Disappointing Folio Society Editions

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Disappointing Folio Society Editions

1caesarofcaesars
apr 16, 2021, 1:30 pm

What editions have you collected over the years and been disappointed by?

Frankenstein is probably my favourite book of all time, and FS’ edition is absolutely brilliant... until you reach the illustrations. I’m sure that some folks love them, but they seem cheapish to me, more teenage novel than gothic classic.

2fancythings
apr 16, 2021, 1:49 pm

>1 caesarofcaesars: check out EP limited edition Frankenstein with really creepy illustrations.

3cronshaw
Bewerkt: apr 16, 2021, 1:55 pm

>1 caesarofcaesars: Personally I think the wood engravings Harry Brockway made for the FS Frankenstein are superb, I don't find them 'teenage novel' at all; though since Mary Shelley was only 18 when she wrote the work, if they were it would be most apt :)

4L.Bloom
apr 16, 2021, 1:55 pm

This question had me intrigued. I searched my shelves and failed to find a volume which does not bring me joy to open up. LE Ulysses has illustrations which are sort of un-inspiring but the book itself is a lovely artifact.

5adriano77
apr 16, 2021, 2:00 pm

Of those I own - probably only Confucius' Analects. Was never particularly keen on the exterior look but wanted a copy anyway. Then the art inside is disappointingly small in comparison to the page size. Probably will look for a nicer edition one of these days.

Of those that I don't - BotNS SE. Was looking forward to this a lot too.

6LBShoreBook
apr 16, 2021, 2:49 pm

I don't own a ton of FS books (25-ish) and like the aesthetics but I will confess to being a bit underwhelmed with the recent Journal of the Plague Year publication. I was expecting at least a few illustrated pages and the cover feels a bit cheap. Not terrible but it won't go down in the HOF for my FS collection.

7Willoyd
Bewerkt: apr 16, 2021, 3:06 pm

>6 LBShoreBook:
I much prefer the original Folio edition. Much cheaper too!

8Nerevarine
Bewerkt: apr 16, 2021, 3:19 pm

As much as I like the story and find the illustrations fitting, I just really don’t like the new release of The Road.

I’m really not a fan of the illustrated binding and the binding material (screen-printed cloth). My book also have a foul smell (chemical-like). It just feels « cheap » imo.

I think it would have been worthy of a fine edition (a la Call of Cthulhu for example).

9Pellias
apr 16, 2021, 4:00 pm

If any, and just maybe. LE's with the same text block as standard versions. Same containt different wrappings. Lord of the rings, don Quijote etc. I like them. But, you know what I mean. These editions can still be upgraded.

And downgraded former member giveaways like Greek Myths, possibly.

10abysswalker
Bewerkt: apr 16, 2021, 4:11 pm

>8 Nerevarine: just to throw a contrary opinion out there for others that use these threads to inform buying decisions, I don’t find the recent release of The Road to feel cheap at all, especially by Folio standard edition benchmarks. My copy also has no chemical scent. The paper and binding feel high quality to me, and it is produced by L.E.G.O. S.p.A. in Italy, one of the better printing houses that Folio currently uses, in my experience.

I can see the point about the cover design (screen printed cloth is not generally my favorite either), but I like the dramatic blocking of black, red, and gray colors.

Obviously this is a matter of personal taste to some degree, but I did want to weigh in especially about the feel of build quality.

11Nerevarine
Bewerkt: apr 16, 2021, 4:52 pm

>10 abysswalker: That’s very fine! After all that’s only my humble opinion.

The book feels sturdy and the paper is adequate (it’s the usual abbey wove paper), but yeah I don’t like the binding material and the blocking. That’s just a matter of taste though. And I was really surprised by the smell, considering it has been produced at L.E.G.O. S.p.A.

I must add that I don’t often buy « standard editions ». I buy mostly fine editions and some limited editions here and there. I have some really nice standard editions though. I really enjoy for example the look and the feel of The Hitchhiker’s Guide series and Howl’s Moving Castle.

