Recent acquistions

A nearby library had its collectible booksale last weekend, and I walked away with a complete Heritage Pudd'nhead Wilson (1974), with art by John Groth. Some of the front pages have a slight bending on the bottom corner, but it's nothing too bad. I also picked up a Revolt of the Angels (1953) with art by Pierre Watrin. It's missing the slipcase and is horribly spine-faded, but it came with an Alice in Wonderland sandglass on top of its own, and I'm curious in France's work, so I shrugged it off. Both cost me $8 together.

So, what have you gotten recently?

How odd--I recently bought a copy of the Heritage Press Salome, a magnificent book and on a par with the LEC books, and in addition to the Salome Sandglass, it also had an Alice in Wonderland Sandglass enclosed!

The Salome was a gift for a friend, as I already have a copy, and I also bought for a gift, the LEC Diary of a Country Priest which was, I believe, the last LEC illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg. A great book and very well done for a later LEC.

For myself, I bought a first edition Heritage A Shropshire Lad with the embossed leather binding and a fold-out illustration signed by Edward Wilson, a "mint" copy of the Heritage Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire--if it is mint, it will replace my well-read copy--a Heritage Press edition of The Living Talmud, and a full leather-bound Heritage Press editions of Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination, which I am very curious about, as I hadn't thought Heritage Press had ever issued an edition with this binding (although I am aware they made small runs of special leather-bound editions for certain titles for customers like Illinois Gear and Machine who gave them as gifts--what a great company it must have been!!!)

This weekend I visited Ophelia Books in the Fremont district of Seattle. I ran across the Heritage Les Miserables in two volumes. I thought about getting it (to keep me from considering the Folio Society LE) as it is one of the titles on my "to be read" list that I don't have a copy of. Interesting, the first volume (blue?) had significant fading to the spine while the second volume had virtually none. I can't imagine they were not stored next to each other all their lives so I suspect the dyes reacted diffently. I passed it up for some OOP Folio Society titles.

Django - How strange, indeed. I believe that I've seen another HP at the library that has it, but it may have been Revolt of the Angels, and I just can't remember that it was that. XD

Jveezer - I have the Heritage Les Miserables in that two volume set. The first volume I have is red, but is faded badly as well. The blue second volume is very bright.

I also have the Heritage 2 volume Les Miz--and both volumes are bright and pristine. This makes an excellent case for the fact the dies react differently. Further proof: the first Heritage Two Years Before the Mast--not the later one with the illustrations by Mueller--had a gorgeous blue binding with a golden ship silhouetted by a rising/setting sun on the cover and nautical motifs on the spine--one of the most beautiful designs they ever produced. I bought over 5 copies of this edition before I found one where the spine had not faded to a very pale lavender--though the covers on all remained a dark navy blue. Even the copy I finally settled on has fading of the spine--something about those early blue dyes.

Hm, interesting. I guess I should be glad my blue Les Miz is the one that's bright.

Here's what I got when I was in Monterey (all Heritage, dates are by the copyright page inside):

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, art by William Blake, 1944, Complete.
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray, art by Agnes Miller Parker, 1951, Complete.
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe, art by William Sharp, 1941, Complete.
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym by Edgar Allan Poe, art by Rene Clarke, 1930, Complete, spine darkened.

I also got a really cool version of Penguin Island by Anatole France, with art by Frank Pape.

Nice haul! All of these are gems--especially Gray's Elegy and Penguin Island. I don't understand the relative lack of recognition for France. Heritage brought out many of his major works in wonderful editions, but he seems relatively neglected these days among English-speakin g readers. (I'm not sure if he is as neglected in France.)

Aye, France is ignored in the English world these days. Shame, really. Just to clarify, my Penguin Island was not a Heritage or LEC. I notice that I failed to note that.

Since I last posted, I've gathered up several HC titles - alas, I can't remember all of them at the moment (at work). I do know I picked up Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer and Ralph Waldo Emerson's Essays (which was the Centennial Edition) for around $12 for both, both complete with tiny problems (SStC has a stain that bled through a few pages I didn't spot right off, and Emerson is saddled with a bookplate), but I'm pleased with them. I recall buying Anthony Trollope's The Warden minus slipcase from my local shop for Christmas, too.

I'm hoping to pick up some more on Tuesday.

Got Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey and Walter Scott's Waverly last week, both complete, NY editions with a few small issues, but I've not seen either of them before, and they were both very nice, so I bit the bullet. None on my library booksale travels today, alas.

The Wilder is one of my favorites! I love Charlot's illustrations, and I wish he had done more books for the Macy companies. He spent many years in Hawaii, and it would have been great if he would have illustrated a book with a South Seas theme--perhaps a book of Maugham's short stories.

I just picked up a copy of the Secret Sharer for 65 bucks with shipping! Very excited

That's a great price! Was this on eBay?

Indeed it was. I have seen it go for 80 or so on ebay usually, so I thought 60 was a pretty good steal.

That's less than half of what my wife paid for it. Nice pickup.

12>

Yes, the illustrations are indeed fascinating and fitting. I also love the cover (I have the Heritage Press NY run) - very striking.

I am dying to buy another LEC book. It's been quite a while since I got Moll Flanders at Moe's in Berkeley.

I have found one of the Heritage Press titles I had been DYING to get - Leaves of Grass! It's far more incredible than I had dreamed, with all of the poems Whitman had written, and with Rockwell Kent illustrations! And it's a gorgeous book, too. It lacked the slipcase and the Sandglass, but I was willing to overlook that for the mere fact that I LOVE Leaves of Grass. ^_^

All the Rockwell Kent fans of Moby Dick over on the Folio Society Devotees group should see the Leaves of Grass Heritage edition. In my mind he far surpassed the Melville illustrations.

That sounds good. As a Whitman fan, I will keep an eye out for that one.

pm11, you might also be interested in tracking down his illustrated version of the Canterbury Tales--not a Heritage Press or LEC book.

To be honest, as a young English student, I struggled with Canterbury Tales. I guess it's about time to try it again.

I picked up a nicer copy of the HP 1939 Walden today for $3. The one I had before was a freebie my boss gave me, but it lacked the Sandglass and pretty much lost its lettering on the spine. This one is in much better condition, and had the Sandglass, so I happily picked it up. I really like the binding on this one - very appropriate.

>23 WildcatJF:

The entire production is beholden to the spirit of the book--spare, simple, basic. It surprised me when the Folio Society brought out their large and flossy edition (silk and quarter-leather binding?). One thing that was always so characteristic of the Macy editions was the appropriateness of the design to the book itself.

I've gotten a few long-time wish list books recently. I bought Our Town for like 50 bucks, Dead Sea Scrolls for 60, the 1931 Brothers Karamazov in near fine condition for 75, Plutarch's Lives 8-volume set for 75, and an 1931 Odyssey in much better condition than the one I currently have.

Great prices, chase! May I ask where you found them? Also, did they all have slipcases? Monthly Letters? How was the Plutarch? My copies had never been read, but the glassine seems to have slightly discolored the blue bindings, causing faint brown stains that are not really foxing except in areas where the glassine had been torn

Great prices, chase! May I ask where you found them? Also, did they all have slipcases? Monthly Letters? How was the Plutarch? My copies had never been read, but the glassine seems to have slightly discolored the blue bindings, causing faint brown stains that are not really foxing except in areas where the glassine had been torn

I'm reading a new purchase-Shakespeare:A Review and a Preview- and it is delightful. Made as a preface for the 1939 Shakespeare editions, it comprises several essays about the production and Mr. Shakespeare, I really enjoy Mr. Macy's enthusiasm, and it has 4 sample plates of the illustrations, the one by Arthur Rackham for A Midsummers' Night Dream can be seen on the thread Current Trade Fodder on Folio Devotees, and I really like the wood-engraving by Agnes Miller Parker, with whose work I am unfamiliar. All in all, a very nice slender folio with the original order form enclosed, so now I can order the 37 volume set for $166-Yeah!

FYI: A set of 37 volume LEC Shakespeare just sold on eBay for $573 USD.

>28 olepuppy:
Where is that Time Machine Wells wrote about?

>29 jveezer:
A great price--did the listing say anything about condition?

>29 jveezer: That seems to be a good price, condition notwithstanding, individual edition prices in nice condition can be much higher, tho I still have not gotten on ebay to see theirs'. Would love to see all the different artists work.

>30 Django6924: Really- I wonder if the zipcodeless, prepaid envelope and order reached LEC in New York would they honor my check?

Don't know if this link will work (now that it's ended) to see the pics and descriptions:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360255269614&ssPageNa...

Condition: Light wear to boards. Covers slightly foxed, which is quite normal with this set, esp on the spines. Some offsetting to endpapers. Texts clean. Spines tight. Very good.

Looked good to me and I was very tempted to throw in a bid once I made sure the Rackham Midsummers Night's Dream was in there. I thought it would go much higher but still went high enough to keep me from bidding.

Django: All have slipcases. Odyssey and . The Plutarch books themselves are in Fine condition with none of that browning (I would think the glassines would prevent that!), while one of the 2 slipcases has a little bit of edgewear but still structurally intact and I would grade very good. Odyssey and Our Town have the newsletters. All in all, I'm very pleased, especially with the Brothers because that is a hard set to come by in good condition.
Oh, and I came by them just by doing some good bargain shopping online.

>32 jveezer: Yes, the photos come up fine, jveezer, thanks, pretty neat to see the several styles of illustration together, Robert Gibbings' Othello looks sharp.

One reason I bought the ...Preview was for the Rackham illustration. And what a great group of illustrators to be working on the same project, I can see why Mr Macy was so pumped. I'll probably have to be satisfied with picking up the odd volume now and again.

I just picked up the Heritage Press edition of Main Street with the Grant Wood illustrations. The LEC is currently out of my price range (at least until my youngest graduates from college). But I have to say the Heritage Press is fantastic. The book was in As New condition. The illustrations are amazing, and I really like the book design with its colored paper. And it was under $10 - even better.

I also picked up a very nice edition of Salome with the Valenti Angelo illuminations - and a somewhat disappointing condition version of the red leather special edition of Song of Songs. The spine was described as sunned, but it was sunned to the point of being brown. I will keep it, though, and keep looking for a better edition.

pm11, that red leather Song of Songs is very, very rare to find in pristine condition. I paid more for mine than I have for any Heritage Press book I have ever bought, and I would only rate it as Very Good+

I totally agree with you about Main Street. Woods' illustrations seem perfect to me--it's one of the best-illustrated books I've ever seen.

After about three weeks of will I/won't I, I've just "pulled the trigger" on Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire from an eBay UK seller. I should receive it early next week.

>37 HuxleyTheCat:
Nice, LEC how much was the costly affair?

£80 inclusive of p&p

Decline and Fall arrived this morning and I have just opened the parcel up - weight-training required as this is one heavy set!

The set is absolutely as described, so no nasty surprises or unpleasant odours. Internally the books are pristine. They have a smallish book plate in each volume and the only external wear is rubbing to the tops of the spines of vols I and VII. The slipcase is slightly grubby and has a small split but is very sound.

So, I am very pleased with the purchase which I realise (having checked abebooks) was something of a bargain. I decided that I was meant to own it as it was listed for two ten day auctions on ebay.co.uk without a bid. Book collectors in the UK don't seem to have yet caught the LEC bug.

Congratulations Huxley! I was really tempted to bid on that set myself for that price, which is much less than I have ever seen it here in the States.

I honestly don't understand the lack of interest in these books in the UK. But just take advantae of it while you can--if I ever get around to writing my book on Macy and the LEC things may just change!

Thanks Django - I'm looking forward to having a good exploration of the set when I get it home tonight as I have only managed a quick condition check thus far. The first thing that struck me though was (once again) the quality of the paper in these LEC vols - absolutely beautiful.

Hold off from writing that book for a while yet, I'm enjoying the lack of competition!

Gotten two Heritage Press books since I last posted:
Billy Budd and Benito Cereno by Herman Melville, and Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. Both have slipcases, Jude has a Sandglass.

Arrived today, a copy of The Travels of Lemuel Gulliver, LEC publication no. 1 - I feel like a proper LEC collector now.

>43 WildcatJF:
The Melville book is great--beautiful design, atmospheric illustrations, great literature: all hallmarks of what made Macy publications so great. The Hardy books are also wonderfully designed with superb illustrations, but reading Jude the Obscure makes me either want to get blind drunk, cut my throat, or both (probably in that order).

>44 HuxleyTheCat:

I'm very pleased about your Swift acquisition. As the very first book published by the LEC, I agree it's an essential acquisition for the serious collector; I never did feel right until I finally found a Mint copy.

> 45 Well I wouldn't say that mine is mint, but I am pleased with it for the price I paid.

Interestingly there was a book-plate laid in at the rear: 'Fleta and Norris Wright' - 'their library' above and below an etching of a rather beautiful mansion of the antebellum type, such as can be found in the Garden District of New Orleans, but with mountains in the background - I bought the book from a seller in Zurich. Also there was a slip of paper with what looks like a transcript of a catalogue card, indicating that the book was received on the 23 October 1929.

