I just ordered ~ received....

I know you guys and gals just love these kinds of threads, so here goes.

I have been wanting to find a Folio copy of Out of Africa since I saw parts of the movie recently. I watched the first half hour or so but decided I wanted to read the book first and changed the channel. Anywho, this book is tough to find in the USA, but found one yesterday at abebooks for $50. I thought that was a decent price for a hard to find book.

Whoo hoo!

I just purchased a small Modern Library hardcover at B&N a week ago. Pitiful in comparison, but I did not want a paperback.

How about a competition on the most battered FS delivery?

My entry:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brindacier/3880177143/

I received the last of my Summer Sale books a few weeks ago. One of the mailbag contained something round like a football. Horrified, I took pictures before opening the box, prepared to complain to FS.

Incredibly, the books, including slipcases, were intact inside the bubble wrap!

Are you really serious about this 'competition' !!??

>2 madA63:

I had one last year that looked just like that. However, like yours, all of the books were intact.

So, at one point I was wishing FS would use more environmentally friendly packing but after seeing that picture I think we'll stick with the bubble wrap. Luckily my postal people treat my packages right. If that had arrived at my doorstep I'd be afraid to open it. Hooray for bubble wrap!

That's a truly nightmare-inducing photo!!

I hope I never receive a delivery worthy of this "competition"!

At least now I know how to pack my books when I move in a couple of months time.

The oversize bubbles and the extra layer of bubble wrap between each volume seems to be the key.

Perhaps there is a similar competition in the different postal services over the world to produce the most battered delivery. Could anybody from the post confirm this?

I just found and bought Michelangelo and Travels with a Donkey from FS for $22

Rather embarrassingly, I've just had to buy the book on William Russell of the Times. Embarrassingly because my Dad gave it to me 10 years ago but not appreciating it then I passed it on to my stepdad... How little I knew then. I'm pleased that I got it now as it seems a chunky volume and full of great journalism.

I bought four second-hand Folios last week, for flat 15 CAD each, in a local antiquarian store. (The owner has a whole shelf of Folios, quite a few other desirable ones, but I'm doing my darned best to be "good"... for a while.) Here's the surprising one: East of the Sun..., in perfect condition! Hearing from others how expensive it is, this must be my lucky snag of the year, and more.

But I do wonder, echoing someone else (can't remember where)... yes, it is a very pretty book, the illustrations are gorgeous, but I don't quite understand why it is so sought after, especially as other editions seem to be plentiful.

I wonder if Lang's series will similarly increase in value with time... especially if they keep them out of print.

I just received my renewal books, including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy which I absolutely love. It's exactly what I've been looking for since the eighties to replace my tattered paperback with Alec Guinness as Smiley on the cover.

I was struck by one thing: There is no introduction. I had not noticed when ordering and frankly would not have hesitated if I had.

But:

One would think this would be one of those books screaming out for a new introduction by someone in the spying business, now that the secret files of the period have been declassified.

What do you think in general about introductions - waste of paper or valuable addition to the Folio experience?

we discussed introductions somewhere, can't remember where. I never know whether to read them before or after the book - before, they sometimes give the plot away, after - I think, oh gosh I wish I'd read that first.
I would have loved an introduction to Things Fall Apart, to know more about the place, the writer, etc.

I'm generally pro-introduction--but reading First Folio made me wonder about the selection of the writer. Some introductions are fine--recently, I read Ill Met by Moonlight and thought the forward was quite good (though the afterward, by Leigh-Fermor was even better, and I generally prefer an afterward, because if I have enjoyed the book, I want to find out more about the author). But I intensely disliked one forward I read in First Foloio, as the writer of the Foreward seemed to have grudging respect, at best, for the work he was introducing. I'd prefer no introduction to one where the writer of the Foreward is simply trying to one-up the author of the book.

I'm a little curious about the introduction to the Songlines, written by Nicholas Shakespeare, as he was so disparaging about Chatwin in the fat biography he wrote. Does anyone have it already?

I predict a long, expensive year ahead...I just ordered Leaves of Grass, The Realm of the Unreal and Other Tales, and Scott's Last Expedition

I did a search for Leaves of Grass on their site, which turned up nothing beyond the short mention in News. They say the art is taken from the 1855 version. What about the poetry itself? I've recently read the 1855 150th anniversary edition, and thought it might be nice to get a nice copy of a later version, as I understand there are many great poems written later on by Whitman, but which get umbrella'ed into the same collection.

>18 AndrewL: I understand there are many great poems written later on by Whitman, but which get umbrella'ed into the same collection

Whitman tweaked the collection several times as Leaves of Grass went into later editions, so what constitutes the definitive collection is probably suitable for unending discussion/debate.

Os.

Hence my query on what version FS is releasing.

> 17

I just picked up my copy of Scott and it's beautiful, big and heavy. The Bierce has been delayed a little but I was told that it should be out in the next week or two.

Hi LoalaWasler ,
Which Bookstore in Toronto are you referring to or do you want to keep it a secret? Coming from Sudbury I to go to Toronto on book buying trips. I do have my favourites but I wouldn't mind additions to my list.

I went on a bit of an Ebay binge the other week so interesting parcels have been arriving at my house for the last few days. They contained:

A Month in the Country
The Name of the Rose
Tom Sawyer
Treasure Island
William Russell, Special Correspondent of the Times
The Scarlet Letter

And still in the post:
The Silk Road
A Nervous Splendour
The Histories

I can cross a few items off my want list now, but strangely the list isn't any shorter than before...

Edited to fix some touchstones. The Silk Road is pointing to the wrong book but the list of options isn't loading, grr.

I just received my renewal books, including Walden. I have a question about a possible flaw. Everything about the book is beautiful, but I noticed on the spine, about an inch from the top a lump - looks very much like books that have raised hubs on the spine (such as Easton Press), except that it is not straight. Has anyone seen this before? Is this sort of thing likely to affect the book later on (I don't mind the way it looks, but if it were to affect the structure of the book down the line I would be concerned) Thanks for any thoughts on this.

>24 elmaynard:
My copy does not have this 'bump'. So, it is not supposed to be there. If you do not mind its appearance I can't think it will damage the book. I agree that it is a lovely edition and I am thoroughly enjoying reading it. At a time when the oceanic banking crisis has rocked capitalism's boat, Walden pond provides an imaginative haven from the turmoil. If only..

Walden is very apropos of our times, both for the reason given by PeterGreen and for the fact that Thoreau spent a few nights in jail for not paying his taxes around the time he lived at Walden. He did not like the way his taxes were being spent: for funding what he saw as an unjust and unprovoked war with Mexico. Read his essay Civil Disobedience if you haven't yet.

The last of my summer sale books just arrived, The Isle of Voices. It looks to be a great companion volume to The Body Snatcher. I look forward to reading it!

Oooh. I justs discovered (after being on LT for 3 yrs) that my posts in a thread are indented relative to all the others! Am I just slow, or is this something new?

Definitely off-topic,
Os.

>28 Ealhmund:

What's special about one's own posts are the editing icons on the right - the right margin is consequently pushed in, and it looks like the left margin automatically follows suit (designed or accidental symmetry). Is it new? Not sure, but doesn't feel unfamiliar.

>28 Ealhmund:
Either way, it makes it easier to scroll up and see what I said in the last post before I either contradict or repeat myself. You know, the memory is always the second thing to go :-)
Os.

My renewal books arrived today (all but the 2 that haven't been published yet). Both the Big White Bag and the box in it were in fine shape. Inside the box were 5 splendid books:

The Rosetta Stone -- looks wonderful; the binding is a lovely feeling vellum
Dracula -- absolutely gorgeous; the black binding and blood red endpapers are perfect; can't wait to read this one
A Passage to India -- nothing spectacular but a very fine edition that I am looking forward to reading (the only Forster novel I haven't read yet)
Impossible Journeys -- smaller than I expected, with a glossy feeling paper but looks very interesting
Ballet Shoes -- I love the dark lavender binding and the beautiful watercolor illustrations; I've never read this one, but saw part of a film based on it and can't wait to read the book

>31 FionaCat:

"A Passage to India -- nothing spectacular but a very fine edition that I am looking forward to reading"

Great novel--more pertinent today in many ways than when it was written. You sound a bit reserved about this--is it the illustrations? I've been debating whether to order this because the few illustrations in the old Prospectus for this didn't appeal much to me.

Yippy, my renewal books came too!
Inside the big white bag was the standard renewal - Colour - what a gorgeous book, I skimmed through it quickly and can't wait to really get into it.
The Picture of Dorian Gray - just a bit disappointed in the illustrations, they look to...happy somehow.
Kidnapped - to round out my Stevenson collection, beautifully bound and looks great with Jekyll and Hyde and Treasure Island.
Sadly Aesop's Fables did not ship in this order, but it gives me something to look forward to!

>32 Django6924:

A Passage to India is nice, but yes, the illustrations are a bit ... unexciting and abstract. It is still a lovely book, as all Folios are, but it doesn't make me say "wow" like some of them do.

I just sent away for The Picture of Dorian Gray, Arabian Sands, Hons and Rebels, and Lark Rise to Candleford...what an Anglophile I must be!

I know that I have reached a saturation point when I have Folio Books from 2 or 3 years ago that are still wrapped in cellophane.. I am planning on only one FS book for the coming year.

If you are like me - I kept the cellophane on until recently - take it off! You will peruse and enjoy them much more!

Well, one of my renewal books showed up today Leaves of Grass. It is a beauty, but I'm always a little disappointed when they don't have decorative endpapers. With luck, the rest of my goodies will show up soon.

>38 Tanglewood:
I've noticed FS doesn't do deco. eps as much as you'd expect. I'm the same way, first impressions are the cover and the eps, and I'm often a bit let down when the eps are plain.

Os.

Just received in fine condition Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (2002).

Lovely.

Just received as a gift the two boxed sets of Beatrix Potter's Tales, very charmingly done.

>41 Tanglewood: "the two boxed sets of Beatrix Potter's Tales"

These are currently a joining offer here in the UK:

You pay £19.95 and get the two BP sets "worth £207" and a free Wind in the Willows standard edition "worth £32.95", not to mention a free Folio Parker pen ("£6.75"). If you then decide not to join after all, you keep Wind in the Willows and the pen anyway.

>42 boldface:
It is a joining offer in the US too but not with the Wind in the Willows. You instead get the Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus, I believe. Although they don't have it for sale to members on the website, if you call, they will sell it to you (all of which I passed on to my kind gifter).

Cicero On The Good Life. Companion to Lucretius. Surprisingly, it was not in shrink-wrap and slip-case slightly dented. Still, beautiful to look at. Also got Boethius and Journal of the Terror second-hand. The Boethius looks very beautiful.

> 44

Be careful that you have not receive a 'return'.

Hi vat1sem

I am almost through The Histories by Herodotus and aim to tackle Lucretius shortly, after a quick detour of reading The Weir of Hermiston by the late great Robert Louis Stevenson.

>45 LesMiserables:

I wouldn't be surprised. There weren't many left in stock. Actually a gift for my son as he studied Cicero and Lucretius for his Higher School Certificate Latin and has fond memories (they served him well).

Anyway, I've looked closely and the book is in mint condition, apart from a slight bit of crush at the bottom of the spine, which actually gives the book character (honestly!).

And now I've bitten the bullet and ordered the Alistair Cooke 'Letter from America'. Some of the finest broadcasting of the 20th century I think. Now, just hope it arrives by Xmas.

>46 LesMiserables:
LesMis,
I'd like to hear what you think of 'Weir' when you're done. I read Kidnapped and the sequel Catriona last year, and thoroughly enjoyed both, and I have 'Weir' on my to read list, but other books keep stepping in front of the line. You and I have some common favorites, so your reaction to 'Weir' might do the trick (or send it further down the list).

Os.

Well Os, after finishing The Histories yesterday, I started The Weir of Hermiston last night and got half way through it. I have said it before, but I think Stevenson is a master craftsman with the pen. I got one of those moments last nights when I suddenly burst out laughing as I became victim to Stevenson subtle humour :-)
I will update later as I finish this.....

Having a bit of an ordering splurge to build up my collection:

Alastair Cooke from the FS (plus keyring)

Twelve Ceasars, Procopius, Marcus Aurelius, The Leopard and 101 O Henry stories through various Abebook booksellers in Australia.

My wife wants to order the Siege of Krishnapur. Does anyone know if the FS version is nice?

I have just received it (I renewed with the Booker Prize winners joining offer) and think it's beautiful. The illustrations are excellent - pen and ink with watercolour.
BTW your Burmese cat is a stunner.

The white mail bag arrived yesterday with Scott's Last Expedition and The Realm of the Unreal and Other Stories. Scott's journals is a beautiful volume and is packed with photographs, many of which I have not seen before. The Bierce volume has 91 stories, but a paltry 11 illustrations by Nathan Sissons, most of which seem....ummm...uninspired given the subject matter. The cover design however is wonderful. Even so I am going to enjoy this volume because it contains many of Bierce's stories I have not come across before.

>51 bot_garden:

Thanks for the info.

