There are occasions when the added value makes it worthwhile (Andrew Chaikin's A Man on the Moon was an outstanding example), but all too often it just isn't."

I have to say that, IMHO, the FS non-fiction of the last ten years stands head and shoulders above what went before. I have a copy of the 2004 prospectus open in front of me and, frankly, there are some real clangers amongst the non-fiction selection. The Oxford History of England (all 12 volumes of it)? Books by Walter George Bell, Eileen Power and Frank Barlow? The Black Death by Philip Ziegler (perhaps the most turgid book I have ever read)? The Best of the Raconteurs? The Pick of Punch? The Best After-Dinner Stories?

I just don't get the argument that, just because something was written 50 years ago, it is somehow better than something published in the last 10 years. Personally, I would prefer a work of history that takes account of contemporary ideas, and is well-written by someone who is knowledgeable on the subject. I think the modern FS is delivering that in spades.

What is clear from reading the 2004 prospectus is that FS has shifted its focus away from non-fiction; back in 2004 fiction accounted for less than half of the books in print. But the FS has shifted its focus continually over the years - back in the 1940s and 1950s there was virtually no non-fiction at all.

“I question Mary Beard’s academic credentials.”

Why?

“She’s a woman.”

>217 TheEconomist: That was the Folio History of England, not the Oxford History. The only volume that appeared in both series was England 1914-1945 by A.J.P. Taylor. I found the Folio series uneven but was glad to get a number of the entries such as George Macaulay Trevelyan's England in the Seventeenth Century.

In terms of the bookmaker's art, I find any of the volumes in this series more pleasing to handle than either of my two 2026 history acquisitions from FS, even though I am well satisfied with the new books. The older volumes are more to my taste.

>211 Xandian97: Bravo

>217 TheEconomist: "I just don't get the argument that, just because something was written 50 years ago, it is somehow better than something published in the last 10 years."

And normally it isn't. It's just that there seems little point in a Folio edition of something that is a recent hardback for four times the amount for not much added value.

If any such volume were a Folio original...

>211 Xandian97: Interesting that you are do outraged that you can't find your own expression. So you rely on a bot to fire your bullets.

How very unimaginative.

And please enlighten me on the Emily Wilson comments with a link.

>222 LesMiserables: “you rely on a bot to fire your bullets”

It inspires pity, really.

>224 wcarter: Agreed. The personal attacks on members needs to stop. There is an ignore function that folks need to use to filter out posters who they are at odds with.

>221 InVitrio: And normally it isn't. It's just that there seems little point in a Folio edition of something that is a recent hardback for four times the amount for not much added value.

But... If a book was published some time ago, it will almost always be possible to buy a hardback copy on the secondary market in VG condition for less than the price of a new hardback. Following your logic, that is even more reason for FS not to publish such books.

Non-fiction has been a successful market for them according to recent interviews and they seem to strive to include 2-3 per quarterly collection, so whatever they're doing, it seems to be working. Both The Templars and Dominion, for example, are contemporary books that have completely sold out of their initial printings and are currently on back order.

>226 TheEconomist: "if a book was published some time ago, it will almost always be possible to buy a hardback copy on the secondary market in VG condition for less than the price of a new hardback."

Not always...try to find a complete set of Toynbee for instance. The value added for an historical classic is the preface and footbotes that would bring up to date or explain. Or better illustrations (Ruskin on Venice).

The biggest missed opportunity was the Gibbon in which some idiot decided the way to edit it was to take OUT the footnotes but not do any commentary. Another example of FS treatment making things worse.

And I'd bloody love the Encyclopédie, even if only extracts or the plates.

I bought copies of "Masters of the Air", "The Iliad", "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" and "Shogun" (second print).
Whilst my budget would not stretch to one of the special limited editions, I have no regrets on these three, very high production standards resulting in superb books.
"The Iliad", I pick up from my son's place tomorrow after a visit to the "GP".
I have picked up some great previous titles from FS on the second hand market, some I have read previously eg "Catch-22", "I Claudius", Claudius the God", Martin Gilberts "Holocaust" and Robert Graves "Greek Legends".
I tend to read mostly WW2 history, I am a bit of a "picky" buyer mostly hardbacks so if I am going to shell out for expensive new editions from "FS" they will have to be special and meaningful books.
The "FS" provide a good service to the buyer and they package things very well, something way above " Amazon's" best effort.

