Folio Society sale January 2024

The FS sale starts 3 January at 2pm GMT.
Every title listed in the sale is 50% off!

I caught your post before you corrected it to say every title listed in the sale rather than just a blanket 50% off every title and for a moment I was wondering whether it was really New Years or if I had somehow travelled to the 1st of April.

>1 wcarter: So that's 1am on Thursday Morning AEDT? Hopefully nothing sells out.

Not the usual "up to" 50%? Might be a good sale this year then.

Yet people will find stuff to complain about I’m sure.

There is no preview of the titles?

Speaks to how poor the sales have been the last several years. Totally forgot this was even a thing until I read the email. No pre-sale discussion here either as used to happen.

I like the idea of a flat 50% off all titles. I'm not sure what will be there, but lately the discounts have been fairly lame, at least for those of us across the pond who have to pay a lot for shipping. I'm curious and will definitely perusing their site as early as I can. If I find enough things to make it worth the shipping I'll be happy. If not, so be it. I just got a bunch for my birthday (late November) and Christmas, and curious what titles may come in the spring release.

There are only a few I would be interested in even at a 50% discount - most of the ones I want I already have, or will definitely not be in the sale (Dune Messiah, for example). I just counted five, maybe six, which is actually more than I expected. It's a pity there won't be any absolute bargains that I can be convinced to buy, like the Ring of the Nibelung.

The email states:

"...it's our biggest sale ever."

What does this mean? Any ideas?

Does anyone have experience buying a book a few days before the sale starts, only to have that book go on sale? Specifically asking if there was any chance Folio would apply the sale price or some sort of credit.

I Completely forgot about the sale, so I ended up ordering a book on December 31st. Then i seen this thread shortly after and the Folio email shortly after that too. This book was on the last sale so I'm thinking there might be a good chance it will be back on sale.

I'm going to call customer service when they open tomorrow but it would feel a bit silly to cancel and reorder the same book within 24 hours especially if my intuition is way off and it doesn't go on sale. The other problem is the book is in fairly low stock so who knows if it will last (less than 20 at this point)....

I'm hoping for:

Micrographia
Pompeii
A Perfect Spy
Mr. Campion and Others

I don't have any real hope for The Origins of Totalitarianism, but it's probably the only thing that would tempt me. That, and Japanese Tales, which again seems wildly unlikely.

>11 Dropkickerbob: This book was on the last sale so I'm thinking there might be a good chance it will be back on sale.
This is normally the case.
If you bought it on Dec 31 chances are it hasn't had time to be shipped yet? You should have an open right to cancel for some time in the UK or EU and I'd expect customer service would help you out doing that, or just applying the discount to avoid a logistics hassle.

Any bets? I can only guess the most obvious ones at 50% off:

- Kavalier and Klay
- All the Tey books that haven’t run out
- Working (Studs Terkel).
- Get Shorty
- A Hero Born (high probability)

Let’s hope there are surprises.

>15 dyhtstriyk: Don't get your hopes up for A Hero Born.

If there was a 50% off Aztecs or Tomb of Tutankhamun then maybe. That would be enough of a discount to make the shipping worth it and those are old enough to be a possibility.

Hoping either/both of the John Keay histories make it to the sale. The price point has always put me off but they would be definite buys for me at the discount

Really interesting (at least for me!), going through the current FS catalogue with a fresh eye, working out what titles I would buy if they appeared in a half price sale. Made me realise how much my 'relationship' with FS had changed in the past few years.
Once upon a time I would have a fairly long list of fiction titles with the odd non-fiction (usually history) thrown in. Nowadays that's completely reversed. Aside from a few American lit titles (competing with Library of America which I've bought quite a number of over the last couple of years - far more than FS), I've not got a single fiction title on the list - although I would have if the FS had produced a few SE versions of recent LEs (complete non-starters for me). And not a single history book either, as of all the titles I'm interested in, I already have a perfectly adequate trade hardback copies bought new (especially when compared to the horribly inflated prices for multivolume versions of what are originally single volume books). Instead, is the odd historical travel/exploration (eg Twain), a genre which has kept my FS buying from new flickeringly alive of late.
It's been fascinating seeing how things have shifted. It'll be interesting to see what actually features after all this - the biggest sale yet we are told!

>11 Dropkickerbob: You can return any purchased book to Folio within 30 days for any reason and receive a refund. If there are less than 20 copies of your book left, it's likely to sell out very quickly in the sale.

>15 dyhtstriyk: How could you forget Rob Roy?

'Biggest Ever Sale' sounds huge, there must be an awful lot of titles here at 50% off. Unfortunately, while it's good news for happy shoppers, it also suggests Folio may be struggling after their Covid pandemic sales surge and with the current cost of living crisis and economic slowdown.

I wouldn't get too excited about "biggest ever sale" claims. This might just be marketing-speak. Additionally, notice that 50% off a £40 book is a £20 reduction, whereas 50% off a £60 book is a £30 reduction. So you can get a "bigger" sale even as the sale prices are increasing.

I am hopeful for a better sale than we've seen in a couple of years, but I don't expect a return to the glory days of half a decade ago.

Information about previous FS sales can be found on the FSD wiki at https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Groups:Folio_Society_Devotees#Does_the_F...

I buy a lot of FS books, so the only thing I’d be interested in would be the Thomas Hardy LE…not a fan of the illustrations but love the poetry so might buy it at half off.

>22 ubiquitousuk: "I wouldn't get too excited about "biggest ever sale" claims. This might just be marketing-speak."