> 43 The HP/LEC editions of Hardy's novels look really nice. Agnes Miller Parker's engravings seem like a perfect fit.

I have yet to procure either of the Gulliver books. I too have found that publication #1 often has significant condition issues that prevent me from pulling the trigger, and the two volume set is far too expensive on the retail market and hardly comes up for auction.

> 47 The condition of mine isn't too bad, just a bit of rubbing on the spine and the slipcase is missing. Neither of those things is going to prevent me from enjoying reading it.

For those who may be interested, a distant relative of my wife called me when she found out I was a bibliophile. Her father, who passed away 6 years ago, had a large library she is interested in selling. It includes 20--30 Imprint Society titles, and 60--80 LEC books--mostly from the 40s and early 50s. There are some highly desirable titles--The Compleat Angler, The Voyage of HMS Beagle, Travels in Arabia Deserta, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and many, many more. There are also a number of Heritage Press books from the same period.

I'll be checking out the condition of the books the first weekend in August, and if anyone is interested, I'll try to post a complete list with my condition evaluations.

Wow, you are really lucky.

There are definitely TWO things in my life I will never experience, period!

1. A distant relative leaving leaving books to me.
2. Inheriting loads of money from a rich uncle/relative

I am the only book-lover with a substantial higher university education in my family domain.

Look forward to seeing your report, Django!

Me too! My ears are perked. I sympathize ironjaw. I only had one cousin who loved books. He wandered off to a commune in Colorado 40 years ago. The last I heard of him he was sailing around the world with the commune folk. Who knows what happened to the books.

>52 varielle:

Thank you varielle. Whilst my own unfortunate circumstances leave me in such a position, I tend to make it so that at least my 2.5 year old niece has the pleasure of literature in her upbringing and enjoys the virtues that I lacked.

The final book of my mini-splurge on LECs (prompted by failing to win the 6-vol War and Peace on eBay) arrived today - The Travels of Marco Polo. I'm very pleased with it, and love the Lapshin illustrations.

It is the second book (both LEC) that I have bought from The Strand Book Store in NY (via abe) and I have been impressed with them on both occasions. Their description, communication and packaging have been faultless, and how they managed to get this set to me in the UK, courier-delivered, for less than £5 is an absolute mystery.

>54 HuxleyTheCat:

Oh, Huxley, you bought from them too! I can only second your opinion - they're among the best booksellers I had business with.

I've inquired about their shipping methods and got the following reply:

We use an international service called Vista Post. They are not an actual courier service, but more of a coordinator who use various other couriers to move the packages around the world. This is why our international shipping, while very inexpensive, can be very slow (up to 6 weeks). reply>

I've tried convincing other, costly-shipping, booksellers to use this service too, but hadn't even had a single success up to now.

> 55 They (Strand) have been listing a lot of LECs in the last couple of weeks or so and the prices are at the lower end of the abe spectrum, so combined with the low shipping charges, they are a great option for those of us on the Eastern side of the Atlantic.

I tried emailing Vista Post to enquire about aggregated shipping from the US to the UK but didn't get a response. Maybe they don't deal with individuals, only businesses, or maybe my request for quotes for prices against KG weights threw them. I'd forgotten that the US still use imperial!

Anyway, two thumbs-up for The Strand and they'll likely be getting more business from me.

I just shopped at The Strand this week while on vacation and picked up the LEC The Stranger by Albert Camus. It's a great edition with embossed red leather binding and terrific illustrations. The Strand has perhaps 50 LECs in good condition. Some of the slipcases were a little worn. There was a tempting Song of Roland, but the slipcase was in very poor condition. They also had a lovely edition of Tristan and Iseult, and a pristine Master of Ballantrae with the Scotch plaid binding. Also, they had a very nice edition of The Iceman Cometh with Leonard Baskin's almost scary portraits of the characters. The Heritage Press editions on the first floor were fairly beaten up. They also had several FS Shakespeare editions, but they were a little too worn for me.

There are currently on eBay a few gems--currently at woefully underpriced values: the Barnett Freedman-illustrated Anna Karenina that matches in style the LEC's iconic War and Peace, and Dumas' The Black Tulip, a cracklingly good yarn, shorter than most of Dumas' work, in the finest edition it has ever received in English. At last check both were under $30 US

pm11, how much did you have to give for The Stranger? if you don't mind me asking.

and Django shushh.

>57 pm11:

The Camus really is a wonderful edition; I have the Heritage reprint, but lust after the LEC just for the splendid red leather binding--and I'm somewhat ambivalent in my feelings about using leather to bind books! How I wish the LEC had done The Plague using the same designer and illustrator before they switched to making livres des artistes.

>59 varielle:

Sorry.

> 58 Django, am I correct in assuming that the Anna Karenina you refer to is the Heritage edition, rather than LEC?

No, the one for sale was the 2 volume LEC version. This was one of the few cases where the LEC re-issued an earlier title in a new version. (Another was Baron Munchausen, though the latter issuance, with illustrations by Fritz Kredel, pales in comparison to the first issue--which you have!)

I have both versions of Anna Karenina, and while the earlier version, printed in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, is very nice, the later version is THE version of all the Annas I've ever owned--and I have had 3 other illustrated Annas besides the LEC versions.

Incidentally, I received my just-purchased copy of Fahrenheit 451 last night, and it is really a triumph of book design. The graphic layout, the eye-popping illustrations by Joe Mugnaini (who did the illustrations for the very limited first edition in 1953), the aluminum boards in the binding--all work beautifully together and make this one of the Club's finest presentations.

Hm, when you are next perusing eBay could you see if it is still there please? I failed miserably in my attempts to find it last evening.

> 64

Excellent! One thing I am very curious about, is how the boards feel in the hand. It sounds very strange, possibly uncomfortable, but I can't possibly believe that the LEC would have produced a book that was anything less than eminently readable.

>65 HuxleyTheCat:

Wow! It got bid up crazily the last 12 hours! It was under $30 US when I checked the morning of the last day and ended up selling for $131.50 US--I had put a $40 bid just to try to steal it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320559831679&ssPageNa...

>66 HuxleyTheCat:

It feels just like my Mac laptop. I think I will prefer having the book open on a desk or my lap when I read it rather than holding it, but it isn't objectionable. Because of the size, it's more comfortable to hold than, say, the FS Night Thoughts.

> 67

Many thanks for the link -it's always nice to see images of the books, and yes, this is another to add to the shopping list. Given the prices on abe then $131.50 still looks very reasonable. Hopefully someone here managed to buy it.

If you don't mind my saying so, you haven't set the reading comfort bar very high in comparing Fahrenheit 451 with Night Thoughts. Even Gov Shwarzenegger would be hard pressed to hold that one to read! It's a fascinating design sure enough.

> 57

50 LECs all in one place! Wow! My envy is palpable - and most unbecoming!

>59 varielle: $125. Not a bargain, but worth it.

>68 HuxleyTheCat:

Just in case you aren't the proper shade of green already (regarding the LECs, and apparently it's closer to 100 than 50), I received the following:

"I thought I'd let you know I found some books unopened and wrapped in the original red mailing paper with my Father's address, date stamp and addressed from the LEC. Without opening them we can determine the title by the month and year on the date stamp. Other than being in very fine condition as unopened would they be any more valuable still in the wrappers?"

This is truly a collector's dream!

> 70 "would they be any more valuable still in the wrappers?"

NO, they are of no value whatsoever in the wrapper, they need to be opened and READ!!!

holy cow...roughly from what years are they? if they are pre1950s or so, someone appears to be looking down on you

In the recent bloomsbury auction, I won The Flounder, In the Penal Colony, and Threepenny Opera. I was horrified to realize that my absentee bid on 50 LECs with excellent conditions slipcases and glassines lost by a mere 50 dollars...it sold for 650 which is an absolute steal. I also was disappointed that I didn't win a couple John Henry Nash books that I have been seeking for quite a while, specifically An Essay on Criticism.

Just bought my first LEC book, The Devil's Dictionary, published in 1972. Quarter-bound in red leather and black cloth, with black and gold stamping. Beautiful laid paper. Black and red marbled endpapers and slipcase. Need to find a place of honor on my already crowded bookshelves.

Congratulations! You are now officially on the slippery slope. It sounds like a very nice edition indeed. It's the wonderful paper in these LEC books that gets me every time. Like you my first LEC was from the '70s - in my case Kafka's The Trial from 1975. Believe it or not, the quality gets even better when you go back a few years. Enjoy!

chase, what would you better half have said had you won? Incidentally, do you have a link for that auction? I'd like to see what was there (if they had a pristine Gibbon in the original glassines, I think I'll cut my throat).

http://ny.bloomsburyauctions.com/auction.php?pageID=1&setPerPage=567&sal...
Negative on the Gibbon. The auction results are not posted on the site yet. I actually forewarned my better half about the auction...she was not pleased, but I did tell her that I would have sold 3/4 of them or so on ebay and made quite a hefty profit if I had got them for the selling price of 700, which did lighten the blow a bit. This is always a testy issue between us, especially since our spare bedroom in our Chicago condo is currently being converted into a nursery

Some great titles there--someone stole that auction! I paid almost $600 for my copy of War and Peace alone.

A set of Shakespeare for £150 looks like quite a bargain too. Like buying the Midsummer Night's Dream (for a bargain price) and getting everything else thrown in for free.

I bought my first LEC today in the form of Tales of Hoffman.
It looks rather plain from the outside, but is something else inside. As soon as I saw the illustrations I knew I must have it.

> 80 Another one climbs on board. Well done mj - the first of, quite possibly, many?

>81 HuxleyTheCat: I think what may save me a little is that LECs are not that common here in the UK apparently.
Still, I'll do my best!

Oh no, competition!!!!!!!!!!!!

Recently bought the 4 volume Arabian Nights illustrated by Szyk but it hasn't arrived yet.

>84 kdweber:

Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!

"Base Envy withers at another’s joy,
And hates that excellence it cannot reach."

James Thomson , "The Seasons"

(If it's not too forward of me--what was the price?"

>85 Django6924:

Great quote. Not cheap at $120 but it is 4 volumes.

>86 kdweber:

Cheaper than I have seen a complete set priced.

Just received the volumes. Excellent condition but no slipcover. Also, of course, not signed since Szyk died before the set was published.

>88 kdweber:

Even without the slipcase it's a bargain. That is a very hard-to-find set: I've only seen one complete set ever available, and that was for $500 US

Wow, Django, you've made my day. I might try making a slipcase but it looks mighty fine on my bookcase as it is.

got my first LEC book: circus of doctor lao. All the aesthetics are great; it's one thing to hear about them or see them on the web, and another experience to hold it in your hands.

Congrats! Welcome to our obsession.

>91 lxanderl: Dr. Lao was my first too lxanderl last year, beautiful with the earth tones in binding and inks and paper, love the illustrations sprawling across the pages. Like many LEC's, it is a one of a kind production.

I agree with you, olepuppy--The Circus of Dr. Lao was one of the LEC's finest--not only in production, but in choosing such a work in the first place. Because the LEC counted on its subscriber base and needed to make them happy, the easy thing would be to only print the well-established classics.

I also got my latest find--one I have been looking for for a while: Vasari's Lives of the Most Eminent Painters. It is one of the books designed by Giovanni Mardersteig, and like all of his, very plain and simple in design--but with the most sumptuous materials! The paper feel is incredible, and the reproduction of the works of the masters is so lifelike it almost comes off the page.

The book is beautiful. Thanks for the welcome, I look forward to my indefinite stay ;

"earth tones in binding and inks and paper, love the illustrations sprawling across the pages"

I've only seen images of the (rather dramatic) externals of Dr Lao, and, not knowing anything about the work itself, have been quite reluctant to add it to my 'must have' list. That has now changed - I cannot resist anything with sprawling illustrations, or autumnal colours.

"counted on its subscriber base and needed to make them happy"

Any idea of the reaction to this publication?

Toilers of the Sea is also a Giovanni Mardersteig production, very simple but perfect. What approach have they taken for this one Django, a few painters in depth or smaller entries for a greater number?

>96 HuxleyTheCat:

Huxley, there are biographies for 47 painters, out of the more than 200 painters, sculptors, and architects in the original work. The sculptors and architects were left out because their works are best seen in person as a single photograph can't really do them justice. Of the painters chosen, they are the ones the editor felt were the most interesting to current readers because of their importance as innovators. The editor arranged these lives in chronological order, rather than using Vasari's order, but each of the "Lives" is complete.

I don't know what the reaction was to the Lives. The older Monthly Letters used to contain information on subscriber reactions, but by this time, this wasn't often practiced. It was apparently popular enough to warrant a Heritage Press edition, which was used at least twice as a Joining Offer.

PS: I will take some photos of Dr. Lao today and tomorrow and post them here for you to peruse.

PPS: Would anybody be interested in me posting pictures, on a fairly regular basis, of LEC books--ones that members of this group would like to see?

