This book needs to be done by Folio!

I know there are other threads about books we want to see them do, but this is for the ONE BOOK you urgently think really needs and deserves the Folio treatment.

For me, it's Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, which I'm reading right now. What a powerful and important book, and a rich opportunity for the right artist. It would be an excellent companion to Beloved by Toni Morrison - more contemporary fiction and diverse voices would be welcome to me at the moment, and I'm missing that in the current collection.

Others?

This is tough...I still have about 10 I really, really want. But...

A London Life; 1870-1900, by Molly Hughes.

This has been OOP for ages now and a simple Oxford PB costs hundreds or thousands of dollars on the market. It is ridiculous. At this point I still hope to stumble across another paperback since I love this book and need a backup so I can actually read it without worry. It would really fit in with other successful titles they have recently printed, such as Lark Rise to Candleford, A Country Child and Period Piece, though it would probably do much better than the last title. Much like the others, it is mostly an autobiographical account of a young girl growing up, her daily life and schooling in late Victorian London. I adore it!

>2 Lady19thC:

But the three volumes are available separately for next to nothing... Usually listed under M V Hughes.

Watership Down

>4 EclecticIndulgence:

Right, just hoping to add a degree of singularity - what's the one book above all others you'd push as a candidate?

>3 affle:
Usually stained, messy paperback versions that may or may not be abridged as well. I want a Folio treatment with woodcuts or lovely illustrations, in hardcover, slipcase, to be loved by me year after year....

Shogun by James Clavell

>7 Lady19thC:
pPersephone Books has a nice pb edition of the first volume. Their list has a number of titles of similar genre and quality.

The Phantom of the Opera

Little, Big by John Crowley

Long Walk to Freedom
or
Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

More Patrick Leigh Fermor!

The Jungle, Upton Sinclair

Neuromancer, W.Gibson.

Go step on Centipede's toes, FS !

Last and First Men and Starmaker by Olaf Stapledon

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

>8 devilsisland:

I second that. Shogun is ripe for a lavish edition with motifs that cross both western and eastern. This kind of story has the potential if the art is right to rank very highly in the FS canon if they were to produce it.

>8 devilsisland:
>19 Sorion:

Speaking of Japan,"I Am a Cat" by Natsume Sōseki could also be a great addition.

Speaking of Japan,,,, If I could PICK ONE author for folio treatment it would be Haruki Murakami

Dream of the Red Chamber

Sir Charles Grandison by Richardson

I second Phantom of the Opera.

My own 'one' choice would be Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, not that chances are looking good for that one considering they couldn't even do the originally planned four Discworld novels.

I don’t understand the purpose of a thread like this or the other one that has just been revived. Everyone has a favourite but collectively the choices go nowhere, so, if you want to influence FS, what’s the point?

>25 scratchpad:

I started this thread, because I find it interesting to see what people choose. I wish they would give reasons though (should have asked for that in OP).

>26 withawhy99:

reasons for 24: Good Omens is my favourite novel - wonderful sense of humour and atmosphere, as well as depth and very memorable characters. I like Pratchett's books in general, but this is just as good as it gets for me.

I also find this topic interesting. FS are highly unlikely to publish a book because someone mentions it here, but then that's not the purpose of threads like this, at least not for me. That being said, some titles keep showing up, which might suggest a wider interest for them, and that might be interesting to FS after all. Who knows.

>25 scratchpad:

I suppose the point is to confess, perhaps indeed to form, our various thoughts and/or pipedreams on the subject, and in doing so be known a little better to one another and maybe to ourselves. Influencing the FS is surely a sporadic by-product of the group's existence rather than its primary purpose, which is just as well not least given the multitude of incompatible directions in which we'd severally like the publishing programme to develop.

In confident expectation of the complete futility of doing so, then, I'l propose Seton Peacey's Crutch, "the neglected first novel that has still achieved classic status in the minds of more than one good critic like Derek Stanford, who finds in it the most subtle distillation of the past as well as a marvellous economy of effect and perfection of form" (Paul Allen). It's a book I've re-read probably more times than any other. Not a cat in hell's chance of its appearing, but I'm crazy enough to think that it might enhance Folio's reputation and even after a while benefit the balance sheet a little if it did.

A Canticle for Leibowitz.

>29 chrisrsprague: - You beat me to it. Without question, the top book on my list.

And I must say that I have come to fear threads like this. I see the mention of a book I'm not familiar with, I look into, I decide I must read it, and my TBR list grows ever longer. I think that if I add no more books to the list, I might finish it at about the age of 175.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole , just waiting for a good illustrator.

Watership Down.

>25 scratchpad:
Others already spoke regarding the purpose, so I'll just add this - if you look for similar wish list/suggestion threads or threads where devotees were playing editors/trying to predict future Folio editions, it's remarkable how many of these suggested/predicted titles were actually published in just a few short years.

The Landmark Caesar (or any Landmark, for that matter), preferably in a 2 volume edition, one for the text, footnotes, maps and pictures, and one for the web essays (see www.thelandmarkcaesar.com for more information). High time FS stepped up their translation of ancient history game.

>33 elladan0891:
>25 scratchpad:

Indeed, and I am living proof of it! For several years I really pushed for certain titles and held my ground. Then, within a few years, all of them were published. Dracula, House of the Seven Gables, The Pilgrim's Progress, The Imitation of Christ, Lark Rise to Candleford and Little Women. The Little Women version failed as it was only part 1 ( Little Women and Good Wives originally being published as separate volumes), but they have since rectified that and have a lovely copy of both parts in one book now, as most are now more familiar with.

So, yes, miracles do happen!

Would asking for complete Hemingway be cheating?

The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany

Maybe a little more obscure to current generations, but I'd also love to see Kristin Lavransdatter. There was an updated, better translation published a few years ago as well, I think in 2005.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Leguin.

Flashman!

I agree with Neuromancer

Grey Eminence: A Study in Religion and Politics by Aldous Huxley

Musashi, by Eiji Yoshikawa.

>26 withawhy99: Reason for >5 HuxleyTheCat: It's a timeless classic, which would find a big audience and consequently generate loads of cash for Folio. The possibilities for creating a very beautiful book are almost as endless with this story as they are for Wind in the Willows. Watership Down fills a similar niche (or rather, void) and would appeal to the same buyers.

Thank you all. Collating answers here, for convenience of perusal (if you suggested more than one I only took the first one, as the task was to choose one title):

More than one vote:
Shogun
The Phantom of the Opera
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Watership Down
Neuromancer
A Confederacy of Dunces
The Magus
The English Patient

One vote each:
Invisible Man (Ellison)
A London Life trilogy
Little, Big
Long Walk to Freedom
The Jungle
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Last and First Men
The Sun Also Rises
I Am a Cat
Dream of the Red Chamber
Sir Charles Grandison
Good Omens
Crutch
The Landmark Caesar
The King of Elfland's Daughter
Kristin Lavransdatter
The Left Hand of Darkness
Flashman
Grey Eminence
Musashi
Molloy
Life: A User's Manual
Flowers for Algernon
Earth Abides
Eye of the Needle
Crow Country
What Dreams May Come
USA Trilogy - Dos Passos
Lost Horizon
Blood Meridian
The Catcher in the Rye
The Last Unicorn
A World at Arms
The Book of the New Sun
The Road
The Twilight of the Gods - Richard Garnett

From >50 devilsisland:
Popular on other threads:
The Glass Bead Game
Watership Down
Good Omens
Shogun
Stranger in a Strange Land
A Confederacy of Dunces
Neuromancer
Life of Pi
A Canticle for Liebowitz
Red Dragon

>46 EclecticIndulgence: I know, but a man can dream, right? (Edit: I'd also like to pay less than 200€ for it...)