I don't think they'd make the claim if they didn't have a justification for it, but there are obviously any number of ways you can define "biggest ever sale" - total number of books on sale, average discount, total discount, etc.

And of course it's easy to increase the number of books on sale without taking much of a financial hit by including things with limited inventory - £100 off a £200 title might be a lot, but if you've only got 5 left in stock then you're not losing very much even if all of them sell.

That said, I'm definitely looking forward to this. I think that after such a claim they'll feel the need to have at least some titles included that aren't the standard slow sellers (Tey etc), and I also like the simplicity of the decision-making: if everything is 50% off, then if something on my wish list comes up it's an obvious buy; none of the "should I hang on in hope of a better discount in a future sale?" dilemmas you get with the usual 10% or 20% discounts.

>16 PartTimeBookAddict: sigh... well... you never know, but given that it was pretty much a flop and they won't likely follow-up with the rest of the series, I thought maybe they were ready to deplete their inventory.

>16 PartTimeBookAddict: and yes, Rob Roy!

>26 dyhtstriyk: "I thought maybe they were ready to deplete their inventory."

It's showing as sold out to me.

>27 PeterFitzGerald: you're right! I didn't know it had sold out. I don't remember seeing it in the low stock thread.

The FS Facebook post up today calls it "our very first HALF PRICE sale". I assume they mean first under the new regime.

>29 assemblyman:

They've offered books at larger discounts, 75% or thereabouts on occasion, but I can't recall a previous sale where everything in it was simply at half price.

>29 assemblyman: One assumes so as they've had half-price sales previously, in 2007, 2011 and indeed as recently as 2017, all with corresponding FSD threads. You'd have thought that the current 'regime' is the same as that in 2017, though now that Folio is staff-owned, perhaps it is a new 'We'.

>29 assemblyman: Were there other sales where every single item in the sale was 50% off?

>32 What_What: The Summer Sales in 2018, 2019, and 2020 were all "half-price" sales in which every book on sale was priced at 50% off. And those sales typically included about 100-150 titles in the sale. In recent years, the sales have included approximately 50-60 books. As others have suggested the "biggest sale ever" and "first half price sale" claims are likely marketing hype and not necessarily factual. But we will all know soon enough.

>33 Redshirt: yep, I remember clearly because in one of those sales I fumbled by not purchasing The Shining for 25 pounds and now it's very expensive in the aftermarket.

>34 dyhtstriyk: I made the same mistake of looking at The Shining and thinking "not right now". Also, I think it was the new year sale 2020 that Foundation Trilogy was £75 and I didn't buy. There are surely other examples of missed opportunities.

>33 Redshirt: I got a postcard in the mail from FS today for this sale, and it indicates that there will be more than 65 titles to choose from in this sale. Which likely means between 66 and 69 titles.

>33 Redshirt: Ah okay, sounds like the sales used to be really good, just the recent ones were forgettable. And in that case, it does sound like marketing fluff.

>36 Steven.Evans: Thanks. There were 64 titles discounted last January, most at less than 50% (though some discounted up to 75%). It sounds as if the Folio marketing department hasn't lost its knack for egregious hype.

>36 Steven.Evans: Given the usual marketing-speak, as you say, “more than 65 titles” will likely be 66 titles & I’m sure some of the usual suspects from previous sales (hello again, war poets) will reduce further the number of titles which are actually new to a sale.
As mentioned, sales in earlier years regularly had over 100 items in the sale at varying discounts so seems like wordplay if they’re classing approx 66 items (all) at 50% off as ‘the biggest sale ever’

First ever 50% off sale....on shipping!

Oh joy! London & New York!

I predict I won’t see anything on my Wishlist in the sale but will buy 9 books based on the “savings” only. And I’ll read two of them in the next five years. Just like old times.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions…!

>42 plasticjock: yep, that’s how it works for me too.
If it’s on sale I plan to buy a couple of copies of The Living Mountain to give as gifts. Diversity of Life would be nice but unlikely it‘ll be on sale as it’s on its second printing. Other unlikely wishes: Neverwhere; The Road; Kafka on the Shore…

>42 plasticjock:
That sounds exactly like my predicted experience too except to add that I won’t have any room for the nine new books which will sit boxed up in a closet!

Looks like some items are already showing the sale price. I hope it isn't all of them, as of 30 items on my wishlist a total of two are discounted.

>45 Aleks3000: Same for me, 2 out of 32
Hide My Eyes and Killing Floor

4 so far on my wishlist; Apes, Zhivago, 80 Days and Micrographia. It's off to a good start for me, first decent sale for a while.

I'm pleasantly surprised, some good stuff on sale for good prices - very much regretting buying A History of Christianity and Shackleton's Antarctica at full price though!

Not a terrible sale.

Stasiland, All Hell Let Loose, A Bright Shining Lie... All stuff I've been interested in.

Tempted to finally pick up Shackleton’s Antarctica at this price. Interesting to see The Waste Land (Limited Edition), quite the discount there.

If you sort books by price low to high you can see most of them

The Waste Land is amazing at $1500 so if you have the cash, I highly recommend picking it up for 50% off!

Did something sell out already? It dropped from 65 to 64.

Highly recommend Outlaws of the Marsh from this, unmissable at the sale price.

Shackleton's Antarctica has to be the stand-out bargain here, for the sheer quality of the set. It's one of the few Folio editions I think justified its initial price.

I’ve already purchased any of these titles that interest me—at full price.