PPPS: Amended because my reference to the floods in Florence was misleading--it happened the year before the Heritage Press edition of Lives was published.

Please, no posting of LEC pictures as that will just fuel our addiction (and the competition on eBay!). Just kidding...would love to see more details on the various books.

>97 Django6924: "Would anybody be interested in me posting pictures, on a fairly regular basis, of LEC books--ones that members of this group would like to see?"

I could use various exclamations involving bears and woods and Popes and Catholics, which may or may not be culturally specific, and may or may not be offensive, so I'll stick to - yes please.

And thanks too for the information on the Most Eminent Painters, with typical LEC quality of image reproduction this certainly seems like another to seak out.

Django that would be delightful.

I take two "yes" votes as an acclamation. :-)

Very well, would anyone like to suggest the first book?

Yes, I'll add the third for good luck, Django, thanks.

I'm curious about a book I can't identify from which an illustration, an amazing facial study, by Mariette Lydis is located on page 161 of Quarto-Millenary, the first page of ch IV- Full Page Illustrations. My Q-M does not have a notation for the illustration, maybe it is 'Turn of the Screw' but I don't know. I hope you have the book as I would love to see more of it.

Saw 'Lives of the Painters' at Oak Knoll in May, impressive.

Funny, chose The Circus of Dr. Lao partly because Tony Randall excelled so in The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao.

''...bears and woods and Popes and Catholics..." yes, the bears are Catholic around here too.

>102 olepuppy:

olepuppy, that illustration is Captain MacHeath's gang from The Beggar's Opera, an absolute triumph for the Club and for the artist. I'm a huge fan of Ms. Lydis' work--her Turn of the Screw is masterful as is her Love's Labour Lost--one of the best of the Complete LEC Shakespeare--but The Beggar's Opera is one of the finest illustrated books I've ever seen. The illustrations are all original lithographs pulled from the stone, and there are a great number of them--almost one for every 4 or 5 pages of text. Apparently, Ms. Lydis had made them for some reason and showed them to George Macy when he was conferring with her about Love's Labour Lost. He was so impressed he decided to print the book! (As he says, "an unusual procedure for us,"--deciding to print the book after the illustrations were already completed.)

Incidentally, olepuppy, I loved that Tony Randall film, too--still remember seeing an impressive color spread on it in Life magazine back when it was released. Many years later, I worked with Matt Yuricich, the great MGM matte painter who did some of the visual effects for the movie.

"yes, the bears are Catholic around here too"

They don't use birth control, or they are indiscriminate in who they eat?

To steer rapidly back to LEC acquisitions; I have a copy of The Three Musketeers on the way, and, I hope, a LEC Meditations of Marcus Aurelius supposedly in "mint, as new" condition. Both ordered via abe last Monday from UK sellers, the Dumas shipped a couple of days later, but no word as yet on the Meditations, which is causing me some concern.

>105 HuxleyTheCat: Aurelius, as a Stoic, would probably consider it character building to have your patience tested.

I read Meditations earlier this year and came across a great phrase he drops with no other context: "unrestrained moderation." It's become my new life motto!

>103 Django6924: Thanks for the lowdown, Django. I remembered seeing a beat up and stinky A Beggar's Opera at a local flea market in Spring, so I went this morning to review it more closely. It was the Heritage Press edition with Sandglass, which indicated that Ms. Lydis' original illustrations were a response to an LEC sponsored illustrator's contest. The photogravures were good but not as fine as the example in Q-M.

Interesting about Matt Yuricich. What happens to the matte paintings, seems like they should be sold or taken home if they're sharp. And Tony Randall, much more than a comic actor in Dr. Lao.

> 105 More of a family joke where the the words you suggested get switched a bit.

>106 pm11: I don't know about being stoical, at the moment I'm spitting feathers - I've just had a generic 'order cancelled' email from abe.

OK, here's the first posting of the LEC photos--perhaps too much, but I do love this book:

http://s585.photobucket.com/albums/ss295/Django6924/

(Edited because I copied the wrong link!)

>109 Django6924: Those photos are great, Django, thank you. The binding looks to be in fine condition for its age and is quite attractive in design. I really like the style and the facial character in the illustrations. But the litho of MacHeath's Gang is not the one in my Q-M tho it too is a study of 4 faces, the men look like they belong in a gulag, one has a split lip or cleft palate. I'm curious now to know if the Q-M used a variety of samples throughout its production.

>109 Django6924:
Thanks for putting those up, it's a beautiful looking book.

> 109

Gorgeous images Django; many thanks for posting.

I saw the Royal Shakespeare Company perform The Beggar's Opera at London's Barbican Theatre back in 1992 or '93. What I most remember about the performance was the cracking tunes, the most famous of which, "Over the Hills and Far Away" was used prominently throughout the tv adaptations of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels.

I also remembered that the programme was rather good, so I've dug it out of my files and have taken some images, which you may find amusing to compare with the LEC, Mariette Lydis, illustrations.

http://s901.photobucket.com/albums/ac220/HuxleyTheCat/Beggars%20Opera/

(password HuxleyTheCat)

Having been disappointed with not being able to complete the purchase on the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, I have consoled myself by today ordering the LEC edition of my favourite of Thomas Hardy's novels, The Mayor of Casterbridge. I am particularly looking forward to having an example of Agnes Miller Parker's work. This order is from the Strand who (touching wood) haven't let me down in the past.

I'm still waiting for my Three Musketeers (coming all of 100 miles), whilst a rather nice Franklin Poems of WB Yeats purchased (at the same time) from a bookseller in Portland, Maine is with me already, having whizzed across the Atlantic in super speedy time.

A special request please Django, if you have the LEC Frankenstein I would love to see some images. The LEC edition is considerably more expensive than the Heritage, and it would be great to see if the extra is worthwhile (for me personally).

>113 HuxleyTheCat:

Would you like me to ask what my relative would charge for her copy, Huxley? It's like new, never read and perhaps only opened twice.

Message 115 refers to Marcus, of course. I have the Heritage Frankenstein, and I am very pleased with it. In all honesty, i have never even seen an LEC version of it, but judging from the books I looked at yesterday, I have to think it would be worthwhile. I did comparisons of the LEC Szyk-illustrated Book of Job and Book of Ruth, and the quality of the paper, the printing, and especially the reproduction of the illustrations were just unbeatable.

That said, unless I win the lottery, I don't plan on replacing my Heritage Frankenstein, which is very nice in its own right.

>115 Django6924: It never hurts to ask...
>116 Django6924: The Heritage edition is quite readilly available, so comparatively cheap. I've seen some of the Henry illustrations and they look rather splendid, and would like a copy to sit alongside the Ward and Brockway illustrated editions that I already have. Realistically I don't think it's going to be worth me spending the additional money as there are too many books that I want, but it's the same old story i.e. difficult to decide without seeing the merchandise.

>117 HuxleyTheCat:

Well, it is VERY hard to find a pristine LEC Frankenstein--I've never seen one advertised that didn't have some slight issues, if nothing more than a pasted-in bookplate, and they want a fortune for these even. My Frankenstein is pristine, didn't cost over $15 US as I remember, and I am quite content with it. I'll take some pictures and post them here.

>118 Django6924: The prices on abe range from $200US to $550US - of the 10 copies available not one is fine and without inscriptions or bookplates, so sadly out of my league. But the HP edition looks nice enough. If you haven't already done the photos, then please don't do them just on my account as I have already seen quite a few of the Henry illustrations and it was the externals of the LEC that I was really interested in. I wouldn't want to use up picture-taking goodwill unnecessarily, as I am likely to have plenty of other requests ;o)

>113 HuxleyTheCat:
Huxley, what is the Portland ME bookseller you dealt with? My sister lives there, and I'm planning to go out this fall and see her and the family, and I'm sure I can fit in a trip to a good bookstore.

>120 mboudreau:

It was Carlson Turner Books, 241 Congress Street, Portland

As it was a purchase via abe, I have no idea what they are like. My purchase went fine, as I say, the delivery was super speedy, at a fair price and I was happy with the description. Beyond that, I can't really say anything about them.

I always enjoy checking out the used bookshops in areas that I am visiting, one never knows what one will find.

>119 HuxleyTheCat:

OK, Huxley, suffice it to say I'm sure the externals were remarkable on the LEC Frankenstein, if only you could find one in Fine condition.

From my purely personal take, I don't think the illustrations are in the same league with Lynd Ward's.

122 There was a nice condition HP Frankenstein on eBay last evening, which went for a very reasonable price. I refrained from bidding due to ordering the Mayor of casterbridge, plus there was a really nice LEC Innocent Voyage on eBay this evening which I wanted to bid on, which I did, but didn't win, so now I'm banging my head on the desk about the Frankenstein! They are common enough though, I just have to learn to show some patience.

The Ward illustrations are amazing, but I do like to compare different takes on the same thing.

>115 Django6924: Django, I've just had an email from the Marcus Aurelius seller explaining the reasons for the cancellation and offering to complete the sale (with a discount for my inconvenience), so I'll certainly be going ahead with that.

It looks like it's all worked out well in the end, despite my fit of pique and purchase of the Hardy having put me over my book budget for the month (already).

>123 HuxleyTheCat:, 124

Huxley, I'm glad it worked out on the MA. I am VERY disappointed to hear you lost out on the Innocent Voyage. It is one of my favorites with fabulous illustrations by Ward. The LEC Monthly Letter is very interesting because Macy actually bewailed the quality of the presswork of this volume which isn't, in his opinion, up to the LEC's standards, but "all the qualified pressmen are in uniform."

I will get it at some point - this copy looked very good though with a nice chemise and slipcase. I'm (sort of) decided upon trying to collect the LECs illustrated by Lynd Ward. I have one of the difficult / expensive titles already in Les Miserables, but The Count of Monte Cristo is likely to be a stumbling block.

>126 HuxleyTheCat:

It's not even easy to find the original Heritage edition of The Count of Monte Cristo. For some reason, this title just never seems to come available except at an outrageous price.

127 Oh dear that's not very encouraging, it does increase the thrill of the chase though!

>128 HuxleyTheCat:

I mean finding one in pristine condition: here is the description of one for which the seller want $95.00

"Used, good. Substantial sunfade/discoloration on spine/cover. Text pages show substantial aging/yellowing. Spine is askew. Cover has substantial rubbing."

Such a deal!!!!!!!!!

PS: If you find one with the Sandglass, would you please photocopy and for me? I'll reciprocate for you! (On a different book, of course.)

>129 Django6924:

Forgive me for my ignorance, but aren't all of the copies of the Sandglass printed in the companion books (1937-1959 & 1960-1983)?

>130 kdweber:

I believe you are right, and one day I intend buying this, but there is something nostalgic about taking the book out of the slipcase, opening it and finding the Sandglass tucked inside. (It is also a great bookmark.)

>110 olepuppy:
"But the litho of MacHeath's Gang is not the one in my Q-M tho it too is a study of 4 faces, the men look like they belong in a gulag, one has a split lip or cleft palate. I'm curious now to know if the Q-M used a variety of samples throughout its production."

olepuppy, I'm sorry to be so far behind in my response, but the litho in the Q-M of MacHeath's gang is, indeed, the one that is opposite p.60, in Act II, Sc. 2, right before the rousing song "Let us take the road," with the brilliant chorus:

"See the balls I hold--
Let the chemists toil like asses,
Our fire their fire surpasses,
And turns all our lead to gold!"

Wonderful word-play and double-entendre!

You do bring up an interesting point: how were the samples in the Q-M produced? Macy retained all the original artwork, the lithographic stones, woodblocks, etched plates, etc., for the LEC's publications, but did they in fact get these out of a warehouse somewhere and run off another 2000 copies of each of the samples in the Q-M?

> 129 I'll retain my boundless optimism and will be most happy to photocopy the LEC Monthly Newsletter for you when I come across the set for £50 on ebay.co.uk!

Django

Whilst I have never bought a LEC or HP book, I am keen in giving this my first priority as soon as I get employed (just finished university). I have nevertheless bought a couple of LEC newsletter from ebay and a prospectus - it was really joyful to read about the books and the prospectus. My aim at some point (not now but at the end of the year) is to digitally scan them in archive quality as they have aged a bit. If you and Huxley are interested I can forward these when I have done so.

>133 HuxleyTheCat:

That's the spirit, Huxley! (And thanks.)

>134 ironjaw:

Thanks, ironjaw, if they are ones I don't have I'd love them.

134. Thanks ironjaw, that would be brilliant. I started off my LEC/Heritage journey with a 'not bothered' attitude to the newsletter / Sandglass, but of course, having actually seen some, I now appreciate their interest and value (in an information, rather than financial sense). If I can find a working scanner I would be happy to reciprocate for anyone here from my small (but perfectly formed) collection of Newsletters and copies of The Sandglass.

Django (or anyone else who knows the answer), you used a phrase earlier that I have read a number of times but don't quite understand:

"The illustrations are all original lithographs pulled from the stone"

I understand that "pulling" is the act of operating the printing press, but I can't visualise the procedure described.