And the Burmese has a very sweet temperament to match.

Did someone say BURMESE CAT??? I covet, I covet!

Oh, vatsem, it IS a beauty!

And the Burmese has a very sweet temperament to match.

Yes! I knew a sable Burmese once--dark chocolate coat--he was the sweetest cat on Earth. He charmed me at the first meeting by jumping to "hug" me from the floor (a 5'9" vertical jump, considering I was wearing high heels), a paw on each of my shoulders. Monkey cat! I love their doggishness too. You could take Oliver out on a leash (he also ate through my friend's piano music stand, chair legs, shoes, and a kitchen cabinet door).

Having a little of shopping madness myself. Thru several on-line retailers the following Folio Editions have arrived this week:
- Just So Stories (Kipling)
- The Jungle Book (Kipling)
- Kim (Kipling) The 95 edition.
- The 3 volume Set. Travels (R. L. Stevenson). Reading it right now and loving it.
- The Dead Sea Scrolls.

And coming in the next few days:
- Rules of the Ancient World (5 volume set)
- The Name of the Rose (Eco) I have been after this one for quite some time. Finally got it!

Just received the 8 volume Complete Plays of Shakespeare - had been looking for it for a while so very happy to get it. Even got the chance to peruse it before going to another fabulous performance at the Globe.

> 50

My FS 'The Leopard' arrived from a bookseller sourced through Abebooks. It is really lovely, in perfect condition and I'm delighted because I haven't seen it around much.

And a general question. Does anyone know if the FS did Heart of Darkness in the recent series illustrated by Francis Mosley?

thanks all.

>57 vat1sem:

Cancel that last question. I have the answer (which is 'yes' in case anyone else was wondering).

>56 khaa9481:

Which Globe?

Just received a copy of W.B. Yeats: The Folio Poets from an online vendor. Half-price, but brand new -- still in wrapper! What a deal. And what a book!

>59 Django6924:: Shakespeare's Globe in London. It is such a wonderful place. I always leave with a warm glow inside. I haven't had much chance to see plays there this year because of my baby son but as he's away this week I saw Love's Labour's Lost and As You Like It and both were fabulous. Amazingly, speaking to colleagues (I work only a few hundred yards from the Globe) nearly nobody has been there. More fool them. I've seen some excellent productions there over the years and often the "minor" plays turn out best: Merry Wives Of Windsor was wonderful and even Timon of Athens wasn't too bad.

The globe is a great place! I've been there only once some years ago, when I was on a school excursion to England. It was a real experience.

In 2002 I saw the Globe's "original practices" version of Twelfth Night - it was incredible! That production is responsible for Twelfth Night becoming my favorite Shakespeare play. I do hope someday to get there again.

I'm envious you get to experience the Globe in London, khaa! I'll just have to settle for the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Been meaning to catch a Shakespeare play there for a long time...

>61 khaa9481: We saw Merry Wives of Windsor - one of the funniest plays I've ever seen. The production was just brilliant. We also managed to get down (from the north) to Merchant of Venice the year before. Another good one, but not quite in the Merry Wives league. Sadly didn't manage it this year, but must do so next year - the whole atmosphere makes for a really enjoyable evening's entertainment.

Just got the Best Of Blandings boxset - from a seller of Ebay - and v happy. The usual whimsical drawings from Paul Cox and it all adds up to a delightful package. Plus, of course, there's the Wodehouse himself - a total comic genius.

One of my shelves is filled with Wodehouse, and the Folio boxed sets of Wooster and Jeeves and Blandings are my idea of perfection.

I called in at the Members Room yesterday and got the Green Fairy Book and Wealth of Nations. Looking at the website today, I see the latter is not there. So either it's in short supply or the website's playing up again.

I'm really looking forward to reading Adam Smith, as he ties in with my interest in James Boswell. Smith taught Boswell Moral Philosophy at Glasgow University and later became a member of 'The Club', where Johnson et al discussed literature and set the world to rights. Great contemporary illustrations in the FS edition.

I like those in the Green Fairy Book as well and it looks very fine on the shelf with its four companions. Only seven more to go. The FS has to finish the series now, surely?

Edited to add: The FS calendar, currently free with Christmas offers, is rather handsome. You don't often see them with woodcuts, still less with such elegant ones as these.

>68 boldface:
I'm really looking forward to reading Adam Smith, as he ties in with my interest in James Boswell. Smith taught Boswell Moral Philosophy at Glasgow University...

I didn't know about Boswell's connection to Smith. I a big fan of Boswell (at least his journals, and Johnson biography). I've had Wealth of Nations on my 'to read' list for a long time. Perhaps this connection will help me move it up the list a bit.

I wonder if Boswell has an active fan club... :-)

Os.

Just picked up FS's Dead Sea Scrolls book on eBay for $22. It's a Christmas gift for my dad but I might be tempted to take a peek under the shrink wrap...

>69 Ealhmund:

"I wonder if Boswell has an active fan club."

Besides me?

>71 Django6924:

I guess one should search LT for a Boswellian group. Perhaps later.

Os.

Os, I was almost thinking of posing a question as a thread here, but decided against it--but now you have made me decide to post it after all!

The questions is: Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson is widely recognized as the greatest biography ever written--in English, anyway--but I have always been surprised by how FEW people, even well-read people, have ever read it. Folio published a 2 volume edition forty years ago, and reissued it in 1990, but such scant attention paid to one of the monuments of English literature makes me doubt whether it was a big seller. (Actually, the London Journal seems to get more comment and remains still in the catalogue.)

So--the question for those who bother to read this thread is: have YOU read Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson? (And as an afterthought, have you read any of Boswell's other works? I personally think his journals rank with Pepys, and deserve a similar treatment to the LE Pepys.

>73 Django6924:
See response in new thread (trying not to hijack this one)

I received my joinging books yesterday. The complete 2 sets of Beatrix Potter stories, the compact Oxford Dictionary and the compact Thesaurus. I read the Tale of Peter Rabbit to my youngest last night. Can't wait to read another tonight.

Still to arrive:
Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials
To Kill a Mockingbird

I also received the Prospectus but I was disappointed. I was hoping it would contain all the books available for sale, not just a select few. I get the impression the website doesn't necessarily show them all either.

>75 sandragon:

"All" seems to be a slippery concept at FS.

Os.

I got a copy of Shota Rustaveli's The knight in panther skin, 1977 edition, and it's a lovely little book. Bound in magenta silk (faded to red on the spine), stamped in gold and silver, and with full page illustrations from contemporary paintings. I've never this before, so nothing to compare it to, the original verses have been translated in prose, but I don't expect it will be terrible. As far as looks go, this is a little gem.

My renewal order arrived today. How wonderful to come home after a horrible day at work to find the big white bag sitting in my chair. The three Lang Fairy Books (Pink, Yellow, Green) seem huge next to the Nesbit sets but the large type is perfect for these tired eyes. Although there are only a few colour illustrations (all full page) there are also some smaller black and white end pieces. And the covers are all fantastic--I wish I could hang them on the wall. The Nesbit books are totally new for me but they look like the sort of children's books I enjoy so I think I made the right choice for my set. The only problem with all these children's books, of course, is that there are no children in my household for me to read them to. I can't even borrow a neighbour child--they're all boys and hardly the sort to like these types of books.

My final book, the Picture of Dorian Gray looks interesting too. I wasn't sure if I was going to like the illustrations but they look way better "in person" than they do on the website.

Now all I have to do is find the time to read them and find someplace to put them on my shelves. And Lord of the Flies and Robin Hood haven't even shipped yet.

And I think my sister and the nephew have accepted my "affliction". Neither of them said anything about my latest book-buying binge. I'm feeling much more confident about completing the order of pre-Christmas books sitting in my basket.

Hani, the best part of the order is the acceptance that has been lovingly forced upon your family!

78 - haniwitch, I was just eyeing the Nesbit books in the Christmas brochure FS sent me. They are very tempting, but I have two boys and I'm not sure they'd appreciate them, (though they did like the movie 'The Five Children and It'). My youngest is enjoying the Beatrix Potter tales, most of them anyway, so I'm glad I chose that for my joining offer. We're about halfway through the set and we've already been rereading new favourites.

I was also eyeing the Picture of Dorian Gray and Lord of the Flies. These two I'm pretty sure I will end up getting, but I'm wondering whether to wait and see if they show up on the Winter or Summer sales.

#79
JamesIII, of course that acceptance may disappear completely in the next month or so. I have Night Thoughts on order (come on, FS, the website says "Delivery November" so ship already!) and who knows how they will react to that. Firstly, it is apparently quite large so it will be difficult to find an out of the way spot for it in my small house. Secondly, although she would never pay money for a book she does recognize an expensive one (she told my nephew he is never to touch my Letterpress Hamlet or First Folio of Shakespeare) so I may get a lecture on wasting money on books. I'm hoping she'll at least look at the contents and maybe forgive my supposed lapse in judgment.

#80
sandragon, how lucky you are to have children that enjoy your books. They might like the Nesbit books if they liked the movie. The books are smaller so they would be easier for children to hold if they're old enough to read themselves. There are quite a few pictures, wonderful black and white drawings. Of course I had to peek and see if there was a drawing of It in Five Children and It (there is).

As for Dorian Gray and Lord of the Flies showing up in the Winter or Summer sales I'd guess probably not the winter one. Lord of the Flies isn't even shipping until December. Dorian Gray looks very interesting. I know the story of course from movies but have never read the original book. Same with the Lord of the Flies. I ordered that one mostly because it is the one book my sister actually liked (it was a high school assigned read for her) so I'm hoping she might take a second look at it.

I completely sympathise as my wife always gives me very negative looks (and usually accompanying comments) when a new book appears on our front steps. I have often wondered if I might be able to bribe the postman to stash book deliveries in some hidden location around my house...

78: I am also now a little more curious about the Dorian release once I read you think the illustrations better in person than they appear online. To be honest, when I saw them in the promotional material I felt them horribly mismatched with the story. I am interested to hear how you feel about them once you read the book.

>81 haniwitch:

haniwitch, if she isn't impressed with Night Thoughts, I think she is immune to great books and great art, but at least she should be impressed by how the value in the aftermarket sales continues to be higher than the purchase price. (My copy was waiting for me in September when I returned from Saskatchewan, and I have to say, despite the other fine books I have, this one takes pride of place).

Incidentally, although all the excitement here has been about Blake's illuminations, for those who haven't read it, Young's poem is quite fascinating. I liked it when I read it in school, and it's even better the second time around.

82 - haniwitch, I also read Lord of the Flies in school, I think grade 7 or 8. I remember giving my head a shake at the end and thinking 'Wow, I'd forgotten they were just kids.' I haven't read it since then but I've been meaning to reread it. I think it was one of the first books I read that made me realize how powerful and manipulative words can be when used by a good storyteller.

I hope you both enjoy it!

#84
"Read the book", what a novel idea. My to-be-read piles stretch throughout the house (which is probably one of the reasons my sister objected to so many of my purchases). I barely found time to read Casting the Runes at Halloween (and I've owned the book for two years). This book is smaller than most so I might be able to squeeze it in somewhere (she says optimistically before tripping over another pile of books).

#85
Django, you're driving me crazy. Bad enough I keep checking the website two or three times a day to see if it's shipped but you've already got your copy. Please tell me that the companion volume contains the poem so I can read it undistracted (groan, there's that reading thing again). I'm pretty sure I'll never get full enjoyment from it if I try to read it surrounded by Blake's work.

#86
It sounds like a very powerful book. Of course any book that my sister still talks about thirty years later has to be good. Ironically I, being the family booklover, have never read it. My sister read it in school because she took the "easier" English courses (the ones for people who knew they weren't going to university). Her love of that book was probably the only good thing that course did for her.

I think I've nearly done my postman's back in this morning, just received this lot in the post (all from secondhand)

- The Eagle of the Ninth
- Kim
- Brighton Rock
- The Diary of a Young Girl
- Rob Roy
- Boswell's London Journal
- Treasury of Mark Twain (shiny smooth binding, very odd for a folio)
- Graham Greene The Entertainments

He'll be having to come back again soon with:

- Folk Tales of the British Isles
- The Power and the Glory
- Peter Pan at Kensington Gardens
- The Spy's Bedside Book

I've never tipped the postman at christmas before but I think I should after all the deliveries he's been having to make to me since I came down with Folio Fever ;)

Ah, he also brought a non-Folio omnibus of Evelyn Waugh with Black Mischief, Scoop, The Loved One and The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold... don't ask where I'm going to find the time to read all of these lol

>89 LoChan1984:

Of course all the Waugh are available in Folio editions--except for The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold--which I have been insisting that they publish for several years now....

I did notice a few on ebay but I think I've pushed my luck as it is with all the other purchases so settled with the everyman edition heh. I've not read any Waugh, if I like it Folio editions can go on the wanted list later on :)

I thought I'd give it a go as The Loved One came up as a recommendation on here after putting Travels With My Aunt in my 'currently reading' list. Shall be an interesting experiment to see if the auto recommend actually works!