“Our biggest sale ever” ! Mostly the usual suspects but nice to get Thomas Hardy Poems at half price with a couple of other odds and ends. Funnily it only charged one postage of 9.99 even though there was the Ltd edition in there - also let me stack the 10% code on top of the sale prices!

Other than Shackleton's Antarctica (and The Wasteland LE for those in North America) the sale feels a big let down to me. Not one of 17 hopeful items I put in my basket attracted a discount. On the positive side, the fact that few popular editions made the sale is good news if it means Folio aren't struggling financially.

>53 Shadekeep: "It dropped from 65 to 64."

It's only showing 63 for me - presumably because The Waste Land isn't available in the UK.

But I've nevertheless just received the "more than 65" email so something's not quite right somewhere.

It's better than the last couple sales. It's smart to throw in at least a few more recent titles like Micrographia, The Tudor Age, or the Wyndham books to encourage a buy.

And holy smokes those who bought The Waste Land at full price are kicking themselves now.

Anyone aware of any deals/coupons on shipping?

Drats. Some that I expected on it, many I already have bought at full price and some of the recently, and nothing on my wish list of previous books I want. I see 64 books listed. Is that it for the offerings? Purse is safe from this round, I guess.

A Bright Shining Lie was too bright and shiny for me to resist.

>55 Mr.Fox: Yep. I think this was the quickest I nope-d through a FS sale XD

>56 antinous_in_london: Yay! Sounds like you got some good deals!

An easy pass, only 2 from my wishlist and lesser ones at that. Surprising to see so many LEs included - unprecedented, I think?

>59 LeBacon: January is the cruellest month.

>64 ian_curtin: There has been half off sale for LEs in the past

>63 BooksFriendsNotFood: Yeah , they didn't charge extra shipping for the limited edition so it was only £9.99 shipping for the whole order & the WMAG7 code gave me 10% off on top so i finally caved & added in the Calvino Folktales with the 10% as its down to only 17 copies & it’ll never get a reprint

>64 ian_curtin: In fairness, some of these are the most roundly lambasted LEs that FS has made - the hideous Rob Roy, the inexplicably priced The Turn of the Screw. Even their edition of The Waste Land was unfavorably compared to other editions made for the anniversary. The Selected Poems volumes seem to have found all their buyers long ago, and are trickling out to the few new people interested in them.

>60 Aleks3000: WMAG7 still works for 10% off on top of the sale discounts.

Not that different from previous sales. There are sets I had bought either full price or less discount (Wyndham, All Hell Let Loose) or the same discount (Hornblower).

I'm mildly tempted by Water Margin, Sophie's World, Zhivago and La Planete des Sanges. But that's it. I wanted PKD short stories and I don't recall them being 95 pounds.

For the first time in quite a while I've placed an order with Folio. I've been hoping for Outlaws of the Marsh to become affordable so that was an easy pick. The Living Mountain at £23.95 was too good to pass up and an updated edition of In Search of the Dark Ages rounded things off. The discount code covered postage with a few pennies left over - happy days.

The website appeared to be struggling at checkout.

Is the regular edition of Dr. Zhivago worth buying at 50% off? :-)

>68 Shadekeep: True, and with 10 titles included here (nearly 20% of the sale!) there is a definite "clearing the cupboard" feel for some extremely slow-selling and/or unloved editions. I doubt we'll see titles like these get LE treatment in future, given the trend seems to be for "buzzy", launch-friendly event titles, that have a built-in audience or can be relied on to sell quickly.

>67 antinous_in_london: That's genuinely awesome. I hope you enjoy the books!

I think I'll be picking up Shackelton's Antarctica.
I also see Shackleton's Boat Journey at 50% off too.

Based on what I've found so far, the former is a memoir by Shackleton and the latter is more of a story recounted by Worsely (crew member), am I on the right track?

Captain James Cook: The Journals 1768–1779 is at 50% off.

I'm unsure whether to buy it :-)

Any help from fellow devotees will be much appreciated!

I’m very happy with my haul despite not checking the discount code…. Rookie error…!

At $750 I think the Folio Waste Land is a reasonable deal. I regret paying full price but I do think this is a beautiful edition (though I do wish it were a little smaller). I like the illustrations, quality of paper and printing is excellent, and I prefer the Folio to the Thornwillow half-leather which is $1170. The 2007 Arion Press edition is very nice but expensive on the secondary market. I am looking forward to the forthcoming edition from No Reply.

Call me impressed. I have not bought directly from Folio Society in two years and I ended up getting over ten books in this sale which reminded me more of discounts from sales of yore. The Waste Land I found a fair price at along with Hardy's Poems. For some reason there was just one group shipping so I didn't have to pay for the inflated shipping prices for each individual LE. Shakelton, Cook's Journals, A Bright and Shining Lie and All Hell Let Loose seemed like great discounts and couldn't pass on those.

All in all very happy with my purchase. I have been on Folio's case for sometime now but this is the first time I felt optimistic about Folio in years

I just put in an order like the good old days! Got burned on Zhivago, Shining Lie and History of Christianity, but I would recommend all three wholeheartedly! Any order, you ask? Zhivago, Shining Lie, Christianity. I got presents myself of course! I ordered Godot, Cook's Journals, Stasiland and Culloden (did they stop publishing the Great Battles Series? Alamein was the last one to come out in 2022... I already own Waterloo and Thermopylae.) A renaissance Sale which hopefully every FS Devotee can put to good use to round out the home library!

>74 HuxleyTheCat: The website appeared to be struggling at checkout.

Nice to see you back again! Yes, I had a hard time getting through checkout. I suppose that's a good thing, really.