A "pull"is simply a print on paper (or other printable surface) of the image from a lithographic stone. The image is drawn on a porous, flat limestone slab with a waxy or oily media, most often crayon. The rest of the stone surface is usually treated with a weak acid solution and gum arabic to create a surface that attracts water (hydrophilic) but will not accept the oily inks used to print the image. The stone is kept wet and the ink is rolled over the surface where it only adheres to the drawn image. The stone is pressed on the accepting medium which "pulls" the ink off the stone (which will, of course, need to be re-inked for the next print).

High-quality lithographic stones must be porous but very fine grained, and for much of the early 19th century came from Germany. Other deposits were later found in the US and this discovery fueled the boom in color printing back in the late 19th century. I recently saw an exhibit at the Huntington Library here in Pasadena that had many amazing examples of the lithographer's art. Here's a link (be sure to click on the link and watch the movie!)

http://www.huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary_02.aspx?id=5092

Remember that a different stone was required for each color--it makes one's mind boggle at the skill of the artists.

>132 Django6924: Thanks for getting back to me, Django, tho I'm still confused, I think I wasn't clear over posts 107 and 110. I saw in a Heritage Press Beggar's Opera an illustration titled 'MacHeath's Gang' which is identical to your photo #3 in post #109, but my Q-M shows a different litho, 4 men looking left, one with a split lip, is this also 'MacHeath's Gang?'

You tantalize me with your quotes as I am admittedly unfamiliar with "A Beggar's Opera", will you explain or leave me hanging?

I am a bit more familiar with Mr. Gay elsewhere-does this apply?

"Know, men and fowl regard thee,
as thou art, an owl."

And thanks for the litho description and history, nice.

edited for slight mystery- olepup

>139 olepuppy:

I understood you: the litho you are describing of the gang members looking left, one with a cleft lip, is on p.60 of the LEC edition--also in the Heritage Press edition at the end of Act II, Scene 2. I didn't take a picture of it when I did the others since you had the one in the Q-M, but I can take one and post it for the others.

The quote from Gay is the song of the gang as they go out to rob travelers on the highway. The line of the preceding stanza is "to your arms, brave boys, and load!"

"See the balls (musket or pistol balls) I hold-

"Let the chemists (alchemists) toil like asses"--(Alchemy was the ancient "science" where people tried to find a means of transmuting baser objects into gold, usually lead because it was heavy like gold. Usually this consisted of putting the objects under extreme heat, as in a fire, with the magical catalyst "the philosopher's stone")

thus,
"Our fire (gunfire) their fire surpasses,

"And turns all our lead (bullets) to gold." --In short, they use gunfire or the threat thereof to extort gold from their victims.

>140 Django6924: That clears it up, and thanks for posting it for the rest, that illustration grabbed me immediately in Q-M.

I appreciate the explanation, the wordplay less intricate than I imagined, which just goes to show I need to have my own copy!

Off topic yet related, have you noticed the phenomenon in reading how a word you've never seen before once seen then reappears elsewhere almost immediately? I looked last Saturday morning at the Heritage "Beggar's Opera", saw Polly Peacham(-um?) and Mrs. Peacham, later in the day I opened a package from Perpetua Press and read that it moved from New York to Peacham, Vt. in 1998. Small world!

>142 Django6924:

I just attributed it to never having been sensitized to the word, which had been there all around me, but until I had occasion to notice it for a particular reason, didn't notice it at all.

The Peachum family in The Beggar's Opera of course owe their name to the fact they are professional informers (in later days they would have been the Stoolies or the Finks), as to "peach" on someone was to turn them in--usually for a reward. Many of the names in the play follow suit--the Lockits (Mr. Lockit is a jailer), Filch, Twitcher, and Nimming Ned (Macheath's gang), and especially the Town Women--Betty Doxy, Jenny Diver, Dolly Trull, Sukey Tawdry
and Molly Brazen (no subtlety here!)

>138 Django6924:
Django many thanks for posting that link.
The movie is absolutely fascinating and many of the images are breathtaking.
Particularly interesting for this Brit to see examples of American work from the period.

>143 mj54:

You're welcome, mj54. The Huntington Library is one of our great local treasures, and we take particular pride in having in the collection such things as the Ellesmere manuscript of Chaucer's works, one of the two existing copies of Bernal Diaz' History of the Conquest of New Spain, many of Blake's illuminated manuscripts, etc.

> 138

Thanyou ever so much for that Django, your explanation was clearly understandable and the video, as mj says, contains some wonderful images (particularly liked the autumnal one).

I did a little follow up on youtube and found the following, which shows the process in stages using a stone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHw5_1Hopsc&NR=1

and the following, using more modern materials, but well worth investing half an hour in watching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsRKjhtJ0Ic&feature=related

Sometimes it's worth displaying one's ignorance in public! my appreciation for the work of the artists (such as Ward) and the designs of the LEC, has just ratcheted up a notch or several.

> 113 The Three Musketeers have arrived at last - and very splendid they all look too! Despite being unsigned, I'm glad that I went for the LEC rather than HP edition for the colouring on the illustrations. Funnilly enough I managed to buy this one from a UK seller for less than it would have cost for the HP edition to be sent from the US.

I also managed to pick up a really nice condition History of Amleth from an antiquarian book dealer in London last week. Again it was very reasonably priced. So if you are a UK-based collector don't despair, there are certainly LEC bargains to be had on this side of the pond.

Congrats, Huxley, did you get the later edition with the illustrations by Edy Legrand or the earlier one illustrated by Pierre Falké?

The Amleth was quite a find--it doesn't often show up, and I was pleased to finally get one in Very Good condition. Very interesting book.

>147 Django6924: It's the Legrand-illustrated edition, and I am delighted with it - just another great example of book design: likewise with Amleth. The seller for that one hadn't given a description, so for the price they were asking I wasn't expecting too much, but it really is fine - even the pigskin hasn't dried or abraded at all.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer w/ Rockwell illustrations

Heritage Press - 1936. Sandglass Number III: 34R

I like the heavy paper "linen-like" slipcase. The Sandglass states that Rockwell planned both the cover and the slipcase.

Easton has this with it's new Famous Editions Collection. I will be getting that one too. My guess is they will be identical except of course for the cover.

>149 bumblesby:

tames, what is the publisher's address on the title page: New York or Norwalk?

Visiting a new used-and-rare bookstore today, I found a copy of Bulwer-Lytton's The Last Days of Pompeii from Heritage Press, no slipcase but with Sandglass. It's a shame about the slipcase, but for only $6.00, nice to have something from the man who wrote, "It was a dark and stormy night" (in another novel, of course).

I passed on a copy of the LEC Oresteia, which was priced at $30. The book itself seemed in fine condition, except for a tiny bit of cracking and flaking of the leather spine. The slipcase was sun-faded but otherwise intact. I'm interested in the book mostly as a work designed by Adrian Wilson, but I really don't care for the very old-fashioned translation. Did I make a mistake?

>151 mboudreau:

I don't care for the translation either. Those who know classical Greek tell me it's very faithful to both the meaning and the tone of the original--Aeschylus wrote in a very old-fashioned, formal style, apparently. Be that as it may, I always insist any translation should pre-eminently be readable, and I find Morshead's translation (though amended for matters of "interpretation and readability" by Moses Hadas) to be lacking in comparison to Richmond Lattimore's, which is highly formal and long-winded, but still gripping). The perils of translation have been discussed on many threads here before, and others may think this translation just right, and I certainly found it serviceable; but I confess I have issues with a translation which describes Agamemnon and Menelaus as "doughty chiefs."

Did you make a mistake? Well, Wilson's design is wonderful and as far as I'm concerned, I doubt anyone ever has or ever will illustrate a Greek tragedy better than Michael Ayrton illustrated this one. I think it's pure genius and quite offsets my issues with the translation.

>151 mboudreau: I have the Heritage Press version of this. The illustrations are terrific; the translation is OK. When I read it two years ago, the translation worked in the sense that the plays retained their power to move me. However, I also read Lattimore's Agememnon right after, and found it superior.

My copy of The Mayor of Casterbridge has arrived, courtesy of more excellent service from the Strand bookstore in NY.

The most striking feature of the book is the paper sides which have the most delightful gossamer strands attached. I don't know what they are made from (no Newsletter alas), but they look just like seeds from a Dandelion clock being blown in the breeze; so evocative of rural England and so perfect for this production.

I just ordered the two volume Heritage Press edition of War and Peace with slipcases; this is my first Heritage Press work. I'll let everyone know my thoughts when they arrive (soon, I hope)!

>155 mujahid7ia:. I look forward to reading your thoughts on this edition as it is one that I am considering (on the basis that the LEC version will probably be forever out of my grasp).

>154 HuxleyTheCat:
Huxley, the sides are handmade japanese rice paper, which in the photos I've seen (and you're right--they do look just like dandelion seeds swirling about!) are strikingly similar to the rice paper my late wife used to cover a slipcase she made for our copy of Dante's La Vita Nuova.

You didn't mention the illustrations--did you have reservations?

> 157 Thanks for the information Django, I have never seen any binding material like this before, which is why I made a point of mentioning how nice it is. I don't have any reservations at all about Miller-Parker's illustrations, they form part of a pretty-much flawless presentation, which is what I have come to expect from the LEC. I will definitely be attempting to acquire Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess - although I'll stick to my FS edition of Jude - that book is too depressing, even for a melancholy-loving individual like myself, to want to read too often.

I may have mentioned before that after I read Jude I made a sizeable deficit in the neighborhood bar's bourbon stocks and really was hoping to pick a fight with the other patrons. The fight never materialized, probably as I was in much better condition then, and because my bar buddies would explain my antisocial behavior was due to reading Thomas Hardy. My intended victims would shake their heads sympathetically and pass by.

All my Hardy novels are the Heritage Press editions, which are very nice, and frankly, I'd rather spend my money on a Limited Edition of the Earl of Rochester. :-)

Recently received the LEC Faust. Beautiful slipcase and book, with the singular global flaw that it screams 60s and 70s America. That being said, it is unique and a good complement to my Folio Society copy with the Delacroix illustrations. I'm trying to get my mitts on a Pogany one (the signed one hopefully) so that will be my next conquest

Also, I have the Flounder (Grass) and In the Penal Colony (Kafka) that I am trying to rid myself of if anyone is interested in purchasing them. They are nice books, but I got them in an auction lot and really am not keen on either of the books. The Flounder is far too sexual for my taste, and Penal Colony is not my favorite of Kafka.

>150 Django6924:
New York

>162 bumblesby:

That's the version to have. Although I wish I could afford both Tom and Huck in the Thomas Hart Benton-illustrated LEC versions, the Rockwell version seem indispensable.

>161 chase.donaldson:

chase, how much are you wanting for Penal Colony--or are you interested in a trade?

Interesting your comments about the Faust being too 60s and 70s America--I assume the one you have is the Rene Clarke-illustrated version from 1932. I've only seen pictures and although I think they aren't my idea of Faust, I certainly like looking at them as specimens of the graphic arts. The colors used appear eye-poppingly intense!

Send me an email or PM and we can talk about the Penal Colony. Trade or money is fine.
I am talking about the Rene Clarke. They have this weird psychadelic vibe to them despite their age that I don't think is particularly fitting, but they are certainly unique

> 159

"frankly, I'd rather spend my money on a Limited Edition of the Earl of Rochester."

Ooh, that's not very 'nuanced'! ;-)

Funny story though and, I hope you'll admit, Jude is rather at the extreme end of Hardy's explorations of the human condition.

> 161 Chase, what did you make of the illustrations in In the Penal Colony? I'll admit to finding them completely impenetrable - not to put you off Django, it's a very nice presentation in all respects, I just didn't 'get' what Hafftka was trying to do, you may well have more insight.

No I don't have more insight, unfortunately, and I was unable to find the monthly letter with it to find out. I don't find them as bad as the Heart of Darkness illustrations from the 1990s version from the LEC, but definitely not my favorite.

>165 HuxleyTheCat:

"A wink is as good as a nod to a blind man."

Huxley, I have don't have great expectations as to the illustrations for the Penal Colony, but I am a Kafka fan and would enjoy replacing my ancient copy that is falling apart with something nicely printed. I think Kafka is very hard to illustrate, anyway, Cober's illustrations for The Trial are good, but that is perhaps the Kafka book most amenable to illustrating. The Metamorphosis is, frankly, better left to the reader's imagination, and I can't imagine how one would illustrate The Castle.

I guess my decision on the Penal Colony will be solely based on how exorbitant chase wants to be in unloading his unwanted tome.

> 166 I'm glad it's not only me then chase.

> 167 "Said the actress to the Bishop"

I don't diasgree with any of that, particularly about Metamorphosis - I know that the images conjured in my imagination were quite a bit more well, 'strange', than in the recent FS edition. I wouldn't bother illustrating The Castle, but the boards would be very dark grey with a silhouette of Hradčany stretched across front and back. Actually, something like the Escheresque illustrations from the recent FS Utopia might work.