I just received the FS Jane Austen set of 7 used.
Happy - It was relatively inexpensive and it reached me, in Canada, from the UK within a week.
A little Unhappy - It was advertised as fine with a fine slipcase. Definite tear in the slipcase, which I don't really care about, and the books aren't bright and perky. But for the price I won't worry about it too much.

There is a faint odour of cigarette smoke though which I will have to do something about. If I remember correctly, I should put the books in plastic bags with baking soda?

I got my LE The Tempest today. Beautiful book. I was disappointed to find out I was charged GST (tax in BC, Canada) by the Canadian Border Services Agency, and a handling fee by them, to the tune of $34. First time for either.

#93 Was this a purchase from the Folio Society?

Yes. I've ordered many books from them before, including 2 other limited editions.

That's odd as I have never had such a charge. The Society charges us the GST when we buy an item so I don't understand how you could be charged again. I wonder if it's something that gets added on when an item is above a certain price. I'm waiting for The Diary of Samuel Pepys and am now wondering if I'll get charged. I hope not as it would certainly curtail my buying of Folio books.

I'm in Toronto.

I purchased "Lord of the Flies" from FS and they also added a calendar and keychain. I must say, Folio is generous to their members! Looking forward to "Lord of the Flies". I haven't read it in 24 years at least.

I just ordered The Moon's A Balloon and Just So Stories. Looking forward to reading them both.

Well, I've done it again. I haven't even found a place for my renewal books; two of which (Lord of the Flies, December, and Robin Hood, June) aren't even here yet and I've gone and placed another order. From the Books for Christmas sale -- Realm of the Unreal, The Seeing Stone, The Moon's a Balloon and the Folio Diary (which wasn't offered with the renewal that I finally took). And of course the free calendar. Thank goodnes for the installment plan. Now all I have to do is figure out which of my other books should be sent to the basement to make room for the Folio ones.

With regards to the Canadian Border Services Agency and their handling fees. They seem quite erratic in the appliucation of the fees; I have had books arrive within a few days of each other with some charged and other ones not. It is all quite puzzling.

> 93 ff

When the Folio Society responded to my complaint about Australian prices they said one of the 'higher costs of trading internationally' was 'the cost of GST on higher priced items'.

Now I don't know if this comment related only to Australia, but if it also relates to Canada it would appear that your border authorities are double dipping!

Well I've been ordering books from the Folio Society for almost two years now and I've ordered quite a few and never have I had such a charge. It was my understanding that the the tax was taken when I purchased my order. It all seems very strange.

Maybe FS could answer the question.

#95

Andrew, you should definitely call up CBSA (there ought to be a phone number on the back of the form, I think). They've given me grief too, although never (so far!) over Folio shipments. The last time it was over something a friend had sent, marked as a gift, but including the actual high value...

What's more, CBSA seems to be separate from Customs. I've also had hassles with Customs (charging me twice for items that had been returned etc.)

All in all, I'm almost completely discouraged from receiving and sending mail while in Canada.

This is also the only country where I had internal mail lost--stuff sent to me and from me within the country.

Oh and I shall NEVER forgive the no-mail-on Saturdays policy.

(Annual anti-Canada Post rant: FILED.)

Ok, this is probably obvious, but do you have to be subscribed to FS to order from their website?

Just when I thought Canada Post held no more surprises for me, it comes up with a new trick: turns out my renewal books were brought on Nov 11, and returned to the post office because I wasn't in to sign for them. Now, this is the first time they requested my signature, but there's a first time for everything; the odd thing though is that I received no notification of the attempted delivery on the 11th until today! Six days later, there's a slip in the mailbox--dated Nov 11--informing me to come pick up my package. I hate Canada Post with the burning passion of a thousand suns, yes.

But, at least I got my books:

the Blandings set--I'm actually looking forward to this more than before. I read some Wodehouse on Project Gutenberg, and liked it much better than years ago.

The set looks great, the summery colours and casual illustration style fit him to a T.

the Green fairy book--cover looks handsome. The illustrations aren't my favourite of the set so far, green and brownish, not much individuality... and as we discussed before, far too few. I did the flip test, gently but quickly flipping pages, and it seems almost unillustrated. The paper is also very rough, and the type seems a bit greyish

the Wooden World--looks great. Nice paper and crisp type.

the Annals of imperial Rome--love the books in this set, am kicking myself for letting Caesar sell out without getting a copy (I've read him in Latin, German and Italian--was I really going to read him in English as well, I wondered... NOT THE POINT, as any true-blue collector knows.. . :))

And Empires of the Nile, looks uniform with other Ancient Empires, except for the gilt top, some glitter in the slipcase, and more illustrations, I think... Beautiful creamy paper, this one's going to be a pleasure to handle (a bit heavy).

Also expecting Xenophon in December...

106 > I completely sympathise with your feelings about Canada Post, though the mail carriers in my area are quite good.

I received Icelandic Sagas (Vol.1) today. It looks like it will be a great read and fits beautifully on the shelf next to other Folio one volume Myths/Legends.

FS were kind enough to reply quickly and offer to refund me the charge. I will try and get it back from the CBSA first though.

My copy of Lord of the Flies came nice and early today. I love the cover design -vivid red and the broken glasses lens is nicely textured to produce proper 'cracks'. The pictures inside are nice but wish there were more of them!

I got an introduce a friend leaflet in with mine to get £50 vouchers which is very handy indeed as I was going to ask my mother to join to get me the potter joining offer as a christmas present anyway and I'd pay for some of the 4 required books to fill the membership. Nice £50 extra bonus towards Walden or Leaves of Grass I think, not to be sniffed at lol

I received my introductory package including the Fairy Tales set and the free thesaurus and dictionary. Also, I received my first order of Dumaurier's Don't Look Now and Other Stories as well as Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea. Frankly I am overwhelmed by the size, the illustrations and the sheer luxury! I am officially hooked and there is little hope for me. I can't wait to dig into The Sea, The Sea. When I was studying 20th Century English Literature in college one of my professor's told all his students they had to read this novel before they die. I forgot about it until I saw it on Folio. Now I guess I will die happily!

I felt like Santa visited me as there were two huge white bags with these contents. I had no idea to expect them in these lovely sacks. My Abyssinian cat rather enjoyed playing in them after I removed the contents.

I am a Folio convert. Even the cats enjoy their mailings.

Oooh, an Abyssinian! Big radar ears!



Even the cats enjoy their mailings.

What's not to love? Boxes and bags to sneak into, chew on--and bubble wrap! And sturdy thick edges on the book to scratch against.

I'll break any minute now and finally get me a cat.

Abys are wonderful "book companions". My two, Dinah and Roux, will sit on my chest while I read in bed, play with any satin bookmarks that may be dangling and nuzzle against my face when they feel I am getting too much into the book. Roux was especially appreciative today of the Folio shipping bags. What fun! They are a curious and inquisitive breed, with their big ears, long whiskers and agile frames. Abys will convert any dog lover into cat lovers.

>111 LolaWalser:

LolaWalser, if you finally get a cat, it doesn't have to be an Abyssinian. It could be a Himalayan. They too are very Folio-friendly.

109 - LoChan, I've just joined FS in October and, since I ordered my committment books right away, am trying to wait until the new year to buy any more books. But you're making it very hard for me with your talk of Lord of the Flies. I really want that one! Of course there are other books I want, but I've got my heart set on getting this one sooner rather later.

>114 sandragon: Hehe sorry, it's temptations left right and centre with this group really lol

I joined this September and ordered LotF not long after getting my four membership fillers - I really enjoyed the book when I first read it at school but didn't have my own copy and since it's one of the low-end prices I couldn't resist :)

Put it on your post christmas list maybe? It does look wonderful, the font looks nice and uncramped so should read well. Must be wary of additional purchases though as there's supposed to be a bigger sale coming up Januaryish with more temptations... eep!

I just joined FS two weeks ago and have managed to make 4 orders already! I've read so much about FS for several years and was not prepared for the beauty of these books. I LOVE the illustrations for The Sea, The Sea and also was captivated by Lord of the Flies and purchased that as well. I'm reading all the time, thankfully. Now The Age of Innocence is taunting me.

115 - Yup, the plan is to wait for the January sale, hope LotF is discounted, get it regardless, and see what else FS has to offer. IF temptation doesn't get the better of me first.

I doubt that new publications will be discounted in the January sale - it'll probably be the older items that'll see the reduced prices. I have several on my wish list, and can hardly wait to spend more money than I really should!

Just picked up my December books and am very happy - Lord Of The Flies looks great. Of course, I wish they were more of the really rather good pictures but it is a v nice edition. And the Poetry Anthology looks good as well.

Just a note on the North American Indians book - it may have already been remarked upon, so apologies, but the book is abridged. Given the feeling that created on other threads thought I'd point that out. Of the other books, the Napoleon was v weighty and I will get it for my Napoleon-nut step-Dad if it ever goes on sale. The Xenophon looked fairly straight-forward. I thought the Age Of Innocence looked really rather nice although as I haven't read the book I couldn't say if the cartoon-type illustrations suit it or not.

Received Travels with Charley, one of my favorite books for which the Folio is replacing my old trusty copy. Also received Du Maurier's Frenchman's Creek, which I am currently reading.

Really want Age of Innocence, though I already have that book in other editions. I think the illustrations, in their "comic book" style rather fit the proceedings of the novel quite well. Would love to pick this up for myself at some point.

I received my renewal books yesterday and just tore into them today. Twelve days from order to delivery! I'm impressed.

I am thoroughly delighted with all my books. I got the Raj Quartet and The Green Fairy Book as my renewal gifts. I love Finn Campbell-Notman's illustrations for the Scott, and I liked the Green Fairy book illustrations quite a lot better than I thought I would. Like Lola, they're not my favorites of the set, but the choice of scenes is quirky, and there's more color than I thought there would be. And hey, I like the bears.

I ordered two books (two more by March, you know the drill): Possession and Jane Austen's Letters. Both are wonderful. Possession is just to my taste: colorful and just a bit on the gaudy side. :) Turquoise! Peacocks! Arrows with hearts! Creepy nighttime seance! It is as though the illustrator looked into my kitschy little head. The fabric binding for Jane Austen's Letters is lovely up close, and I appreciate that there are more illustrations inside than I realized.

I just ordered Blake's 'Songs of Innocence and Experience' for my sister-in-law's Christmas present. She loves Blake. I can't wait to see her face when she gets it!

And since I had that $10 coupon, I got myself 'Lord of the Flies' as well.

>122 Medellia:
I got mine in 10 days! I was shocked to see the white Royal Mail bag at my door so soon.

Raj Quartet, Green Fairy Book, Consolation of Philosophy, the Blind Watchmaker.

I remember seeing that to fulfill my membership, I only needed to buy two books - which I did. I just logged on, and I don't see any notice that I need to buy two more books (total of 4). I am seeing the discounted red prices on the books - so I assume I'm good.

@Tames: 10 days! And to think that I had to wait an extra 48 hours! Harumph! ;)

Lucky you, if you only need two to renew. I see some discounted red prices, too. You might log in and check the "your basket" section. When I go to checkout with nothing in my shopping basket, I get a notice saying "You can fulfill you (sic) membership agreement today by ordering another 2 volumes."

a night mare wow awesome i'd love that aye

Can anyone tell me what kind of sales they have once you renew? The books I'm particularly interested in is History of Western Music, Walden, and Paradisio.

>125 Medellia:
Yep, I see it now. I need to buy two more. Wish they did not hide it there. It should be on your account information. Thanks for pointing this out!

The Great Enterprise looks like a great book. I bought this recently 2nd hand on the web for a couple of pounds: VG minus slipcase.

I just happened to flick through it last night and I don't believe I have read a finer introduction to any book for a long while. The plates inside too are lovely; rich colour and sharp contrast.

Finally my order below arrived. I have my books delivered to work, so now only have to get them home in installments!

I chose the The History of Paris in Painting as my gift, and negotiated getting Anna Karenina instead of the Green Fairy Book (not much into fairy tales).

Then ordered

The Wooden World
Journals Captain Scott's last expedition
Dorian Gray
Collected Short Stories of Gogol
Kidnapped
Robinson Crusoe
Arabian Sands
Typhoon

as well as a Dorian Gray and a Gogol as xmas presents!

Of course I then went immediately online and ordered more books!:

Cartographia
Impossible Journeys
North American Indians
On the Nature of things

> 130

Bravo!

Anna Karenina, by Jove! I'm reading it at the moment: a cheapo paperback from Wordsworth-editions and worth the couple of quid, without a doubt.

Great read.

I've just placed an order for

The Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci
Napoleon
The Campaigns of Napoleon
The Persian Expeditions
Lives of the Later Caesars

and now begins the dreadful wait for the big white bag, which of course my wife will confiscate and not let me have until Christmas!!

>132 cweller:
...which of course my wife will confiscate and not let me have until Christmas!!

Which is as it should be, since I don't have any FS books on their way at the moment :-(

Os.

Well, now I'm going to feel bad about post 133 (though not much).

I received earlier today John Fothergill's An Innkeeper's Diary, purchased used via Abebooks. It's FS's first edition/1st printing, FWIW (bound by Jarrold), and is in new condition except for a small discolored spot on the slipcase. For US$10, incl. shipping, I think I did quite well.