>84 folio_books: I pop in occasionally, Glenn, but as I've not been buying anything from Folio recently it's not my regular haunt. This sale reminds me of the good old days! Patience has been rewarded by not caving in for Outlaws of the Marsh at the usual price and I surprised myself that I didn't hesitate to purchase - the lure of Folio clearly still flickers. If I wait long enough (2030?) perhaps Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies will also come down to an affordable level.

I find it pretty telling that the Sharpes are in the sale. That series could have been a success, but FS really messed it up with the limited number, black-and-white only illustrations, and probably also by starting chronologically instead of writing order.

I buy a lot of Folios at full price, so not much for me. But very happy to acquire the Hardy poems at half price! It’s a very good sale.

Like several others I also got burned on Outlaws of the Marsh (beautiful edition though, highly recommended) but happy with what I got: Anna Karenina, Zhivago, Godot, the Wyndham set and Roadside Picnic as a non-sale pick up

I lamented at having paid full price for some offerings (Wyndham, Micrographia) but rejoiced at finding things worthy of purchasing in this sale (Sharpe’s, Shackleton, Maigret).
I wasn’t tempted with the LEs though if I lived in the US would have jumped on the Waste Land!

The first title has fallen - Stasiland is now sold out. Perhaps unsurprising as it was on the "last chance" page before the sale started.

I picked up 13 - my best sale haul in years. This is more like it, FS!

>43 stopsurfing:
Great prediction! If I count each book in multi-volume sets, I did indeed end up ordering 9 books:

Outlaws of the Marsh (2)
Maigret Set Two (3)
All Hell Let Loose (2)
A Bright Shining Lie (2)

I'm quite pleased though sad I didn't think about the 10% code stacking. Probably too late to cancel my order and re-order with discount code.

>92 UK_History_Fan: I had a shipping notification within 40 minutes of placing my order so they seem to be sending them out quickly, so sadly probably too late to cancel

Hi guys, as I am a rather fresh Folio Society devotee - how long does usually the New Year's sale last?

>87 RRCBS: Almost as good as the 50% off is the fact that you could buy every LE in the sale & still only pay £9.99 shipping - none of the usual stupid charging of separate shipping charges for every individual LE !

Any thoughts on All Hell Let Loose? Should I buy it? Do I really need another WWII book?

Edit: I see that it was published in the U.S. under the title Inferno, which is one of the WWII books I already have (and haven't read). Zhivago is a maybe, but otherwise this sale has skipped past my wish list.

>96 coynedj: You don’t, but you probably will !

Good sale. Can't grumble with 50% off.

I picked up 7 books in the sale and 4 regular price (shipping is the same for me regardless of the number of books purchased so it pays to buy in blocks especially as they have raised the shipping cost to my country since my last purchase). 3 books purchased as gifts including a half price limited edition. That should make someone special happy - I know they love the book.

I am most looking forward to Shackleton's Boat Journey. If it's half as good as Alfred Lansing's Endurance i'll be happy. Not sure I made the right call going for The Turn of the Screw even at this more reasonable price. Will see.

>94 drizzled: It ends on the 14th January.

Yay - they’ve added the Folio diary to the sale - yours for only £7.50 ! LOL

I had about 50 books on my larger wish list (that includes books I would buy only at a significant discount) and three are in the sale: Zhivago, Living Mountain and 80 Days. I am on the fence about placing an order.

Admittedly, I've been buying Folios for many years and have been through many sales so I own quite a few of these already, but most have been on sale before so the sale is a bit of a let down for me. I'm glad others are more enthusiastic.

I may add a full priced book or two that is unlikely to ever be on sale to sweeten the pot.

>96 coynedj: I decided to buy it after spending 3 weeks on it with the original Knopf American edition. A very comprehensive people's / oral history of WWII. You get a truly broad view without having to read any of the multi-volume treatises focused on a single aspect of the war. Some parts are very poignant and moving. I bought it when it was only 20 or 30% off. Recommended.

I didn't expect to pick up anything in the sale, it's been a while since I've ordered from FS. Most of what I'm interested in is too new for the sale, but they managed to get me with Shackleton's Antarctica and In Search of the Dark Ages. Since US shipping is still a beast, I threw in A General History of the Robberies & Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates, which is a good deal even at the regular price. Well played, Folio!

>101 wdripp: I think you'd regret not getting Dr Zhivago at half price now, if it was already in your wish list. It's a beautiful FS production and wasn't unreasonably priced to begin with compared to other editions. Add the discount code mentioned here and you'll even subsidise the postal cost!

>93 antinous_in_london:
Well I called customer service and they said it wasn't too late to cancel my order. He took down my order number and said he would "call the head office" and once the cancellation was completed, I would receive a refund within 5 to 10 business days, but usually much faster.

So as a matter of faith that all this would happen correctly, I placed a second order using the discount code. Note that I didn't explain why I was cancelling my original order and he didn't ask. Didn't want to ruin anything for the rest of you in case the allowed stacking of the discount code wasn't intentional by Folio.

I wouldn't have bothered if the savings was smaller, but this reduced my total purchase price by $40, which in the good old days would have bought me an additional FS book!

I do hope they cancel the correct order once they see two of them for identical books in the system. Since they have different order numbers it should not be a problem I wouldn't think. I didn't want to wait for the order cancellation email before placing my second, discounted order in case anything sold out.
🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

A big thank you to the LT community for reminding me about the discount code! Should have read the blog before placing my order this morning almost as soon as the sale went live.

