Fine Press Folio Society

Is there a list of FS books that you would consider fine press?

It would just be interesting to see which books in their back catalogue you think made it into this category? The consensus on this forum seems to be that they sit below this category with occasional books just making it across the line.

I think the WW1 poet books qualify by my definition of the term. I would not include most of the recent LEs in that category.

>2 LBShoreBook: I agree with LB on both points. There’s also a full set of I think 16 titles from the late 80s / early 90s known as the Fine Press Classics (https://www.jonkers.co.uk/rare-book/14127/complete-set-of-folio-society-fine-press-editions/the-folio-society). That’s a sold listing but it gives you an idea what to look for. And then a nice set of complete Shakespeare that was printed letterpress and has costume illustrations (https://stellabooks.com/books/william-shakespeare/the-folio-press-shakespeare-37-volumes/2129421) and then the Letterpress Shakespeare limited editions. Oh, and Perfect & Imperfect Enjoyments.

The recent Poe LE includes what I'd consider a Fine Press edition of The Raven as a companion volume.

The Wasteland LE was printed letterpress on mould-made paper and hand-bound by Ludlow, but still doesn't quite feel like a fine press publication to me.

I would argue that the Aurora Australis facsimile does have fine press production values, though of course it is printed offset apart from the letterpress companion volume.

I don't have it, but their Sappho seems to fall under that category for a lot of people.

>3 ChampagneSVP: There’s also a full set of I think 16 titles from the late 80s / early 90s known as the Fine Press Classics..

The Folio Press Fine Editions (FPFE) set of 20 titles released from 1987-91; and precursor to the FS Limited Editions program if I'm not mistaken. They are reviewed in 3 parts on the B&V website:

https://booksandvines.com/2015/01/26/affordable-treasures-and-pleasures-5-the-fo...

https://booksandvines.com/2015/02/09/affordable-treasures-and-pleasures-5-the-fo...

https://booksandvines.com/2015/02/23/affordable-treasures-and-pleasures-the-foli...

>5 SF-72: Yes, it was my first FS purchase and I'd count it as fine press.

Their 1976 edition of The Castle of Otranto most likely qualifies, too. It's printed letterpress with marbled papers and lithographic prints.

Letterpress Shakespeare seems pretty obviously fine press to me

>5 SF-72: I have it and I agree that it qualifies as fine press.

I'd also add the LEs of the medieval manuscript facsimiles. High-resolution facsimiles in brilliant colors with fine bindings. Letterpress cannot be used as a (dis)qualifying criterion for these because it is impossible to reproduce these via letterpress printing.

The Door in the wall and London & New York facsimiles are particularly nice editions, but might fall a little short depending on how strict the criteria is.

>2 LBShoreBook: WW1 Poets must be. I regret not going for these when they were on offer.

>3 ChampagneSVP: and >6 mr.philistine: Some very impressive sets of books there I didn't know existed. I'll see if I can find copies here and there when they pop up. Potentially my favourite on this list.

>4 NathanOv: I'm not sure why FS have the letterpress companion volumes. If they are going with letterpress they should do the main book this way or at least the text.

>5 SF-72: Sappho, another one I wasn't familiar with but would be nice to pick up.

>7 Shadekeep: I noticed The Castle of Otranto was mentioned recently. Looks like it's very cheap to pick up too!

>8 gmacaree: Letterpress Shakespeare of course.

>9 ultrarightist: I tend not to purchase facsimiles (except maybe Night Thoughts) but it's an interesting point about the manuscript facsimiles being potentially fine press. I'm not sure if others would agree though.

>10 ensuen: I have both Door in the Wall & London & New York. Lovely books I picked up incredibly cheap. If they were letterpress they would be considered fine press.

If you think of any others I would be interested to know. Thanks

>11 LT79: Well, for Aurora Australis they could not have done as accurate a facsimile letterpress - offset is the right choice for high-quality facsimile. The letterpress companion is a nice touch for a tribute to a major feat of printing, though they really should’ve put the effort into having it done on an Albion hand press.

For the main Poe volume, just doing the main text letterpress would've skyrocketed the costs without really elevating it into a fine press publication. I do wish they'd sold The Raven separately, though, as I probably would have purchased it on its own.

>12 NathanOv: that's a fair point about Aurora Australis. It sounds like a very impressive edition!

I agree, I also think I would have purchased The Raven separately if sold this way.

>11 LT79: Otranto is indeed a bargain most of the time, and a beauty of a volume. I think the only other letterpress FS titles I have besides it are If Not, Winter and Twelfth Night, the latter of which FS seemed to be shoving out the door at rock-bottom prices towards the end. The Exeter Riddle Book seems like it should have been letterpress, but I don't believe it is. Could be wrong, of course.

>14 Shadekeep: RE: Exeter Riddle Book. I believe it is letterpress, one of the last so printed.