I have requested Molloy for years. I will request Molloy for years.

Life: A user’s manual by Georges Perec. That one has some great potential for a very Nice FS edition

If I was putting together a " most requested list" , and I guess I am; it would have the books I have seen mentioned the most often in threads, but also ones WHICH HAVE NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE BY FOLIO.

The Glass Bead Game

Watership Down

Good Omens

Shogun

Stranger in a Strange Land

A Confederacy of Dunces

Neuromancer

Life of Pi

A Canticle for Liebowitz

Red Dragon

And something by Haruki Murakami. Judging by how fast the Centipede Press version of Kafka by the Shore sold at $500+ that should be high on the list of new authors for Folio.

'Flowers for Algernon' was mentioned a couple of times in the old discussions. I also would love to see it published.

>49 Alendor: Now that would be ace.

>50 devilsisland: " most requested list"

I like your list, very much. Only a couple I wouldn't be interested in, and three of the perennials on my wants list.

Edited for afterthought.

Oh, yes, for Red Dragon. It's a real classic in its genre and a well-written book. it was actually on one of their lists, but strangely enough for horror when that's not really what it is.

I'd like to see Earth Abides by George R Stewart get the Folio treatment. I read it a few years ago not expecting a huge amount and came away very impressed indeed. It's lingered in my mind ever since. It's a perfect counterpoint to the more usual examples of the 'post-apocalyptic' genre represented, for example, by I Am Legend.

Also the Culture series by Iain M Banks, particularly the first three: Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games, Use of Weapons.

>50 devilsisland:
Nice list - if you were to have to pick just one (the purpose of this thread) which would it be?

There's another thread for multiple suggestions.

>56 withawhy99:

I did >8 devilsisland: Shogun by James Clavell

The OP did a thread summary, and I did what I believe to be a summary of all these type threads from the last two years or so.

>8 devilsisland: devilsisland:
I second that. (Shogun) Or anything by Clavell.

How about a Folio treatment to the Harry Potter series? I don't know of a fine edition of this series has ever been published. All my copies are hardcover first editions and are in good shape, but they are just your average hardcover editions. An edition with buckram, arrestox or clothbound covers on rich mould-made paper with slipcases would be spectacular in my opinion.

>59 Eastonorfolio: No mould-made paper, but otherwise these are very nice editions: https://harrypotter.bloomsbury.com/uk/bookshop/illustrated-editions/harry-potter...

>59 Eastonorfolio:

There are illustrated 'deluxe' editions of the first three novels, and it looks like the whole series will be done like that. It's not FS, but they don't look bad. https://harrypotter.bloomsbury.com/uk/bookshop/illustrated-editions/harry-potter...

I`ll just name something i have never seen mentioned before: I can see `Eye of the needle` by Ken Follett as FS material

>62 Pellias: If they were going to do Follett my money would be on Pillars of the Earth.

>63 HuxleyTheCat: Sure Fiona. But i like lone wolves (sometimes) ;) Eye of the Needle, Rogue Male, DOTJackal ..

>64 Pellias: May I recommend Harry's Game by Gerald Seymour.

>65 HuxleyTheCat: Certainly you may, always. Thank you! Noted.

: Eye of the needle (never read in english) - Lone wolf, isolation, and you have that bottleneck suspense like from say `then there were none`. Nowhere to go, nowhere to run, i think it could be a good choice for FS. I will stand my ground! :)

>57 devilsisland:
Got it - I didn't understand you were summarizing others top suggestions. I thought it was your personal list.

Shogun has definitely come up a lot.

What Dreams May Come, Richard Matheson

Night, Elie Wiesel

The Road, Cormac McCarthy

The Upanishads

>68 Diglot:
Which is your top pick? This thread has somewhat lost its purpose, but was meant to narrow down choices to one book.

>69 withawhy99:

Oh, oops. In that case, What Dreams May Come (Richard Matheson)

>68 Diglot: The Road, Cormac McCarthy

By any chance, do you know of a nice edition of this ? Asking for a friend ...

Absolutely only allowed one single book? Then it would probably have to be Crow Country by Mark Cocker, for me one of the best books ever on birds (and I'm not alone: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/09/top-10-books-about-birds). The potential for some great art work would also be pretty substantial.

I don't know whether this is acceptable for this thread, but I'd love to see the FS take on a short series of modern literary biographies of women writers. The whole (or at least a selection) would be far more appealing than just a one-off volume (which is why I risk offering it here). For instance:

Jane Austen - Claire Tomalin
The Brontes - Juliet Barker
Emily Dickinson - Lyndall Gordon/Richard Sewall
George Eliot - Kathryn Hughes/Jenny Uglow
Elizabeth Gaskell - Jenny Uglow
Edith Wharton - Hermione Lee
Wollstonecraft/Shelley - Charlotte Gordon
Virginia Woolf - Hermione Lee

Yes wonderful

>72 Willoyd:
Yes, I was asking FSDs to choose the one single book they would nominate. I should have called the thread "One book to rule them all."

The literary bios could go in this thread:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/174428

Nice idea.

>71 Niurn:

No, unfortunately I do not know of any nice esitiona of The Road that have been made.

>71 Niurn:
The Road, Cormac McCarthy. I have the first edition, US, 2006, hardcover, sewn signatures, Alfred A Knoff. It's a nice edition.

>1 withawhy99: Just to clarify. One book pr post, or one book pr devotee. I feel a little locked here. Like i have already sent my examn papers (by the lack of other examples) and can not get them back because they are already sent. - or like i stood in a queue and already got my one bowl of soup from the soup nazi, no more soup for you! :) ..if so, it might be prefered to edit ones post, and then give you a little hint what has been done so that you get the last update, any ideas if one should feel regretfull / i want what i want, i`m just raising a question, i believe there are dark numbers on these matters

>77 Pellias:
One book per devotee. Them's my rules and I'm sticking to 'em. The ONE BOOK you think Folio must produce or your life will lose all meaning.

But trust your FSD friends to nominate other books you would love as well. No nonsense about no more soup here. We can all read as much as we want.

The USA Trilogy by John Dos Passos. The actual great American novel and sadly forgotten by current readers.

>79 narbgr01: Interesting. I did not hear of Dos Passos before, which illustrates your point. I’ll be looking a little further into his work, which on first look is extensive. Could you recommend a start of point?

>63 HuxleyTheCat: "If they were going to do Follett my money would be on Pillars of the Earth."

That would be nice.

i would love an illustrated version of "Lost Horizon" or a folio edition of the fantastic "The Dumas Club"

>82 stumc: You might already be aware, but Subterranean did quite a nice version of The Club Dumas - Limited edition of 500, signed by Perez-Reverte and illustrated by Vincent Chong, who also illustrated the super SubPress editions of Zafon's Cemetery of Forgotten Books series.

Just updated my suggestions box on the Folio site.

Not sure if they ever look at those but I figure that if they keep seeing the same 10 or so titles over and over on all the different places devoted to suggestions we may see some of these titles .

It seems to have worked in the past because if you look at older threads you will see A LOT of titles that ended up being printed.

And quite frankly some of the suggestions may be in the works. It takes a while to produce them.

>83 HuxleyTheCat: thanks for the recommendation! i love The Dumas Club, and have read it several times.

i would really enjoy seeing the fantastic illustrations from The Nine Gates within a LE! cant see that happening anytime soon though

>85 stumc: There are a few copies on abe but they are all quite pricey at the moment; I'm sure with a fairly large limitation cheaper copies are around.

Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy

>80 NLNils:

https://loa.org/books/34-usa

>31 N11284:

A Confederacy of Dunces has been the #1 of my FS list since I joined, and I am pretty sure it would sell well being an extremely funny work with literary merit of his own.

However, I am also afraid about the choice of illustrator... IMO FS has a low ratio when choosing illustrators for satirical works: I personally found the illustrations for Catch-22, Slaughterhouse-5 and Juvenal Sixteen Satires totally uninspiring or just plain wrong (obviously this is just my opinion).

I know is not likely to happen, but I would like to have Ignatius J. Reilly drawn in the "Soviet cartoon style" of Zuzana Čupová (I saw her drawings for the Sherlock Holmes competition, and loved them, even though they were totally unsuitable for Conan Doyle's creation: https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2018/feb/05/illustrating-sherlock-holm... )

I immediately thought that that style would fit perfectly other works like Good Soldier Svejk or A Confederacy of Dunces. The second is a far shot because the style is not totally fitting, but I would rather see illustrations that I find aesthetically pleasing like hers over ugly drawings by David Hughes or some other well-known illustrator which would detract more than improve my enjoyment of this wonderful work.

Its on my list of one of the most mentioned over the last couple of years. >50 devilsisland:

Seems like it would do well.

If I could choose one book to be given the Folio treatment, it would definitely be The Catcher in the Rye.

>91 CoJoe:

I would love to see that. I just don't think the rights are available for some reason.

There has never been any kind of special edition I'm aware of and one is long overdue.

I have been hoping for a hardcover edition of "The Last Unicorn" for years...and a Folio edition would be perfect! Whom do I have to pester at FS to maybe get them to think about it? X)

>93 woodstock8786:
Welcome to FSD!
Just mentioning a desired title here can have an effect as these discussions are monitored by the FS.
Better still, email them directly.
Don’t forget to check out the FSD wiki at:-
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Groups:Folio_Society_Devotees

Thank you!
Hmm, I might try that and email them. Maybe they will add it to the list ;)

>95 woodstock8786: Maybe they will add it to the list ;)

Hello and welcome :) Who knows what arcane magic lies behind the next Folio catalogue? Your desired book is as likely as anyone else's. But be prepared to wait for it. I've waited for some of mine for 40 years :) Good luck!

Lord Chesterfield's Letters to his son

>97 sdolton:

Done in 1973. I see copies quite frequently on the secondary market, cheap.

A Confederacy of Dunces is a good suggestion. I'd like to see early Pynchon, too -- V. and Gravity's Rainbow -- since my paperbacks from that era are in tatters.

There are almost no good editions of classic pynchon. The text is always smudged and ugly and apparently theyre full of typos. Face it Folio, its time for the pynch

>98 folio_books: folio_books

And I found a lovely copy, cheap, just as you said. Thank you so very much!

>101 sdolton:

You're very welcome. Enjoy!

The Magus - John Fowles

Because the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known pressed it to my breast breathlessly half a lifetime ago and demanded I read it. The words still live within.

(P.s. honourable mentions to those who named Blood Meridian, Confederacy of Dunces, Good Omens and especially Canticle for Leibovitz - I was so pleasantly surprised to see this mentioned multiple times!!)

A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II — Gerhard L. Weinberg

If I only could only read one book on WWII, it’d be this one. It is considered by many historians and scholars on the topic to be the best account on the global conflict.

I think that Folio did a great job with the Martin Gilbert World War sets. And as my Cambridge University Press edition of ‘A World at Arms’ is nowhere near the same quality (it’s falling apart), I wish for the same great Folio treatment as with Gilbert.

>103 KeithDBowman:
honourable mentions to those who named Blood Meridian, Confederacy of Dunces.....
Folio's track record on American lit isn't great, and it would be good to see more.

>105 Willoyd:
It is a British company, and considering that, its coverage of world literature is remarkably good.

>103 KeithDBowman:
That's the best "reason why" I've yet seen.

Updated complete list at #45.

>106 wcarter:
My comments were made in the full awareness that they are a British company! I think we'll just have to agree to disagree, because 'remarkably good' is the diametric opposite of what I've thought the past few years (including British classics too), especially at the more affordable end, which is why my buying has sadly virtually dried up.

Hi all (new to this site and buying Folio books for only a couple of years),

I LOVE the idea of a Folio Magus!

For my choice, Gene Wolfe's 'Book of the New Sun' (comprising The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of The Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor and The Citadel of the Autarch) - ideally illustrated by Dave McKean.

Why? Because I think it's an audacious, funny, frightening, moving and heartless book and every time I read it I find new answers and newer puzzles.

I'd like Folio to do it because it deserves to be taken seriously!

>109 DrJohnD:

Hello and welcome to FSD!

Thank you!

>109 DrJohnD: It's never been my absolute favorite series but I would love to see a Folio treatment of it. Especially with an artist like the the Balbusso sisters or even better Santiago Caruso. His work on Jane Eyre is stunning.

You know who would be an offbeat choice for Folio, but would probably sell REALLY well? David Sedaris.

+1 The Magus. Loved the Collector (if that is allowed to say for such an isolated and dark story)

Sorion I hadn't heard of Santiago Caruso so just did a Google Image search - you are absolutely right: Wolfe's series is made for him!

Somewhere above on this thread, someone refers to the Folio Society being a British company.

The Folio Society Limited is an English company with incorporation number 01015675.

Under the 1707 Treaty of Union Scotland retains its own legal code which differs from that of England.

>116 Chawton:

Quite true - but, as England (and Scotland, for that matter) is situated in Great Britain, then beyond your narrow legal definition I think most reasonable people would agree that the Folio Society is indeed a British company. The point of the original remark (>106 wcarter:) was to account for a perception (>105 Willoyd:) that the FS did not choose to publish more American books than it already does. English company law is actually extremely reticent on this matter.

To be honest I think the Union has had its day, but as a supporter of Scottish independence, I would say that!

>109 DrJohnD: Gene Wolfe.... yasssssss!!

If I can add a cheeky second nomination (in case of mole surveillance...!), I just looked up at my shelf and saw a battered and travel-worn copy of the Sabres of Paradise by Lesley Blanch

Originally picked up on a whim in a remaindered bookshop in Islington purely because I liked the music of Andrew Weatherall.

I reckon FS would do stellar work with this... great clash of civilisations story of Imam Shamyl and his Westernised son, rich evocative language that puts you right in the heart of Chechen tribes resisting the oncoming Tsarist armies marching up the Caucasus valleys.

A fine companion to the recent Pushkin books...!

>109 DrJohnD: I agree complete with the gene wolfe book of the new sun although I have the centipede press edition which would take some beating. A LE of the 5th Head of Cerebus would be my ultimate Gene Wolfe and certainly the one to reread numerous times to reveal all of the hidden layers.

Others titles:

Given the LE war poets it would be fantastic to see some other poets given the FS treatment:
Sylvia Plath
Ted Hughes
Seamus Heaney
'V' by Tony Harrison with original churchyard photos
Sci Fi
Arthur C Clarke's A fall of moondust
Horror
Ghost story by Peter Straub
Cormac McCarthy's The Road

>119 KeithDBowman:
>120 paulmoran:

Pick just one of your titles (on this thread it's about the ONE single book you think must be done by FS - either seconding someone else's nomination, or adding another one) and I'll add it to the list at #45.