12adriano77
apr 16, 2021, 4:46 pm

My copy of The Road also has a synthetic/plastic odour. Doesn't bother me too much though as I have to get fairly close after noticing it initially.

13LBShoreBook
apr 16, 2021, 4:56 pm

>7 Willoyd: Yes, it is better. Both FS editions were edited to modernize the text, which I find really annoying. If that had been made clear on the FS site I would not have purchased it. Another reason this one won't go into my HoF. Win some, lose some.

14wcarter
apr 16, 2021, 5:42 pm

The one FS edition I absolutely dislike is the Folio Book of Carols.
See http://www.librarything.com/topic/292330
Publishing such a book without the music in inexcusable. .

15Betelgeuse
Bewerkt: apr 16, 2021, 6:45 pm

I was disappointed with the Folio Society's edition of Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles. Love the book, so I had to have it, but the illustrations bother me. Too much like a comic book, and too deliberately evocative of the 1940s and 1950s (the time in which it was written). It felt more like it was satirizing the story. I know that probably wasn't the intent.

16AMindForeverVoyaging
apr 16, 2021, 6:57 pm

Year Round Things to Do failed to live up to the hype

17RRCBS
apr 16, 2021, 7:09 pm

I have an intense dislike for the Brideshead Revisited that has green boards and yellow faces on it. I also dislike the way that some of the colour on the buckram of some earlier books rubs off so easily (like Mandarins, or Lorna Donne). I’m generally not overly picky and care mostly to have a nice copy of books I like. Also not a fan of books that are quite large (Riddley Walker, Ulysses).

Love the Harry Brockway Frankenstein!

18ChampagneSVP
apr 16, 2021, 7:37 pm

19cronshaw
apr 17, 2021, 4:32 am

>16 AMindForeverVoyaging: yes, I found after a while that mine shows marks from the bottom of my glass. I believe the binding should have been more moisture repellent and robust.

20Pellias
apr 17, 2021, 6:14 am

>15 Betelgeuse: Glad to read about the disappointment. I missed that book (still do) ..

>16 AMindForeverVoyaging: Agreed. I bough it for 150 NKR (about £13 - minus shipment). I even read a few chapters to see what the fuzz was about. I too fail to see as to why this particular book is so immensely popular within this devotee group. Tastes differ is all I can say.

>18 ChampagneSVP: If only I knew this was a contest. I would do better ! You must be one of these die hard fans of this book of which I`m talking about.

21Willoyd
apr 17, 2021, 6:43 am

>17 RRCBS:
Shows how we can all react differently! I really like that edition of Brideshead, and actually bought it second hand in preference to the more recent (and rather expensive) edition which for me completely misses the mark - I usually love Harry Brockway's work, but his style just doesn't work for me with this book.

I would totally agree with you about larger books, especially fiction - I've been selling most of mine off the past year or so and replacing where I've wanted a copy with neater, smaller, more readable (IMO!) editions.

The two books that have disappointed me the most have been because of nothing to do with the quality of production: first off was their edition of Alistair Cooke's 'Letter From America' - the only book I've ever actually sent back and asked for a refund. Good looking book, but they'd gone and abridged the original without any mention in their puff. Such a waste.

The second was their more recent production of East of Eden, a book I'd long wanted them to do. It was also (I think) the first of the big £70+ productions (like Middlemarch) - far too pricey for me. The silver lining is that it sent me to Library of America, which I've found a thoroughly rewarding experience!

22coffeewithastraw
Bewerkt: apr 17, 2021, 7:18 am

>21 Willoyd: I agree about some books being too big. I like everything about East of Eden except the size. It’s just too big. This is the reason I won’t be getting Middlemarch even though it looks very nice.

It’s not my most disappointing though. That would have to be The Travels of Marco Polo. It’s size means I can only dip into it whereas I wanted to read it for longer stretches. I should have checked the size before ordering.