Os.

Os, I wouldn't feel bad about it. I've also bought the The Legends of King Arthur set, The Celts, The Vikings and The Dead Sea Scrolls recently off ebay. I should be thankful she hasn't made a house out of the slipcases in the backyard for me to live in.

I'm a little curious why you should think I was so disparaging about Chatwin or indeed The Songlines, which I regard as his masterpiece. Anyway, only yesterday I finished the introduction for the Folio Society edition and hope that my enthusiasm for it - and him – shines through. (I believe it comes out next July). By the way, I see you have BB's Little Grey Men on your list. Another great book, almost the very first one that swept me away. I've never seen a reference to it since, so thank you for the reminder. NS.

>136 nshakespeare: hello, I suppose you are responding to my post - I did not think you were disparaging about the Songlines in your book (I really like Chatwin, have read most of his books and Songlines is my favourite); but your biography removed a lot of the glamorous sheen from his character and showed up a lot of his failings, knocking him off the pedestal I imagined he was on (I'm thinking mainly of his dealings in antiques, not his personal leanings). By the end I was filled with admiration for his wife, Elizabeth, and thought that if I had known BC personally, I would not have liked him. Probably "disparaging" is not the right word, and you were just being truthful.

> 136, 137

Ahhhh, the subtle distinction between biography and hagiography :-)

Hi everyone,

After collecting a few secondhand folio's along the way, I thought it was time I joined up!

Just placed an order for Alice's Adventures under Ground, Lord of the Flies, Slaughterhouse-Five and To Kill a Mockingbird. Decided on the 'Fairy Tales' set for my introductory offer.

Can any Australian's shed some light on how long delivery usually takes? I pity the postman who has to schlep these up my driveway!

Liam

>137 overthemoon:... but I would never expect a good biography to be a hagiography.

Just joined a week ago. Decided on the Fairy Tales set for my introduction and The LE of Moby Dick but now I am a bit thinking I should have taken the Booker Prize set istead :(

I think you would have liked him. And he's a large and talented enough person to bear the truth being told about him. The problem with all biography is the problem of bringing coral up from the sea – i.e. an exercise in failure.

I think you would have liked him. And he's a large and talented enough person to bear the truth being told about him. The problem with all biography is the problem of bringing coral up from the sea – i.e. an exercise in failure.

I just ordered The Age of Innocence as I simply can't resist this edition, even though the same title is also part of my Easton Press subscription. I read this novel in college many years ago and it changed my life. I'm really looking forward to the Folio edition! Has anyone else perused the Folio edition?

Temptation caught me once again!

>142 nshakespeare:, 143, yes, he was obviously blessed with masses of charm.

>139 pattern-skies:
Welcome pattern-skies

You might consider getting on the FS devotee map which is growing on this thread.

Os.

Well I've finally sent in my order through airmail (halfway around the globe and all) and should see the white bag by early next year... The envelope had been sealed and sitting in my briefcase for all of a month and I just kept forgetting to mail it out.

Renewed with the Fairy Tales set, getting the Green Fairy Book as a gift, and then also ordered
Songlines
Lord of the Flies
and two other books (I can't remember which two, believe it or not.)

And now looking forward to the next Folio sale!

I have just received Napoleon and the Persian Expedition. First impressions on both books - WOW !!!!

Napoleon is a hefty volume, beautifully bound. The Persian Expedition is a slick volume - I particularly like the Greek vase style illustrations.

I had a look at the Lord of the Flies and the Poetry Anthology in the Members Room. The Lord of the Flies is a beauty and in a nice compact size - but, great as it is, I won't be getting it as it was one of those books always being rammed down our throats at school. I would have got the Folio Poetry Anthology were it not for the fact that I already own half a dozen anthologies.

I also inspected the leather LE Macualay - beautiful, but I prefer the buckram.

I just renewed. They finally sent me an offer I couldn't refuse! Although sorely tempted by the Shorter Oxford, I eventually chose Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and Graves' Greek Myths as my gifts. I have ordered The Persian Expedition, King Arthur:history and legend, Robin Hood, and Chivalry as my 4 membership books.

Having read #148, I'm looking forward to seeing the Persian Expedition.

To fulfill the rest of my 2010 obligation, I ordered:

Travels in West Africa
The Master of Ballantrae

> 150

The RLS one is a great read and a lovely volume too!

Just received my Fairy Tales set

I took the opportunity to order advance copies of The Fortune of War and The Surgeon's Mate earlier this month. The Fortune of War arrived this morning. The other is apparently Out of Stock at present.

Dave

edited to correct title

>153 dfmorgan: Yes, but following just one day later, for me at least.

@154 Thanks for the reassurance, it arrived today so it followed after 2 days.

Dave

I noticed today that the status of my LE "The Diary of Samuel Pepys" has been upgraded from "pending" to "at the warehouse". Has anyone received theirs yet?

Folks, I think you can ignore the status..mine is "items pending" yet :-o...But yesterday I got a nice blue bag with my membership books .. replacing battered paperbacks :)

The right stuff
The age of innocence
Brideshead revisited
Tinker tailor, soldier, spy

By the way I just LOVE the slipcase from "The right stuff"': .. silver -grey like a Gemini rocket.. (to infinity and beyond!) XD

PS..edited (unsuccessfully) for references :-/

Hi Pepe,

Is Brideshead a current publication?

Thanks

Liam

Hi pattern_ It is .Try this, but you may have to delete cookies on your browser
Sometimes you cannot view some items according to your geographical location.:-P.
http://www.foliosociety.com/book/BRV/brideshead-revisited

Best regards

Whether logged on or not (USA), the Pepys Diary LE shows 16 copies left, but is listed as 'sold out'. Anyone get a different answer online?

Os.

Same in the UK.

>160 Ealhmund:
Same here (ROW)

Yeah it shows as sold out on the Canadian site as well

>159 P3p3_Pr4ts:

Thanks Pepe. I think the folio site is playing tricks on me. I can add the book when I am not signed in, but it vanishes when I try and log in.

Atheistic--the status of my Pepys, too, has been upgraded to "at the warehouse." Needless to say, I haven't received it yet.

I received my Pepys about 5 minutes ago. Have not opened it yet...I received it the same day the web site status changed to despatched. lol

Thanks for that gratuitous shot of envy, Atheistic--I have NOT received my Pepys yet (but, hopefully, I will very, very soon).

>144 acidneutral: Maybe late for the show but I just unwrapped The Age of Innocence; so here's my two cents.

As stated in web description this edition has cloth binding. But also has endpapers using the same motif as covers. This is, I understand , uncommon in "FS" editions. It is a "feminine" edition in the most topic of its meanings. Which is about right. Folio" knew their target-market AND the author was a woman.

Illustrations have been a surprise. I didn't expect them to perform that well. it's difficult taking the powerful Scorsese images out of your mind. They are quite comic-bookish .. They reminded me of french comic author Annie Goetzinger, (in her non-salacious work of course :-)who uses also an art-deco style. . They also follow the text more exactly. Ollenska, is a brunette and not as stunning as Michelle Pfeiffer. Which makes it doubly pitiable. Somehow you cannot understand a NY tribe lynching Michelle instead of falling on their knees when she moves her eyelashes

Most of you girls are gonna love it... I wanted a good edition of a favourite read. And I'm not disappointed at all. (Anyway I haven't seen the EP edition nor I 'm going for leather and gilding for the sake of it). All in all it could be the best edition available. I guess I just expected something like the sober approach used in Brideshead revisited. IMHO covers are beautiful; but being a bit too decorative, they takes some of the tragedy out of it .. but maybe it's me

I'll add some (not that good) pics..

V happy to have just won a Jeeves & Wooster set on Ebay for just 31 pounds, a great late Xmas present to myself - even better when you consider my last unsuccesful bid previously for the same set was 53... And even happier that I see Paul Cox is illustrating some more Jeeves - I wonder if it will be a set or just a single book?

Well the order has finally arrived - strangely with a blue bag instead of the normal white, even though the box size is more or less the same. And as always the box had arrived rather beat up, but condition of the books are thankfully pristine.

So now I have the Green Fairy Book to complete my collection (for now), as well as the Fairytale Collection, the Spy's Beside Book & Lord of the Flies added to my collection. There's Songlines and Double Helix pending too... And enclosed within is a refer a friend scheme which gives 50 pounds credit this time - and with the complete Beatrix Potter collection at 19.95 too... Hmmmm.

interesting thread

>168 P3p3_Pr4ts: I hope that isn't a particularly important part of the plot you've given up there, I've never read The Age of Innocence and received the folio copy for xmas!

Just received a small portion of my sales order -

Cities and Civilisations
The Mill on the Floss

On their way in another box -

At the Back of the North Wind
The Isle of Voices
Peter Pan and Wendy
The Stuff of Thought
A Time of Gifts
Walden
Folio Diary

Particularly pleased with the savings off Walden, and the chance to pick up Peter Pan and Wendy at such a low price - I nearly got it second-hand for christmas but got an electro-accoustic violin instead (bit of a jump between the two I know!). Reshuffling my tiny living space to make room for all the lovely new acquisitions :)

Seem to have got an extra bonus in the first lot - there were two double-packs of the playing cards in the box so I've now got four decks with another double set on the way. Be handing them out randomly to passersby at this rate lol

172 nothing you wouldn't find in a dustjacket/website/trailer/teaser :-) you won't know till the end. But spoiler alert is welcome

I picked up my LE Moby Dick at the Post Office on my to work where I opened it in front of a colleague who was more impressed at the very neat brown-paper wrapping job. "Aw, some little English guy did that," she said without the least bit of insincerity.

I've just ordered Folio 60, Aristocrats, and the Rulers of the Ancient World collection.

I was thinking of holding out until next month but with only a limited number of Folio 60 editions left my arm was somewhat twisted!

Also, what are these white and blue bags people are talking about? I feel I must be missing out on something as all I ever recieve is a brown box?!?

>175 chubbo10:

I think the bags referred to are postbags possibly specifically in the US/Canada?

Over in the UK (in my experience at least) the books just come with a courier or Royal Mail in a bogstandard cardboard box... if people -are- getting them in nice bags elsewhere in the UK I'm feeling somewhat left out now lol

I also have only ever received my books in the UK in a cardboard box - but they are always very well packed. I have not yet had any books damaged due to poor packing. The way my LE Pepys was packed was a marvel !!

175/176 /177 "overseas" probably. Here in Southern Europe. I receive also a white/blue Royal Mail bag. with the cardboard box inside.Local post office told me that white ones travel by boat. They are not "beautiful" . A fellow devotee uses them for recycling.... but just imagine how happy we get when we receive one. :-)..so they get the "aura"...

You can watch them and even buy them ( crown and all) here..

http://www.specialistbags.com/mailbags

I ordered on Jan 7:

Cover Her Face
Crime Stories From the Strand
The English Language
Tom Jones
My Cousin Rachael
Best of Saki
Don't Look Now and Other Stories

Then today I ordered:

The Middle Sea
Great Cathedrals of the Middle Ages
Pompeii and Herculaneum

Whew! With all this reading and the dry weather and the fact that I've had lasik, my eyes are really dry! My opthalmologist recommended GenTeal products and I really like them...thought I'd pass along the suggestion to you bibliophiles! Anything to keep the reading pace going...

*note: I am not a GenTeal rep or employee, I promise; I am a lady of leisure who collects and reads...

>178 P3p3_Pr4ts:

I thought it was something like that heh, didn't expect anything overfancy coming from Royal Mail!

I think it must be leftover festive thoughts of Santa's toy sack that makes waiting for The White Bag sound more exciting than The Brown Box :)

180. Spot on :)

A big white bag has been at the foot of the stairs since yesterday. Folks now I am under the weather when I haven't ripped in to it the moment it arrives! But alas I've been confined to bed for a couple of days but dying to open the bag. I think it contains The Master of Balllantrae, The Beautiful and the Damned and the Raymond Chandler anthology. I will see soon.

>183 Django6924:

I hope your condition is borderline hospitalization, otherwise it's very unfair of you to keep us in suspense!

(Seriously, we hope you feel better soon and can enjoy the new goodies--all are splendid reads. À santé!)

Just got the white bag for the first time (always received the blue bag before) containing Dawkins Unweaving the Rainbow and Dracula

Though still not completely well, I did muster the energy to open my bag of Folios only to discover another bag was sitting outside the front door! What excellent timing! The first shipment contained, as I suspected:The Master of Ballantrae, Blackmailers Don't Shoot and The Beautiful and the Damned. Blackmailers Don't Shoot is absolutely superb! From the binding to the evocative cover art to the beautiful font layout. The greatest aspect, aside from the stories, are the beautiful and simple illustrations. They really capture the minimalist approach to this brand of fiction. The volume overall looks like "Film Noir" on the shelf. Wonderful! The Master of Ballantrae is equally beautiful with some of the loveliest illustrations I have seen for such an adventure story. I also love The Beautiful and Damned. The simple line drawing are like none I have seen for a Fitzgerald edition. It earns many points for its originality. I find the simple cover design a delight. I would have definitely paid full price so $20 on sale seems like a pittance.