>105 UK_History_Fan: Good news ! $40 is $40 & definitely worth the phone call

>85 HuxleyTheCat: This sale reminds me of the good old days! Patience has been rewarded by not caving in for Outlaws of the Marsh at the usual price and I surprised myself that I didn't hesitate to purchase - the lure of Folio clearly still flickers. If I wait long enough (2030?) perhaps Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies will also come down to an affordable level.

I agree it's a huge improvement on recent sale efforts. I mostly buy as the catalogues come out, at full price. I often look at things which are tempting but too expensive for what they are (in my view), They go on the "waiting for a sale" list. Pickings from that direction have been exceedingly lean in recent years but my patience was rewarded today with "A History of Christianity", now on its way to me. I'm a fan of MacCulloch as a writer. I believe you're right in expecting the Mantels to be a long time in coming to the sales.

Lovely talking with you again. Just like the good old days , indeed!

>104 cronshaw: I agree. I was happy to get it at it's original price.

>106 antinous_in_london:
Thanks again, will update once I receive the refund on my credit card.

>103 Shadekeep: The pirates book is great, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

>104 cronshaw: >108 assemblyman: You've enabled me on Zhivago. Thanks!

>89 DMulvee: I was thinking of some method of ordering The Waste Land using a US address with a parcel forwarding company, but then the idea of shipping it from the UK to the US then back again all seemed a bit tortuous, risky, and expensive. In the end, it's probably for the best anyway (given all my expenditure on books in December!).

Every time a sale comes around I find myself on the fence about the London & New York set. I could always buy a Coburn monograph instead, but there's definitely something appealing about seeing a selection of photos presented in something like their original format. Would I regularly look at these books and wistfully contemplate a bygone era, marvelling at the artistry of the photographer? Or look at them once or twice and then store them in the top of my wardrobe? I feel it could go either way.

Oh, thanks to folks for sharing the discount code, it knocked the tax off my order plus a little bit of shipping. Every little helps!

>110 GardenOfForkingPaths: Glad to hear it! Been looking for a read like this to quicken the blood.

is WMAG7 a one-time use per account?
I'm not able to use it on this sale and when I checked my order history, I can see it was used in an order back in October 2023.

I got a few of the kiddie books - a couple because I like some of the books themselves and the art, and some for actual little people. I went back and forth over a few others, like Zhivago, and in the end decided against them for purely economic reasons, which is also why I haven’t ordered in over 2 years. Still, 50% off is better than anything recently, I don’t think I’ve seen that since 2020.

>112 j3tang: Yes, sadly it’s one use per account, but if you’re creative you can still use it. I persuaded my partner to set up an account, so we each get one use of the codes & i then reimburse them if something is purchased on their account/card.

A good sale at a bad time for me spending wise. I am tempted by a few but I am on the fence if I will pull the trigger on anything:

Captain Cook Journals
Thomas Hardy Selected Poems
Shackleton's Boat Journey

The other highlights of the sale for me are Shackleton's Antarctica, Outlaws of the Marsh and Dr. Zhivago all of which I own.

>114 antinous_in_london: Not a bad idea ... I could use a second email of mine to create an account.

The hurdle I need to get over is my OCD nature that is preventing me from doing so because I'd like to see all my purchases under the one account. But as you had coincidentally mentioned to someone else ..... $40 is $40 .... (my order just so happens to be approx. $400).

>114 antinous_in_london: "Yes, sadly it’s one use per account"

I confess I'm slightly confused by the rationale behind single-use codes. To my mind, they actually discourage purchases because one thinks "I'll wait until I've got more books in my order so I don't waste the code on just a couple". (And then, if you're me, you forget about it and end up berating yourself for letting the discount expire - and then not ordering anything at all because you can't bring yourself to pay more than you needed to.) If you're going to buy, say, 10 books over a certain period, why should your total discount depend on whether you buy them all at once or split them over multiple orders?

And of course the whole point of a discount code is to encourage purchases, which you stop doing once you've said "this code is no longer valid because you've already used it". I often used to make an initial order on a sale, and then return a week or so later and buy some of the books that didn't quite make the cut the first time around. I'm less likely to do that now I can't use the code I used on the initial purchase.

But hey, it's their business.

I thought Folio's days of deep-discounting were behind them. I'm feeling like a fool for paying full price for many of these books. In future, you'd have to be pretty stupid to buy any of their multi-volume non-fiction books at full price since they are pretty much all here, save for the most recent ones. In their hunt for more book sales, it seems the FS does just about everything to p*** off their best customers.

Anyway, it's a great sale for those who are looking to build out their collections. I hope everyone finds something they like.

In a response to a question on their Facebook page FS stated

" we may be adding a couple of more titles to the sale - do keep an eye out on our social and emails"

>119 LondonLawyer: agree. Wait for the Silk Roads to be discounted. I think Folio overestimated the market for 'fancy Christmas gifts for dad/grandpa' with these multi-volume history books.

A few thoughts. The total of 65 books in the sale (55 SEs and 10 LEs) is about the norm for recent sales. Only 3 books (Anna Karenina, Call of the Wild, Dr. Zhivago) are making their first appearance in a sale, 4 if you count the 2024 diary. From that perspective, a bit disappointing. But the discounts are what makes this sale seem worthwhile to so many. Every Standard Edition but one is being offered at its lowest price ever. (The exception is the Folio Book of Humour.) And the average price of the books on sale is approximately $50 (USD), down from an average of $87 in the June 2023 sale. The average price is at its lowest point since the June 2021 sale, though it doesn’t approach the average prices in the 2018-2020 sales (which ranged between $33-$38).