Remember, almost all Folio Society books printed before 1979 were letterpress.
Letterpress doth not necessarily make it fine press.
Lack of letterpress doth not necessarily preclude fine press.

>16 wcarter: Agreed

The William Blake limited edition facsimiles (in particular, Poems of Thomas Gray and Night Thoughts) aren't fine relief printing, but they are what I think of as good examples of fine press that actually requires non-letterpress printing.

>16 wcarter: If we are not precluding non-letterpress printed books, I would consider the limited edition Divine Comedy fine press. Though I often imagine how incredible it would have been if, all else remaining the same, the set WAS printed letterpress (sigh).

>16 wcarter:
Keep reminding us of that. There is more to a “fine press” book than the method of printing.

>15 Glacierman: T'would be nice then! One more in my collection if so.

I do think their Bestiary facsimile is a damn fine version of the one from the Bodleian, and it's offset. And The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon is beautiful, right down to its silk cover.

>14 Shadekeep: It is bizarre how some letterpress FS don't sell well.

>16 wcarter: I'm back to square one now! I was hoping for clear lines to be drawn but that is probably a more balanced way of approaching it, looking at the book as a whole. Letterpress isn't necessarily the right choice for all books.

I do wonder though how other presses/publishers manage to produce letterpress books at a more reasonable cost and why it costs so much more for FS to do it. Maybe it relates to the point made in >14 Shadekeep:

If we can move away from the demand for letterpress, I would definitely mention William Morris' Odes of Horace. That's a very fine facsimile and the job they did representing the different types of metal leaf he used is very impressive. It's such a beautiful book.

And the two Blakes mentioned above are fantastic quality - they do look just like the original artwork, and that's very rare.

>23 SF-72: Regarding William Morris, I would also mention News from Nowhere. That's also a beautiful facsimile, printed on very nice laid paper. If it's printed letterpress or not, I don't really know, although it's described like that several places...

This thread finally made me cough up £45 for the Folio Press The Tower - been eyeing it a while…

>25 GusLogan: I think I'll start with a copy of The Tower and maybe Otranto from the list above. They seem like reasonable places to start at a reasonable cost.

>1 LT79: For myself, I do consider The Exeter Riddle Book to be fine press. It is a wonderful book, well worth owning.

Thanks >27 Glacierman: I shall do this. It's Kevin Crossley-Holland isn't it? I was also thinking of picking up his Beowulf as I've only read the Heaney translation.

>28 LT79: It is. I'm a fan of his work and second Glacierman on the recommendation for The Exeter Riddle Book. It's very attractively made as well as a lot of fun to read and puzzle over.

>29 Shadekeep: Purchased Exeter Riddle Book for the grand total of £8. Looking forward to it. Now for Otranto, but there's stiff competition on eBay from Fine Press Forum lurkers who've already diddled me out of a copy of Antigone! The buggers.

The Exeter Riddle Book is reviewed at https://www.librarything.com/topic/291635

Do you consider Studies from Nature fine press?

>32 David_Mauduit:
I do.

>30 LT79: Congrats! Hope you enjoy.

>32 David_Mauduit: Absolutely.

>4 NathanOv: The Waste Land definitely feels like fine press imo.

>25 GusLogan: >26 LT79:
“The Tower” is an excellent start. And, given the interest expressed here in “The Exeter Riddle Book”, I’d recommend looking for the Folio Press “Anglo Saxon Elegies”.

Thanks >36 kermaier: I think all the Folio Press Fine Editions (1987 – 1991) mentioned above look very appealing to me and seem a really nice, affordable way to start a fine press collection, especially if already FS collector. I'm sure a lot of people who end up on this forum start as FS collectors and this motivated my original question.

>37 LT79:
Many fine press collectors do start with the Folio Society (or in the USA, with Easton Press). They go down the rabbit hole, find lots of side burrows (too esoteric, poor quality, not my style), back-out, head down again (to very expensive exotica), then retreat to a place where we feel comfortable with our purchases and collection, often keeping in touch with many different levels of publishing and styles we have encountered along the way.

My route was similar, but I started with the Heritage Club, then found the Folio Society when they still had the membership business model, but I already knew about fine press due to the library job I'd had in college which exposed me to Kelmscott, Nonesuch, etc. I could fondle them, just couldn't afford them! I still have 46 FS books in my library and 51 HCs as well as press books (including a couple of Nonesuch, but no Kelmscott!).

>38 wcarter: Other than FS, I picked up some earlier Bodley Head books I thought were nice quality for the price and Medici Society books. These nudged me in this general direction.

In terms of expensive detours I'm trying to restrict myself to books I enjoy and will revisit. As beautiful as some books are on this forum I do feel like sometimes there is a misalignment between form and content and the materials take precedence over and dominate the content. I think the content should be the driver. So I'll look for books that seem congruent to me.

>40 LT79: Yes, exactly. I have started this adventure with the same attitude, although it is very easy to get side-tracked. The real shame is that some/many of my most beloved books have no fine press copy available for any price.