This is in contrast to The South Polar Times, which is also very large, but this one doesn’t bother me because it is something I only intend to read for short bursts- so the size is less of a problem.

>15 Betelgeuse: >20 Pellias:
I love The Martian Chronicles illustrations- to each his own of course.

23Uppernorwood
apr 17, 2021, 8:02 am

>22 coffeewithastraw: I believe Marco Polo doesn’t contain a single map either? That’s unforgivable in my view and the reason I haven’t bought it.

24coffeewithastraw
apr 17, 2021, 8:24 am

>23 Uppernorwood: You are correct. No map. And you’re right it should have one. The end papers are just plain paper - one could have been used there even and it would have been a big improvement.

25Levin40
Bewerkt: apr 17, 2021, 8:40 am

I've been disappointed with their translation choices in some cases, such as the recent Verne and Dumas releases. I held off buying the books after reading here about some of the liberties taken in the older translations used. It's odd to spend to spend so much time and effort producing luxury books and not extend the same care to the text itself, I suppose just to save a few pennies.

I was also slightly disappointed by the illustrations for the Foundation Trilogy. While the style of the artist is fine and cover illustrations are excellent, the interior illustrations contain far too many characters close-ups in my opinion, and not enough epic wide-screen SF. The artist's approach is a far better fit for I, Robot.

26Charon49
apr 17, 2021, 9:04 am

I’m disappointed sometimes with illustrations in some of the Sci fi editions. Don’t get me wrong I still love the illustrations that are there but for example in something like Rendevous with Rama wouldn’t you think the illustrator would want to capture some of the grand scope of the interior of the space ship which has some stunning descriptions. I suppose you could argue that classic Sci fi artwork normally focuses on these grander big scale style illustrations so folio artist’s try to capture a smaller more intimate scale. Still a slight part of me also thinks the illustrator might be thinking I’d rather just draw the stairwell which is a lot easier than a huge intricate cylinder spaceship full of cities. I also just finished Book of the New Sun and I love Webber’s artwork but again I can’t help but want to see some these grand descriptions on a bigger scale of the scene and setting a bit more imagine his interpretation of the wall and city of Nessus or the eye of typhon. I saw some of the artwork in the subterranean press version that capture more of this angle so I guess I could just get that you could argue but I’m just being greedy because I loved Webber’s artwork but just wanted more.

27Betelgeuse
apr 17, 2021, 9:24 am

>23 Uppernorwood:
>24 coffeewithastraw:
Wow, even my Everyman's Library edition of Marco Polo comes with four, two-page-wide maps.

28SF-72
apr 17, 2021, 9:31 am

>26 Charon49:

I felt the same about Dune. Nothing against character illustrations, but to me the best thing about Dune are those breathtaking landscapes and creatures, and there's just not enough of those in the FS edition for my taste.

29CarltonC
apr 17, 2021, 11:29 am

Of the older Folios, probably the Waugh illustrated by Quentin Blake, where I had Scoop and Black Mischief, but gave them to charity when I bought the six volume Comedies set, although the improvement is probably only marginal.
Of recent Folios, In Xanadu, whose cover is a mess that hasn’t grown on me, although the copious photos and couple of maps in the book (as well as the writing!) means that this book remains on my lounge bookshelves.

30sekhmet0108
apr 17, 2021, 12:12 pm

The most disappointing edition for me is Lord of the Rings.

I find the paper bound covers to be too juvenile looking. This amazing book deserves better than the treatment it has got. Even the illustrations are rather underwhelming according to me.

It's high time for a revamp, I think.

Oryx and Crake is quite boring looking too.

In general, I am also not a fan of this weird denim blue like material being used for ASOIAF, James Bond books and Hitchhikers Guide.

31Pellias
apr 17, 2021, 12:19 pm

>30 sekhmet0108: I read somewhere those were the illustrations GRR, I mean JRR preferred (is that true?)