>229 James.Stewart: This very much describes my book purchasing criteria and interests. All of my folio society books are fiction, however. My non-fiction interests tend to be very academic in my late stage of life, and such books are as expensive or more than folio volumes. Thank G-d for interlibrary loan.

>217 TheEconomist:
I just don't get the argument that, just because something was written 50 years ago, it is somehow better than something published in the last 10 years.
I never said it was! If I thought so, I wouldn't have the library of 21st century non-fiction I've got (much of which I find rather more interesting than the current FS crop)! I have simply found all too often in the past few years, given the ready availability of new trade hard backs, that the FS doesn't add sufficient quality to my reading experience to justify the far greater prices they charge. Every now and again they do, but it's increasingly rare. The Chaikin was a good example: not only a book difficult to get in good quality hardback, but with significant added value in the photographs included. It's a stunning volume.

I do agree that the quality (and amount) of non-fiction in the years after 2004 showed improvement (at a price). But you then go on to say that the last 10 years stand head and shoulder higher. I'd disagree: I think it's around 2016/17 that things peaked, and that it's actually gone downhill steadily since then. Thus, in 2016, there were 19 non-fiction titles published (I don't include poetry); in 2017 there were 24. Subsequently there has been a steady decline, and last year there were just 10. They currently have just 44 non-fiction books in stock, and the range doesn't overwhelm me (especially as I'm not especially interested in ever more classical history or 20th century warfare).

BTW whilst I agree with you about the latter 3 clunkers in your list (and there were others!), our opinions of the historical books obviously differ somewhat (other than the Ziegler)!

>228 InVitrio: Not always...try to find a complete set of Toynbee for instance. The value added for an historical classic is the preface and footbotes that would bring up to date or explain. Or better illustrations (Ruskin on Venice).

I did caveat my statement with the phrase "almost always", and I accept that there may be exceptions. Toynbee is not an exception, however, because FS have yet to publish it (and I suspect that the chances of this happening in the future are vanishingly small).

I quite agree with you that the best non-fiction adds significant value - but I think nowadays this is only going to be possible with 2-volume sets. Man on the Moon, Everest, Aztecs, Anglo-Saxons, Tutankhamun are good recent examples.

I also agree with you regarding Gibbon, but don't forget that this was done by FS back in the 1980s. Whatever issues you may have with what FS are doing today, you can't blame that one on the modern FS ...

>179 LesMiserables: As soon as I began reading again, I started finding more errors in TLU. "I have never see sic anyone like you before..."

Beyond disgusted.

>233 dhowarth333: Once again, that error is in the original text, and persists at least through the 1974 seventh printing that I have access to.

It really isn't. Maybe in the UK edition. The true first is the Viking U.S. In any case, it should have been corrected.

Either way, it destroys my enthusiasm for Folio Society books, and I guess I'm no longer a devotee.

Best regards.

>235 dhowarth333: It really is. The version I checked is the Viking Press US edition from 1974 (seventh printing).

EDIT: I added a picture of the page in question as well as the indicia page to my gallery: https://www.librarything.com/gallery/member/HonorWulf

>235 dhowarth333: Byee.

>233 dhowarth333: That error is also present in the recent Suntup Edition…

Harrumph

>230 Cardboard_killer: I honestly can't remember the last time I was at a library, probably a bad thing to be honest.
Looking at their coming publication a two book set on the "Making of the Atomic Bomb", again its a fair buy £150...........
Ian MacGregor's "The Hiroshima Men" and Richard Overy's "Rain of Ruin" cover some of the same ground.
Looking on eBay.uk some excellent quality fiction from FS pops up, sometimes for less than the price of a new HB.

>236 HonorWulf: My mistake. While I've owned a few of the Viking 1sts of various printings, I currently only have the Gregg Press edition, in which this error is *not* present, despite being a reprint of the Viking. They must have corrected this error subsequent to the 7th printing. I assumed otherwise.

Station Eleven Signed Edition is now live:

https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/station-eleven-signed-edition

140 copies

^ Sold out in 5 hours, 45 minutes.

>243 HonorWulf: Not to sound like a broken record but I'm always amazed at those who purchase the signed sticker versions of the SE books at such an incredible markup from the basic SE.