>156 HuxleyTheCat: I received the two volume War and Peace today. I don't really have much to compare it to, so if there's anything specific you'd like to know, or any pictures of the illustrations, I'd be glad to share.

>169 mujahid7ia: Please do share some pictures

In case you wonder what it was like to receive an LEC book back in the heyday of the company, here are a few photos of the collection I've been cataloguing:

Of particular interest, I think, is that the insect damage is, as HuxleyTheCat pointed out, is caused by silverfish nibbling the glue on the labels. The reddish-brown wrapping paper, though soiled, was pretty musch unscathed by the vermin, and once the wrappin paper is off, the quadruple layers of cardboard within which the books were wrapped gave superb protection. The books themselves are just the way they left the LEC offices. No damage whatsoever, which makes you wonder: "was the post office more careful back then, or were these just much better packaged than books from the Folio Society?

Wow! You must be in heaven, Django!

Why oh why were these unopened? My packages don't last an hour.

Django it must have cost you a fortune to get these considering they are unopened. Anyway, congratulations your indeed in heaven ;)

Django...would you interested in the full list of the books you got from your family member. Also, let me know about the Penal Colony

> 172 I'm guilty of a lot of things but I don't think mentioning silverfish was one of them.

How many of the books are in this condition Django?

> 169 Pictures would be great, also your overall impressions of the vols, materials, quality of printing etc - just take a look at some of the other posts here, you'll see what we are interested in.

>173 jveezer: Yes and no....see the following reply to 175

>174 kdweber: The LEC member was away from home for a period of several years, during which his family--who weren't interested in the books themselves--put the packages in the garage and saved them until his return. Unhappily, he passed away not long after his return leaving 64 packages never opened.

>175 ironjaw: Unfortunately, though I would LOVE to buy all these unopened books, I can't afford to. I'm hoping to get one or two to replace copies of mine that are in significantly worse condition, but this is one of those cases where one bitterly regrets past choices made in spending, when what is literally a once-in-several lifetimes opportunity like this appears.

>176 chase.donaldson: chase, I'm still trying to decipher according to the shipping date what is in each unopened package. If you are interested I will send you a list when I finish. Due to the financial situation mentioned above, I'm going to have to pass on In the Penal Colony.

That would be great regarding the list of titles. I thought you were getting all of the books. You are just getting some?

>179 chase.donaldson:

My apologies, Huxley--you are always such a wealth of information that I thought it was you. No offense intended, please! (As I mentioned in my post which hasn't shown up as yet, there are 64 books in this New condition, 6 of which have been unwrapped because the date was impossible to decipher.)

Django, the million-dollar question - are any of those for sale? And if yes, you would offer them to the members of the group first, wouldn't you? :)

>179 chase.donaldson:

As I said, I only wish I could! I'm doubting I can really get more than 3 or 4.

...and a whopping $1.14 in postage. That's highway robbery!

>182 Django6924:

BorisG, they are ALL for sale. Those interested in purchasing can contact me when I post the final list here. I have suggested to the owner that all the unopened packages remain that way so the new owner can have the pleasure of opening the books just as they were sent out 50+ years ago from the Macy company. (But I warn you--I just bought a Lottery ticket, and if I win....)

>183 jveezer:

Yes, don't any of you mention this to LesMiserables--no point in rubbing salt in his wounds.

>184 Django6924:

That's great to know. I'll postpone all buying activities for now, until you post the list (any idea about how long that will take?)

First time posting images on LT talk, hope it works.

The first volume has pen illustrations by Eichenberg, and the second has color illustrations by Verestchagin.

With flash how it looks on the shelf:



More realistic color:



Cover design:



second Title page:



Some sample illustrations:

Django count me in also, like BorisG I am also saving up :) Great to see your back from your holiday Boris. Hope your doing well?

OK, everyone.

mujahid7ia, congratulations--you have got a beautiful, clean copy!

>177 HuxleyTheCat:

'Twas me who mentioned the silverfish, when Django mentioned the Sherlock Holmes volumes over on the Folio boards. Judging by these photos with the nearly decimated labels, I'm guessing there are some very happy silverfish somewhere in that house!

Django: Count me in as interested as well. I'm also local so if I can help in any way let me know, as seeing this treasure trove first hand before it disperses to various new homes would be awesome.

Just received my two volume set of Dana's Two Years Before The Mast published by The Ward Ritchie Press. It's every bit as wonderful as Django implied. Though not a HP or LEC product with its slipcase and illustrations it certainly has the feel of one. Also, I just noticed that the first LEC book that I ever purchased, On the Nature of Things by Lucretius was printed by The Ward Ritchie Press.

> 188 That's brilliant, I've only ever seen one or two images of the illustrations so that's most helpful. Many thanks.

> 180 As if I'd ever take offense Django.

Oh, and please count me in to the shoal of piranhas.

Me too. Can't wait to see the final list.

Visited a couple of used-and-rare bookstores today and came back with a few treasures:

The LEC Oresteia, designed by Adrian Wilson, with paintings by Michael Ayrton. The slipcase is sunned and water stained, but it did the job of protecting the book within. The blood-red leather spine has a tiny bit of cracking and flaking, but the interior pages are pristine, and the Monthly Letter is included.

The Heritage Press Beowulf, in a cringe-inducing translation into rhyming couplets by William Ellery Leonard, but with fabulous illustrations by Lynd Ward. (By the way, have you all see the new LOA 2-volume slipcased edition of six of his graphic novels?) Slightly battered slipcase, but the book inside shows not a trace of fading, and the Sandglass is included.

I also saw, but passed on, a copy of "Great and Good Books: a bibliographical catalogue of the Limited Editions Club, 1929-1985" (touchstone not working), signed by Mortimer Adler, who wrote the introduction. Don't know if I'll have second thoughts about that.

>196 mboudreau: I have the similar EP version of Beowulf and I'm with you on the Leonard translation and Ward illustrations. I much prefer Seamus Heaney's translation and love my new FS LE.

>197 kdweber: Likewise on the EP version - I was seduced by the oh so pretty binding and now bitterly regret the purchase due to the inferior reproduction of the illustrations: live and learn. I do have the rather lovely FS edition to console myself with fortunately.

198> I too was seduced by the leather and bought many, many EP volumes including most of the Famous Editions collection before learning that they were based upon the much more elegantly produced LEC books. Although, I have multiple versions of many books, I don't duplicate LEC/HP/EP books since I feel they're really the same edition (i.e. same translator, format and illustrations).

Django - I doubt I could afford any, but I would love to see a pricelist for those, too, just in case.

I picked up five Heritage Press books on my last trip to Monterey, and they were all in exquisite condition, with slipcases and Sandglasses.
Saint-Simon: The Memoirs with art by Pierre Brissard
Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy with art by Fritz Eichenberg
The Possessed by Fyodor Dosteovsky with art by Fritz Eichenberg
The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter by Ambrose Bierce with art by Michel Ciry
The Nibelungenlied with art by Edy Legrand

All New York editions.

OK, I'll try to finish the list by next Friday and will send it to everyone who leaves me a private PM on my profile.

>191 beatlemoon: That's right, beatlemoon! Now I remember your mention of the fact the vermin are big starch fans (well, I can't fault them for that....)

re, the Leonard Beowulf translation: granted there are many infelicities of phrasing--all in an attempt to maintain as many Old English cognates as possible while trying to be as literal as possible. However, he did make one brilliant decision in using the metric scheme of old rhymes like "sing a song of sixpence, a pocketful of rye," which is right on in suggesting the metric beat of the original. The rhymes were a less happy decision, and although I have only read snippets of Heaney's translation, I believe Heaney made the absolutely correct decision to create a poem satisfying as poetry on its own merits, without trying to be literal, or self-consciously "epic." I am mightily tempted by the FS Beowulf, but just can't justify it now, and will probably just get the trade edition of this translation (sigh). At least I am spared the same angst over the new Song of Roland, as my LEC version with fine illustrations, is the Scott-Moncrieff version--if they had only used the Sayers translation, I'd be in quite a financial pickle this fall.

WildcatJF, I have all of those as Heritage editions as well, except for the St. Simon and Nibelungenlied which I have as LEC versions, and I think you did quite well in Monterey! You were lucky to find them with slipcases and Sandglasses in Fine condition as New York editions.

I agree that the rhyming and the excessively archaic diction are problems with Leonard's translation of Beowulf, but I have to add that I'm not keen on his choice of nursery-rhyme meter, because it is too regular, too clickety-clack, for Anglo-Saxon poetry. If you compare the rhyme

Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye,
Four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie

to almost any couplet in his translation, there's a distressingly close match:

Then fared he forth did Grendel, to seek at dead of night
The high house, how the Ring-Danes, after their beer, were dight.

or

Beowulf made his speech then, the son of Ecgtheow, he:
"Aplenty hast thou prated, beer-drunken as thou be"

or finally

So the Geatish clansmen bemoanéd their dearth,
The passing-forth of Beowulf, these comrades of his hearth,
Calling him a World-King, the mildest under crown,
And to his kin the kindest, and keenest for renown.

The regularity of that rhythm is alien to Anglo-Saxon poetry, which has several different patterns of strong, weak, and unstressed syllables for making up a single half-line, and the same pattern is almost never repeated in the same line. The great medievalist J.R.R. Tolkien proposed the following modern English equivalents for the recognized patterns of half-lines that were first articulated by the German scholar Eduard Sievers:

Type A: knights in armor
Type B: on the roaring sea
Type C: on high mountains
Type Da: bright archangels
Type Db: bold brazenfaced
Type E: high-crested helms

Although you can hear a certain similarity in each (two strongly stressed syllables), you'd still find it very hard to string any two of them together and get something that feels like "Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye".

To my ear, Anglo-Saxon poetry has a concentrated, terse quality that comes across much better in less obviously "artful" translations such as Heaney's or, another good choice, Howell Chickering's translation, also published in a dual-language edition.

By the way, if you haven't bought a copy of Heaney's Beowulf yet, there are at least two editions to consider. It was first published with the Old English and Modern English on facing pages; but if you've already got an Old English text, check out the illustrated edition, which replaces the Old English with great photos of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian sites and artifacts.

I have to disagree about the metric scheme. I think the "sing a song of sixpence" rhythm works better than any other I've ever seen to reproduce the beat of the Beowulf line. The Sievers/Tolkien scheme may have the stressed/unstressed syllables in the same pattern as the Old English hemistich variants, but it has no poetic value in being able to reproduce the chantlike quality of the original. I like the rhythmic pattern very much, but Leonard, unfortunately, is no poet, or he never would have written such outlandish language as:

"Beowulf made his speech then, the son of Ecgtheow, he:
"Aplenty hast thou prated, beer-drunken as thou be"

But I still think the beat has the sort of bardic quality of the original.

On the other hand, I'm liking those Lynd Ward illustrations more and more, not only the large color ones, but the small black-and-white cuts that punctuate each section of the poem as well. The color picture of Grendel (facing page 4 in my copy), with the tilted, staring face made me think of Goya's "Saturn Devouring His Son".

Must be the serendipity of book collecting, but I had never heard of Lynd Ward until just recently, when I saw (online only so far) the two-volume set of his graphic novels that Library of America is producing. Now I'll be more aware of his work when it pops up.

(Edited to correct the name of Goya's painting.)

> If you are just getting familiar with Lynd Ward's work, check out his illustrations for Frankenstein in this LE portfolio:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FRANKENSTEIN-Centipede-Press-Signed-Limited-Edition-/37029...

The good news is that copies of the old Gramercy edition, featuring these illustrations, are available quite cheaply via abe. ISBN 0517118807

> 205

Well I won't be bidding on that particular item (I'm not yet up to buying books instead of paying the mortgage), but those illustrations are indeed wonderful.

> 206 I don't think that there is any hurry, it's been there well over a year.

Speaking of Lynd Ward, I just picked up an immaculate copy of The Master of Ballantrae by RLS - excellent slipcase and newsletter as well. I really like the tartan cloth binding as well as the Lynd Ward illustrations.

> 159 Here you go Django, and at such a bargain price too!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Perfect-Imperfect-Enjoyments-John-Wilmot-Folio-Society-/25...

HTC, you have a certain sadistic streak sometimes!! I think too long association with the navy is bringing out the Bligh in you!

:-)

(You know, I joined the Folio Society in 1991, and I have kept all the Prospectuses, etc., since then, but for the life of me, I can't ever remember seeing any of Rochester's work offered--and would have ordered it had it been offered, as I have always enjoyed his, shall we say, idiosyncratic verse.

Ah poor old Capt Bligh - demonised by Hollywood in favour of the rather more romantic figure of Christian. His open boat voyage post-mutiny is one of the finest feats of seamanship and navigation ever recorded.

Hm, 'idiosyncratic' is an interesting description - I wouldn't dare show this to young matelots, else I'd be keel-hauled for attempted corruption of a minor!

>210 Django6924: Django

I just bought some older prospectuses from the 80s and 90s on ebay. I am waiting their arrival soon. Can't wait to see what the FS offered back then.