The other bag contains my order of Barbara Pym's Excellent Women and Eliot's The Mill on the Floss....plus the fun playing cards. I haven't opened these yet, but will give you my impressions when I do.

Sometimes books can be a wonderful reliever!

Oh, such bounty!

No white bag, no blue bag, just a brown box. But it contained:

Les Liaisons Dangereuses
The Isle of Voices and Other Stories
Life
The Oregon Trail
Blackmailers Don't Shoot

Now all I need is the time to read them, along with all of the other Folios I haven't managed to read yet, and the non-Folio books I have, and the books on my list that I haven't bought yet, and the books that I'll discover in the weeks to come.....

It never ends. Fine with me.

I recieved three big white bags yesturday. However since I was away they were left by my black door, I was surprised since because of ice and snow buildup I would have considered it dangerous to do this. Anyway I enjoyed opening them up!

I received two brown boxes from my Winter Sale order today with

The Art of Love
Anna Karenina
The Isle of Voices and Other Stories
The Persian Wars
The Roman Revolution
The Master of Ballantrae
Who's Who in Classical Mythology
Who's Who in the Greek World
The World of Odysseus
Who's Who in the Middle Ages
Who's Who in the Roman World
Victory

I've only had the chance to look at Anna Karenina so far which is quite nice. Now that I am not expecting any more books I have to try and avoid looking at the FS website or else my Folio Bibliomania Psychological Disorder will act up and I will begin lusting after more volumes, which will end with me giving in to temptation again.

I finally got around to opening the shipment I received yesterday that contained Excellent Women and The Mill on the Floss. I am absolutely delighted with Excellent Women! The illustrations are brilliant and the binding absolutely brilliant, with touches of metallic silver on the pussy willows in the vase as well as the teapot on the cover. This is one of my favorite Folios thus far, I must say! I had a time of getting it out of the slipcase. Sometimes the slipcases can be a bit of a nuisance, but I understand their use. On the other hand, The Mill on the Floss binding just doesn't feel particularly comfortable to hold. The crushed silk doesn't feel particularly sturdy and to the touch doesn't feel particularly luxurious. The illustrations are also a lot smaller than I thought they would be but have their charms. Honestly, though, for $20 this beats any other edition for the price that I have come across. I look forward to reading this. I actually can't believe it has evaded me this long.

>190 Django6924:

I totally agree on the excellence of Excellent Women! Now please join the other Pym fans in besieging Folio to continue publishing more Pym (next up, perhaps, No Fond Return of Love?)

Incidentally, there is a Libraything website for Ms. Pym:

http://www.librarything.com/groups/barbarapymfanclub

All fans please join!

Gah! My latest big white bag is being held hostage by the United States Postal Service! Stupid, mean "I-play-by-the-rules-and-require-a-signature" postman is back! AND I will now have to wait until Tuesday to pick up my package because of the stupid holiday tomorrow.

:-(

Beatlemoon, I can sympathize with your unfortunate situation. I don't get home delivery to my home and am forced to use a PO box. It's inevitable that my books get delivered on a day I can't reach the post office before they close. The wait is always painful.

>191 beatlemoon:
I always have packages sent to my work address, as there's always someone there during the day to sign. Also, they don't sit at the front door all day, at risk of rain or thieves.

Os.

Just received the LE of Pepys. Looks fantastic. I'm amazed though - when I picked up a volume it was so much lighter than I expected, uncannily so. A lot less than I expected. Would love to know why.

I recieved four more big white bages today. It looks like that I will have to put up a new bookscase...somewhere.

Folio 60 arrived today. What a beautiful book!

#194: I was amazed like you. Each volume is so light that one wonders how it is possible. But you will discover it is much more comfortable if you happen to read them in bed. I am finishing now Bleak House in the Dickens series, the 900 pages of which make a dreadful weight on my stomach after dinner.

> 194, 197

Yes, the LE Pepys is my favourite bedtime book and the weight makes it perfect for this. The leather feels very subtle and light and the boards can't weigh much. The paper also feels quite "feathery" and this must also help keep the weight down.

>194 Willoyd:, 197, 198

In a recent consumer test (just now in fact), I can reveal that on my very amateur electronic kitchen scales, volume 1 of the Folio Pepys weighs in at 2lb 1¼oz (940g), whereas the equivalent G. Bell & Sons trade edition (same edition and typesetting as the Folio but buckram binding) is only 2lb 0¼oz (915g).

However, I can confidently say that the breadth of life contained in their pages is anything but lightweight.

Ordered P.D. James' Cover Her Face. It looks like a beautiful book from what I can tell. I'm particularly fond of the illustrations! Looking forward to adding this to its arrival.

I just received Cathedrals of the Middle Ages, Pompeii, and a new offering, The Middle Sea (a history of the Mediterranean). Yummy!

I have received my order including Legends of the Grail, Celtic Myths and Legends, and The Mill on the Floss.

I have not looked much at the Eliot but the two Myths books make nice additions to my slowly growing folio Myths collection.. I especially like Brett's illustrations in the Grail book.

I finally got a copy of Wind In The Willows - it is, as others have written, a supreme Folio production. Like the Paul Cox-illustrated volumes (Wodehouse, Three Men In A Boat, My Family and Other Animals) it makes me wish all FS books had such copious illustrations. I'm reading Lord Of The Flies currently, for the first time, and I'm enjoying it greatly, even more so with the fabulous pictures - just wish there were more of them...

I received 2 of the 3 books I bought from the sale recently (I made 2 separate orders), The Mill On the Floss and The Consolation of Philosophy. Both are just wonderful. The Eliot looks even better than in the picture; I love the shiny silk. And the Boethius is just a perfect production, couldn't have imagined a better one for this book.

I read Middlemarch in November and fell completely in love, and kicked myself for not picking up Mill on the Floss & Middlemarch in the sale last spring, since Middlemarch is not on the website anymore. I phoned to check on it, and it's not available. Tragedy! I'll have to watch & see if I can find it at a reasonable price from a US seller. I'm dying to have that volume.

Just received from an Abebooks seller the 4 volume Empires of the Ancient Near East still in shrinkwrap and in mint condition-$42. Sweet!

Just received The Mill on the Floss from Folio and it is stunning! I love the "shiny silk".
Question: What other Folio books have the "shiny silk"? ...or other extraordinary features?

Citizens, by Schama, has crushed silk as well, as does The Art of War.

>206 Cicero78:

Les Liaisons Dangereuses (most recent version)
Also, The Dame of the Camellias in the 1970s had satin silk, not crushed

Sakuntala is bound in shiny turquoise moiré silk, Nicholas and Alexandra in a blue brocade, Salome in an incredible peacock-patterned deep turquoise, Mistress Masham's Repose in a rusty orange moiré blocked with a design in gold.
edit: Nicholas & Alexandra, the binding is described as "Jaquard cloth", so it is not silk.

>206 Cicero78:

I too love the crushed silk. I wish I could have a dress made out of the same fabric!

also, The White Nile and The Blue Nile are bound in green moiré silk; my copies have veered to bronze on the spines.

"The Song of Songs" is bound in pale orange raw silk. There are also some quite attractive artificial silk bindings on "Hassan" and "The Prince" (1970 edition).

>206 Cicero78:
The Oxford Classical Dictionary - wassa goatskin, 3/4 gilt stamped on moire silk; teg; double ribbon markers; cloth covered gilt-stamped slipcase

Os.

I too love the Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch bindings - that crushed silk is gorgeous. Amongst my favourites. Mistress Masham's Repose is another.
My Bronte set uses silk too - beautiful, but the spines have been subject to quite a bit of fading, even though stored well away from sunlight, which makes them feel a bit worn when in fact they are otherwise immaculate.
MMR has also faded along the spine (that rusty orange was in fact a dark red when new), but doesn't feel quite as drastic. I wonder if the same will happen to my copy of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. That's one reason why I rate the two Eliot book bindings so much - the leather spine will stand the test of time much better.

>214 Willoyd:
My experience with silk is that it is more prone to fading than any other cover material in my library. Even moire silk endpapers will fade around the edge where light sneaks in.

They are beautiful, but you need to keep them away from UV.

Os.

I have just ordered from Ardis a shrink wrapped set of the 3 volume HG Wells Classics of Science Fiction. As an HG Wells fan I am looking forward to receiving this set very much.

I also bought in the Members Room today the Folio Anthology of Poets and the Folio Poets WB Yeats. I love reading poetry in the oversized Folio format.

Well, it's pay-day today so I went a little crazy !

>216 Quicksilver66: Quicksilver, I bought the Wells set last year and I absolutely love it. The illustrations by Baker are my favourites of his from the volumes that I own, and I think the binding designs are perfect. I'm sure you will enjoy them. I just wish the FS would do a bit more classic Science Fiction.

>206 Cicero78:
>215 Ealhmund:
The Silk Road (the 2002 First printing) is bound in "full blue-green artificial silk" with a design in gold. The spine has faded so I've learned my lesson and, as Osbaldistone recommends, I now keep the few silk-bound volumes I own away from UV.

>214 Willoyd: - "My Bronte set uses silk too - beautiful, but the spines have been subject to quite a bit of fading, even though stored well away from sunlight"

Mine have faded too, and so have other copies I have seen, yet, curiously, my father has a set (a different printing from mine) which has not faded at all, despite being in a bookcase near a window.

Other silk sets include the Tolkien LEs, quarter bound in "wassa goatskin with hand-woven Indian silk sides".

On topic, I ordered the Canterbury Tales LE a couple of days ago and it is showing up as "at warehouse". Can't wait to get my hands on it.

The Divine Comedy vols and Faust are quarter leather bound with moire silk sides.

Jane Austen's Letters are also bound in silk in a Regency fabric design. This is one of my all time Folio favorites in regards to design. The subject and design are perfectly matched. It is one of those books that I smile at each time I see it on my shelf.

Edited for typos

>218 dianp:

I just received The Silk Road today. I'll make sure to keep it away from light as the spine is not faded at all. I also just won a copy of Melmoth the Wanderer on ebay.

Has anyone mentioned the silk binding on The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon? This is one of the most beautiful of all Folios, in my estimation.

A Nervous Splendour is bound in red "Bengaline silk". It has a woven, sort of very finely ribbed texture. My copy is a 2006 printing and isn't faded at all, but when I bought it on ebay last October it was still shrink-wrapped so it might well have spent three years in a box somewhere.

218 & 222: My copy of The Silk Road is the second printing from 2003, it's not faded at all but again I acquired it through ebay last year, and I don't know how it was stored before I got it. Inside the book it says the binding is silk; Folio 60 describes the binding of the first printing but lists the second printing as "not seen".

Just bought on eBay: Three Tragedies by Garcia Lorca (note the touchstone is wrong regarding this edition, though the Folio edition contains the same plays). I've always been a big fan of Lorca, and this was quite a find to replace my old paperbacks--for one thing the translator is Sue Bradbury! Could it be the same Sue who guided the Society for many years, and designed several books herself? I suspect it is, though I did not suspect she possessed this other talent. You can have the Angelina Jolies, etc., I'll take Sue!

On the subject of silk or partial silk bindings, some more to add to the list:

Madame Bovary
Clarissa
Walden
The Spice Route (companion to The Silk Road. Neither of my copies has faded, I'm glad to say.)
The Habsburgs - Not technically silk, but has a sheen.

(Edited to adjust pesky touchstones.)

The Brontes: A Life In Letters is bound in silk

I just received the Abbeville Press Art and Spirit of Paris, which FS has as part of the Winter sale. It is HUGE and HEAVY. Unfortunately, no big white bag - which might explain why it it got a little battered on one corner in transit (slipcase and and one corner of Volume 1). It is such a bargain (even at close to $200 Australian) that I'm not considering getting it replaced.

Just amazing.

> 217

Thank you, Huxley. You have brought my pitch of anticipation to near frenzy. I agree that the bindings look just perfect for Wells and I always like Baker's illustrations.

Just received my third & last book from the sale, Anna Karenina. The 16 illustrations are beautiful (hooray for quality & quantity). Love it.

I received another 2 decks of playing cards as well, because I made that order separately. Thanks, Folio!

My copy of Folio 60 has just arrived. I never expected it to be quite so heavy! All the warnings I have been given about its impact on my book-buying habits will, I fear, be realised. Just a casual glance through the pages has left me thinking, "Hmmm - must look for that one" on a few occasions already.

Unfortunately, it has a damaged slipcase, but since it is now out of stock, my chance of a replacement is pretty slim - I've let them know anyway.

Not that that will prevent me on the slightest from enjoying the book!

I am still waiting for mine... I check everyday hoping that this is the day that the Folio 60 will christen my humble abode

Just purchased via e-Bay:

Folio Society-- THE TRAGEDY OF KING LEAR 1960, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS 1969,
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 1963, THE TAMING OF THE SHREW 1960,
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 1968, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH 1964

These are all examples of the wonderful set of Shakespeare plays in handy, nearly pocket-sized volumes, with splendid illustrations in color. This is for me the ideal replacement for my student Shakespeare--the original Yale Shakespeare in clothbound individual volumes which I could carry everywhere in my jacket pocket.

