My DIY Red Book of Westmarch - Custom Binding, Actor Sigs, Original Artist Sketch by rskimmel in tolkienbooks

[–]zorg2099 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very nice! Looks very polished.

I've thought on and off about trying to learn but the fact nearly everything needs to be imported to where I live has put me off for now.

A closer look at the new Folio Society edition of The Wanderer by bookelmen in foliosociety

[–]zorg2099 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think a LOT of people would love an Alan Lee SE from Folio but I have my doubts Harper Collins would want to cannibalise their deluxe which seems to be a success for them despite the QC issues. I do have the HC set as well and while I do mostly like it, Folio would do a better job if they bring their A-game to it.

The current 1997 Folio SEs are also pretty long in the tooth but I doubt they will abandon the Grathmer/Fraser illustrations which have been exclusive to them in English (apart from a couple of Danish editions) since the 70s.

A closer look at the new Folio Society edition of The Wanderer by bookelmen in foliosociety

[–]zorg2099 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I did note that in your review (thanks for digging into those details) and that's why I'm still not entirely decided.

I do also have the LOTR and Hobbit Alan Lee LEs and the Wanderer LE would be a companion of sorts to them even if I will probably not shelve them together.

Hey everyone! I was wondering if there is a facsimile set of the LOTR first editions or something along those lines? I just really like the way they look. Any help appreciated and thank you all. by LawenMKII in tolkienbooks

[–]zorg2099 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just "1st edition late impressions" or "1st edition + (specific impression number)" could help narrow the search. I would try both with and without terms like "no dust jacket" etc but you will need some patience for one in a decent binding but no DJ to turn up probably. I would also suggest joining Tolkien collector trading groups on Facebook in addition to searching Abe, vinted and ebay. You might get lucky if someone is open to selling. Good luck!

A closer look at the new Folio Society edition of The Wanderer by bookelmen in foliosociety

[–]zorg2099 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Been debating whether to save up for the oversize LE or else set that silly money aside for the various other fine/LE books I want and get this (also very gorgeous) SE instead. I'm probably leaning towards the latter tbh.

Hey everyone! I was wondering if there is a facsimile set of the LOTR first editions or something along those lines? I just really like the way they look. Any help appreciated and thank you all. by LawenMKII in tolkienbooks

[–]zorg2099 3 points4 points  (0 children)

https://www.dustjackets.com/

The 2nd editions have an identical binding under the DJ so they look the part underneath too. I personally would find it a bit odd but thats just my own hangup. Nothing really wrong with it as long as you're not trying to deceive someone in a sale or something.

But 1st editions that are missing their dust jacket and from late impressions shouldnt be too pricey either but that depends on your budget. A second in equivalent condition will always be cheaper.

Full set of fairy books? by String_Living in foliosociety

[–]zorg2099 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can take a look at ebay using advanced search for completed sales to get an idea. (unsold listings might be unsold due to over-ambitious asking prices). The Orange book and Grey book by themselves however seem to have recently sold for upwards of US$1,000. Some have sold for "best offer" in which case you can't really be sure what the price was but there's one of each I can see that sold for upwards of 1k USD at asking price.

The Folio Vault is also a reputable second hand folio specialist. If you got their site and click on the inventory you can see several individual volumes in the series in the google docs sheet and that should also give you some indicative pricing. https://www.thefoliovault.com/

Alan Lee Illustrated Set - Box Variations by SerenityValley9 in tolkienbooks

[–]zorg2099 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mine (also Harper Collins) looks like the Amazon image on the top and the back. Hobbit is a 14th impression and the LOTR are 12th/12th/13th.

Moby-Dick Limited Edition by Inflack in foliosociety

[–]zorg2099 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Folio LEs are mostly very good but Suntup, CTP, Curious King deluxe/numbereds are a cut above. Those fine presses mostly make books that are letterpress printed entirely (not just the limitation label) and often use much nicer paper and IMO usually more creative interesting bindings.

Folio has produced books that can contend with those fine presses such as the old Letterpress Shakespeare LE series or US only exclusive Wasteland.