>121 withawhy99: Cormac McCarthy The Road

The Twilight of the Gods by Richard Garnett with the illustrations by Henry Keen that were used in the editions published in the 1920s by John Lane/Bodley Head in the UK and by Dodd, Mead in the US.

Contrary to what the title might lead one to believe this book has nothing to do with the Gotterdammerung, but is instead a series of witty and ironical tales, fantastical and historical by turns, written by the former Keeper of Printed Books at the British Library.

(some illustrations shown at this listing: https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=17055687848&searchurl=kn%3... )

I would love to see FS do Cormac McCarthy's The Road, the U.S.A. trilogy by John Dos Passos, and The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. Okay, I know that is three.

>124 narbgr01:

Tashen has a very nice The Fire Next Time.

LOA published the USA Trilogy - of course not a Folio but a nice little volume.

Edited for coherence.

>124 narbgr01:
For this thread, gotta pick one. If you pick The Road or The USA Trilogy they will move up to the select group that got more than one vote. The Fire Next Time is new I believe.

I do not think either FS or Easton Press has done justice to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. I have the boring Easton Press editions in olive green leather.

I would like to see a Deluxe 4 volume leather edition (11-12 inches tall) with about 24 full page color illustrations per volume the quality of Ul de Rico’s Ring of the Niebelung or that of Alan Lee; with smaller chapter illustrations and embellishments. If you can do impressive art in graphic novels surely Folio can do a better job with Tolkien.

>127 HugoDumas:
Have you seen the 5 volume leather covered limited edition of Tolkien’s works done by the FS?
Surely they do justice to his works. They cost a fortune on the secondary market now, and are eagerly sought.

>128 wcarter: Illustrations the same as current offering in B&W. They can do better.

I'd like to see an edition using all of Cor Blok's wonderful illustrations.

With "The English Patient" back in the news, wouldn't it make a lovely "Folio-ised" edition? Publishing rights are probably prohibitive, but still...

>131 LG2:

I'd love 'The English Patient' as a Folio edition.

>130 DrJohnD: "I'd like to see an edition using all of Cor Blok's wonderful illustrations."

I didn't know CB had done any wonderful illustrations - good for him!

(ho ho)

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.
Fascinating time shifting science fiction.

>134 wcarter: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

Apparently it's a TV series currently shooting season 4.

>135 folio_books:
Still a good book. Easy, interesting, light reading.

+1 Murakami 1Q84 or Hardboiled Wonderland would be great to illustrate...

>136 wcarter: Still a good book.

I didn't mean to imply otherwise. Just surprise that I'd never heard of it, or her. I had a look on Audible intending to give it a whirl but was deterred by the 32 hours length - more of a marathon than a whirl.

I second Outlander.

>134 wcarter:
An enjoyable series, though I haven't been tempted to try the books. Perhaps worthy of the same tretament as the Aubrey-Maturin series (from what I've seen there are excursions on the 18th-century seas).

Has anyone mentioned John Cowper Powys yet? 'A Glastonbury Romance' could be a big, beefy edition, which would suit an illustrator like Peter Suart, or the chap who did the most recent Joyce editions, John Vernon Lord.

The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith!!

I'm open to anything that wasn't selected for the sake of "diversity".

`The Dynasts` by Thomas Hardy.

Christopher Morley's The Haunted Bookshop.

Of course, if they did that one, they really should also do the companion title, Parnassus on Wheels, but I would be happy with just The Haunted Bookshop.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Great book, and the subject matter would lend itself to wonderful illustrations.

I would also love to see some work by Murakami given the Folio treatment, as well as Vonnegut and Irving. Perhaps Cat’s Cradle and A Prayer for Owen Meany.

Alone in Berlin by Hand Fallada

Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon

American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis

The works of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn unabridged.

>149 LesMiserables: Yes please...!!!

The Glass Bead Game.

An incredible classic they seem to never have done, and a lot of potential for a creative presentation as you have the extra short stories at the end.

Urgh, tough to choose.

While I heartily agree that many of the suggestions already made would be fantastic in Folio editions - especially Watership Down and A Canticle for Leibowitz - if I must pick just ONE book, I'd have to say that my heart's desire is for a fine Folio edition of Michael Ende's The Neverending Story.

There have been a couple of decent hardback editions with the two-color printing, but nothing approaching the quality of a higher-end (but not Limited) Folio version. And if any book cries out for the FS treatment, surely one breaking the literary version of the fourth wall in such a pointed and delightful way as NES does would deserve it, no? The two-color printing is already a step in that direction, after all... ;)

I'll admit to having started dreaming up my ideal edition of it as soon as I discovered the FS. Haven't quite settled on the ideal illustrator yet in my mind, but some basic must-haves would of course include two-color text and chapter initials throughout, copper-colored fabric binding (though true silk might be a bit too delicate, something sturdier but still with a sheen to it would perhaps work), a proper AURYN sigil inset on the cover, matching coppery slipcase, etc.

My pick would be “Narziss and Goldmund” by Hermann Hesse. It’s as close to the perfect book as it gets for me. A Bildungsroman: it follows the young Goldmund as he leaves the monastery school and explores life and the world with its joys and sorrows. Now that I think about it, very much a fantasy novel arc, without the magic and with a lot more insight (and without the typical happy ending).

It looks like “The Glass Bead Game” has more fans here though (20 years ago I gave up 50 pages in - perhaps ripe for another attempt?), and Siddhartha (less perfect than Narziss but full of wisdom) is also more well-known...

I would just love a nice hardback folio copy of Narziss and Goldmund to revisit every 5 years or so though...

Does anyone from Folio actually monitor these replies to get ideas for future publications ?

I thought it odd at the time (mid-2000s) that FS published all Elizabeth Gaskell`s novels bar one - `Cranford`. What happened there ? Lack of interest maybe ? Strange that two of the others, `Ruth` and `Sylvias Lovers`, whilst possibly considered as "lesser" works, should make the cut but not one of her most well-known. Plus this would have completed the set of all her output...

Roger Bacon's Opus Majus.

>154 Michael_Henchard:
They'd already published Cranford separately in 1987 with the 3rd reprint in 1991, so I suppose they thought there would be little demand for it. I'd have welcomed it in the set.

>148 ubiquitousuk:

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis? Uh, no.

American Psycho is sadomasochistic trash at best and borderline pornography at worst. Whatever 'serious' intent or themes Ellis had in mind regarding 1970's and '80's yuppie angst are overwhelmed by the sensationalistic, sadistic trash that comprises 90% of this novel. Frankly, even a Barnes & Noble hardcover is more than this garbage deserves.

>12 leemeadowcroft:

Nelson Mandela's 'Long Walk to Freedom" is an obvious and long overdue choice. Illustrating the book with historical photographs of Nelson Mandela's activism, subsequent incarcineration, and South Africa's apartheid days would work well with this important historical document.

>154 Michael_Henchard:
>156 Jayked:

And Cranford is completely different, both in size and binding - very annoying!

>157 dlphcoracl: i must say i agree with this, i appreciate it is meant to be satirical, but for me American Psycho is all a bit too much, trying too hard to shock.

i have a paperback edition, and also a handful of other Bret Easton Ellis novels but cant imagine ever reading them again, even though i also wont be getting rid of them anytime soon.

also, how would FS illustrate it!?

(this is a rare case where the film is much better than the book)

my choices would be:

Dumas Club by Arturo Perez Reverte
A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth
The Devil Rides Out by Dennis Wheatley
and most importantly
Lost Horizon by James Hilton

>154 Michael_Henchard:
Yes, the FS monitors this forum constantly, and have acknowledged in the past that they do so. The mole is not imaginary.

also the COMPLETE D'artagan romances by Dumas

>163 stumc: I would like to see more French authors in general. I know they've published many in the past and several LE in the past but I would love to see more Balzac, Flaubert etc in addition to Dumas and Hugo. Especially Balzac.