I used the sale to pick up Outlaws of the Marsh, and All Hell Let Loose, two books that were on my list if offered at a decent discount. As for the books I purchased at full price that are now on sale, I have no regrets. Because I limit my purchases to books that I I really want, I’m happy to have those books rather than having risked waiting for a sale price that might not come and thereby miss out altogether.

>122 Redshirt: A helpful analysis, thanks! That had been my impression, that there were few new books brought to this sale. Anna Karenina and Dr Zhivago are both great buys here. It's unusual in my experience of Folio to see a single volume LE split into two volumes for the SE (usually it's the other way around as we've seen with the Divine Comedy, Book of the New Sun, Sound and Fury, and South Polar Times LE-to-SE adaptations). I for one much prefer having Dr Zhivago in two volumes - it is a long work - and having bought the SE a couple of years ago I can heartily recommend it at 50% off now to anyone who doesn't already have it. The illustrations are magnificent. Similarly, Folio's Anna Karenina is very good: it uses the Maudes' translation (approved by Tolstoy himself) rather than the clunky wooden V&P translation used by Penguin.

I was debating what to get and came to the conclusion there are way too many books on my wish list that will most likely always be full price, so I ended up getting just Kavalier & Clay and Waiting for Godot from the sale titles. And threw in Invisible Cities, The Neverending Story, a Roald Dahl collection, and (finally!) The Hobbit. With the way the pricing has been going over the years, it's made it easier to avoid going too crazy and purchasing every single book I'd like to read from FS - silver lining? :) Because of that, the potential purchase has to really convince me on all fronts, which is why I couldn't get e.g. the Angela Carter novel since I just can't stomach the artwork to justify it even discounted.

>124 santiamen: Congratulations! Kavalier & Clay is a brilliant read with pitch-perfect illustrations in the Folio edition, and a bargain at half-price.

Creators, Conquerors and Citizens is now also gone.

>104 cronshaw: Thanks for the nudge. I did order Zhivago as well as the other two on my wish list, plus three at full price: the new Christie, LeGuin and Wynn Jones titles which I doubt will ever be on sale. I used the 10% off code but I think it only applied to certain books in the order as I ended up with about $20 off my order which covered 2/3 of my shipping costs.

>127 wdripp: My pleasure! Always happy to enable a fellow patient to snaffle good medicine at a great price. The 10% off code doesn't apply to the latest pharmaceuticals, so what you describe sounds correct.

>123 cronshaw: I am tempted by the Anna Karenina, the illustrations look nice, and the price is attractive. I too am not a fan of Pevear and Volokhonsky's translations (I have their Folio War and Peace) but for Anna Karenina my favorite translation is the 2014 Rosamund Bartlett so I am on the fence with regard to getting this Folio edition.

This was my biggest purchase from FS ever. I picked up up for myself:

Micrographia (after it for a while)
Working
Outlaws of the Marsh
Anna Karenina
Creators, Conquerors & Citizens (just in time, apparently)

For gifts:

Planet of the Apes x2
Shackleton's Boat Journey x2
Just So Stories x2
Mr. Rabbit's Symphony (down to 16, btw)

and a huge, unexpected splurge
Shackleton's Antarctica!

A definite great start to 2024, after my last year of slowed-down buying.

>118 Cthulhu.the.Eldritch:

Well, that... sucks. I was going to place my order this evening. Five years of waiting for nothing! Ha.

-edit. In re Stasiland.

-further edit. For anyone that's had Antarctica. How are all those folded maps and bits holding up? I wouldn't expect to be opening them up much at all but... does it seem like the creases aren't worn?

My order is placed. I did keep some full-price volumes back for future sales (it was tough to yet again not order Italian Folktales), but I ended up with All Hell Broke Loose and Doctor Zhivago in the sale, and Dune: Messiah at full price. I did notice that WMAG7 worked only on the sale volumes, not on Dune.

The Limited Edition list is getting quite odd. There are 45 titles listed, 30 are sold out. Of the remaining 15, 9 are on sale. The only 6 full price LEs show pretty clearly where the future lies. 500 or 750 limitation, very popular genres, lots of SF and fantasy.

>133 ranbarnes: "The only 6 full price LEs show pretty clearly where the future lies."

I don't think that's necessarily the right way to look at it. Bear in mind that many of the 30 that are sold out are quite recent: they're sold out because they were popular and sold quickly, whereas the ones still on sale haven't immediately sold out. Yes, there have been popular SF/fantasy LEs recently, but there have also been very successful LEs in more traditional genres - things like the Shakespeare, Ulysses, the Aurora Australis and the Divine Comedy.

anna karenina would be a no-brainer were it not the Maude translation.

>132 coynedj: As there are only 11 copies of the Italian folktales left & it’s highly unlikely to get a reprint, holding out for it to go into a future sale would appear to be a futile exercise !

Re Dune Messiah - As usual, codes don’t work on the most recent releases

I picked up the Hardy Poems LE. I've had my eye on it since it came out but it was just priced too high, especially for those of us not in the UK. I took a look at my past orders and noticed that I had 10 orders in 2020, 7 in 2021, 2 in 2022, and 1 in 2023. Yep, that lucrative differential pricing is working well for them.

I think this was the best FS sale that we've seen lately. The Wasteland is now priced very reasonably and I would have bought it if I didn't already own the Thornwillow edition and have No Reply's edition on order. Tempted by the Shackleton but I just don't have the shelf space.

Looks like Mr Rabbit’s Symphony of Nature and Other Tails is sold out now too.