It's quite literally a glued-on signed sticker on the basic SE right? Or am I missing something different with these so-called signed standard editions?

>244 Ibkay:
You are missing nothing. It is ridiculous!
£125 premium for signed Station Eleven.

>244 Ibkay: Yes, the only difference is the signed bookplate. I'm not an autograph guy, but I imagine the buyers don't really care whether the book or the bookplate was signed by the author, which has become the norm for a lot of collectibles these days. The autograph combined with the scarcity is what I'm assuming is driving demand, but I have enough quirky collecting habits of my own to question it...!

>245 wcarter: I don't understand the enthusiasm for signed copies either - for me, a signature only adds value to a book if I have obtained it in person, whereupon it becomes something that jogs the memory for that (hopefully!) positive experience when I met the author.

I have to say, however, that I really cannot get worked up about someone spending an additional £125 - by their own choice - on a signed copy. It is estimated that 1.2 billlion people in the world use tobacco, and I personally will not be criticising anyone who spends too much on a Folio Society book until I have personally met all 1.2 billion of the people who use tobacco and told them what I think of their habit.

As someone who's not in the UK or US, getting signed copies from English language writers in person is quite hard. So most of my signed books have been acquired online and I thank bookstores who make that a thing in the first place.

And yet I agree the additional cost Folio adds to these is a bit surreal. When you buy a new book signed from the bookstore it costs the same as a non-signed copy (and it's not a bookplate). But clearly, they have found a market.

>245 wcarter: Honestly, I would have felt a little bit better about it if it were a properly bound-in, beautifully designed signature page. At least that feels somewhat like a slightly "upgraded" book.

But just to glue a sticker that can literally be peeled off without further ado on a standard edition, and then proceed to mark it up by more than the book itself costs is mind boggling.

This horse is still quite dead, I see...

To be fair, why wouldn’t FS do this? These sticker-signed copies sell out quickly, so there’s demonstrably a market of people who willingly buy these books. I also don’t see them on the secondary market them much, so it’s likely not scalpers who buy the bulk of the release. Nor do these impact us (non-buyers) in any way…

>251 BorisG: You're right, it's free money for FS and the authors. People just feel very strongly about it so we keep having the same conversation about it.
Nor do these impact us (non-buyers) in any way…
I think this is an important point. There's more to be said about the direction FS is taking in what they publish or the quality levels of the books vs the pricing, that directly affects us as fans/consumers. The signature buyers are a bit of an island unto themselves.

Well I don't know if authors actually get money out of this. Not sure if readers and collectors are aware but authors often do signings for free. But undoubtedly is pure profit for FS and that's not a bad thing for anyone who appreciates them.

>253 Normandia: Authors make money on such signatures. Some make a lot of money, like those that are popular enough to have books published by FS.

>253 Normandia: I am not interested in buying the signature books, but it doesn't interfere with my ability to buy FS books, so I don't mind much. From a business perspective, the standard trope is that if people are willing to voluntarily part with their money, Folio would be negligent to not facilitate that. Unfortunately, whether it is moral to induce people to value something that has little value or do "exploit" people who do not realize their money is probably an "investment" with a negative return, is not considered a important consideration in business. I totally disagree. I think morally a business should not excuse itself by saying, "It's not up to us to influence how people spend their money. And, if we create the appearance of value and induce someone to spend money on something almost objectively frivolous, they have the potential to realize that and so, if they don't, it's not our business and their problem to deal with any consequences they incur. We just make money and don't tell people how to spend it." Illegal drug dealers can use the exact same rationale and society, as a whole, condemns them. So, I do think it's not the best thing to do. But, I do benefit from FS being financially sound and I am not FS and I think I'm far enough removed from the behavior not to have any burden to prevent it, etc. Whatever.

I think its a real stretch to compare the morality of selling luxury books with book plates to selling addictive and harmful drugs.

I also don't think these books have no added value, some titles at least those from popular authors like Robin Hobb and Susanna Clarke are selling for over retail on eBay (from quickly checking sold listings). Clearly on the secondary market there are significant numbers of people who do place value on these books — even above that of Folios markup — despite only being bookplates.