AND, possibly a big deal because of Ingahild Grathmer (Queen of Denmark - which of course this would be viewed as honorful, and probably disrespectful in some way to .. well .. not embrace them .. as it is a part of history on it`s own)

32terebinth
apr 17, 2021, 12:20 pm

Few books will disappoint everyone, and the current Tolkien volumes are among the standard Folio books that most please me for their binding design and presentation.

Most disappointing? - hard to say, not least as I've not been tempted to buy any Folio books I can think of to whose outward design I'm averse. There's the Gibbon Decline and Fall set, of course, infamous for its dearth of notes, which would certainly have disappointed me had I bought it expecting a well produced edition.

33Willoyd
apr 17, 2021, 12:28 pm

>23 Uppernorwood: >24 coffeewithastraw: >27 Betelgeuse:
Maps in books are all too often either completely inadequate or non-existent - even in books like walking guides where a decent map is a basic essential (and I live in a country with some of the best mapping in the world!). As a lifelong geographer, orienteer, cartographer, and all-round lover of maps, this, to me, just underlines the massive failure in our teaching of graphicacy alongside literacy and numeracy - and the ongoing decline in spatial and map skills with the advent of the satnav etc. Chunter, chunter!

34Willoyd
apr 17, 2021, 12:30 pm

>30 sekhmet0108:, >31 Pellias:
I have the 1990 cream 'elephant-hide' edition - love it; very simple, elegant and classy. I like the illustrations!

35coffeewithastraw
apr 17, 2021, 12:45 pm

>33 Willoyd: Agree 100%

36Uppernorwood
apr 17, 2021, 1:40 pm

>33 Willoyd: I completely agree, maps are fundamental to an understanding of the world. If you don’t know where a country is you can’t really have a legitimate understanding of it politically, economically or socially. The book ‘Prisoners of Geography’ is based entirely on this concept and is one of the more interesting best sellers I’ve read recently.

The landmark history editions are so great because they go completely overboard on the maps; there’s a new one every 4-5 pages, often with multiple sizes.

37Betelgeuse
apr 17, 2021, 1:47 pm

38abysswalker
apr 17, 2021, 7:06 pm

>32 terebinth: yeah I’ve been trying to think of some that aren’t just me disliking the cover—and so not buying. Notable examples: Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin (1979?), Mann’s Magic Mountain (2000)—the later of which even uses the recent John Wood translation that I prefer! Oh well.

Maybe the recent Angela Carter Nights at the Circus. I find all of the art, cover and interior, quite unpleasant. I otherwise probably would have bought it as well.

39laotzu225
apr 17, 2021, 11:20 pm

>7 Willoyd: Absolutely right.

40treereader
apr 18, 2021, 1:29 am

>16 AMindForeverVoyaging:

It seems ironic to me that after a year of lockdowns, work from home, travel restrictions, and just generally staying home more and this is the first time I’ve heard YRTTD brought up. 2020 should have been a banner year for that book!

41ironjaw
apr 18, 2021, 8:30 am

>40 treereader: Surprisingly, yes!

42cronshaw
Bewerkt: apr 18, 2021, 8:54 am

>40 treereader: There should be a pandemic edition, with socially distanced seasonal games and activities, and projects that include mask-making and perhaps home gin-distilling.

43boldface
apr 18, 2021, 1:55 pm

>42 cronshaw:

It should also have included instructions on how to make a slipcase, since it didn't come with one.

44podaniel
apr 19, 2021, 7:30 am

Maltese Falcon--cartoonish.

45dlphcoracl
apr 19, 2021, 8:17 pm

For me, it is the recent edition 'Philip Larkin: Collected Poems'. It is not one of the best FS efforts and it has a slightly generic look and feel to it, similar to an upscale trade book from one of the mega-chain bookstores.

Philip Larkin is an important poet and this was the first Larkin edition in a fine press or private press format. The FS edition would have filled a distinct void and it could have (and should have) been so much more. An opportunity missed. Fortunately, it is not an expensive purchase, perhaps reflecting the mediocre quality of this edition.