>135 wooter: I just finished Anna Karenina, where I alternated between the audiobook in the P&V translation (on my commute), and the FS version in the Maude (when I had time to sit and read). I didn’t find either translation appreciably better than the other, and was able to enjoy both of them just fine

The best sale for a very long time.

The Living Mountain
The Tudor Age
In Search of the Dark Ages
Doctor Zhivago

Used WMAG7 code, thanks to >67 antinous_in_london:

>110 GardenOfForkingPaths: Every time a sale comes around I find myself on the fence about the London & New York set....Would I regularly look at these books and wistfully contemplate a bygone era, marvelling at the artistry of the photographer?

Couldn't say, but I do: I bought them at half price in April 2020 and have felt a tad guilty about it. As with Door in the Wall, they're recreated phenomenally well.

>128 cronshaw: "latest pharmaceuticals" Hahahahahahaha

It certainly feels like that. I've just bought 19 titles and am sweating like a character from Trainspotting

>119 LondonLawyer: And that’s the problem with big discounts like these.

Godot now waiting for only one more person.

>76 ian_curtin: I doubt we'll see titles like these get LE treatment in future,
Perhaps not, but, at least in the case of Rob Roy, it wasn't the title that was a problem for me - one that would have almost been a no-brainer even with my aversion to LEs. But, the cover design is just appalling - I've seen better art work from my 10-year old students.
Having said that - I'm saddened that they've produced some LEs for some excellent titles but failed to accompany them with SE versions in the way that they have, for instance, for the Shirley Jacksons. I'd have had FS editions of pretty much all of Rob Roy, Madame Bovary, The Moonstone and Tristram Shandy on my shelves by now.

>78 j3tang: Based on what I've found so far, the former is a memoir by Shackleton and the latter is more of a story recounted by Worsely (crew member), am I on the right track?
Exactly that. Worsley, however, was not 'just' a crew member, but the captain of the Endurance. A remarkable man. I have both books, and can thoroughly recommend them, especially at these prices! The Worsley is one of my favourite FS editions with that superb cover.

>96 coynedj: Any thoughts on All Hell Let Loose? Should I buy it? Do I really need another WWII book?
Perhaps my favourite single volume history of WW2. I can't answer your last question, but if I hadn't already got a hardback copy already (admittedly not an FS edition), I'd be very, very tempted.

>119 LondonLawyer: I'm feeling like a fool for paying full price for many of these books.
I have as well (not for many, but certainly one or two, including Shackleton) and I don't feel a fool at all. I've had those books for some time, and thoroughly enjoyed them. I bought them at full price as I didn't want to take the risk - and for several I suspect that half price now isn't half off the original price. I've several times not paid full price when books have first come out, and then bought them later when superficially discounted, but against the later, more costly, price. Equally, I have on more than one occasion hung on for a discount for it never to transpire (only just got in in time on The Snow Leopard for instance, but missed others altogether), or for it to be so minimal it hasn't been worth it. Having said that, I'm not particularly interested in FS's modern history editions - I've trade editions of most of these already on my shelves, and they're enough for me!

>122 Redshirt: Every Standard Edition but one is being offered at its lowest price ever. (The exception is the Folio Book of Humour.)
Checking through my previous orders, I see that I bought the Wyndham set for £29 in a sale a few years ago. I also bought Humphrey Clinker 3 years ago in the Jan sale for £23.35. My copy of Anna Karenina cost just under £35, but that was longer ago, so, taking inflation into account, it is almost certainly cheaper now. That might be said for the others too perhaps. (I also received Shackleton's Boat Journey as a freebie in one of the FS's 3 for 2 or similar sales, but that can't compare!!).

>124 santiamen: which is why I couldn't get e.g. the Angela Carter novel since I just can't stomach the artwork to justify it even discounted.
I totally get that, but I find the grossness of the artwork works in this context for me!

So - 2 purchases in this sale, peanuts compared to some, but the first time I've bought more than one volume together for 3 years: Nights at the Circus and Mask of Command on this occasion.

>145 Willoyd:

Completely agree with both Shackleton related publications:
>78 j3tang: j3tang: Based on what I've found so far, the former is a memoir by Shackleton and the latter is more of a story recounted by Worsely (crew member), am I on the right track?
Exactly that. Worsley, however, was not 'just' a crew member, but the captain of the Endurance. A remarkable man. I have both books, and can thoroughly recommend them, especially at these prices! The Worsley is one of my favourite FS editions with that superb cover

Worsely’s book is one of the best Antarctica narratives I’ve read and provides links brilliantly to Shackleton’s memoirs. I found it, bizarrely, intensely moving as they approached Grytviken. Shackleton’s memoirs are outstanding. The opportunity to buy both at half price is an excellent deal. I just wish I hadn’t paid full price, but I don’t regret that.

Both publications drive my ambition to visit South Georgia and Antarctica.

>119 LondonLawyer:

This is a bit silly. If Folio don’t discount there are complaints about poor twice-yealy sales - and the last few have been dismal. When there is a decent sale there are complaints from people who’ve bought prices at full price. I agree with at least one other comment, that I’m happy to pay full price for the books I really want - and of those listed in the sale there are 10 books I paid full price for. I’m also delighted to buy additional books of interest to me that I would have not paid full price for - another 10 I’ve ordered under the sale. The additional 10% off is excellent.

It’s a no win situation for Folio if complaints are made about the cost of new Folio books and, later, half-price books.

So, I paid for the books I felt were of value to me at full price and am happy to buy others at half price when my ‘value’ bar is set at the revised cost.