>211 HuxleyTheCat:

Truly a remarkable feat--certainly on a par with Columbus's voyage, though with considerably less an impact on history. Incidentally, one of the more fascinating of the later LEC editions is Bligh's own account of the Bounty incident: A Voyage to the South Seas.

>212 ironjaw:
The pre-2000 Prospectus was smaller, and to my taste, more fun to read through in its own right. The new ones are more like a magazine and take up too much space.

> 213 - Yes indeed, yet another that is on the 'to be acquired' list - (it's quite a long list).

Quick question about The Heritage Press 3 volume edition of Edward Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire before I pull the trigger; is it the unabridged edition?

>215 mujahid7ia:

mujahid7ia, that is a question that is difficult to answer with any degree of certainty, as there is the vexed problem of footnotes. It is the J.B. Bury edition of the work, which is considered "complete," but I'm not sure whether, in fact, some of the footnotes may not have been streamlined (and I'm not saying they are--there are anwhere from 1 to 3 footnotes on virtually every page). Wikipedia identifies it as a complete edition but also adds the following comment on another "complete" edition:

"David Womersley, ed., 3 volumes. hardback-(London: Allen Lane, 1994); paperback-(New York: Penguin Books, 2005;1994). The current essential edition, the most faithful to Gibbon's original text. The ancient Greek quotations are not as accurate as in Bury, but an otherwise excellent work with complete footnotes and bibliographical information for Gibbon's cryptic footnote notations."

I have not read all of the work--just about a third of it--and I found the Heritage edition to have more than enough footnotes to satisfy me. In fact, I found myself skipping and skimming the footnotes after a while when they merely elaborated on a particular source used or were digressive. Even Wormsley's text is, as I understand it, not evry word Gibbon ever wrote as Gibbon edited his own work several times and made several revisions, additions and deletions.

I am quite happy with Bury's edition--especially in the wonderful Heritage printing (although I would dearly love to get my hands on the LEC edition in Fine condition).

>216 Django6924: I read the wikipedia article also, and I think I will be very happy with Bury's edition as well. Hope I win this auction.

Thanks Django6924!

Recently received the big Pepys set from LEC. Very nice books with lots of engravings. The only problem with my set is that the corners exposed to the elements have pretty good sun wear. So strange that some inks tend to hold better than others. Also recently received The Writings of Thomas Jefferson which I got for 35 dollars...not bad methinks. Pretty book, but I like the cloth bindings better like the ones done for the Works of Washington and

Finally received my HP Decline and Fall:



I really like how the LEC looks, however... maybe I'll keep an eye out for it.

Heritage Press Tale of Two Cities

















I really like the cover on this one.

Hope no one minds that I'm filling up the thread with photos!

Thank you so much for these. keep them coming.

I received today the two volume Heritage Press edition of Les Misérables. I don't think the volumes are very photogenic. I wasn't able to get it with the slipcase. As you can see, the red cloth binding on volume one has faded quite a bit, while the spine on volume two is just a shade lighter than the surrounding cloth. I like the small illustrations in this edition, but personally I'm not a fan of the full-page ones.

I would have preferred the LEC five volume edition as it seems much more handy, but I'm on a poor grad student's budget...

I have a very fond place for this edition, as it was a very early acquisition, and I still have it (though HuxleyTheCat egged me into buying the LEC edition--which is, as you say, very comfortable to read--though I personally find the design of the Heritage more to my taste than the sober black cloth bindings on the LEC).

I like your pictures!

> 223 Oh no! Not only am I responsible for condemning you to eternal penury and toil Django, but you don't even like the book! I'm going to go away and sulk in a corner now (taking Gibbon and Rochester with me for company).

Yes, great pictures m - keep them coming.

>224 HuxleyTheCat:

I actually like it very much. :-) I also have to say that now I probably won't be satisfied until I find a good copy of the LEC Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire after seeing how striking it looked on your shelves!

I have commented elsewhere on the fact that although the materials and execution of the LEC are unrivalled, sometimes the designer of the Heritage Press edition outdid the LEC from the standpoint of concept. The very first Heritage Two Years Before the Mast, which preceded the LEC version by a decade, has always seemed to me one of the best-designed bindings ever--the navy blue cloth with the ship silhouetted by the gold of the rising (setting?) sun, and the pattern of gold anchors on the spine--the whole design is striking but not ostentatious, and is reminiscent of old copies of The Bluejacket's Manual.

> 225 Phew there's a relief!

Just picked up a copy of The Iceman Cometh in perfect shape. It includes a tipped in lithograph by Leonard baskin. This book was published in 1982 (2000 copies instead of the usual 1500). When did the LEC start changing hands and change its focus?

I happened to find today an edition of Frankenstein with all of Lynd Ward's illustrations, published by Fall River Press by arrangement with Centipede Press. The binding is a weird mixture of artificial leather and artificial velour (?)--perhaps appropriately so. This was on the sale table in the local Barnes & Noble for $9.98. I'm happy to have it, as I've become really interested in Lynd Ward's work, and while I've seen many Heritage Press editions of this for sale, they all seem to have been stored in someone's damp basement.

A while back I picked up an Heritage Salome, and I can see why you praised it so highly, Django! It wasn't complete, but it was exquisite, and I had to have it! Now I need to find a Sandglass and Slipcase...

>229 WildcatJF: I just picked up th Heritage Salome as well. Beautiful, hand illuminated and dirt cheap. I don't really understand why so many HP books sell for under $10, many for under $5 before shipping.

>230 kdweber:

I suppose because so many were printed (although I doubt the Salome was more than 3000 in its original printing). Frankly, I don't understand either, as the quality is easily the equal or superior to the general Folio Society edition of the last 20 years (since they went from letterpress). Some of the Heritage books--the Salome, the Song of Solomon, A Shropshire Lad, and some others, are fully the equal of some of the LEC books, just lacking the signature and the limitation. For the Salome and the Song of Songs, Angelo hand-illuminated the gilt decorations, for crying out loud!

Perhaps we shouldn't bruit this about as the prices might start to climb!

>231 Django6924:

Django, was the FS ever letterpress? I had no idea... Do you know up to which year?

I have both Heritage Press Salome and the Song of Songs, by the way, and I completely agree with the opinions above. The Song of Songs cost me a shattering $2.47 (with a badly sunned cloth spine though; Salome's binding is more durable, I think. Buckram?)

>232 BorisG:

Yes, it was in the early days. I think my individual Shakespeare plays with the costume designs for illustrations are letterpress, and I'm positive my Mabinogian from 1980 is.

Hey everyone

I recently acquired the HP ed. of The Prince and the Pauper. The first thing I noticed is that the paper seems really nice and thick. Love the texture. Some pics:

Beautiful condition! This is a book I love. I saw the old Errol Flynn version at least a dozen times when I was a kid. I read the book many years later, and thoroughly enjoyed it and wonder if I would enjoy the film now.

I've never seen the film, in fact I used to read the "Illustrated Classics" version when I was younger, so I decided I needed to read the real thing. I almost went with the EP edition because I love the lettering in the cover, but I think I enjoy HP editions more overall.

I'm very pleased with the condition, the photos on ebay didn't show much detail so I was hesitant.

After following the discussions in this group for some time I finally placed my first order for the following LEC books on Abe: The Prisoner of Zenda, Man and Superman, The Prince and the Pauper and Two Plays by Chekhov. I hope the books will survive the shipping from the USA to Germany.

> 237 I've had quite a few posted across the pond and they have all survived ok; and I would guess that the German postal service is rather more careful than the Royal Mail.

>238 HuxleyTheCat: I wouldn’t bet on this. The German postal service, like German trains or German highways aren’t what they used to be……

Ah, tis a common problem then.

Congratulations on the acquisitions by the way. Enjoy!

i took advantage of the opportunity that Django's relative presented to us and picked up two unopened LEC's last weekend. I had the pleasure of getting together with him and his wonderful family and opened my new treasures surrounded by his impressive books and enjoyed a great book discussion. Thanks, Django for all your work on making this treasure trove available to our LibraryThing devotees.

I purchased The Magic Mountain and The Wanderer: Le Grand Meaulnes. I have to say that Le Grand Meaulnes may have jumped up to the top of my LEC collection. The binding is simply beautiful and the illustrations by Dignimont are perfect for the novel. I look forward to re-reading this one.

The Magic Mountain is much more subdued in it's bindings but the edition is amazing none the less. I definitely prefer the illustrations to my Folio Society copy. I also like that it includes an introduction by the author himself, from a lecture that he gave at some point after the novel had already become a success. He recommends that you will have to read it twice to really get it, so I'm going to take his advice at some point and do just that. It will be interesting to see if I have a preference on the translations between this and the Folio Society edition.

How delightful that this forum can bring together two relative strangers who share a common passion.

>243 Django6924:

I couldn't agree more! It was such a pleasure to meet jveezer and vicariously enjoy the pleasure of opening up these two wonderful packages (I'm also in agreement about the merits of The Wanderer a beautifully produced book with great illustrations.) It was fun to talk about books and bring out some of my LECs to share with a fellow devotee; in fact, the temptation to unwrap some of those packages in the back room almost got the better of me! I'm dying to see the reproductions of the Bodmer paintings in the Journals of Lewis and Clark!

Just received the two-volume HP War and Peace. Sadly the slipcase didn't survive the combined efforts of the USPS and Royal Mail, but the books themselves are in very nice condition indeed. They are a good handy size and look to be eminently readable in terms of text size and the weight of each volume. Now I just have to decide whether to keep my FS LE version, as I doubt that it will ever be read...

>245 HuxleyTheCat:

I should think it wouldn't be difficult to sell that volume, should you decide to. I would like to add that I think the FS has made somewhat of a mistake in opting for elephantine dimensions in their Limited Editions. I have recently been rereading Plutarch's life of Brutus in the LEC edition, and though the 8 volume edition takes up almost a foot of shelf space (albeit they are on a shelf that is 2/3 the height of most of the other shelves, I thought again how handy these smaller volumes are, and how good the LEC was, especially in the pre WW II period, designing books that were a pleasure to read without requiring prior weight training. (I think this was primarily due to the influence of the Plutarch's designer, W.A. Dwiggins, all of whose books for the LEC--including the superlative Gargantua and Pantagruel--are of similar graceful dimensions.)

>245 HuxleyTheCat: and 246

I am actually looking for the FS LE of War and Peace. I am fan of Jeff Clements. I have the Moby Dick, Don Quixote and Les Miserables. However not yet as I have spent too much money this month. With the LEC from Robert and the EP Leonardo da Vinci LE, EP Spencer's Faerie Queene and EP Crusades

One of the advantages of working on computers, is that when a large graphic project needs to be rendered, you have chunks of time when you are forced to sit back and catch up on your Librarything threads. In looking back at this one, I realized I had rudely, but inadvertently, ignored kdweber's question about when the LEC changed hands and focus (in reference to the change in subscriber base from the original 1500 to over 2000.

In 1970, the LEC was purchased from the Macy heirs by the Boise-Cascade Paper Company. It was sold again (twice I think) during the 70s until it was bought by Sid Shiff, who still owns it, I believe, in 1978. The subscriber base was increased to 2000 by Boise-Cascade, then after the acquisition by Shiff, decreased to what I think is now just 300 members. My 1986 Diary of a Country Priest, with the last illustrations by the great Fritz Eichenberg, is 665 out of just 1000 copies, and my 1987 The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge was one of only 800 copies. By 1988, Carpentier's The Kingdom of This World was only printed in an edition of 750 copies, and though the text is an important one, already the art (original etchings by Roberto Juarez, is starting to take precedence.

By 1990, the LEC edition of Seven Years in Tibet--a copy of which is currently on eBay--was printed for 300 subscribers, and from then to the present, the illustrations are the raison d'etre for the books the LEC publishes. Thus a SINGLE Poe story--"The Fall of the House of Usher," not the complete tales--gets a volume to itself by virtue of Alice Neel's illustrations. As literature, the post-1990's LEC includes no monumental icons--even though some works chosen are very fine in themselves, such as the Sonnets to Orpheus, but even Rilke wasn't the drawing card as much as the illustrations by Balthus. (I haven't seen these, and being a Rilke fan would love a beautiful copy, but everything I have seen by Balthus pretty much leaves me cold--perhaps mercifully as this book sells for four figures.)

In keeping with the thread topic, I acquired last month a pristine copy of the George Macy-designed The Prince. What a contrast to the livres d'artiste approach of the current LEC: no illustrations at all, even minimal decorative flourishes. Just superb materials, typography, a beautiful leather binding (one of the relatively few LEC all-leather bindings) and just the right size for reading.

> 246 I agree, and that's precisely the reason why the FS W&P will likely not be read. It's not the physical size (about the same as the, very readable, Moby Dick) but the weight that's the issue. I believe that it is even heavier than Les Miserables. It's a shame because it is very nice in all other respects.

Got a wonderful copy of Verne's FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON and AROUND THE MOON. Signed by Robert Shore. Slipcase is in great shape, and the books look like they were printed yesterday! Excellent price.