I would like to see the American classic the USA trilogy of John Dos Passos and, now that Stalingrad has been translated, Stalingrad and Life & Fate by Vasily Grossman, great Russian novels. The translator's introduction to Stalingrad, the first volume, does suggest, however, that the Life & Fate translation may need some work. A wonderful and important work of American history, the three volume America in the King Years by Taylor Branch. The novels of the important Brazilian author Machado de Assis (at least Quinces Borba and Postumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas. Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar and, finally, Yukio Mishima's Sea of Fertility quartet of novels. Them be my wish list.

> 164. Yes Balzac please

>165 narbgr01: - Life & Fate is one book I would buy immediately. A brilliant novel, and just imagine the illustration potential.

The Book of the New Sun as a standard/fine edition.

I couldn’t afford the LE, sadly, and was unable to bring myself to read the BOTNS thread as I was so disconsolate (therefore I have no idea whether this is being considered by the FS...!)

>165 narbgr01:, >167 coynedj:
Oh, definitely - although depended on FS's price point. They seem to have started limiting what few new classics they publish (and a number of rehashes) to more expensive editions.

Grandison

Red Magic illustrated by Kay Nielsen would really be something. I don't know why, but while other Nielsens have had reprints / facsimiles, this one didn't. And it's really gorgeous.

Given Folio's move away from literature to sci-fi and fantasy in recent years I've almost given up hope that Folio will publish anything by Kate Chopin, Elizabeth Bishop, James Baldwin or W.G. Sebald, to name but a few neglected literary jewellers.

>172 cronshaw:
With 'O' at the helm, expect more of the same.

>168 plasticjock:

Having purchased FS's BOTNS, I would be very surprised if it is not released in a year or so as a standard set at around $200.00. There is nothing particularly special about the set in terms of production quality and the set reminds me of many other FS sets which, although well-made to the usual FS standards, do not rise in quality in terms of materials to some kind of stand out (I am thinking here of the Ripley novels, The Alexander Trilogy, The Miss Marple novels or The Foundation Trilogy).

Mikhail Sholokov's masterpiece, Tikhii Don (The Quiet Don): Part one, And Quiet Flows the Don followed by the other half, The Don Flows Home to the Sea. Sholokov won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1965.

Jurassic Park would be cool. Maybe in 50 years. :p

I’d like a boxed set of the LA Quartet by James Ellroy.

Solzhenitsyn was mentioned previously.

Add One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich to his list. Highly recommended read.

>177 Glacierman:

I concur.

As next year is the 2,500th anniversary of the battles of Thermopylae and Salamis, it would be appropriate to commemorate it in some way. Perhaps Pressfield's Gates of Fire?

Edited for spelling.

>179 coynedj:

Oh, that's interesting. Could be why they floated a limited edition of Herodotus in one of those recent surveys I think?

>179 coynedj: >180 adriano77: I think a Herodotus LE would be a more impressive commemoration than the excellent Persian Fire currently on offer...

Although technically the anniversaries of Thermopylae and Salamis will be in 2021 as there was no year zero... 😉

https://sciencing.com/calculate-julian-date-6465290.html

Woodcutters by Thomas Bernhard

I am in the middle of reading the new translations of Proust's In Search of Lost Time. Far enough along that I would want to purchase an LE of it. Especially if copyright now allows all of the volumes to be sold in the U.S.A. I have the FS fine edition of the Moncrieff translation and love it. It is old and dated and flawed, but beautiful. An upgraded translation with illustrations would be much appreciated.

Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy

>184 Kainzow: You could try the Faber edition in the mean time. I have a copy and is almost 70-80% of a folio edition for £40.

https://www.faber.co.uk/9780571326372-the-unbearable-lightness-of-being.html

Recently, I had cause to mention George MacDonald Fraser's McAuslan stories. Thus inspired, I headed to the Billys and fished out the first volume: The General Danced at Dawn.

The first thing that struck me was that the cover illustration of my old Fontana paperback was the work of a certain Quentin Blake.

Everything is connected? Destiny is at work here? Both?

Still and all, while a picture is worth any number of words, the words themselves are admirable. Here is how the narrator's company commander introduces him to his soon-to-be most notorious charge:

‘ ... Over yonder, now, trying to hide at the far end of the corridor, that’s McAuslan, the dirtiest soldier in the world. In your platoon, by the way. Don’t know what to do with McAuslan. Cremation’s probably the answer. Nothing else seems to work. Morning, Patterson, what did the M.O. say?’

We will come to learn much more of the Tartan Caliban but, in the meantime, we learn about a ship captain:

‘ ... He was a Welshman, stocky and middle-aged, with the bland, open face of a cherub and a heart as black as Satan’s waistcoat. ... '

And a Military Governor:

‘ ... The Governor was like an antelope full of adrenalin, eating his handkerchief and shivering about in his seat, crying, “Oh, my goodness gracious me!” and “Ah , hah, he has, he hasn’t, oh my God!” and flopping back, exhausted.’

A little more on the Welsh ship captain:

'... the gin was obviously lapping against his palate and his complexion was like a desert sunrise. ... ’

And here social history meets lyricism:

‘ ... A century of life – of living, at any rate – in the hell’s kitchen of industrial Glasgow, has cut the stature and mighty physique of the Scotch-Irish people pitifully; Glasgow is full of little men today, but at least they are stouter and sleeker than my team was. They were the children of the hungry ‘thirties, hard-eyed and wiry; only one of them was near my size, a fair, dreamy youth called McGlinchy, one of the reserves. He was a useless, beautiful player, a Stanley Matthews for five minutes of each game, and for the rest of the time an indolent passenger who strolled about the left wing, humming to himself. ... ‘

Suffice to say, this is jolly good stuff.

:-)

>186 Cat_of_Ulthar:

Thanks for posting this. My interest has been captured and I have ordered a couple of used paperbacks from Amazon on the back of these intriguing snippets - the complete McAuslan and Royal Flash. I readily confess to not having read Fraser before, deterred by his reputation (trashy). I may have been wrong. However, I do note that the Flashman comes highly recommended by Jeffrey Archer and a certain Boris Johnson. I may have been right after all.

>187 folio_books:
There is a complete McAuslan pb ISBN 9780007325665 which includes all three McAuslan volumes,

The General Danced at Dawn
McAuslan in the Rough
The Sheikh and the Dustbin

Fine reading.

Funnily enough, I have read no other George MacDonald Fraser works, not even the Flashman novels.

>188 LesMiserables: There is a complete McAuslan pb ISBN 9780007325665 which includes all three McAuslan volumes,

I believe that must be the one I've just ordered from Amazon Marketplace.

>188 LesMiserables: Funnily enough, I have read no other George MacDonald Fraser works, not even the Flashman novels.

That is strange, given the Flashman series seems to be the one most people think of. I'd certainly never heard of anything else before >186 Cat_of_Ulthar:'s post. But I'll give him a chance, amid the Folio TBRs.

>185 venkysuniverse:
Oh, nice!
I had no idea there was such an edition on the market!
Thanks for letting me know!

James Ellroy's LA Quartet is a wonderful idea for the Folio treatment. It is recently in an Everyman's Library edition, so that might preclude it. He is also half way through a second LA Quartet (set in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor). The first volume Perfidia is excellent and so is (so far) the second book, This Storm. Amazing writer really.