Unhappily, I lost out on the As You Like It with an introduction by Peter Brook and illustrations by Salvador Dali. (It was bid up 4 times what the other ones sold for, but somebody beat me out at the last minute.)

>233 Django6924:

Congrats :) Kinda feel better for letting these slide and not bidding on them now.

I just received a second hand Metamorphoses that I got for less than half the original price and wow is it gorgeous. I also appreciate the significant introductions and supplementary material within the book, though my preference is for a separate booklet like what they did for War and Peace. My only complaint is with the size of the tipped in illustrations. Does anyone know if these are the same size as the originals or are they miniatures?

Just ordered:

A Month in the Country

The Oxford Companion to the Book

Received the Folio 60 yesterday. Delightful

> 236

I received The Oxford Companion to the Book a couple of days ago. It's not FS but the two volumes are quarter bound in leather and in a slipcase. Unfortunately, the van arrived at 6:45pm and my wife got to the door first. "It's very heavy," said the delivery man (un)helpfully - convincing my wife that therefore it must be very expensive. I mumbled that it was half price, and was only saved by the arrival of Valentine's Day. She's off work all this week and now I hear that the next batch of Rubaiyats are landing on the doorstep. Yikes!!!!!!!

Back to the Oxford Companion to the Book. I have to say that it's a goldmine for the booklover and I went to bed far to late as a result of not being able to put it down. But I have a nasty feeling that if my wife gets to the Rubaiyat before I do, I won't be able to sit down.

> She's off work all this week and now I hear that the next batch of Rubaiyats are landing on the doorstep. Yikes!!!!!!!

I've now included all the LEs and a few other more valuable books that I have acquired over the years in our 'retirement portfolio', i.e. listed them as investments alongside shares etc rather than simply for pleasure. I've been totally open about the fact that their value might go down, but then so can shares (!!), and at least they are concrete assest. We've done the same with a few other items.

As a result they have gained a degree of acceptance in the family. I do have to accept that one day they may have to be sold, but generally we reckon on the solid stuff being passed on, and offspring being able to pick and choose what he wants to keep and what to sell when the time comes. There are even a couple of items that he has said we aren't to sell except under major duress, as he would really like to inherit them!

Glad to hear the Companion to the Book is so interesting, as that's on order at present.

# 228>> My order for:

The Devil's Dictionary
Desolation Island
King Arthur: History and Legend
Inventions of the Middle Ages

received just two days ago, was wrapped in bubble wrap, secured within a brown box and transported in the large white bag. According to the attached tags -which are still on my desk- that parcel was 3.5kg in weight. Apparently the white bag provides no protection at all. The brown box was fairly battered, two of the slip cases sustained minor damage to one corner, none of the books were damaged. More bubble wrap should have been used.

My previous orders from FS arrived in better condition than this one. However, I'm not going to ask the FS to replace the slip cases, that just seems too petty to me. On the other hand, had the books been damaged, you can bet I'd have plenty to say.

>238 boldface:

I am glad to read your positive assessment of The Oxford Companion to the Book! I hesitated quite a while before I ordered it, but at half price it was simply irresistible.

> 238: It is amazing how Folio orders always seem to arrive on a day when my wife is home from work. And the bloody Royal Mail bag always leads her to think the contents will force us to remortgage our house. Of course, if I order the Gill Canterbury Tales...

Last week I received The Sea The Sea and Tom's Midnight Garden, and expect today to receive the Notebooks of Leonardo!

> 243

How do you like THe Sea The Sea. I love the sober dark blue buckram and would like to see more Murdoch published in a similar format.

>244 Quicksilver66: - Has your H.G. Wells set arrived yet? If so, did it meet expectations?

> 245

Yes, thanks Huxley, and it has met, if not exceeded my expectations. Beautiful books - the binding and illustrations have just the right feel to them for an Edwardian "scientific romance".

Just got here! The Canterbury Tales LE. Stunning, beautiful, sensuous. I have copy # 220.

246 > Oh yes, the FS got this set just right. I'm very fond of mine.

247 > I look forward to seeing The Canterbury Tales in the members room at some point this week, and I'm sure that attempts at resistance will prove futile!

Arrived today, a splendid copy of Frankenstein which is another of those volumes that the FS has got just right in my opinion. The cover is very understated and the Brockway illustrations are (as always) superb. It will sit on the shelf very nicely next to Dracula.

>248 HuxleyTheCat:

Huxley, have you seen the Centipede Press's reprint of the Lynd Ward-illustrated Frankenstein?

I can't believe it: Folio just achieved the fastest turnaround time in my history with them. Order placed Feb 1, despatched Feb 2, big white "Royal Mail" arriving on the Texas gulf coast on Feb 16. (Still showing as 'pending' on the website, of course!) Hallelujah.

I actually hadn't planned on renewing this year. I wasn't too attracted to the renewal offers, I didn't have any money, etc., but then they waved The Oxford Companion to the Book in front of me for $14.95...a book I could never dream of owning at its retail price of $325.00!
Needless to say my knees buckled, and I gave in faster than than you can say 'Gutenberg.'

I've only skimmed the surface of this glorious 2-volume miracle for book lovers, but I can already tell that this will be a set I'll take to the grave. Massive. Scholarly. Definitive. And I owe it all to the Folio Society. Is it too late to send them a Valentine's card?

How can you know when your white bag will arrive? I've never been able to get that information from their website.

249> Django, Yes I have seen the Centipede Press edition and it is extraordinary. In fact there is one of the twenty-two ultra limited edition on ebay at the moment, with a portfolio of Lynd Ward's illustrations:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FRANKENSTEIN-Centipede-Press-Signed-Limited-Edition_W0QQit...

Needless to say, my FS version was just a bit cheaper. Also, I do have a great admiration for Harry Brockway's work.

>248 HuxleyTheCat:

I'm lucky (in a way) not to live in London... the Members' Room would prove fatal for my finances!

> 252

Glad that you like the Oxford Companion, Giltedge. I am eyeing this as well - it looks like a wonderful book for serendipitous dipping (if that makes sense!). I am bound to buckle and order soon.

As well as receiving my faulty copy of the Canterbury Tales LE today (see separate thread on this), I have also taken delivery of:

The Voyce of the World, by Sir Thomas Browne, and
Labyrinths, by Jurge Luis Borges.

(And I have to blame this group for my purchases, but at least they were at very good discounts in the sale.)

I have also just won a 1994 copy of English Eccentrics by Edith Sitwell on Ebay for 99p plus postage - no idea what it is like, but I will soon find out.

Finally received Cover Her Face. I'm going to start this Friday night with a little mystery!

Received yesterday, the 3 volume boxed set of The Canterbury Tales published 1986, won on eBay for £16.49 (which included the postage!)

259> Well done! I thought I had a good deal on the 1989 impression of the same edition, which likewise I received yesterday, at £28 inc postage via abe.

It is a really nice edition and sits very well in the hand for reading.

Having now seen the LE Canterbury Tales, I was having doubts about purchasing it anyway, but having received the three volume edition, I think I've made up my mind to save the money. I'm sure it will be an excellent investment for those who have purchased it, but I wanted to buy the LE because I loved it as a book, and having spent a bit of time with it, I find I don't. For me, I found the physical format quite awkward, and the illustrations were (again, for me) a bit disappointing. Despite being an atheist I will be buying the Four Gospels instead.

Recently joined the Folio Society for the second time. I regret leaving the first time however now I'm back! Just received my initial membership package which included THE NOTEBOOKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI (3 vol) & the customary COMPACT OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY & COMPACT OXFORD THESAURUS set. I now have 2 of these sets. I have also just ordered my 4 required books & look forward to receiving them soon.

>261 RobtCM:

Welcome!

>262 drasvola:

Thanks!

Quite please to have received Myths and Legends of the British Isles and Legends of the Ring today - £10 for the first and £20 for the latter, and both in perfect condition! I've been skulking around ebay for weeks, consistently losing out on everything, and finally lucked out.

>That's quite a coincidence! Agree with your comments on the books. They do sit in the hand very nicely!

Picked up my Leaves Of Grass on Friday. I am very happy with this as I have been eyeing it for quite a while now. I love the dark green leather spine and ornate gold spine lettering and the green buckram sides. Typographicaly, its beautiful (on a par with the Folio Poets) and the illustrations are just perfect.

Picked up a copy of the Oxford Companion to the Book on Friday from the members' room.
I also looked at the Canterbury Tales LE and The Four Gospels but managed to resist this time!

>266 Quicksilver66:
I was there until about 12.50. I wonder if we were there at the same time Quicksilver66?

> 267
mj54 - I was there from about 1.20 to 1.40. Just missed you !!!

mj54, can you give your thoughts on The Oxford Companion to the Book? I just received the flyer and it has me interested in ordering it. Thank you very much.

Well, I've done it again. Thanks to the Historical Fiction thread I've just ordered both Sutcliff books and, thanks to the website which keeps bringing them up in the sidebar area, I've added Best of Saki and The Country Child as well (so much for thinking it over for a few days). Thank goodness this sale is over at the end of the month. Of course that doesn't mean I won't be tempted by the next sale. Hopefully there won't be another one for quite a while.

>269 LucasTrask: can you give your thoughts on The Oxford Companion to the Book?

I have so far dipped into the encyclopaedia section only. It does seem to cover a very wide range, including Gutenberg, JPEG and hypertext for example.
Including such recent developments as the World Wide Web does open the possibility of any work rapidly becoming out of date, but the overwhelming majority of entries in the A-Z section do not appear to fall into this category so I'm sure this will not be a problem here.
The Folio Society has a brief entry.
None of the illustrations appear to be in colour, some I would prefer a little larger, and I would like more (as always).
Overall I am very pleased with it at the members offer price.
(Just my opinion)

Got a couple of Folios for my birthday - Betjeman's Britain, which I'm v happy with, and a book about Chartres' cathedral, which I'm rather bemused with. I also got a second-hand copy of The Railway Children, where I find the illustrations OK but not fabulous. I'm hoping to get to the Members' Room this week to pick up some books and check out the Chekhov.

>272 khaa9481: is your Chartres book The Making of a Miracle? it was a Presentation Volume many years back.

>273 overthemoon:: it is. I didn't have it with me so had forgotten the name. I was bemused only because it was my main birthday gift from my father. I've been to Chartres once and while it is a lovely cathedral it is nothing I wanted to read about. If anybody in the UK would be interested in it, let me know as I'd be happier with it being with someone who wants it...

PS I'm told the March books haven't arrived yet so it'll be some time still as they normally take a few days extra to unpack them etc

> 274: I am not in the UK but am certainly interested in the Chartres book and can pay for shipping to Canada... :)

274>

Although I've never been to Chartres, I found Henry Adams's classic Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres a fascinating read.

Dear Folio friends,

I have a problem.

Upon joining the Society a mere month ago, I've seen dispatched a total of fifteen (15) books. My wallet is not amused.

They are as follows:
My Cousin Rachel
Rebecca
The Riddle of the Sands
Don't Look Now And Other Stories
Nostromo
Victory
The Big Sleep
Greenmantle
Jane Austen's Letters
Persuasion
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Crime Stories From The Strand
The Human Factor
Cover Her Face
The Secret Agent

:|

I need help.

S

I'm sure many of us here will be most happy to help you with recommendations for other books that you may like, but maybe that's not quite the help
you need ;-)

Welcome to the club!

scotty, now I'm in a less frivolous mood, the best help that I can offer is for you to read the books that you have purchased and put the credit card away until the sales later in the year. I was lucky in that I had read quite a lot of the old threads here before I joined and there is some good advice about holding back on the spending until the big sales. There are likely to be two substantially good sales before renewal time (last year there was a good sets sale whereby you could buy two, three or four books and get a set of books for free, followed by the big summer sale when lots of books were 50% off) and it is worth saving your cash until then as you are likely to be able to make your budget go much further.

My own take on the same rule scotty: if any of the books( and I'm thinking about the joining offer) is less than fully satisfactory then go and e-bay remorselessly. Its appreciative future owner will be happy and your wallet will get at least some psychological relief...:) 2 people happy vs 0 people happy.
A sound rule I read on personal finance in general was : never buy anything that YOU don't need right NOW and for a long time.
Easier said than done...but as folios are crafted to last, just check if you're gonna read this book now. (if you're basically a reader and not a collector then you don't need the first edition..) Book is ok at the warehouse waiting for the next sale (=your reading investment for the next 4 months)

And as the priest told us in the parish avoid the opportunities of sin; if they cannot be avoided at least do postpone them... >;)

Best regards from a fellow sinner.

>280 P3p3_Pr4ts: Book is ok at the warehouse waiting for the next sale

Unless if it sells out.

Precisely, Annie. I'd rather just grab a copy from the Society while they're in stock. Besides, I'm a heavy reader, not a collector. That entire list will likely not last the calendar year for me.

But thanks for the advice, guys. I do need to learn when the good sales typically are.