Finally I would say of the people who buy these, there are probably a lot who don't look at these as investments and simply just want the signature for their own pleasure. Not everyone lives in parts of the world with access to signing events (free or otherwise) and not all authors sell bookplates on their own.

I'm personally not a signature hunter but I don't see this as anything other than harmless. Though I agree that a full size signature page would be a lot nicer and within Folio's resources to do.

I'm not sure that objects have intrinsic value: value is assigned, and this could happen for any number of reasons. In other words, it is subjective, based on preferences, perceived utility and aesthetic appreciation. Whether or not we value a signed copy (or any other feature) of a book depends on why we buy books in the first place. Do we value them simply for the words they contain; for their quality of the materials used; for the sense of permanence provided by those high quality materials; for the enhancement of the reading experience provided by those materials and other features such as illustrations; to reinforce, represent and display qualities we perceive in ourselves and our self-identity e.g. 'I'm a person who is/likes...... (insert adjectives of choice)'; as a status symbol; as a financial investment and so on? Or a complex combination of some or all of these. Not all of these reasons require features that signify rarity or exclusivity to increase desirability and bump up the price, features such as the Folio Society colophon; the number of the printing; the designation as Limited Edition; the signature.

>255 imaginarydata: I really can't agree with you. The value that individual grown-ups put to an artist's signature is purely subjective. They don't need protection from themselves for spending what someone else deems to be an exorbitant price. I don't think your drugdealer comparison is fair

>254 Cardboard_killer: Mind if I ask you for a source here? Licensing special press books is a process between the publishers and special editions do not necessarily mean the author is getting any extra % off it. Steven Erikson, for example, mentioned that he got nothing out of Subterranean Press' Malazan.

When they visit regular bookstores for signing they also don't charge anything, it's why regular signed books do not cost extra. FS is the exception in that regard, so I definitely hope they pay something for it, but this is the opposite of what generally happens in the industry.

>255 imaginarydata: I will echo what >256 zorg2099: says:

'Finally I would say of the people who buy these, there are probably a lot who don't look at these as investments and simply just want the signature for their own pleasure.'

Indeed.

I haven't been collecting these signed editions but I did make an exception for Ladies of Grace. Not as an investment or to resell at a profit but simply because I admire the author and artist and am unlikely to get to meet them in person. That gives it value to me personally. (Purely subjective, of course.)

I certainly don't think there's anything immoral about these editions and am happy for those others who do get something from them to enjoy their hobby.

I agree with most here as well, I don't believe you can compare this with morally dubious marketing, even less with an addictive product like drugs. I doubt FS has many buyers who are young and financially illiterate; any adult who is capable of finding their online store is also capable of searching prices and seeing what the regular version of the book costs and how common or uncommon it is for the author to sign books.

Susanna Clarke for example will release a short story later this year and you can buy a copy of it signed on Waterstones for £10.99.

>261 Normandia: 'Susanna Clarke for example will release a short story later this year and you can buy a copy of it signed on Waterstones for £10.99.'

It did also help that it was a beautiful Folio production rather than a standard trade edition. I've got signed Philip Pullman volumes via Waterstones and they're not that special.

Cheap, though.

Of course! that is where our preferences apply in our decision-making. Bookplates can be special, I once had one sent to me by mail after correspondence with the author, it was a lovely experience. I don't find that they have appeal in the FS form so I'll often prefer a book directly signed even if it's not a special edition.

So, anyway, only goes to show how entirely subjective the value of a signature is, and why we can't really blame them if their sales of it are working.

>255 imaginarydata: You read books, do you?

>255 imaginarydata: Of course I do.

I guess the confusion, which is justified, is that I don't have a particularly bad view of drug dealing. I think drug dealing can be exploitative, but I don't think selling drugs is immoral. I think exploiting people's weakness and ignorance of "value" is immoral and I was commenting on the discussion about the price paid for the signatures. In general, my view is that exploitation by any business is immoral and I understand it's hard to define exploitation. I thought drug dealing would be an easily understandable example of exploitation, but I don't think using drugs personally is immoral and I guess I forgot other people might view that differently. I think financial literacy is debatable, however. I would say 99% of people are financially illiterate and 49% of people are above average intelligence, so intelligence has nothing to do with financial literacy. And education in one domain doesn't imply education in another.