The novels of Paul Bowles, any or all.

>187 folio_books:

'I do note that the Flashman comes highly recommended by Jeffrey Archer and a certain Boris Johnson. I may have been right after all.'

You might be. I only read one Flashman book and it was thirty or more years ago so I have little or no memory of it, I'm afraid. For whatever reason, it didn't stick in my mind in the way the McAuslan stories did. Perhaps the fact the the latter tales are based (however loosely) on Fraser's own experiences gives them an added edge.

I certainly wouldn't call McAuslan 'trashy'. Some of the dialogue is not very politically correct but he is describing soldiers in the 1950s and the culture was rather different then. I don't know that it necessarily reflects his own views. Mostly it strikes me as true to life as the various characters struggle to deal with the trials, tribulations, and absurdities of military life: sometimes comic, sometimes touching.

I hope you enjoy them :-)

>193 Cat_of_Ulthar: Some of the dialogue is not very politically correct but he is describing soldiers in the 1950s and the culture was rather different then.

That won't bother me in the slightest. By "trashy" I didn't mean to imply merely vulgar. It was more along the lines of Jeffrey Archer - badly-written tripe. I am looking forward to McAuslan immensely, having never heard of him prior to your intriguing sample.

+1 on McAuslan. If you were ever "lucky" enough to do National Service (I was in the last draft) then you've met somebody like him, and Fraser, who served in 2 Scottish regiments, has him bang to rights. Flashman suffers a bit from being predictable -- he's always going to do the indecent thing -- but with only 3 volumes McAuslan doesn't ever become tiresome.

>195 Jayked: If you were ever "lucky" enough to do National Service (I was in the last draft) then you've met somebody like him.

No, I was just too young to suffer that fate but the character type has been portrayed by innumerable British actors in a variety of roles on both large and small screens so I have an inkling of what to expect. I should add the opportunity to boast about being too young is very rare these days so I thank you for it.

McAuslan, thinking back, reminds me very much of some of the hilarity to be found in Waugh's Sword of Honour. Essential reading for those who enjoy close up microcosms of the war.

>197 LesMiserables:

Sword of Honour is another one (or three) on my extensive tbr. I've never made my mind up about Waugh. Brideshead is superb but I'm at best ambivalent on the comedies.

>198 folio_books:
I love Waugh. Absolutely love him. I would read his shopping lists.

The Sidereal Messenger, Galileo Galilei

If not the most important astronomical treatise of the recent past, and it is certainly surpassed in that respect by Copernicus' De Revolutionibus, it is certainly the most accessible and awe inspiring for the layman and astronomer alike. Published in 1610, it records Galileo's first astronomical observations of the moon with a telescope of his own design, revealing for the first time the mountainous nature of its surface; a surface hitherto believed to be perfectly smooth and spherical. It also details the discovery of the four Galilean moons, these being the first moons ever discovered that are not our own - a finding which dealt a heavy blow to the then prevailing Aristotelian - Ptolemaic system of astronomy.

Being a work of only 100 pages or so, and providing a wealth of opportunities for illustration, this could be done by Folio in a high quality binding for a very reasonable price.

A further justification for a Folio treatment is that Galileo's later work, The Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632), has already been published by them. The Sidereal Messenger and, if I may cheat, Galileo's later work: A Discourse on Two New Sciences, would combine to make a truly lovely set.

Runners-up:

Code, Charles Petzold

The Strategy of Conflict, Thomas Schelling

The Evolution of Cooperation, Robert Axelrod

Johnny got his gun, Dalton Trumbo

The Gateway To The Sahara by Charles Wellington Furlong would make a nice addition to the colonial/Victorian/travel publications. I would for sure buy it, as aftermarket paperbacks are very costly and the original hardcovers scarce and tattered.

A Scots Quair: trilogy by the Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon

I'm more 'running this up the flag pole' to see if there is any reaction -
I did not finish even the first book but I was grabbed by the story...

>203 StevieBby:
Good choice.

>203 StevieBby:
Given the impatience most non-Scots show with Walter Scott's occasional use of local dialect, I doubt that enough would be comfortable with Gibbon's use of it, any more than they would be with Nan Shepherd's Aberdeenshire trilogy and its attached glossary. A safer bet might be Neil Gunn's The Silver Darlings.

Iain Banks - The Wasp Factory

>205 Jayked:
Well they have recently done in the vernacular Clockwork Orange and In Parenthesis, so I don't believe that this is the issue.

>205 Jayked: >207 LesMiserables:
And also Riddley Walker

>208 plasticjock:
Riddley Walker has been done by the FS as a very nice LE.
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/riddley-walker.html

>207 LesMiserables:
>208 plasticjock:
CO and RW use neologisms based on a Home Counties version of English, and not every reader persists with them. And of course regional accents are commonplace in literature. However Scots regional speech presents extra difficulties in vocabulary as well as pronunciation. That's particularly so for the NE coastal areas, with Aberdeenshire difficult even for other Scots. That may explain why Nan Shepherd's earlier work, which is strikingly similar in form and theme to Gibbon's, is comparatively little known.

Many thanks all - interesting - and I can see why a publisher might hesitate... (particularly if the publisher places profits above literary merit - and those are the ones which tend to survive!).

Presumably some authors are considered more 'worth the effort' than others - the language Joyce and Shakespeare does not come easy either!

And everyone will surely agree that when the entire world speaks 'Standard American' we will have lost something valuable.

BTW, I rarely found myself getting stuck with Ridley Walker (surprising given the way the words are bashed about), but it requires an extra level of concentration - not one for speed-reading!

>209 wcarter:
I’m waiting and hoping, in addition to the Book of the New Sun, that FS will do a standard/fine edition of RW in the near future...

I would like another true crime book `Helter Skelter` : Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry.

-

>212 plasticjock: The limited edition of BOTNS are already commonly produced volumes of what to expect from FS books, the limited edtion set are already in a normal/fine buckram publication .. what separates them are the signatures which makes them collectables .. i can not see FS publishing a more downgraded volumes to this set, to something like, say `The Wyndham novels` (smaller in scale etctec) and if they republished the same set in the same size, there would be no points of limitations : too similar

This was a once in a lifetime marketing publication from FS i would believe

Been saying it for years. Rising Up and Rising Down by William T. Vollmann. Unabridged version of course.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson.

>215 Diglot:
At half-price in the LE sale, the Kama Sutra is superb value - get it!!

The incomparable 'A Confederacy of Dunces by' John Kennedy Toole.

Maybe in a BOGOF with The Consolation of Philosophy?

The Eustace and Hilda trilogy (including the short story, 'Hilda's Letter') by L. P. Hartley.

Poor Fellow My Country by Xavier Herbert.

>218 boldface:

I'm ashamed to admit I've never heard of it but I certainly wouldn't say no to another L.P. Hartley.

>218 boldface: >220 folio_books:

Shows the power of advertising I thought of Fly Fishing by JR Hartley (a Yellow Pages advert in the UK)

>220 folio_books:
>221 dfmorgan:

I can vouch that it is more interesting than the Yellow Pages. The eponymous third novel in the trilogy won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1947. Lord David Cecil described the trilogy as "in any age and by any standard a masterpiece."

>221 dfmorgan:

That was the first thing that came to mind, curiously, then I remembered The Go Between, one of my favourite reads.

>222 boldface:

Now THAT sounds like a Folio book. There aren't any, erm, drawings of people with speech bubbles ... ?

>223 folio_books: "There aren't any, erm, drawings of people with speech bubbles ... ?"