46LBShoreBook
apr 20, 2021, 12:13 pm

>45 dlphcoracl: I was introduced to Larkin through this book and the amazing content led to my reappraising the book, it's grown on me. Not to say I would not be interested in a higher-end edition if one became available.

47dlphcoracl
apr 20, 2021, 12:42 pm

>46 LBShoreBook:

We are saying the same thing, albeit a bit differently.

I agree entirely - Philip Larkin is a superior poet who was not represented in a fine press or private press edition and this was the Folio Society's chance to do something a bit special, filling an obvious void. Instead, they cranked out a mediocre, generic edition printed in China instead of issuing a superior edition similar to their Sappho edition (If Not, Winter) or last year's Montaigne - Selected Essays, especially surprising and disappointing because he was a British poet whose importance should have been obvious to the staff at FS.

48Petrichory
apr 21, 2021, 3:59 am

Can’t believe no one has mentioned The Box of Delights.

My absolute favourite Christmas treat, and the one I always wrote on “suggestion” forms to FS, I would have been head of the queue for a luxurious version with illustrations that captured the magic and period feel of the book.

Instead we got awful scrawls that reminded me only of the worst examples from my 70s childhood, and i couldn’t buy it.

I have stopped suggesting The Children of Green Knowe now because i’m afraid of how they’d butcher it.

49cronshaw
apr 21, 2021, 4:11 am

>48 Petrichory: Folio can't win can they? I love the FS editions of The Box of Delights and The Midnight Folk, particularly the illustrations!

50coffeewithastraw
apr 21, 2021, 7:32 am

51Mooch360
Bewerkt: apr 21, 2021, 10:14 am

> 30
I agree about The Lord of the Rings. I don't dislike it, but I think the new HarperCollins illustrated editions are nicer. They have two colours throughout (and ribbons!) and the Alan Lee illustrations are more my preference than the Folio ones.

52Petrichory
apr 25, 2021, 1:18 pm

>49 cronshaw: fair enough, although this was a thread for editions people found personally disappointing, rather than me just randomly putting the boot into Folio.

53abysswalker
apr 25, 2021, 1:38 pm

The various Mary Renault volumes. Some of my favorite historical or pseudo-historical novels, but the font chosen for the spines is terrible. I otherwise would have been first in line. The interior illustrations are also unimpressive, though not dealbreakers.

54Uppernorwood
apr 26, 2021, 4:29 am

>53 abysswalker: I really like the design of those books. I think the font going for a modern spin on Ancient Greek writing (e.g. epsilon for “e”), and the images are a similar take on 2 colour vase paintings.

55SolerSystem
apr 26, 2021, 8:28 am

Slaughterhouse-Five comes to mind. Lackluster binding and I really dislike the artwork. It's a shame, as Vonnegut is one of my favorite writers.

And I agree with others about Folio's science fiction artwork. Too often it fails to capture the epic panoramas the genre is known for. Dune is lovely, but I'll have no qualms trading up to the Centipede Press version.

56abysswalker
apr 26, 2021, 8:46 am

>54 Uppernorwood: yeah that makes sense; I just don’t like it. In general, I find overly literal design choices, especially fonts, disagreeable. The Renault volumes in particular stand out to me because I like her work so much. And the rough archaic quality of the fonts don’t fit the style or themes of the novels, which are on the edge of decadent/romantic (in the technical literary meaning of those terms). The following cover image wouldn’t make a good folio cover design, but it evokes an appropriate mood:



In another recent thread on Plato someone mentioned Fox’s The Classical World. Something like that cover design would have worked well.

Don’t get me started on the East Asian “stroke” style alphabetic fonts. If you can read even a little mandarin or kanji it’s the visual equivalent of nails on a chalkboard, at least for a visual person like me.