As the Wilde says in Dorian Gray, "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing." I think the sellers of products have a better idea than the purchaser of what something costs and the mark-up that is profit. Standard economic theory says that market are rational and ultimately allocates resources efficiently. Markets are not rational and neither are people. I guess my point was that marking up a signature 100% is as immoral as selling drugs at a 100% markup. Selling the signature or selling the drugs I do not view as immoral. I understand my language can be imprecise and incomplete, but I am trying not to stray from discussing books. I do understand the dilemma that in a world where everyone tries to markup 100% it's rational for everyone to try to markup 100%. While creating economic activity through art is not zero sum, creating economic activity through resources are. At some point they intersect.

So, selling signatures is not immoral. Selling signatures at a price on the reasoning, "We'll just try to charge the highest people will pay," is. Many businesses follow the "highest people will pay" logic. The world works that way.
It doesn't have to.
If FS does it, I admit I benefit and so am not unhappy about that. I guess the problem with the "highest people will pay" logic is that, nowadays, it does send a signal to many people that an object has "value" and that "value" is the price people pay. People assume, "If it wasn't that valuable, why would people pay it?" That assumption is wrong. Value is generally "the price people will pay for something." However, the basic goal of economics is "the proper allocation of finite resources". Prices don't seem to be doing a good job.

>259 Normandia: Wikipedia is your friend. What authors under contract are royalties for books sold. How often and when they have to sign books is part of the contract they sign with a publisher. Unknown/poorly selling authors have little or no power to dictate terms. Famous authors with established names and brands have a lot of power to dictate terms.

Common sense should take over here. Would you sign a contract that says in 20 years when your novel is republished you would still be forced to spend time signing cards for which you would receive no money? Maybe for an author without a name, but do you seriously think Stephen King signed away all that money in the 1980s when his name commanded extra hundreds of thousands of books sold?

"How often and when they have to sign books is part of the contract they sign with a publisher." That's a wild misconception to have, the Wiki page does not mention this because signings being contractual is not a thing, and I see the rest of your opinion comes from your common sense (not a source, I'm afraid.)

As a minor author I did numerous signings in bookshops free of charge to promote sales. Not compulsory but at request of either publisher or bookshop. Also received mail from readers which I replied to without a fee.

>267 Normandia: Truly you must be a very good employee to give away your labor for free. The contract is what you are required to provide; if it isn't in the contract, you don't have to provide it. Show me an author's contract that says the publisher has the right to require you to sign books/cards for assigned rights' owners years or decades after publication.

So, what is your source that FS author signers receive no money? Cause it ain't even as realistic as common sense.

>268 wcarter: Exactly. You get more sales of your book by doing it, and potentially more sales for later publications. And since it wasn't part of your agreement with the publisher, you don't have to do it.

If FS republished one of your books and wanted you to sign them for free, after which they were going to charge an $80 premium for those books, would you do it for free (aside from the royalties sold per book)? Would any famous author do such a thing?

>259 Normandia: for traditionally published authors, signings are commonly part of publicity obligations or a marketing plan in the publishing agreement.

For example see the section on publicity in the society of authors guide to publishing contracts:

https://societyofauthors.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Guide-to-Publishing-Cont...

Doesn't mean these sorts of things are all 100 percent obligations but authors are also not engaging in what is honestly often tiresome labor out of pure altruism or love of fans, especially if they are at the level of success attained by currently active authors published by FS.

Well, I just meant to address the book signing premium. I think the addition of the signing for the authors and then taking on an exorbitant price is a bit off. Signing autographs is, I think, primarily for fans, but I think making the "cost" of fan ownership for a signature 125 pounds is a not great. It makes the fan part only for those that in addition to being financially able to buy a book for 60 pounds they also have to be able to afford 125 pounds. Charging 60 pounds for a book with the cost FS incurs for production seems fair, even though I don't know the markup. Charging 125 pounds for a signature seems exclusionary and exploitative. I am pretty confident the members of this forum are well educated and, hopefully, are prepared to get $0 in return for their books. If you can resell a book and get a great price, that's great. However, I am guessing, based on anecdotal evidence of my educated family and friends, a lot of people think that because something is "collectible" it has some kind of mysterious value. If you associate the value of an object with a produced product of great materials that take skill to assemble, then I would pay an appropriate price for that. But when a seller sets a price, it is an implicit advertisement that the seller believes that the object is worth the price. If you were participating in a market like eBay, I think people would easier understand how the value is created based on competing bids among presumable fans. However, FS is not eBay and I don't know that every purchaser understands that the 125 pound premium is just something out of thin air and immediately after purchase has high likelihood of having $0 value. Cars depreciate over time the minute they leave the lot. But they still retain some value after you drive off the lot. If I were to guess what the depreciation of a signature of a contemporary author is I would say that it is instantly $0. I know Stephen King memorabilia commands high premiums. I do not know that a lot of people understand that it is a Stephen King phenomenon and that it doesn't transfer to any author signature. FS pricing a signature at 125 pounds implicitly values the signature as 125 pounds. Because if FS asked you for 125 pounds and gave you something worthless in return, I think people would have a problem with that. I don't think that when people see FS they think "buyer beware."