Not in my copy.

Speech bubbles--older than you think!

>225 LolaWalser:

Now that's a "comic" I wouldn't mind Folio publishing.

The Bayeux tapestry comes close!

For more on medieval "comics" (and a very funny example right on top), here's the blog where I found that pic:

Medieval speech bubbles

The lives of the Saints

A series rather than one book, in disobedience of the original post's instruction, but...

The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King

Imagine it heavily illustrated, signed.

How about a Limited Edition of Rudolf Ackermann's A History of the University of Oxford (ditto Cambridge). Should be a ready market in all those wealthy Oxbridge graduates working in the City and in the professions.

And for an important novel, why not a beautiful edition of The History of Sir Charles Grandison, commonly called Sir Charles Grandison, an epistolary novel by English writer Samuel Richardson first published in February 1753.

LE Godfather bound in Horse leather ♥

And Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy

Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Riddlemaster Trilogy by Patricia McKillip
The Black Company by Glen Cook
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Does anyone know how likely it is that books on the LE surveys end up being published by Folio in one form or another?

I seem to remember someone saying on here that most of them end up being published eventually.

I ask because my favorite novel, John Crowley's Little, Big was on the survey a while back and I would die of happiness to see Folio publish it.

From my wishlist and some for sentimental value (lots of genre fiction, proceed at your own risk):

Watership Down - Richard Adams
Dhalgren - Samuel R. Delany
The Lathe of Heaven - Ursula le Guin
Stranger in a Strange Land - Heinlein
Sandman comics - Neil Gaiman
The Dutch Republic - Jonathan Israel
Solaris - Stanislaw Lem
In Europe - Geert Mak
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
Dreamsongs - George R. R. Martin
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician - Christoph Wolff
In Search of the Trojan War - Michael Wood
The Art of Memory - Frances Amalia Yates

Edit: so the OP asked for just ONE book, I apologize :-)

>233 Auberon:

Well, it's two out of six published so far, plus a Fine edition, for this 2016 LE survey:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/234383#5751747

Four out of 22 for an April 2017 list

https://www.librarything.com/topic/254601#6004113

and nothing yet from these in late 2017

https://www.librarything.com/topic/272419#6224702
https://www.librarything.com/topic/272419#6224761 .

There must have been other LE-related surveys, I'm sure I remember one including en edition of Gibbon which might have stirred me from my abstemiousness.

>235 terebinth: Thanks, Little, Big was in that last linked survey.

There was a special edition being published that I pre-ordered over ten years ago, but it seems to have stalled out along the way. I understand they have turned over publication to different management, but I wish they would just turn it over to Folio. A decade is a long time to wait for a book.

I would love a limited edition of Blood Meridian, bound in leather of course.

Some others:

Invisible Cities and If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino
Crash, High Rise and The Crystal World by JG Ballard
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem (perhaps Folio could acquire the rights to the direct translation by Bill Johnston which hasn't seen a physical release)
The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potocki
A Universal History of Infamy by Borges

In the History genre, anything by David Irving.

>238 ultrarightist: While I generally don't care what books a publisher sells that don't interest me, I'd never buy another FS book if they published David Irving.

>238 ultrarightist: Maybe you meant: "In the fake History genre, anything by David Irving."

>240 Czernobog: There are already plenty of court historians from which to choose in the fake history genre. It would be nice to have at least one author who does not conform to the prevailing narrative.

Origins of Totalitarianism. Shocked they haven't done any Arendt actually.

>241 ultrarightist:

Wow...if you want a conservative historian I'd go with Paul Johnson.
Or if you want more controversial, based purely on literary merits I think FS could publish Oswald Spengler's Decline of the West though I doubt they ever would due to the early Nazi association (though later he criticized them quite harshly and from what I understand he was far from an anti-semite). Irving....I'm against censorship in any form, but there's no reason for FS to publish a straight up Holocaust denier who even had he never made any of those statements seems pretty minor anyways.

Is this a first, as far as these threads go? I think it's a first. (I recall someone years ago expressing interest in Mein Kampf done by Folio or Easton but it wasn't, IIRC, posted specifically in a wishlist thread as a desideratum.)

Sign of the times.

Murderers among us

>243 MobyRichard: I would certainly welcome publication of Paul Johnson's works, and I would love a FS treatment of Spengler (great suggestion). As you said, FS is unlikely to do so, because of what is obviously leftist prejudice. I do not think Irving is fairly characterized as minor. He has produced a considerable body of work, and was praised by the mainstream press before making more controversial statements. It would be a treat for FS to publish at least some of his works (say the Dresden book or his biography of Churchill).

>244 LolaWalser: Thank you for pointing that out. If it is a first, I'm honored. And watch your insinuations.

>246 ultrarightist:

And watch your insinuations.

You watch your tone. I've been threatened before in more serious circumstances than online fascist claptrap.

Given your moniker and now partisanship for the ilk of Irving, no one needs to insinuate anything whatsoever.

>246 ultrarightist: >247 LolaWalser: Really? We go there AGAIN?

>248 NLNils: I will not take it any further. I've blocked the poster.

>231 RATBAG.:

Bit uncertain how FS would handle the art for First Law. Their artist's take on Game of Thrones was underwhelming, IMO. Subterranean at least has mostly nailed it minus The Heroes' cover.

>248 NLNils: Fighting each other, name calling and general toxicity seem to be the new hobbies in this group. I've taken a break of a week-ish after last month's troll hunt. Since returning, I've seen three more 'discussions' escalate. I'm heading out for a while to recharge.

Merry Christmas everyone, best wishes for the new year and until the next time.

>251 Fierylunar: I don’t blame you. Return in time for the New Year Sale and enjoy the holidays!

>250 adriano77: I thought only the frontispiece was illustrated for the Subterranean editions?

How about City of Dreaming Books?

>253 RATBAG.:

No, they're illustrated. Not a copious amount as I recall though. The later books in the series have a greater number, I think. Haven't opened them in ages. I do remember Best Served Cold being my favourite of the lot.

Back in 1980 FS published the Mabinogion in the 1877 translation from Lady Charlotte Guest. Since there are newer translations available, in particular from Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones in 1948, and from Sioned Davies in 2007, I would welcome a new edition from FS.

According to the wiki FS never published E.R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros, a classic in the (fantasy) genre.

>256 Czernobog: Are the newer translations more highly regarded than the Guest translations? It might be a good candidate for an LE or fine edition.

>258 ultrarightist: The Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones translation from 1948 is highly regarded and still the standard translation in the UK. This would already have been the case in 1980, so I'm not sure why FS went with the first translation. I would like to solicit opinions from other members though, also because there are multiple newer alternatives (f.e. Ford 1977, Davies 2007.)

>258 ultrarightist: There's a comparison of the various translations here: https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/rider-bezerra-mabinogion-project

I'd welcome a Fine edition of Mabinogion in Sioned Davies' translation.

I'd welcome a Fine edition of Flashman in Boris Johnson's translation.

>262 podaniel:

. . .including the People's Variorum Edition in parallel Northern Dialects. These have Flashman on the cover, but something else entirely inside.

>261 elladan0891: Yes, I had to buy the Oxford University Press edition to get Sioned Davies' translation.

Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner

Finished 2001 Space odyssey, the FS edition is very nice and suits the text, text itself interesting but not amazing. Now started A Traveler in Time, so far really enjoying both the book and the illustrations.

Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Murakami

If I could pick just one book to get the Folio treatment, it would have to be The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd. My finest hillwalking days have all been in the Cairngorms, and on a bleak winter's day I can sit down and re-read this short book in one sitting, and be transported straight back to the grandeur and tranquility of this extraordinary part of the British Isles. This treasure of a book has been described (in the Guardian) as "the finest book ever written on nature and landscape in Britain" which is, in my opinion, something of an understatement.

As far as I am aware, there has never been an illustrated edition of this book. I can think of many ways this could be done - old-fashioned pen and ink drawings (which would be my personal choice), atmospheric colour photographs emphasising the wide range of skies that occur in the Highlands, or free rein could be given to one of the current crop of talented young illustrators (whose careers the FS is helping to nurture) to come up with their own interpretation.

There is an excellent ready-made introduction by Robert MacFarlane, which is part of the Canongate edition.

Come on, FS, what are you waiting for?

>268 TheEconomist: That sounds like a wonderful recommendation to Folio, for a book which I’d like buy. My own hillwalking days were spent on the West coast at Torridon, but the journey up was through the Cairngorms. B&W photographs would be my choice for illustration, as I think this media conveys mood and atmosphere like no other, and the atmosphere up there is so magnificently brooding.

>268 TheEconomist:
Slightly Foxed featured it in their December 2018 issue, so there might be a larger than usual group of buyers, If FS were to seize the moment..

>268 TheEconomist:

That's a really good suggestion. I'd incline to B&W photographs, too, but perhaps with a scatter of line drawing vignettes as well.

The economic consequences of peace -
Keynes

The River War by Winston Churchill

Shogun or anything else by James Clavell. Some books by Michael Crichton.

Harry A. Franck

The (semi-autobiographical) Balkan and Levant trilogies by Olivia Manning, known collectively as Fortunes of War. These six novels are desperately in need of a good hardback edition.

A collection of Mavis Gallant's work, the finest writer of short stories in the twentieth century that you have never heard of.

>277 dlphcoracl: Everyman Library Classics released a ‘Collected Stories’ volume by Mavis Gallant. Not sure if this will have impacted the potential market for the FS

>277 dlphcoracl: and THANK YOU for placing her on my radar. Ever the Oracle. :)

Les Rois maudits (The Accursed Kings) by Maurice Druon

>278 DMulvee:

I have several of Mavis Gallant's first editions and a first edition of 'The Collected Stories of Mavis Gallant', a beautiful and comprehensive collection published by Random House (her American publisher) in 1996. As an aside, I spotted it and purchased it in Librairie Galignani in Paris (1996) where the book was prominently displayed, my introduction to her magic. Gallant was born in Montreal, Canada, but spent most of her adult life living in Paris and the French considered her one of their own. However, her work - either short story or novel - has never appeared in a true fine or private press edition, an obvious oversight which I hope the FS will correct in the future.

It is one of life's literary mysteries that her Canadian contemporary and compatriot Alice Munro has received universal acclaim, including the Nobel Prize for Literature (2013) and the Man Booker International Prize (2009) but Gallant remains a relatively obscure, unknown literary figure despite writing short stories that are richer, more nuanced and complex, and ultimately far more insightful into the human condition. She also has a masterful command of language and reading her work is never dull or unrewarding.

But don't get me started on this :-) .

>281 dlphcoracl:
Munro stayed in Canada, wrote about distinctively Canadian English-language milieux, accepted residencies in Canadian universities, supported Canadian magazines, while also publishing in major US magazines. Like Atwood, she became a Canadian icon before finding an international audience.
Gallant left a French-speaking province relatively early for Paris, wrote in English primarily for an American magazine; unlike say Morley Callaghan, who had made a similar pilgrimage, she didn't make much of an effort to maintain a native base.
She's very much a writer's (or academic's) writer, possessing all the qualities you mention. Unfortunately such qualities, especially in short-story form, don't sell well. For every Katherine Mansfield or V.S.Pritchett leading a precarious post-mortem existence, there are William Sansoms and Angus Wilsons, darlings for a decade and little read these days, despite their obvious talents.
Munro's success in a difficult format has been phenomenal, the more so given the limited local palette on which she draws. She appeals less to technical qualities than to insight into human behaviour.
Oddly enough I would buy a Folio Gallant, to fill a gap on my shelves, but not a Munro, as I own everything she has written. I expect that I would be in a minority.

>234 Czernobog:

So which one book out of that list would you pick? (I'm the OP so I'm curious.)

Watership Down has been amply represented by others, so I think you could count that one out.

>281 dlphcoracl:
>282 Jayked:

Thank you both for your insight into these authors. I was doubtful when hearing about when Alice Munro won the Man Booker prize and then the Nobel as I’ve never had heard of her. With this I will have a deeper look at her literature but also Gallant

>283 withawhy99: Probably Dreamsongs because I think a lot of Martin's short stories are better than his novels. Ideally FS would pick its own favourites and publish a shorter more focused collection.

>281 dlphcoracl:
I adore Alice Munro. I'd buy any of her books (even those I already own) in Folio.
I remember seeing her name mentioned during a Folio survey some years back, but since then nothing happened.

Song of Solomon Toni Morrison
Narziss and Goldmund Hermann Hesse
The vintner‘s luck Elizabeth Knox
All phenomenal books imho

>285 Czernobog: Thanks, good suggestion.

>287 stopsurfing: For this thread this idea is to pick just one ... difficult I know.

>288 withawhy99: sorry, in that case I’ll go for the Elizabeth Knox, as there is the Everyman edition of Song of Solomon and I’ve got several editions of Narziss und Goldmund in German.

I am very much enjoying reading the Modern Library edition of The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein. This would make a lavish illustrated FS production.

The Stripping of the Altars by Eamon Duffy

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Egyptian by Mika Waltari

>105 Willoyd: Old post, but surprisingly Folio came good on my hopes…!

>293 plasticjock:
You're right, and it's good to see them do more American lit across the board. Unfortunately, in the time that it took them to get there, their prices have gone through the roof, and I've discovered Library of America and others. True, these latter have not covered those specific books you cited, but there's enough American lit there to keep me happy!

If FS would release Fount's beautiful but out-of-print C.S. Lewis: Selected Books and C.S. Lewis: Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces, they could make a mint and make many readers very happy.

I'm impressed how many of the choices have been published!

A bit late but my One would be; A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.

I have not found another story that affected me so profoundly, it's absolutely unforgettable, a masterpiece. Everyone should read this book.

>296 TonjaE: It is wonderful, and IMO probably his best book (that or The Cider House Rules). I recently finished what Irving has said will be his last novel, 'The Last Chairlift', and he's still got it. I never wanted it to end - and sometimes it seemed it never would!

>297 red_guy: I'm glad someone else thinks so :)
I have not read The Last Chairlift yet, I think I'll try to find a copy this weekend, thank you!

>298 TonjaE: I'm sure you'll enjoy it. In a new departure for him, Irving introduces quite a few ghosts, who are as eccentric as one could hope for.

I would love to see them publishing a quality edition of "Ice" by Anna Kavan. Would nicely complement previous volumes by Kafka, Borges, et al. I think the only available hardback at the moment is from Little Clothbound Classics (which is glued, BLEH, in a disgusted voice)

>300 drizzled: Inspired choice! Would buy it in a heartbeat.

>300 drizzled: That is an overlooked title. Penguin put out a 50th Anniversary Edition, it would be great to see a fine or quality press version.

Her short story collection Machines in the Head put out by NYRB is worth checking out as well.

>301 HonorWulf:

Me too (and the same for John Sladek's Tik-Tok; a very opportune choice given we are on the cusp of the AI revolution).