OT: The Wheels of Chance by H.G. Wells, Kings Langley Press

This may be of interest:

The Wheels of Chance by H.G. Wells from a new-to-me Australian press called Kings Langley Press.

Price ($115 AUD/$77 USD/€72/£62) and quality seem comparable to a Folio Society book. It features 10 new colour illustrations, 40 black and white illustrations from the first edition, maps of the cycling tour for the endpapers, and a slipcase.

They're offering free worldwide shipping today, for H.G. Wells' birthday, which prompted me to place an order.

Someone has done an unboxing and short review on youtube here

Not a novel I've ever read before, but I've enjoyed some of Wells' other non sci-fi works; notably The History of Mr Polly, which was published by FS in 1957.

That does sound interesting, a sort of Wellsian version of Three Men on the Bummel. I think I might pick that up as well, thanks! Curious to learn what the next title (a "new illustrated edition of a famous mystery novel") will be, too.

The color illustrations look brilliant!

>1 GardenOfForkingPaths: As the USD price is only $77 and the shipping free, there really is no reason for me to hesitate. Ordered!

>1 GardenOfForkingPaths: Thanks for posting this. I've never heard of it either; ordered as well!

>3 BooksFriendsNotFood: Yeah, I think so too!

>4 Shadekeep: Free shipping is always a great sweetener! The normal shipping rates weren't actually too bad (under £20 for shipping to the UK, if I remember correctly). I'm curious about the next title too.

>5 Dr.Fiddy: Cool. Hope we all like it!

>1 GardenOfForkingPaths: And again thank you—duly ordered. It looks the sort of thing I used to relish ordering from the FS before it went down the Marvel and Martin, etc, path.

Ordered, thank you! Looks like a typical FS title from the membership era. My YTD purchases: FS 0, Abe FS 13, Slightly Foxed 4, Kings Langley Press 1.

>1 GardenOfForkingPaths:
I have just ordered as well. Thank you for bringing this new press to my attention.

I have a copy and it’s really great quality for the price point definitely on par with folio.

Thanks for the information. I ordered as well and am interested to see what they come up with in the future. I agree with some of the comments here - reminds me of what would be a Folio Society choice from a few years ago - which is a good thing!

Yeah I went for this too, having read 3 men in a boat recently.

My copy arrived today. I am very pleased! Came safely packaged, book was shrink wrapped, printed in Slovakia, lovely illustrations (some from the first edition, others newly crates for this edition), bound in cloth with a ribbon marker, paper is thick, maps on endpapers, and nice slipcase. I am excited to see what they publish next - it’s very similar to a classic Folio Society book.

Mine came a couple of days ago, and I echo all the praise above; just one small cavil—the gilded titling on the spine is a little faint compared to that on the front cover. Otherwise it's everything I hoped for, and am looking forward to an enjoyable read.

>14 davidjbrown10: Still waiting on mine, but I've seen that difference on other books as well. Enough to wonder if there is perhaps a reason for it, such as a difference in printing on the cover versus the spine, or adjustment for the expectation of wear.

Thanks folks, missed this thread earlier. Book looks lovely, and while I missed the free shipping, I have placed my order.

Thread caught me at a good time, as I just finished watching the wonderful 'Time After Time' movie from 1979. Recalled enjoying it as a teenager when it came out. But had not watched it since. It holds up well all these years later. It's a romantic, time travelling thriller from the 70's; H.G. Wells has to chase down Jack the Ripper who escaped in Well's time machine to 1979 San Francisco. All three main characters are superb -- Malcom McDowel as Herbert, a lovely Mary Steenburgen as his love and guide in modern day, and a sinister David Warner as Jack (who has very strong Professor Severus Snape vibes). As this was 25 years before Harry Potter, it makes me wonder if Alan Rickman took cues from David Warner when he took on the role of Professor Snape.

>15 Shadekeep: Agreed: I wonder whether it's something to do with the spine being curved and the cover being flat.

Looks like they’ve got a pre-order up for a new title! The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. I haven’t heard of this one before - anyone else read this one?

>18 Tambien:
Its a very good crime mystery story. The Folio Society published it way back in 1951. See here.
The Kings Langley release can be seen here.

I'm excited for their Moonstone! It's a favorite of mine

A couple of fine choices indeed!

The Moonstone pre-order price is 85usd and their email indicates a sale price of 130usd. Significant pre order savings.

Looks good to me - I’ll put in a pre-order.

Ordered, looking forward to the next offering as well.

>22 DanielOC: With the Wells book they offered free shipping on Wells birthday. Given Collins birthdate is 8th January i’m guessing they may make a similar offer, so if someone is not in a hurry to order it may be possible to take advantage of the pre-order price with the potential additional sweetener of free shipping

>25 antinous_in_london: Yes, smart move. I jumped the gun and pre ordered with a 13 usd (AU to NYC) delivery fee for a 98 usd total.

>1 GardenOfForkingPaths: Thanks for sharing! This looks like a very promising new publisher, picking up exactly where FS left off a few years ago. Not interested in The Moonstone because I already have a very nice, albeit overpriced, AP edition. But for those who don't have a copy of this classic yet and not prepared to pay AP prices, this looks like a solid choice. And twenty color illustrations is a very generous number - more than in a typical comparable FS edition.