As an aside, I don't mean to get political. But a lot of politicians in the US use the stock phrase, "The American people are smarter than this" or something along those lines. And when I hear that, I think, "apparently not." And it is disheartening to believe that, but I think the evidence is pretty clear. Similarly, FS is not a large publisher, though it is kind of sui generis and straddles a large gap between Everyman's Library and fine presses. Especially with the slate of sci-fi/fantasy and the direction the book designs have taken, which I am not unhappy about (for the sci-fi/fantasy, the design of the books is a bit more questionable), I don't think FS is targeting only sophisticated readers. The assumption that all readers are sophisticated and educated is also, unfortunately, probably wrong. I get the higher price for FS books, I get the price of the LE. The 125 pounds, which is more than double the cost of the book, is just a bridge too far and I hope it does not do any reputational damage to FS. Reputation seems to be out of vogue and people have a large ego-integrity related drive to rationalize spending unwisely. I don't think FS should wade into waters that seem purely driven by pecuniary interest. The books provide works of literature crafted with certain materials in a certain way and other extras and presumably FS wants to promote the salubrious benefits of reading in addition to making a profit selling books. The signature thing just seem too "low-brow" consumerism. Emily St. John Mandel will hopefully be able to sign many signatures for many years and will produce greater works of art. Is FS going to forbear further signature "drops" or can they presumably offer a signature addition for a future work? Publishing a future great work makes sense and has a small connection to previous sales of books. Even reprints are expected for SEs. But the signatures? More signatures necessarily dilutes any perceived value of previous signatures. I do not understand the value of signatures, but I am not against people acquiring them if they choose to do so. I just am not in favor of charging 125 pounds for a signature and profiting off it. If FS wants to organize a book signing with an author and encourage attendees to purchase a FS copy when they show up to get the signature, then great. The connection between a fan and the author seems more compelling and specifically said encourage the purchase of a FS book, not forced purchases. If not everyone buys a FS books but waits in line for two hours to get a napkin signed, they should be allowed to do that. Using signings as marketing tools are not inherently suspect. But I don't know that a 125 pound signature functions as an advertisement for a 60 pound book.

>272 imaginarydata: That is one of the longest posts I've ever read but is completely unsupported by evidence. You have no idea what FS are paying the author / artist for the signatures or any other costs involved. FS have turned their business around these last few years by a much more savvy approach. They were losing money under the previous membership model and risked bankruptcy. Publishing upmarket books is not risk free. Buyers are grownups who make subjective judgements about the 'value' of signatures. Trying to introduce one's own code of morality into the rights and wrongs of FS's business strategy is pointless

>273 RavenSeeker: yeah I am really not understanding why there is even a discussion to be had here. If someone wants to pay a premium for a signature then that is their business. It’s not for any of us to say whether it has no value to that person. For Folio it’s an obviously good business decision considering how quickly those editions sell out. This really is not very complicated.

>274 Geo135: Yeah, not letting these folks into my study... they'd have an aneurysm over the things I've spent money on over the years.

>273 RavenSeeker: “unsupported by evidence”: their username checks out in that case lol

I agree it’s silly to draw the line here in a market that capitalizes on collectibles, FOMO, limited editions, premium materials, etc. We’re not talking about groceries, rent, or energy costs. Just don’t buy it. If they got rid of UNsigned editions and I was forced to pay more for a signature I didn’t care about, that would be different.