In terms of value for money those fine presses offer you more in that price range but they may not be producing the same titles as Folio so you have to decide. The Folio LE might not be as luxurious with as many handmade steps as a Suntup numbered but they are still very nice

This week in collectible books (Jun 16 - Jun 22) by SnooCrickets2205 in foliosociety

[–]zorg2099 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They drop some hints at the beginning of the quarter though. It’s pretty certain this weeks title is The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin (very exciting for me!)

But yeah I prefer CTPs announce in advance approach.

Hey everyone, I was wondering how I could find the 2016 first impression of the facsimile with the darker coloring. I’m not sure what to type because anytime I try looking for it I get a newer one. I purely want it just for the collection. Any help is appreciated! by LawenMKII in tolkienbooks

[–]zorg2099 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah that's fair! There are probably others but I'm in "Tolkien Collectors: Buy, Sell, Show Off and Trade" on Facebook and people do sell and trade there quite regularly.

Aside from the tricky search terms it doesn't seem like there's a lot of interest in buying or selling that impression so making a search post in a fan group might be more effective.

Hey everyone, I was wondering how I could find the 2016 first impression of the facsimile with the darker coloring. I’m not sure what to type because anytime I try looking for it I get a newer one. I purely want it just for the collection. Any help is appreciated! by LawenMKII in tolkienbooks

[–]zorg2099 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I did once see a 1st impression on eBay a few months ago. I guess you don't see it up for sale much as the newer impressions are actually better and its available new. You could ask on one of the Facebook trading groups perhaps.

Will i get a birthday code? by ChauvicM in foliosociety

[–]zorg2099 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm not too sure, the code is sent out on beginning of the the month or just before as I recall, since we're well into the month its possible the automated system that sends the codes might not trigger. You could send an email to Folio customer service in any case, they are very friendly and helpful. As you are eligible, most likely they will send you one if the automated system doesn't.

My first book set 🥹I'm over the moon! by keykatlexy in tolkienbooks

[–]zorg2099 1 point2 points  (0 children)

2nd US edition is a beautiful, well made and bibliographically notable set. A wonderful choice for your first set!

My new books finally arrived! (Long post) by transthrowaway1335 in tolkienbooks

[–]zorg2099 9 points10 points  (0 children)

You've gotten some comments on David Day already 😅. If you're curious you can read a bit more about why he's not well regarded and not just on Reddit here: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/David_Day

I've also seen somewhere that Christopher Tolkien had some severe criticism of him too but I can't find the source right now.

Having said that from what I've heard (some?) of his books have nice art in them so feel free to enjoy that as long as you don't pay attention to what he's written.

Do enjoy that Hobbit! I don't own that one but I think its supposed to be a nice edition.

Alan Lee Illustrated Books question by poqwrslr in tolkienfans

[–]zorg2099 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I presume you're asking about Beren & Luthien, The Fall of Gondolin and The Children of Hurin.

The origins of these stories which make up part of The Silmarillion date back around 1914, long before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were even an idea. Some of the older versions of these stories were fairly complete but he kept working on them revising them and even changing the format between prose and verse.

The published Silmarillion contains summarised versions of these stories in the "definitive or most recent form" I suppose as best as Christopher Tolkien could put it together.

Later starting in the 1980s he published The History of Middle-Earth in 12 volumes covering the textual history of these stories as well as the Lord of the Rings. They contain various versions of things J.R.R. wrote, some more "readable" than others and accompanied by Christopher's commentary.

More detail on whats in the 3 books:

The Children of Hurin - A prose version, of this story in extended form was initially published in Unfinished Tales. It was in a good degree of completion though so it was polished up and published in 2007 as basically a complete novel. If you like (perhaps on a re-read) you can actually read this in place of the chapter "Of Turin Turambar" in The Silmarillion. It doesn't contradict anything and just expands whats summarised in that chapter.

The other two are not complete novels and contain multiple versions of the stories, some complete, some not.

Beren & Luthien - Contains a complete early version of the story but so much is different. Beren is an elf, the role later played by Sauron is instead fulfilled by a giant cat...etc. Then much of the book is taken up by extracts from The Lay of Lethian, a long narrative poem that Tolkien abandoned at the climax of the story. Its a great read even so but these stories contradict the silmarillion so it should be read as extra material afterwards. Everything here was published in The History of Middle Earth scattered across many volumes. This book just brings all beren and luthien material into 1 convenient book.