The Wheels of Chance - I'm placing an order.

>24 Shadekeep: looking forward to the next offering

That will be The Woman in White, designed in series with the upcoming The Moonstone by the same artist. More details to follow early next year:
https://kingslangleypress.com/pages/upcoming-publications

>27 elladan0891: I hope you like it. Although I haven't read it yet, I'm really pleased with the quality of binding and printing. Text layout is clean and tidy. I can't really fault it. It feels like a FS book with some added value inside.

With Hand & Eye Letterpress planning an edition of The Woman in White for 2024 too, we're going to be spoilt for choice!

I would def order it if I didn’t have the FS Collin’s set!

>28 elladan0891: Yes, I saw that announcement too, another one I plan to get. I'm curious about where they might go next. It would be pretty smashing if they picked up a title like Two Years Before The Mast, or something fine and obscure like their first Wells offering.

I think the Collins books will be great, and I would have gotten both if it wasn’t for the newly released Moonstone LE from the Folio Society (which I just ordered) and the upcoming edition of The Woman in White from Hand & Eye.

Kings Langley announced that their international shipping fees have been reduced, so they are passing the savings on to customers. Here's the breakdown:

UK: £8.00 (previously £18.00)
US: $9.00 (previously $22.00)
CA: $24.00 (previously $30.00)
EU (selected countries): €11.95 (previously €20.95)

Also, there's a delay in The Moonstone production: "We expect to have a definitive production date in the next couple of weeks and will provide another update as soon as everything is confirmed. Although we are still aiming to commence shipping in Q1/24, these delays mean it will likely be towards the end of Q1, specifically by the end of March 2024."

Wow, that is a huge drop in shipping.

The Wheels of Chance is on sale for 20% off until the end of the month - https://kingslangleypress.com/products/the-wheels-of-chance

This is a nice production of a lesser known Wells book. I enjoyed it. I am looking forward to "The Moonstone". Hoping it comes this fall, and hoping this company continues.

I have been keeping an eye on King's Langley's output but haven't purchased yet. I welcome any thoughts on how the quality of a King's Langley edition stacks up against a Folio Society SE. From the KL website they look reasonably similar.

>37 Pendrainllwyn: A dedicated Folio-head could probably give you a better side-by-side, but to me it looks and feels very comparable to FS SE editions. Better than some now, as many of those have switched to paper covers.

>38 Shadekeep: Thank you

>37 Pendrainllwyn: Agreed with everything said in >38 Shadekeep:. Kings Langley is comparable to or slightly better than Folio. Wheels of Chance in particular is delightful, and far more illustrated than most Folios are these days.

>40 Tambien: Thank you. I might give Wheels of Chance a go.

>41 Pendrainllwyn:
Do so, it is an excellent and delightful book.

Just received notice that The Moonstone is shipping now from Kings Langley.

I am Looking forward to this second publication from Kings Langley press. I quite enjoyed the first.

I got my copy of The Moonstone today and I am extremely impressed by the quality!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GAwK9i7gFNFh4yx6u7wRSaYzmqvI0YGe

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/5s2q3zurrpv2t8ywp7www/AHNvPi9o5d5zJDNBiHQ74Rs?rlk...

>45 DramPan:. I am as well.

The first two books from this publisher have been excellent. I'll keep getting whatever they publish.

In the photo above I put the LEC edition next to it, as they are very similar in dimensions.

>46 sdawson:
Sorry, Shawn, I'm not seeing it. I'm getting what appears to be a Google Drive listing ... ?

>47 folio_books: I think you need to be logged into your Google account. I am and can see the photos.

Deleted my messege .
Wrong chat... sorry

Received mine today. I am very pleased!

Mine arrived today, very nice work! The book has the look and feel of releases from decades ago and is a quality piece. Looking forward to what they bring out next!

In honor of H.G. Wells' birthday, The Wheels of Chance is being sold at 15% off, for a limited time.

Next title is up, The Woman in White.

Link to The Woman in White iby Kings Langkey Press s https://kingslangleypress.com/pages/the-woman-in-white
Pre-order price A$150. Delivery Q2 2025,

>54 wcarter: Thanks. Ordered it. I think they provide a good alternative to Folio books with all the recent price hikes and profusely illustrated as well.

They have teased their next publication as:

"A classic adventure
by a Scottish novelist

A man on the run across Scotland meets a raft of interesting characters...

More details to come in early 2025."

I'm thinking The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan, and hope I'm right :)

Note that the press will be raising the prices of their current books by about 15% on December 1 due to increased operating expenses.

>56 A.Nobody: Could be Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

>56 A.Nobody: Thanks for the heads up about the price increase. Moonstone looks tempting, I'll need to make a call before then.

>57 jsg1976: Yes, that's more likely.

>56 A.Nobody: Probably RLS, but it could be Trainspotting. 😂

>56 A.Nobody:
I'm thinking The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan, and hope I'm right :)
>57 jsg1976:
Could be Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

Or maybe you are both right ;)