>275 HonorWulf: Hah! You are not alone!

>277 Noel_G: Hah, indeed! You're not the only ones!

Well, to each his own. I'll just add that I never said anything about FS paying the authors because I don't know anything about that. The cost I mention is obviously for production of the book and I don't think anyone would assume paying the author for a signature is part of that. And I didn't include evidence because my argument is not based on evidence. It's more a philosophical/moral argument. Plato didn't really cite any evidence in The Republic, etc. In the one case I cited some evidence I specifically labeled it anecdotal.

A lot of these posts are based on individual opinion. I don't think I ever suggested anything was factually true. I was hypothesizing. My argument is clearly opinion. I think I clearly distinguish between what I consider a fact and what I think. The only real facts are just self evident: The actual book is 60 pounds. FS charged 125 pounds for the signature.

>276 PJ-Reads:

‘If they got rid of UNsigned editions and I was forced to pay more for a signature I didn’t care about, that would be different.‘

So it is only bad if their product choices personally affect you? Feels a bit arbitrary.

My personal feeling is that it comes over as ‘how much do we feel our customers are suckers, and how much can we squeeze them?’ It makes me feel less positively about Folio, as I think they view their customers as mugs.

All that said, it isn’t really why I stopped buying Folios. That’s just a price/value decision. They got too expensive for me, being a ROW customer.

>280 stubedoo: the argument here is that the presence of an additional product which doesn’t interest me (or you) is less of an issue than the removal of a product which does interest us.

Sure, it doesn’t make me feel good when I see businesses employing extractive tactics but again we’re talking about luxury goods here, not necessities. If someone with more money than me wants to buy something that I think is uninteresting, how does that affect me? If anything the extra money FS makes on the signed editions may subsidize other parts of their business (this is an unfounded theory, obviously).

I think your argument could be made for FS limited editions too. Sure, there is a clear upgrade in materials and therefore I find them more interesting/valuable, but the point still exists that the price is extractive and not really representative of real material value. But such is the world of luxury goods.

I think the main argument I was making was that just because you can make money doing something doesn't mean you should. The prevalent attitude that "if I can make money doing something and it's not illegal then it's ok and if I can charge an obscene amount of money that's great" is destructive.

Suntup, etc., all include signatures in books and I don't feel like I'm paying for the signature and I feel like they are included because artists are signing their art. Not just the author is included and the signatures are not conditioned on paying money just for the signature. There is no tier where you can get the exact same product with a signature for twice the value of the book. Imagine if Suntup, etc. did that! I think it's great the FS included the signature of the illustrator and introducer to the LE Moby Dick. Hopefully, if Melville was alive they would have still included the other two.

If FS wanted to use the signatures to advertise for the books they could just have the signed books and make you buy the books in order to get the signature like most book signings. They specifically are pricing a signature as a little more than twice the value of the whole book. They are clearly selling the signatures. I don't know what their profit margin on the signatures is and it doesn't matter to the argument. FS should sell books and they should try to make money doing that. If they stray a little too far I think they should be called out.

Despite possibly not delineating my argument succinctly because I wasn't thinking too hard about it, I think it's a strong argument. The latching on to somewhat imprecise language to attack my whole argument is something I would expect on X but not here. Just like I expect FS to behave differently than a regular business because they are not structured as a regular business and because they publish books and so supposedly they also read, I would have a expected more thoughtful responses.

>282 imaginarydata: Suntup sells signed art prints for $100 to $300 a pop that probably cost them pennies on the dollar. Good for them if it creates a happy customer and keeps the lights on.

>282 imaginarydata: I'm sorry we've disappointed you with our ill thought out responses

>283 HonorWulf:

It would depend on the quality of the art print whether or not it's cheap. Gliclée prints, for example, are a luxury product that you definitely don't get cheap elsewhere, signed or not. The paper is another factor (archival, cotton etc.). Of course they make money with these, but it's safe to say they can't be produced as cheaply as you might think.

I grew up very very poor. The fact that we live in a world where this conversation exists at all, with this level of seriousness, is the only relevant insight that can be gleaned from these posts. The content is all simply self-indulgent BS, the stakes are so so so low . . . move on.

>285 SF-72: My guess is their wholesale price is between $10 and $35 based on the size. Retail can be twice that.