>282 scottyw:

Do not worry - I am in the same situation - joined just a few months ago. :) So we all still learn the ropes.

Besides - if I know I want to read a book, I will grab it when I can afford it... regardless if I have time to read it just now.

>Unless if it sells out.

"Reprintings " boys and gals, :) any book sold out in less than four months will be reprinted.
Don't let the marketing fellows manipulate your anxieties :)
(LEs are a definitive weapon, though :-S

>284 P3p3_Pr4ts:

I do not see Trollope being reprinted. Or a few other titles that I want. Not everything gets reprinted. :)

Post edited because you don't preach temperance at a party.)

I don't know when I see a book that interests me then the bug set in and I "MUST HAVE IT"! I know this is completely and utterly irrational but no matter how I look at it the feeling remains. I wonder fow many deadly sins I have when this occurs? I will ask next time I go to confession.

I have just picked up my copies of Empires of the Word and the Thirty Years War. I have only had an opportunity to glance at them so far, but they both look to be very beautiful volumes. I look forward to reading them.

Received the Folio 40 (with the glassine wrapper) for a bargain and Folio 50 on ebay. Reading the Folio 40 is really a delight - it is really beautifully made. It is a short small book compared to the other folio 50 and 60 format, so it is a delight to read in bed (which I did yesterday night). I would have been extremely pleased if Folio 40 was printed in letterpress!

On Abebooks I ordered Four Themes with illustration by Picasso for £8 and The Franchise Affair for £9 both incl. p&p and in excellent condition. It was my first order through Abe and it was quite pleasant. I much prefer it than ebay. But yes sometimes the prices are inflated

And I said to myself that I would wait (and I should have till summer) but I ordered and received CT number 560 this morning.

I am absolutely not able to buy anything for at least a couple of months - I am way over budget :)

FS is becoming an addiction

I did myself , back to the thread, when I ordered The honourable schoolboy and Smiley's people +Defence of the realm gift

And knowing that I can get a suspended sentence from book loving judges f I get in serious trouble hasn't helped at all. (Law must be really a bookish profession quicksilver)

http://www.swisster.ch/news/society/doctor-used-research-fund-millions-buy-rare-...

http://www.swisster.ch/bogousslavsky-escapes-more-jail-time.html

289>> FS is becoming an addiction

Yes, FS can be an addiciton. :)

This year alone... well, starting in December, 2009 I acquired:

Ordered Thu, Dec 10th 2009
Received January 11, 2010
Master and Commander
Post Captain
H.M.S. Surprise
The Mauritius Command
The World's Heritage *
The Folio Diary 2010 (Membership renewal bonus)
*not an FS book, but a very nice membership renewal bonus, published by UNESCO for FS Members. This book depicts hundreds of places I'll probably never get to visit in person.

Ordered Tue, Jan 12th 2010
Received February 13, 2010
The Devil's Dictionary
Desolation Island
King Arthur: History and Legend
Inventions of the Middle Ages

Requested Wed, Jan 13th, 2010
Received February 19, 2010
Folio Anthology of Poetry *
*from LibraryThing member, BorisG, not direct from FS

Ordered Fri, Jan 22nd 2010
Received February 18, 2010
Labyrinths
Life

Ordered Tue, Feb. 23, 2010
Pending
The Fortune of War
The Surgeon’s Mate
A Little History of the World (free, according to flyer received with order of January 12, 2010)

Ordered Wed, Feb 24, 2010
Pending
Folio Book of Card Games
Thomas Becket
Schindler's Ark

And of course, free cards with orders of January 22 and Feb. 24

My buying binge is at an end for a good while... becasue it's not only the FS books I purchased this year, but also a good number of non-FS books that have drained my bank account.

I sure hope Nick Basbanes includes Dr. B (ogousslavsky) in his next edition.

Talk about a gentle madness...what you got to say about it Susan__KH??

I received my books came in a Royal Mail sack. I thought they must be damaged, but on opening the were laying like eggs in bubble wrap.

Another perfect way to start a weekend. Got home last night to find a delivery notice in my mailbox--my final order from the Winter Sale. Received in perfect condition (thank you, bubble wrap) Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, The Country Child, The Best of Saki and of course the playing cards. The Sutcliff books look very impressive, love the covers and the illustrations. Just flipped briefly through The Country Child but I couldn't resist revisiting my old friend Saki last night before bed (by way of The Open Window and The Schartz-Metterklume Method). Can hardly wait to read all of them (which will probably be in about ten years time unless I shift my to-be-read piles).

I also recently received a non-FS book about William Blake by Osbert Burdett (full of examples of Blake's works) which almost didn't get here because the postman took it to a house two streets over (thank goodness for honest people).

Oh and, although it's not FS and not a book I would ever think of reading, the place of honour in my latest arrivals goes to Clean Kill: A Sniper Novel by Sgt. Jack Coughlin from Amazon. My nephew (he who hates all things bookish) actually asked me to order it months before its publication date and eagerly awaited its delivery; and cheered when he found out it contained his favourite character (and I cheered when I found out he had a favourite character). I think he even took the book with him to his girlfriend's house this weekend because I don't see it anywhere in the house. Hooray for small miracles!

>294 haniwitch:

Oh happy day! I love hearing about miracles large or small - especially when the miracle is a non-reader falling under the spell of a book! :)

294>

Perhaps you might hunt used bookstores for a copy of Geoffrey Household's Rogue Male and leave it where he might pick it up....

>294 haniwitch: Haniwitch, I haven't read Rogue Male but if the lad doesn't want to get out of the USMC snipers' subject too swiftly, my suggestion as the next step would be Jarhead by A Swofford . It has some real literary values and has not any bravado.
:-) good luck

PS Punctuation edited.

#295 Actually, I guess this would be a rather large miracle. One of the reasons he was surprised to find the new book was about his favourite character was because his hatred of reading is so great he wouldn't even read the book's description on Amazon.

#296 & 297 Thanks for the suggestions. I'll mention them to him when he gets home. Jarhead might be a good one as he has the movie that was based on it so he must like the plot. Rogue Male also sounds like his kind of book: guns, survivalism and the outdoors. And both of them are in stock at Amazon so he could be reading them by the end of next week.

And I found another release for my book-buying addiction. My Dad's neighbours (the ones who keep an eye on him) have two small children who are just getting into reading so guess what they got from us for Christmas as a thank you? And they'll probably get some of the nephew's old children's books (yes, we did read to him as a child, it didn't work) which are sitting in the basement gathering dust.

> 298 "My Dad's neighbours (the ones who keep an eye on him) have two small children who are just getting into reading so guess what they got from us for Christmas as a thank you?"

Not 'Clean Kill: A Sniper Novel by Sgt. Jack Coughlin', I hope!

#299
No, they're still a little young for that (boy 3, girl 6). The boy got a book about tractors and a toy tractor (grandpa's a farmer) and the girl got a read-it-yourself book about a puppy and a plush dog that resembled the title character. We got the toys just in case the books didn't cut it. (Oh, who am I kidding, those kids are so cute I'd buy the whole toy store and book store for them if I had the money, even if their parents weren't making sure my 84-year-old father didn't get into trouble)

Just got my copy of William Trevor's short stories and I'm v happy. A good selection of 18 or so tales from throughout his career. As ever, I find the introduction - by Trevor himself - somewhat light and the pictures aren't really to my taste (although I do like the cover). But the words are what counts.

The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People on the way! Yay!

I broke down and just ordered Plutarch's Lives, Epic of Giglamesh and the LE Les Miserables.

Hi everyone,
new to both this librarything and FS.
I took History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire deal, and ordered A History of the Crusades and The Persian Expedition.
Been reading mostly fantasy books, and I thought I'd branch out into history. What attracted me to become a member was wanting great works and ideas that have survived for a lifetime or more to feel as impressive in my hands, and to have the capacity to weather more lifetimes. yayyyyyyyy books

Just ordered Plutarch's Lives.
Will try to hold out for the next sale, but The Epic of Gilgamesh and Bede's History of the English Church and People are tempting me.

> 304 Welcome to the group IxanderI.

Today I had finally time to check the rather late delivery from the winter sale (plus some extras). Opening the five white bags felt a bit like Christmas. This is what I got:

Great Cathedrals of the Middle Ages
Labyrinths
Life
Mill on the Floss
Stuff of Thought (not FS)
Thomas Becket
Varieties of Religious Experiences
Blackmailers Don't Shoot
Isle of Voices
If this is a Man
The Prince
The Sliver Branch
World of Odysseus
The Oxford Companion to the Book
A Month in the Country

and 4 packs of cards!

I love the cover design an illustrations of The Silver Branch and I like the crushed silk of Mill on the Floss, however the illustrations are rather small in this one and a bit of a letdown. I am not really into Stevenson but Isle of Voices is more beautiful than expected and might seduce me to put it high on my TBR file. The highlight is clearly The Oxford Companion to the Book.
Unfortunately there have been a few casualties as well. One the of the delivered boxes was severely smashed on all sides and as a consequence the slipcases of Thomas Becket and Varieties of Religious Experiences are slightly dented on one corner each, but I think I can live with this. Far worse happed to Blackmailers Don't Shoot, with the upper right corner of the slipcase broken and the top spine slightly dented. Furthermore three of the silver letters on the spine are rubbed of. The worst damage was caused to Great Cathedrals of the Middle Ages. The slipcase is split on the top the backside is severely dented on top and bottom. The denting is so bad that the book cover and even the pages have been damaged. I phoned FS to ask for replacement of the two damaged books and they will send a new copy of Blackmailers but unfortunately the Great Cathedrals is sold out and they will refund me instead. I offered to send the damaged books back, but as usual FS told me to donate them to a library.

I finally renewed. I took the Macaulay set as my free one and the Plutarch w/ prints as my committment.

>307 chase.donaldson: Congratulations! That combination sounds like a dream for everyone who is into history.

Well, I actually resisted for ten whole days but tonight I finally ordered Plutarch's Lives and the Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was a given; I knew I'd be ordering it from the moment they hinted at publication. The Lives is a total unknown but I've been checking in out online all week and now I find I have to have it. One of the things I like about FS is that not only do I get quality editions of old favourites but they sometimes point me towards books I would never have even considered. And now comes the big question--where will they go? Even though I bought two more bookcases they're already almost full from previous purchases. I can see a place for Gilgamesh but in order for Plutarch to fit in some of the books are going to have to lay sideways on top of other books. Oops. And those bookcases seemed so spacious when they were empty.

Wait, what? Gilgamesh?

(quickly scurries over to Folio web site, finds Gilgamesh, drools on keyboard...)

You just had to point that out to me, didn't you?

The 1994 Folio Society edition of Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde arrived yesterday.

Although it is smaller than I expected, I really like the design and Peake's illustrations are wonderful. Fantastic work by the Society (and Stevenson too of course!)

#310

Sorry about that coynedj. But Karma's kicked in and now I'm pining for the Wodehouse set khaa9481 mentioned in the More New Books thread. This will be another "buy right now" book(s) for me. For what it's worth, Gilgamesh isn't too terrible a price and the Canadian site shows a 17 percent discount. (Okay, stop listening to me, I will not be an enabler)

The End of The Affair 2000 edtion from e bay But a very 50s concept in binding and illustrations methinks.Unread it would have been a bargain if not for postage from the US.
Greene thing does work with me :-S." Touches nerves we forgot we had " wrote someone.

P.S. touchstone edited

> 312 - If this site is not for enabling, then what, pray tell, is it for?

I just received some e-bay wins: Mistress Masham's Repose, Troy and the Trojans, The Leopard, Une Vie, and Bed 29 and Other Stories by Maupassant.

Also waiting for a near-$900 shipment of new books, including the above-mentioned Gilgamesh. Hooray and ouch.

Susan, I think I should send you a sponsor form for my library. No donation is too small! :)

Is there a library jail? Maybe that's where you should be sent when you overspend on books.

Sponsors.. ditto...

>317 toodlessm: If there is a Library jail or book police I should be in hiding.

I believe my wife has her book police badge.

I've just recieved Plutarchs Lives and that was going to be it for me until renewal time (so I promised my girlfriend), and then I spotted 6 of the latest Dickens editions still shrink wrapped in a 2nd hand book shop. I managed to seal the deal for £80 and went away rather pleased with myself!

#321 Are you happy with Plutarch's Lives? Is it an impressive set "in the flesh"?

I must admit I haven't taken them out of the shrink wrap yet. I'm bought so many books just recently and have so many unread that I'm trying to hold off for a bit. My personal first impressions "from the outside" are very good and I quite like the prints. I have read some negative comments on this forum about the set, though I would not be qualified to comment on the content anyway as I do not have anything/have read anything to compare it to.

>321 chubbo10: x6 shrinkwrapped Nonesuch Dickens for £80! Well done sir!

I just ordered the new Jeeves and Wooster Stories 3 book set. I planned to wait until I renewed, but I was unable to hold out any longer.

Thread is too long. I take the risk to break it and link to its continuation here.

Just received my Plutarch. Did anyone else receive this? Should the bonus prints come separately or are they in the slipcase?