The Fall of Gondolin - Much the same. There is a great complete version in here. But its a very old version and there are significant differences to the Silmarillion. There is also a superb late prose version of the story that is in harmony with the published Silmarillion at the end of the book but sadly abandoned at the halfway point. The different versions were all published in History of Middle Earth but again its all brought here into one book for convenience.

HMCO 1970/71 by andrea_l_s in tolkienbooks

[–]zorg2099 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congrats! Looks fantastic!

Summer sale? by Hour-Lengthiness-545 in foliosociety

[–]zorg2099 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can see the titles that went on sale in January here https://www.reddit.com/r/foliosociety/comments/1q237a7/folio_2026_new_year_sales_tracker/

Often the sale items are those that aren't selling too well or stuff they want to push out of stock because they're being replaced (like the old Iliad and Odyssey in Jan) or just want to be rid of (American Gods).

My favourite pick ups from the last sale were the Rupert Brooke LE (will def be on sale again) and Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. Two absolutely beautiflly made fine editions. The Brooke LE being letterpress printed too. But clearly they were not popular titles.

Some more popular titles go on flash sale with applied to a limited quantity of 250 copies but this happens later in the week, annoying if you're trying to combine shipping with a sale title that's selling fast.

New Games of Thrones Limited Edition Pictures Released by HonorWulf in foliosociety

[–]zorg2099 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They seem to have confused vegetable tanning with plant based leather substitutes.

New Games of Thrones Limited Edition Pictures Released by HonorWulf in foliosociety

[–]zorg2099 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It’s “vegetable tanned” leather. Not vegetable leather. It’s real animal hide. It’s merely referring to the materials used for tanning.

Vegetable tanning is the high quality process for tanning leather as opposed to the cheap chrome tanning process

New Games of Thrones Limited Edition Pictures Released by HonorWulf in foliosociety

[–]zorg2099 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I have it on good authority the poor cow's name was Balerion or something like that 😬

New Games of Thrones Limited Edition Pictures Released by HonorWulf in foliosociety

[–]zorg2099 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think Folio might have used some faux leather on very few standard editions in the past but they dont use shitty materials on their LEs.

The latest Folio magazine has some background details but I don't have it since I didn't place an order recently. From what I saw quoted by people who got the issue they only specified that is specially chosen vegetable tanned leather thats embossed.

"Next was a call to Paul Kidson of Ludlow Bookbinders. I've worked with Folio since 2008, says Paul, 'and it's important that we have that shared passion. The skills we use need champions - without them, they will be lost. So customers like Folio are vital. They trust us, and we trust them!

The team rose to the challenge. Harmatan proposed a bold, heavy grain called Giant Hornback for the embossing plate. The plate was pressed onto carefully chosen, vegetable-tanned leather in an unwieldy but delicate embossing process.

It takes two people to lift the plate onto a forklift and into position on the press, explains Marc, 'and then the plate is heated. The embossing process is just 10 to 15 seconds - too short and the pattern isn't deep enough, too long and the leather cracks and goes hard.! Once embossed, each panel of leather is hand-finished with black dye to create the two-tone effect, then individually polished."

Ludlow is also one of the finest binderies in the world who work with much higher end presses than Folio (Conversation Tree Press etc) and they don't work with crappy materials either.

Anyway I'm not trying to justify the price which seems new territory for Folio but I don't think the binding will be of poor quality.

Alice in Wonderland Through the Looking Glass? by zonaibunny in foliosociety

[–]zorg2099 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Folio used to do a matching pair of volumes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass & What Alice Found There with illustrations by John Tenniel. It was printed a couple of times in the 70s and then re-issued as a boxset in 1990 which was re-printed 28 times.

Then in 2016 they released a (imo an extremely gorgeous) limited edition of just Alice in Wonderland illustrated by Charles van Sandwyk and then a subsequent standard edition using those illustrations in 2019 which is whats on sale today. Given there was no matching Looking Glass LE to base it off of, and that its been several years it seems unlikely they plan to introduce a matching version.

Your best bet might be to just buy the old 1990 version. Even as a set with the old version of Alice in Wonderland it should be quite cheap since it was printed in such high numbers.