Homer's Iliad/Odyssey

I am considering purchasing this pair from FS but am curious if anyone can touch briefly on the quality level? Am I right, in interpreting the information on the web site, that there are only eight illustrations? One hesitation on my part is I have a Franklin Library version of Odyssey (very nice genuine leather) and am thinking I should continue the hunt down their Iliad instead of purchasing these.

I am also considering 'Legends of Rome' and 'Legends of the Grail'. Any thoughts/opinions on these? How good are the "elegant modernisations" they reference in their web copy?

I haven't actually read Legends of the Grail yet, but I do own it and it is a very, very beautiful book.

The Folio Iliad and Odyssey are somewhat sparsely illustrated, I suppose, and the illustrations themselves may not be to everyone's taste. They are in the style of the old Grek vase paintings, and I like them a lot, myself.

But aside from the beautiful quality of the printing, the real glory of these books is the translations; Robert Fagles' translations are absolutely my favorite verse translations of both works, surpassing in readability and poetry the Lattimore Iliad and the Fitzgerald Odyssey which had been my previous favorites. I thus would say they are reader's editions more than bibliophile's editions.

If you like the style of leather binding and gilt page edges, and if the illustrations in the Franklin Library are to your taste, I would recommend sticking with the Franklin Iliad, which can probably be found at a lower price. The Fitzgerald translations they used are, after all very fine.

Also, you should beware of editions of the Folio Odyssey in the used book market--there is an extensive thread here about the green dye used in the binding, which was very tacky to the touch and which actually came off on the inside of the slipcase. If you buy them new from Folio, they should be fine as the subsequent editions corrected that flaw.

In my opinion this is better than the folio set (especially once price is considered):

http://www.amazon.com/Odyssey-Iliad-boxed-Penguin-Classics/dp/0670779644

I went ahead an ordered both of them from Folio this past Friday.

The Viking editions linked in #4 above look very nice. I like the contrast of the black and white dust covers. I wonder about the quality of the binding, paper, etc?

I own the Viking edition of both The Iliad and The Odyssey. I didn't buy them as a boxed set, and the Amazon page says that the boxed set books are paperback! But I'd guess that's a mistake. They look just like the hardback books I've got.

They're nice, but not EXTRA nice books. No illustrations, except for endpapers, and a few maps.

The binding is glued, not sewn. There's a ribbon in each book, which I love. The tops of the pages are dyed red. The pages are as thick as any hardcover book, but not FS thick.

I'm not sure how to describe it, but the pages aren't cut evenly in front. They're sort of rough cut, which is I style I really like. It's more noticeable in The Odyssey.

I did love the translations, which are the same as the FS edition, and based on them I bought (but haven't yet read), the Fagles translation of The Aeneid.

The boxed set I have is hardback.

#6 - deckle edged, according to the answer I got when I asked the very same question here a while back :D