57BionicJim
apr 26, 2021, 3:42 pm

As a Folio Society customer for only the past 3 years, I’ve acquired samples from each decade and loaded up on some current books. The earliest is from 1950 (Salambo #24), a letterpress Shakespeare from 1968 (Troilus and Cressida #267), The Rieu translation of The Iliad and The Odyssey from 1975 (#s 345 & 369), and in the 80-90s my second-hand collection picked-up as the output increased, highlighted by the 199x reissue of Dickens. All these books are well-made and of good value (even if I purchased them at club prices at the time). From more recently, I’ve acquired Special Editions such as (Thoreau’s Walden 2009), and a couple of LEs such as Gulliver’s Travels and Dune from last year.

When it comes to the new books, the Folio Society prices are about double what a trade hardback deluxe edition goes for, but of the 20 or so I’ve purchased directly from FS I have not been disappointed.

Until Sharpe’s Tiger was released.

I had the standard edition in my cart along with several other books when I started hearing the rumors that turned-out to be true that the book had been significantly trimmed of the very differentiator FS provides above most trade editions - great illustrations. Folio Society lost my sale, not only of this book, but of everything in my cart and any future Sharpe’s Tiger sequels. Possibly others opted out of this purchase, too, for this reason. Possibly Folio Society is disappointed in the sales of this book. Disappointment can be felt both ways.

58dyhtstriyk
apr 28, 2021, 2:51 pm

I'd go with The Locked Room Mysteries boxed set. It's printed by C&C and the choice of materials for the boards is, iffy to say the least. Thermo-something paper that feels very un-Folio in my hands. Also, to try to match the width of the other two books, they made the paper for The Four Just men much coarser. It feels like
a standard paperback.

Fortunately I got it 50% off in the last summer sale.

59AMindForeverVoyaging
apr 28, 2021, 2:55 pm

>58 dyhtstriyk: I agree. The thermo-reactive paper doesn't react at all for me. Maybe I'm too cold-blooded ...

60RRCBS
apr 28, 2021, 2:56 pm

>58 dyhtstriyk: Funny, I really didn’t like The Four Just Men because I hate the paper thickness (and the story sucked IMO!), but really likes the reading experience for the other two books in the set.

61dyhtstriyk
apr 28, 2021, 3:20 pm

>60 RRCBS: that's right. I finished reading The Mystery of the Yellow Room yesterday and it was much more pleasant with the paper feeling closer to an Abbey Wove standard.
The paper on the boards, though, is an issue for all three.

62Hamwick
Bewerkt: mei 23, 2021, 1:16 pm

It has been commented in a number of other threads by other people, but for me the biggest disappointment was the Sharpe books. The complete package just seems, well, lacking. Including the pictures, although I was not after a picture book! It is a shame as the Sharpe series have always been special to me, for reasons I will not go into. An opportunity missed.

63SF-72
mei 23, 2021, 2:50 pm

>62 Hamwick:

I agree, and I really don't understand it. This had the potential to become a real success for FS and then they messed it up with the lack of illustrations and colour.

64warehouseisbare
mei 23, 2021, 4:03 pm

>62 Hamwick: I completely agree as well. I just started reading Sharpe’s Tiger and it’s so good. I enjoy the cloth and the maps but the lack of illustrations is killer and the Chinese printing on the cloth is not up to FS standards as I’ve seen some black on the cloth rubbing off fairly easily which has never happened to me. It’s strange because the printing is solid overall. Surprisingly, the paper quality didn’t seem to bad to me. I would have liked to see another introduction in the newest book too. In the long run, I’ll probably buy them if I continue to love the first book so much but it is a real missed opportunity.

65Willoyd
mei 23, 2021, 6:00 pm

>62 Hamwick:
It has been commented in a number of other threads by other people, but for me the biggest disappointment was the Sharpe books.
The Sharpes don't hold the same place for me as they do for you, but it's very hard to disagree with this summation. I can't recall an FS offering that has been received with quite so much disappointment as this one. I do wonder how they'll sell - FS has said they're aiming to do the whole series, but I'm not yet convinced; at £40 each, I rate them a rip-off. It might just make it because there's not a viable alternative.