>282 imaginarydata: You appear to be arguing that selling drugs is not immoral (post number 265), but that selling signatures is unacceptable.

I think that combination is going to be quite a minority view.

>286 BreakBeatDJ: I think everyone on this forum understands that we talk mightily about things of little import. And discussions actually turn out to be pretty informative.

>288 TheEconomist: I object to a signature being worth twice the price of the book. If FS charged 40 pounds it would be possibly more understandable. While I say selling drugs is not inherently immoral, I would also recognize limits, etc. regarding their sale. Selling signatures is not inherently immoral, I guess. I just think FS is taking things a bit far. I always imagined that they charged a small increase for a signature for maybe some ancillary expenses, etc. Twice the price of a the book being signed is a bit much and I think ruins the spirit of the whole thing. As mentioned, I appreciate when Suntup, etc., has signatures because I feel like artists are signing art. FS is reserving the signatures for exactly identical products except for the signature and charging an exorbitant amount. I don't think you can credibly argue it's in service of fans at these prices. That was my point. And the possible problem that FS might have, is that if consumers start to believe that such thinking pervades all their decisions they could suffer significant erosion of trust. Shipping prices have gone up since I first started ordering in 2009. However, I have never actually checked to verify that FS isn't just raising prices for the lolz. I've offered hypotheses on why people would pay such a premium, e.g., perceived value. FS has raised their prices and I haven't really thought that they were trying to just extract money from me. I know they expect a profit. However, if they started charging $1,000 for an SE Iliad I wouldn't buy it. At some point things get absurd. On Amazon sometimes Amazon sells a new book for $50 and sometimes there is someone who sells the exact same book for $800. I assume the thinking is that they couldn't care to actually sell the book, but if someone were foolish enough to make a mistake and not know about Amazon's equivalent $50 offer and still willingly paid $800, the seller would think that's a fair sale. I don't. To the extent I buy FS books, they provide a product I want and charge for cost of production and add SOME for profit. Reasonable people can disagree on unreasonable. They weren't charging 125 pounds for a book that's 60 pounds and so the cost of signature would be 65 pounds. They were charging 185 pounds. I think that's high enough to call motives, etc., into question. And sure, this line of thinking can be expanded to the way prices in the economy are decided in general. Obviously some businesses do seem to just charge obscene prices. To the extent FS purchases are discretionary, I guess, who cares? I don't know that there is another business comparable to FS. I wouldn't want them to tarnish it by taking prices too far because ultimately that could hurt them down the road. Obviously I wouldn't pay 125 pounds for a signature and so I don't. But that doesn't stop me from noticing that they did actually do that. We're all fans of FS here. I want them to succeed. But if they continue to expand whatever pricing decisions they used to justify the price of the signature, they could get into trouble. To the extent FS is maybe "luxury", that still doesn't mean that there business model supports totally untethered pricing. In my opinion.

>289 imaginarydata: From a practical standpoint, I would argue that the market is currently supporting the prices being charged for signatures. Worth and value are such subjectively sticky valuations. I do not have a particularly strong opinion one way or the other regarding whether those prices are justified. Your points are certainly reasonable. As a comparison, the sports card market often places enormous premiums on an athlete’s signature. Two otherwise identical cards—one signed and one unsigned—can differ dramatically in value. Collectors have long been willing to pay those premiums, and the market continues to sustain them. Ultimately, consumers vote with their dollars (or pounds), and companies tend to respond accordingly through their pricing.

>286 BreakBeatDJ:

That attitude is essentially "One shouldn't have an opinion on anything unless it is about something (I consider to be) of Earth-shattering import". I've always considered that a really silly take. People have strong opinions about many, many things -- and very few of them are actually associated with essentials, such as food, shelter or basic needs. If a person has their basic needs met, it is fairly obvious they will have opinions about things that aren't basic needs. I mean, that is pretty common-sense psychology.

For anyone interested and having just received the replacement, The Last Unicorn possesses different paper in its first and second printings.

First pr.: Arena Natural Rough, ivory, page-block thickness ~22.0mm

Second pr.: Abbey Pure Rough, creamier, page-block thickness ~23.5mm

Both slipcase widths appear to be ~34.0mm, hence the first printing being more smoothly removed from and returned into the slipcase.