Mine arrived sitting in the top of the same box wrapped in stiff cardboard packaging and cellophane.

I was assured on the phone that I was one of the first 1000. I have contacted the FS and will await news

Received an email today saying that they regretted the error and would be remedying it.

Whoo hoo! Plutarch’s Lives came today. I finally figured out the post office and instead of waiting until the next day like it says on the delivery notice I now call the outlet to see if the parcel got there ahead of time. So it’s sitting on the bookshelf tonight where I can enjoy it (yes, I actually found a spot for it, at least until Jeeves & Wooster shows up but I have a backup plan).

The set is gorgeous. The feel of the covers with their slightly raised designs almost sidetracked me from actually opening a book (I just wanted to sit there and hold it), but I’m glad I finally did because the print is perfect for these tired eyes after a hard day at the computer. I’ve already started on Theseus (just a few pages but it is a start considering how little I read these days). The two prints are beautiful; just need to find some simple frames for them. The cats even loved the box (they know there’s one inside the big white bag and paw at it until I get it out and empty it for them to play with). All in all a very good day.

>331 haniwitch:

That's great, Haniwitch - even your cats enjoy the Folio deliveries! I received the Plutarch and Chekhov sets just a few days ago and yes, they are beautiful! Real works of art to look at, hold, and read! Hooray!!

Unfortunately, my basset hounds don't get so excited when a Folio delivery comes. They smell the box and can tell right away that there is no food inside. Occasionally they will chew up a stray packing peanut or two, but that's not very gratifying. Their real enjoyment comes later when I start a reading session. You know, it is quite challenging to fit three bassets with you on a couch!

Hello. I am new to Folio Society and am eagerly awaiting the books from my introduction offer. I chose the Beatrix Potter sets and the Oxford dictionary and thesaurus.

I couldn't wait for the introduction offer shipment before placing my initial order, mostly because I do not like outstanding obligations, so I have also ordered The Screwtape Letters, The Art of War, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Wind in the Willows.

Nice surprise at the post office today. There was a parcel pickup notice in my mailbox last night and lo and behold it was the Jeeves & Wooster set. Yay! I was definitely not expecting it as it only showed up as despatched on April 12 and there's no way it could get here in four days. I'm pretty sure it went out just after I ordered it on March 29 and the person in charge of updating the website was on holiday. Which means that my Spring Sale books could be a lot closer that I think (they show as At Warehouse right now). The books are fantastic and I love all the Paul Cox illustrations. What a great way to spend a Friday night--a little music, a little Wodehouse and the house all to myself. Double Yay!

> 334

Sounds ideal.

Out of interest, what music did you chose to accompany Wodehouse ?

331, 332: thanks for the encouragement, I can't wait until Plutarch arrives :)
I'm drooling over that set...

I was strongly considering getting the Chekhov set as well... but, I have to admit, I really just did not like the artwork. So sadly, I will pass on Chekhov.

cheers,

-astropi

#335
Actually the music came first. I had a horrible long day at work so I planned on putting on some Mozart as soon as I got home. Don't know if it's a great choice for Bertie & company but it was just what I needed. And the first story I chose was Jeeves Takes Charge chronicling their first few days together. So a perfect evening.

>337 haniwitch:

I think Mozart is a great accompaniment to any kind of literature.

I realize my choice is heavily influenced by my own proclivities for the popular music of the period, but with Wodehouse I would prefer a cocktail of tunes from dance orchestras such as Benny Moten and The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, to early Big Band and swing arrangements of popular music and Broadway show tunes by groups such as Jean Goldkette, Gus Arnheim, Ray Noble and Fletcher Henderson.

I love Mozart, but I think "Pel" would have been listening to Cole Porter and Jerome Kern while he was thinking up disastrous situations in which to enmesh Bertie.

> 339

Yes - I agree with you as to the appropriateness of Swing or Jazz to Wodehouse. Surely, the type of music Bertie, Gussie or the Basset would have listened to. Jeeves would have preferred something more cerebral such as a Beethoven or Mahler symphony, or perhaps Wagners Ring Cycle.

This subject of music and literature is worth another thread. The difficulty I have is that I can't read with some types of music playing - they distract me too much. The only type of music I could read too would be classical, as long as it's not to heavy - so Mozart or a piano concerto would be perfect.

>340 Quicksilver66:

Quicksilver, a very good friend of mine is the brother of concert pianist Malcolm Bilson, perhaps THE leading exponent of Haydn's keyboard music and renowned for his recordings of the Mozart concertos and Beethoven sonatas played on the pianoforte. He apparently can't stand the concept of using this music--or perhaps any music--as background music or incidental music. Apparently, he has left restaurants when musicians started providing "dinner music."

I agree that it is very difficult to read and listen to music, but the combination of Wodehouse and early jazz seems to work for me. On the other hand, I don't think I would like to be listening to "Let's Misbehave" while trying to read Kafka.

"Music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it,."

I don't really get Wodehouse, but he and Wolfgang should mix well to whoever likes both..

#339
Actually when Quicksilver66 asked the question Swing and Jazz were the first things that sprang to mind but yesterday I really needed to lower the stress level and Mozart does that perfectly (the Wodehouse helped too). Also classsical music is banned from the house on weekdays when my sister and the nephew are around so I "stock up" on my listening on the weekends. And my apologies to Mr. Bilson but it is frequently background music simply because I want to hear as much of it as I can during that time.

>341 Django6924:
Django, I liken your friend's reaction to music in the background to visual art in the background. Would you put away all artwork in your home except when you're specifically contemplating that work of art? Should we strip art from the walls and corners of restaurants and shops? Should we hide our Folio volumes except for the one we're holding in our hands? I know it's important, complex music, but having it there whether you're ready to focus on it or not does not seem an insult to the music, nor does it do a disservice. Besides, when it's playing as 'dinner music', who's to say that at any given time, someone in the room is not truly engaged by the music while simply 'eating' the meal? or when a passage may reach out and grab you? I can see the chef getting upset because someone's listening to the music instead of fully enjoying the art of the entree!

There I go again - why use a dozen words when 100 will do?

Os.

As far as music while reading, I'm solid with instrumental, but since I actually take note of the words in songs, anything with lyrics is a distraction to focused reading. Funny, that, because my spouse (the singer/pianists/choral director) doesn't listen to the words of the music on the radio or playing in the house unless someone specifically points it out, so focusing on a book while some singer is wailing away from the stereo distracts not a whit. I'll note something funny or poignant in a song booming out in the room while we're reading or cleaning house or whatever, and all I get back is a 'huh?".

As far as style goes, it varies widely with my mood and the mood of the book I'm reading. Sometimes, the late night silence of a house asleep is delicious.

Os.

#331: The set is gorgeous. The feel of the covers with their slightly raised designs : what do you mean by this, haniwitch? This is a feature which does not show up on the FS photographs of the set.

Did anybody enjoy the reading of this set, even with all what has been written here about Dryden's translation?

Just received the honourable schoolboy, smiley's people and the defence of the realm Yay! promising myself a week of treachery, human weakness, ideals, simulation, office politics. I guess I love this cr*p the way others love soap opera..

#346
The gold design on the front cover of the books is embossed so as I'm reading (when I get to read) I can run my fingers over it and feel the design.

As to my enjoyment of the set, I've just finished the introduction last night so can't comment on the translation. Right now I think I've got five books on the go: one from the Jeeves & Wooster set, one from the Mapp & Lucia set, the first Plutarch, M.R. James Collected Ghost Stories and one non-FS fiction so it may be a while before I can make any comments on Plutarch if I get side-tracked by any of the other four.

Received my free sale set of His Dark Materials today and I am very impressed with it. The illustrations in particular are very attractive and have just the right feel to them.

I bought the Moby Dick LE to qualify for this free set in the sale. But on the invoice it says that the Moby Dick is currently "out of stock"? What can this mean? Is it perhaps that they have unbound copies that need to be finished or simply that they have to wait for a copy to come in for dispatch from wherever they hoard the LE's.

349:I guess it must be the second option Quiksilver: that's what said the invoice I got last week. about the items I got today. : )Regards

> 350

Thank's Pepe_prats - that's what I was hoping. I know with some LE's, such as Pepys, and the Rubiyat, members were waiting a long time for sets to be bound.

A bumper crop of second hand books today courtesy of Ebay. And for once, the seller lived within travelling distance, so no postage!!!

A Memoir of the Forty Five,
Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham,
The Plums of PG Wodehouse,
The Lifted Veil,
The Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of HMS Bounty, and
Short Stories of Anton Chekhov.

All for £15.50.

My wife unpacked her complete works of Thomas Hardy yesterday, and I'm expecting my Spring Sale books any time now, as they are marked as "despatched".

I really must stop buying for a while. (Yes, I know everyone says that!)

>352 RMMee:

"My wife unpacked her complete works of Thomas Hardy yesterday"...

and...???

and... she managed to find a shelf to put them on! (Which is our biggest problem. I can't convince her to buy another bookshelf, as she thinks we would have to throw the dining table out if we did!!!)

But seriously, she thinks they are lovely, and once she has finished her present reading (something in French at the moment) she will start on them. The real beauty is that the 18 volumes are the exact width of the bookshelf they were destined for.

Now to decide what to do with the books we moved......

Robert

354.>>> I can't convince her to buy another bookshelf, as she thinks we would have to throw the dining table out if we did!

That's my problem too... but my husband is the one reluctant to buy the book case... and yes, we probably would have to throw something (other furniture) out the door if we did; not our dining table though. The table is not blocking wall space. The couch, however, is another story... and if we did have another book case... well, it would be full within a week or less. It would only have space that long because it would take me awhile to decide which books should grace those shelves. Probably starting with my FS books, as I'd then be able to shelve them together instead of scattered here and there among other books as they are now. The "here and there" spaces could be filled, no problem and little thinking about it, with other books, maybe some from the boxes I have in storage...

I've cataloged 999 entries (some entries are sets of books, so well over 1,000 volumes). Probably over 800 are owned by me, even discounting the wish list and read but unowned collections... and the catalog doesn't include most of my husband's books, which I have yet to catalog... at least (my guess) about 200 more volumes... nearly all of his books occupy some of the shelf space, but he has a box or two of books in storage as well.

>352 RMMee: "All for £15.50"

Hmmmm, that's about what I paid for The Lifted Veil from the Society....

Oddly, I just picked up a used copy of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of HMS Bounty on eBay for $6.00 US and can't wait to dig into it. I've also had a copy of Cakes and Ale for a few years and can assure it's a fun read! (Now if the FS would sometime get around to doing The Razor's Edge my Maugham collection will be complete.)

>355 1dragones: The table is not blocking wall space.

Nor ours, as it is a circular one. But my wife fears that if we have to move it too far away from one wall, so as to accomodate another bookshelf, then it will be too close to the bookshelves on the other wall!!!!

>356 Django6924:

I ordered The Lifted Veil in the Winter Sale for, I think £17.xx, but they sold out before I could get it. So it was a real snip at £4.80. All the books I received today were in at least "good" or "very good" condition, and two of them, including The Lifted Veil, I would class as being "fine". It looks a beautiful work, and it has pushed aside several other works in my to-read list. (But not until Decline and Fall is finished!)

I suspect that Sir John Barrow's version of the Mutiny on the Bounty will not include a role for Marlon Brando!

I know nothing about Cakes and Ale, but in view of your recommendation, I may put that in as one of the books to read between volumes of Gibbon. (I aim for a very structured reading list.) Thanks.

I really don't understand people who can listen to music and read at the same time. I've never done it; never thought of doing it.

I listen to music (usually classical) while I read because the music is more pleasant than listening to my neighbors' kids fighting or the parents chastising said children for fighting or for doing something else they were told not to do. The music isn't my main focus, just some pleasant sounds to lessen the impact of the unpleasant, poor excuse for human beings that live in the apartment next to me, or the one above. If it's not one, it's the other... and sometimes both!

Regarding music when reading: personally, I find it too distracting, but after years of lessons on the harp (mostly), clarinet and piano I have to admit that I don't have what it takes to appreciate music the way I'd like. ("My God, you've got a tin ear!" said one instructor in a fit of desperation.) I prefer silence or reading and have stopped trying to convince myself otherwise. But for those who are unaware and enjoying the Patrick O'Brian series, there are a couple of CD's available that provide examples of the music Aubrey and Maturin likely played together and enjoyed. If you enjoy listening to music as you read, I recommend these CD's as an accompaniment to the books. If you are familiar with O'Brian's work, you know that many beverages, quite a few of them alcoholic, may also be enlisted to enhance your reading pleasure.

Like 1dragones, I prefer listening to music (usually classical) while reading. The exception is anything with English lyrics--I find myself listening to the lyrics and distracted from the written word. But put on a nice piece of Bach (or Coltrane) and the pages fly by.

360. >>> I would love to have silence when I'm reading... unfortunately, my neigbors are not the quiet type. :( The music is far preferable to their loud and obnoxious behavior. I guess some people never learned that apartment walls are paper thin...

361. >>> Yep, vocals can be distracting, which is why I generally prefer to avoid them