246: I'm curious how the LEC edition compares to the FS edition. I have the FS edition and it's gorgeous! The illustrations in the FS edition are top-notch. I would love to see some of the LEC illustrations. Any chance you could upload a few?

>250 astropi:

To which LEC were you referring? I'm up to my eyebrows in a project until Friday but can get to it this weekend.

251: The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans

My LEC collection grew by three today, with the arrival of a pristine Prisoner of Zenda (unbelievably fine condition for 44 years old!); a very nice indeed Innocent Voyage (the reproduction of Ward's illustrations is superb); and, to complete my LEC Hardy 'Wessex' triumvirate, the stunning (well I think so!) Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I'm very happy indeed.

I have one more LEC volume en route, that being the American Indian Legends, which I have wanted (rather badly) since seeing images of Everett Gee Jackson's illustrations.

253

Congratulations! All fine books; the Innocent Voyage is one of my favorites, and I have already mentioned how I feel A.M. Parker's Tess is her masterpiece for me.

While I only have the HP Innocent Voyage, I can vouch for its quality. Some of Ward's finest.

I haven't picked up Tess yet, but I'm sure it's great. Miller's work is outstanding for that set from the three I have, and hearing both of your praises makes me want to find Tess!

>255 WildcatJF:

See if you can find a reasonably-priced LEC. I have all the Hardy in the Heritage editions, and not being a big Hardy fan, am very satisfied--until I saw the LEC Tess: whereas all the Heritage illustrations are reproduced in B&W, as are most of the wood engravings, the 2 page illustrations that start each major section of the novel (5 I believe) are colored wood engravings--with up to as many as 5. The color is subtle but makes a wonderful difference.

253> Congratulations on your recent acquisitions. Unfortunately, I have the EP version of Tess which I was quite happy about until I bought an LEC copy of The Mayor of Casterbridge which is also illustrated by Miller in a very similar manner. The difference between the quality of the illustrations in the two books is truly amazing. On the bright side, I just picked up an LEC copy of The Art of Love in immaculate condition including a copy of the newsletter.

I find it amazing that so many (~25%) of my LECs look as if they've never been read or even opened.

>253 HuxleyTheCat:-257 The sobering fact for me, is that I was able to buy these four gorgeous, fabulous quality volumes, plus the LEC Far from the Madding Crowd (in perfect condition - and likewise fabulous and gorgeous!), plus the Gwasg Gregynog Mapping Golgotha (which many of you will know, and know is not cheap), all inclusive of shipping, and still have change from what the FS LE of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner would have cost me.

Now I know that's probably a little like comparing apples and pears, and is a matter of pure personal taste, for the Rime is surely a beautiful book, just not to mine (also, the Rime is likely to be a better investment): however (and I pretty much know that Django, at least, will agree), it seems to me that most LECs are such an incredible bargain. The points made above about the reproduction of the images and the immaculate state of books often over half a century old are testament to this. And that's without even considering the book design, letterpress factors etc. This may be a little hyperbolical but I believe that LEC editions represent the epitome of affordable, high quality, books.

>258 HuxleyTheCat: I heartily concur. I noticed that the Folio Society is coming out with a new release of Waverley for $67.95. I'm sure it is a lovely volume but earlier this year I picked up the LEC version which is bound in full cowhide and printed in letterpress by The Stinehour Press in perfect condition with the newsletter for $50 - a much better value as well as a superior book.

After some delay due to the German customs office, I finally received my first couple of LEC books. Here is what I got:

The Torrents of Spring by Turgenev
Two Plays by Chekov
Man and Superman by Shaw
The Prisoner of Zenda by Hope
The Prince and the Pauper by Twain
Memoirs of an Infantry Officer by Sassoon
The Battle of Waterloo by Hugo
Frithiof’s Saga by Tegner
The Conquest and Settlement of the Island of Puerto Rico by Valdes

Except for the last two books on the list, which have a slight musty smell, all the rest arrived in beautiful condition. The production quality of the books is amazing, and I wish it would be easier to get hold of LEC copies in Europe.

260) Enjoy Man & Superman - it's my favorite LEC that I own. ^_^

Yesterday I was planning to put on hold the two volume HP (NY) Grimm's Fairy Tales illustrated by Lucille Corcos at a local used shop due to having lack of funds, but a lady who overheard the conversation I had with the owner (I was talking about how I was laid off from my job for a month and didn't have the cash to purchase the set) was kind and awesome enough to buy it for me. So I have it, and I am very much in awe of her generosity. Especially since I've never met her.

>261 WildcatJF: Sorry to hear about your job loss, and thanks for sharing your experience with the generous lady in the book store. It really gave a boost to my otherwise almost missing Christmas feelings. I hope that your employment situation will improve soon.

The illustrations by Charles Mozley in Man & Superman are great, and I like that the colour illustrations are printed on differently coloured paper. I am also quite fond of The Prince and the Pauper with its unusual binding in quarter blue velvet.

Thanks for that - I am working at my old store for the holidays, and I made a great impression on the owner of the used bookstore I was at yesterday, so I may have a job there in the future. ^_^ I have seen the Prince and the Pauper LEC, and yes, it is a lovely book. Congrats on your bevy of acquisitions!

Just an FYI for everyone, but there seems to be a massive LEC drop tonight on ebay. Not sure why people think its a good idea to sell like a week before Christmas but their loss, my gain!

American Indian Legends arrived today. Yet another beautiful book. The binding is a combination of undyed fawnskin (yes, I did have an 'Aw Bambi' moment upon reading that particular fact!) and natural wood veneer, from which variety of tree I know not and the Newsletter unfortunately doesn't enlighten me, but it is very light (so possibly ash) and very attractive. There are thirty-seven of Jackson's illustrations within the 400+ pages, the vast majority in three or four colours. Design is by Ward Ritchie and it looks super.

Got The Great Gatsby last week with glassine and the ephemera, all for the slim price of 50 dollars plus shipping. Also got the Three Plays of Euripides with glassine and ephemera for 35 plus shipping.

>266 chase.donaldson: Do others keep the glassine wrapper on their LECs that have one? I admit it's a plus for me if a book I'm buying has the wrapper but I almost always throw the wrapper away when I get the book. I've kept the glassine on a few volumes where the wrapper was in almost perfect shape. Even in the case when the glassine is in perfect shape, it's discolored, is annoying when trying to read the book and looks bad. On the other hand, I shelve my LECs with the slipcase spine out to fully protect the volume from the sun so it's not really noticeable.

> 267 I've not received a volume where the glassine is perfect, so I've always thrown them away. If I did get a perfect one I would keep it, but not on the book, as I like my books to look attractive on the shelf and the glassines don't.

Yikes!! You guys throw out the glassine? It definitely increases the value of the books, but I appreciate your concern about readability. I just sort of put it away if I read my LEC books and put it back on afterwards.

All right - my trip to Berkeley yesterday went very well. I picked up three LEC's and 2 Heritage Press books, along with a few other things for me and my wife. Here's what I got:

LEC's
The Innocent Voyage by Richard Hughes with art by Lynd Ward (complete with newsletter, announcement page, slipcase and sleeve) for $45
Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodius with art by A. Tassos (complete with newsletter, announcement page and slipcase) for $30
Tartuffe by Moliere, with art by Hugo Steiner-Prag (with slipcase) for $25
Heritage Press
The House of Severn Gables by Nathaniel Hawthrone with art by Valenti Angelo (complete, New York printing) for $10
The Ambassadors by Henry James with art by Leslie Saalburg (complete, New York printing) for $10

I'm very happy! :)

Wow, great score and reasonable prices, congrats!

I am very envious over your Tartuffe. I love Steiner-Prag's illustrations for this.

WildcatJF: What bookstores do you like in Berkeley? I was in Oakland and San Francisco this weekend and hit some of my favorites in the city but have never gone to any in Berkeley. I always wanted to check out Shakespeare and Company there but have not had a chance. Of course, I'll understand if you don't want to reveal your sources! 8^P

Heh, it's not a biggie. Not sure when I'll be back there! :p

I bought all of my books at Moe's this last time. Out of the four I visited (Moe's, Shakespeare and Co., Half Price Books and one of the Pegasus Books in town), Moe's has the best selection of LEC and HP books. Shakespeare has several HP's, but many were not in the greatest condition. They had two LEC's there, one of which I thought about buying, but I went with what I found at Moe's in the end. The other two aren't worth visiting, as they don't have much for HP collectors, and no LEC's that I found.

The thing with Moe's is that they don't put them all in one easy-to-find place - you'll have to explore fiction, drama, poetry, the classics, mythology, history, science fiction and more to uncover their Macy books. They also have some LEC's in the Antiquarian shop at the top floor.

I picked up a couple of wonderful LEC titles recently.

The first is Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese illustrated by Valenti Angelo. The book is just an all-around beauty. The illuminated capitals that Angelo did for each of the sonnets, the sumptious paper, and the page layout are phenomenal. I did also glance at the Heritage Press edition and the main difference I noted was that the page margins had been cut down to facilitate a smaller book. Not sure if the illustrations/font were also reduced but it was not as striking as the LEC.

The other title was Swann's Way. This one wasn't really on my LEC priority list until I saw the illustrations. Bernard Lamotte's paintings were reproduced with amazing color. They really seem a perfect match to the book.

I also managed to find a great price on the Heritage Press Les Miserables to tide me over until I can find/afford the LEC edition.

Bad influence, reading this thread, it is, really. :-) Just paid for the American Indian Legends, and am contemplating various other titles.

>272 Django6924:
Django, a short question - I noticed there are two versions of Tartuffe by the LEC - 1930 and 1963 (with The Would-be Gentleman); how do the two compare (in terms of translations/illustrations/book design)?

>275 jveezer:
jveezer, how large is the LEC Sonnets? The Heritage version seems a large 4to itself, is the LEC much bigger?

Boris: Here's what they/Macy? have to say about the size of the book in the Monthly Letter:

"Now we had better tell you that, although we have referred to the decorative initial letters as "enormous", they do not look enormous on the pages of this book; for the book is a very large one. Indeed, teh page is possible the largest of any of the pages in any of our books, the size being 10.5 x 15 inches.

It is large deliberately. For what we set out to create,, in making this edition of Sonnets from the Portuguese, is the kind of book which might be called "a Bondoni book": a book in which a small number of lines of type, chastely opened up with space between the lines, is surrounded with enormous margins of white paper. When Giambattista Bodoni made his books, most of them had the kind of classic elegance which seems to result when a comparatively small block of black type is surrounded by comparatively large white spaces."

I don't recall exactly how much smaller the Heritage Press edition is but it did strike me as much smaller.

276) I have the LEC Tartuffe of 1930 and the HP Tartuffe/Would-Be Gentlemen of 1963 - I'll put up pics on my blog for them in the near future so you can compare (although Django's text ought to be excellent!).

>278 WildcatJF:
Thanks, Wildcat, that would be great.

I just picked up the Nonesuch/Heritage Press edition of A Woman's Life by Guy de Maupassant. Under $10 for a nice copy with beautifully colored illustrations by Edy Legrand. I'm wondering if it is considered a "Heritage Press" book as it has Nonesuch stamped on the bottom of the spine.

Also, on the colophon, it states "This English edition of A WOMAN'S LIFE was planned by Francis Meynell in London, the specimen typographic pages being prepared to his design at The Fanfare Press in London; the illustrations were made by Edy Legrand in Paris; the execution of teh edition has been done in New York: the composition in monotype cochin by the New York Monotype Composition Company, teh printing of the letterpress by the Ferris Printing company, the coloring of the illustrations being done through rubber plates cut by Herbert Rau and printed at the Arrow Press."

Regardless, it's wonderful.

Yes, it is definitely a Heritage Press book. The Nonesuch Press was started in the 1920s by Francis Meynell and produced some famous editions, but during the Depression, Meynell ceded financial control to George Macy (Meynell had already designed books for the LEC). You will actually find copies of many of the books during this period--especially the Great French novels series, such as your de Maupassant--in identical binding, except some will say Nonesuch and some will say Heritage on the spine and/or title page. During the war years, the books were all printed in the US. In the early 1950s, Meynell requested that financial control of the company be returned to him, as he had some projects he wanted to pursue that were outside the scope of what Macy was interested in, so Macy gave the company back. Francis Meynell gave the Dedication speech when the George Macy Memorial Library was founded at Columbia University.

(edited because after I hit "submit" I saw I had mis-spelled Mr. Meynell's name throughout. That's what comes of trying to write before I've had my morning coffee.)

>275 jveezer: You've convinced me Jveezer. I just received my copy of Sonnets from the Portuguese. What a large quarto. Beautifully illuminated letters! Just in time for Valentine's Day!

jveezer, I never had a chance to respond to your posting about the LEC Swann's Way. I've been drooling over my relative's copy for the past month (I don't own a copy myself), and your are right--the reproduciton of the paintings is nothing short of amazing--they look like originals, not reproductions. And right again what a perfect fit they are to the text. Oh if they had only published the entire Remembrance of Things Past, illustrated by Lamotte!

jveezer, I never had a chance to respond to your posting about the LEC Swann's Way. I've been drooling over my relative's copy for the past month (I don't own a copy myself), and you are right--the reproduction of the paintings is nothing short of amazing--they look like originals, not reproductions. And right again what a perfect fit they are to the text. Oh if they had only published the entire Remembrance of Things Past, illustrated by Lamotte!

typos, typos

Just completed my LEC Syzk collection with the acquisition of Joseph & His Brothers as part of The Evergreen Tales. Now if only I could afford a copy of the Heritage Press Ink & Blood.

OK, Ken, and after you get that, start saving your pennies for The Szyk Haggadah:

http://www.szyk.com/szyk-haggadah/editions-pricing.htm

(Just kidding, I'm envious--all my Szyk works are Heritage editions; I'd love to own the LEC versions of everything.)

Szyk also did an edition of the Ten Commandments which I would recommend

>286 Django6924: I've actually viewed that facsimile Szyk Haggadah. Instead of spending so much, I opted for buying the Massadah and Alumoth mass market version published in 1962, which is very nice and came in an elegant velvet clamshell case.

I just purchased the LEC Faerie Queen for 30 bucks which included the slipcase and the monthly letter. The only issue with the books is that the spines were moderately sunned, but I am super impressed with this edition, and I think it is one of their gems

>289 chase.donaldson:

I have to say I much prefer it to the $995 Folio Society reprint of the Walter Crane Faerie Queene, although that one has a nicer binding--the OUP bindings were always somewhat pedestrian. Parker's illustrations are wonderful.

I picked up quite a few Heritage Press editions this weekend. Including:

Ethan Frome (1967 printing)
Camille
Red Badge of Courage
Tales of the Gold Rush
The Ambassadors
Fathers and Sons
Silas Marner

The book seller I purchased these from had all books 50% off. I think my total for all of these came to about $40. I'm particularly fond of the Ethan Frome edition, one I'd been searching for quite a while (in excellent condition). I was pleased all of these editions had the Sandglass inserts (though I am not by far not a stickler for these). Should be a great Summer of reading. The seller had a vast selection of HP scattered throughout his many shelves. It was like a treasure hunt. Nothing was priced over $12 after the 50% off. I got lost for hours.

>291 acidneutral:

George Macy thought very highly of Ethan Frome, calling it a "perfectly illustrated book." I find Henry Varnum Poor's illustrations an amazing visual equivalent of the story's mood.

>291 acidneutral: Nice! I know it's been said often here, but it's just amazing to me that such well-designed, well-produced and well-selected books are so cheap!!!! When you think that an Everyman's Library book ranges from $20-30 (and I do like them) and a typical hardback is $25-35, Heritage Press books are a steal. My favorite local bookseller told me there is simply no market for them at all.

i would rather pay $12 for a HP edition than the same $12 for a new paperback...or sometimes even a used paperback. Others who don't enjoy the art of the book think its madness, my collection. I've heard so many times "Why don't you buy a Kindle?" or "Couldn't you check them out of the library?". There is no reasoning with people who ask these questions but I also realize this mentality is probably what makes the market for these so poor. Its a shame really. But their loss is certainly my gain, ten times over.

>293 pm11: No market, people are crazy! Just finished reading my HP copy of Eugene Onegin. Hard to believe it's not an LEC. Quarter bound leather, covered slipcase, beautifully printed lithos (he actually etched the stone rather than using a grease pencil according to the Sandglass) by Fritz Eichenberg - all for the price of a Penguin paperback.

295) A beautiful book, that one. I'll be getting some shots of it up tomorrow, with any luck.

Look forward to seeing the Onegin. That sounds great.

297) Will do, hopefully tomorrow with some others.

I got the LEC Vanity Fair yesterday - lovely book. I wish the slipcase wasn't broken and that the interior or book 2 was less fragile feeling (some prior owner obviously kept the book wide open on a particular page for a little while), but I do like it a lot. It's also the first LEC I have with dust jackets - is this common?

I also picked up the Heritage Invisible Man, which has one of the coolest title pages ever, and the American Poet edition of Poe's poems. Invisible Man is complete, but has some pen writing and a bookplate inside, and Poe's came with nothing, but was cheap. $55 for Vanity Fair, $10 for Invisible Man, $5 for Poe.

>298 WildcatJF: " It's also the first LEC I have with dust jackets - is this common?"

Most of the books produced for the LEC by the Oxford University Press has paper dust jackets with artwork or a printed pattern. These include Gil Blas, Peregrine Pickle, The Faerie Queene, The Old Wives' Tale, and The Pick wick Papers. These are what I remember off the top of my head, but there may be more.

The books printed for the LEC by the Officina Bodoni also usually had plain paper dustjackets (rather unusual to find them now as they had no decorative appeal. The Life of Benvenuto Cellini, Imaginary Conversations, The Gallic War, I promessi sposi, and many other examples.

Other than these, most books came in glassine wrappers.

Had another good run of picking up some stuff of late (hopefully not re-listing something from before, sort of mixed them up!)....Will post some pictures in a week or two when I get a chance. Have enough reading to do for a while now, so other than some last things coming in the next couple weeks (mostly FS and a few more LECs), this should be it for quite some time. I will start posting some more detailed reviews as I get through these.

FS
Plutarch's Lives (4 volumes)
Tacitus Annals

LEC
The Natural History of Selborne
The Story of an African Farm
Antigone
The Beach of Falsa
The Captain's Daughter and Other Stories
Virgil - Eclogues
Roxana
The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard
Aucassin and Nicolete
Temptation of St Anthony
15 Decisive Battles of the World
History of Pendennis
Henry Esmond
Resurrection
Poems Tennyson
The Warden
Barchester Towers
Zanig
Tono Bungay
House of Mirth
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
OMOO
Last Days of Pompeii
Washington Square
Revolt of the Angels
Wilhem Meister's Apprenticeship
Camille
The House of the Dead
Hard Times
Nostromo
Light of Asia
Short Stories of Chechov
Education of Henry Adams
Old Goriot
Eugenie Grandet
Northanger Abbey

HP
Pudd'nhead Wilson
Up From Slavery
Ballad of Reading Gaol
House of Seven Gables
Praise of Folly
The Song of Songs Which is Solomon's
Barnaby Rudge
Confessions of an English Opium Eater

EP
The Lottery

Bowler Press
Importance of Being Earnest

Wow you went to town

Yes, loving the haul! A few stragglers left to come. Today's mail brought Lucretius On the Nature of Things, and the FS Moby Dick limited edition. Last week a couple new bookshelves came, so I have the space to put all of this...though it seems most of the shelves are already full again.

BTW, just completed Confessions of an English Opium Eater.... wow! One of the best books of English prose I have ever read. Amazed that book is not more popular as a classic than what it seems to be.

I can't find the original thread discussing Penguin Island by Anatole France, but I just received mine. $10. 1938 Heritage Press with embossed penguin on the cover. Great condition on the book, good condition on the slipcase. It is absolutely beautiful, and I can't wait to read it. We say it all the time but how can books this fantastic be this cheap? Thanks as always for the great recommendations.

>303 pm11:

Happy to have another fan in the club! I think this particular book is one of the most beautifully designed and executed books of the 20th century. Why oh why couldn't someone revise the Heritage Press and bring out books like this today? (Of course they would probably have to cost 10 times what you paid for your book.)

I'm back from my trip, and I netted the best haul quantity wise I've ever had, with 8 books. On top of that, I'm quite pleased with everything I netted, so perhaps it is quality-wise, too. :)

LEC's:
The Three Cornered Hat by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón/Roger Duvosin
Monsieur Beaucaire by Booth Tarkington/T.M. Cleland

Both lack a letter, but both are in exquisite condition.

Heritage:
The Story of Manon Lescaut by the Abbe Provost D’Exiles/Pierre Brissaud (this one is different from the others I've seen, with vibrant blue marbled boards, a leather spine, sharper art and an apparent print of Brissaud's on the title page that's signed :) )
The Chronicle of the Cid, translated by Robert Southey/Rene ben Sussan
Meditations of Marcus Aurelius/Hans Alexander Mueller
Penguin Island by Anatole France/Malcolm Cameron
Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen/Per Krohg
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand/Pierre Brissaud (I got it back! :) )

Some of the slipcases are a little banged up on the Heritage books, but they are all complete and the books are in very good to great condition, varying.

I'm so happy! :)

You should be very, very happy with the Manon Lescaut--this was one of the very first 6 books issued by the Heritage Press. Although there are many copies of this book with leather spine and marbled boards, only 1500 had Brissaud's signature on this extra piece of art, as these were printed, and first offered to the members of the Limited Editions Club as collector's items. So you have, in effect, an LEC/Heritage press exclusive.

I've been trying to get my hands on one of these for years!

306) I thought it was something special. Thanks for confirming that! You probably don't want to know how little I paid for it!

My second haul in Monterey was awesome - here's what I got:

LEC's
Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy/Agnes Miller Parker - includes a signed print from Parker, no letter
Zadig by Voltaire/Sylvain Sauvage - No letter...but my goodness, what a lovely, lovely book.

Heritage
The Gallic Wars by Julius Casear/Bruno Bramanti - complete
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey/Zhenya Gay - no Sandglass
The Coverly Letters with art by Gordon Ross - complete
Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin/Fritz Eichenberg - complete
Volume II of the Life of Samuel Johnson (it was the nicest HP book at the shop - I'll track down the other two later)
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust/Bernard Lamotte - complete
The Singular Adventures of Baron Munchausen with art by Fritz Kredel - complete, plus a Sandglass for Diedrich Knickerbocker's History of New York

The LEC's are in remarkable shape, the HP's are not ideal, but I got them for store credit trading in a bunch of books, so I'm not complaining. A good haul these last two trips! :)

Wildcat, great haul! I agree that Zadig is very lovely.

>308 WildcatJF:: Nice haul! :) I love Zadig, and its profusion of illustrations, as well, but then I have a soft spot for Persian-inspired illustrations.

I hope you post Zadig on your blog, Jerry. A true gem among LEC books (which is saying a lot), and a fitting curtain call by the great Sylvain Sauvage.

Zadig is one of my very favorite LECs. Gorgeous book.

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone! I'm very happy with it, too, and I agree on it being a highlight in my collection. :)

311 - I'll get it up soon, I assure you. :)

Just purchased a copy of Zadig. Hasn't been delivered yet. Copies can be had for pretty reasonable prices. Hopefully, the condition lives up to the sellers description.

I recently received and just finished reading The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci. The Heritage Press edition is beautiful and the book itself is wonderful with many beautiful scenes.

Received Walden, on the way there are Swiss Robinson Family, Father and Son and Prince and Pauper.
Now the Thoreau had a slipcase that was falling apart, so I put a new bookcloth with a new label, around the same box. It looks really nice but I wonder: Am I a criminal? Is is a crime of lèse-majesté? Or was it a good idea to give the slipcase a new life and to protect the book for the next 50 years?

>315 leo6:

A Heritage Press exclusive, and a great book. This is a classic for anyone interested in Renaissance Italy. I confess I never learned as much in a history class about the period as I did from reading this book. I was particularly fascinated by daVinci's various commissions, and by how infrequently he followed them through to completion.

The other books in the Heritage Great Artists novels are equally wonderful.

>316 Maretzo:

Maretzo, I'm trying to do the same thing to my LEC copy of Religio Medici, which is in 3 pieces at the moment. I feel no qualms about doing so, because, as you said, the slipcase has kept the book pristine a good many years.

> 317 Interesting, I didn't know there were other novels in this series. Would you happen to know which others they published?

318) There's three others, two of which I've documented at my blog:
http://georgemacyimagery.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/heritage-press-r-v-r-by-hendri... - RvR by Van Loon
http://georgemacyimagery.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/heritage-press-this-is-the-hou... - This is the Hour by Feuchtwanger

The other is Irving Stone’s Lust for Life: A Novel of Vincent Van Gogh.

I have made 3 great purchases recently
1. Lewis and Clark with slipcase and maps for a whopping 45 dollars. Unbelievably lucky, and they are in great shape! No letter though...
2. Travels of Gulliver. With slipcase and letter and the original dust jacket-like thing in excellent condition for 65 dollars.
3. The Living Talmud for 40 dollars with letter and slipcase in excellent condition.

I haven't been as active lately, but I think the first two there certainly made up for it!

Wow those are absolutely great prices, especially for Lewis and Clarke!!

>320 chase.donaldson: Wow! The LEC Lewis Clark usually goes for north of $200; though, I'm very pleased with my HP Lewis and Clark which only cost $20 (including Sandglass) and are in perfect condition.

Please post a copy of the Letter for The Living Talmud to our Dropbox. I'd love a copy of the letter for my copy of the book.

Received today the Dubliners including its Monthly Letter and a separate sheet explaining the process of photogravure.
Printed at Wild Carrot Letterpress and Heritage printer.