Haha, totally agree with pse1 - was thinking similar. If they did two of these kinds of sales a year, or even one, I think it's the best of all worlds: an indication that Folio is doing well AND we get some discounts at a predictable time each year during which we can add some full-priced titles to our basket. Any more sales and they're heading into the territory of not running the best business model. (i.e. in the good ol' days, many of us waited for the regular sales to load up on books, and much less frequently forked up for full price).

Also, thanks to everyone who provided some info on the Worsely. Like many, I love the Antarctica escapades. I have Scott's diaries and the Worst Journey in the World, but found the latter a bit disturbing re: the way they treat the animals. (And I live on a farm so am def not squeamish about life and death - he just seemed to regard them with almost disgust, or something...very off-putting)

Due to a minor financial crisis of late, I'm resisting adding to the credit card, but for the record I would have bought:

- Oryx and Crake (I have a hardback of this but the glow in the dark is appealing!)
- Stasiland (but would have been beaten to the punch, no doubt. I have a paperback of this - great book. I've taught it too.)
- The Living Mountain (again, thanks for the info - didn't know about this title)
- Shackleton's Antartica and Boat Journey
- Cavalier and Clay - this is the only one I'm still really, really wanting, regardless of aforementioned crisis.

Also, question: I'm assuming the Cook is the same text as the earlier edition by Folio? (1997)

Order placed:

Sharpe’s Fortress
Sharpe’s Tiger
Sharpe’s Triumph
Doctor Zhivago
Ordeal by Innocence
Rob Roy

-S

The LE of Selected Poems by Thomas Hardy was an unexpected gift and a no-brainer purchase.

I was very happy with this sale. Ordered all 3 Sharpe books, The Killing Floor, Oryx and Crake, Shackleton’s Boat Journey, Dr. Zhivago, and Shackleton’s Memoirs. At 60% off, I felt like the price was finally right for most of them, and an actual good deal for Dr. Zhivago and the Shackleton set.

Hell let loose found it’s way into the cart and has somehow purchased itself so I will be looking forward to its arrival. Not a bad sale at all compared to the last few but only one purchase as trying to tighten the purse strings this year.

>148 Jeremy53: Here is an informative answer on The Journals by folio_books: https://www.librarything.com/topic/294589#6577595

A very worthwhile sale, with solid discounts and a generous range of books. I was particularly pleased to get Micographia, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Dr Zhivago – having missed out on the LE. And many thanks to the Devotee who mentioned the discount code, which took the sting out of the added tax.

Not a terrible sale. I bought Zhivago, Planet of the Apes, Oryx and Crake, and The Postman Always Rings Twice.

I'd put in a special mention for Shackleton's Boat Journey. Not only is the narrative thrilling and superbly crafted, but this is also a really nicely designed edition. It was one of my top picks from last year. Here's my review for those on the fence: https://youtu.be/VLXg4KYAbOw

Alright... I've been staying away from Folio Society the past few years because of the ever increasing prices and pathetic sales...
This sale is better than the last few recent ones (not saying much), but it still pales in comparison to the glorious sales from years back when we'd regularly have books at well "over" 60% off and more. And I remember we international customers even had free expedited shipping for a while and then they gradually added shipping fees, which got increasingly higher. Now it costs me $60 canadian to ship 4 books. lol. The MSRP for books are also getting much higher. A standard volume of Frankenstein now is $120 canadian... so even at 50% in the future this would still be $60 for a short book. Back in the day the MSRP for a novel of this length would be roughly 60 to $75 canadian. And with their sales it would go down to about 20 to $35 cad and with lower shipping fees.

Anyways, enough of my complaining. lol

Ended up biting the bullet and purchased Dr. Zhivago, Outlaws of the Marsh, Planet of the Apes and Shakleton's Boat Journey. Noticed shipping to Canada topped out at roughly $60 after the second book. So that baited me into ordering two more. lol

Thanks as well for posting the additional 10% coupon code.

A quick question for the Folio regulars who might remember. But I noticed their recent collection of M.R. James ghost stories and the Folio Book of Horror Stories (the one with the face covered with a red claw mark) aren't available anymore. Does anyone remember did these books go on sale and then got sold out? Or did they never go on sale and got sold out at full price?

Going to get back to finishing my folio copy of No Cloak, No Dagger. Happy reading everyone!

History of Christianity sold out. I dithered too long, but my tbr pile is already ridiculous.

Ah, I would have liked Shackleton‘s Boat Journey and Bomber Squad, but adding to that the forced express shipping of almost £40, doesn’t make it a great bargain anymore

I had also bought some of these at higher prices (not expecting them to be discounted so heavily - or at all) - but I am more philosophical about that now than I would have been a few years ago. (I am still kicking myself for missing out on the Foundation set when it was discounted to £50-odd.)

I picked up Shackleton's Antarctica (having recently read Folio's delightful edition of Shackleton's Boat Journey), the Wyndham collection, Nights at the Circus, Call of the Wild, and a few non-sale titles to make the shipping worthwhile. I am also philosophical about buying all these beautiful books without having confidence that I will ever read them all!

>141 terebinth: Thank you, I appreciate your thoughts. I did go for it in the end, and I am excited to receive it.

Though a different beast, the quality of the Door in the Wall facsimile was definitely a factor in the decision, and I think it will be an interesting companion to that book. Also, a nice video from Peter Harrington giving an overview of a first edition of New York in the rare dust jacket (which FS did not replicate):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6JK5nV91dw

It's definitely a positive step forward that Limited Edition shipping is now sensibly combined. This is of particular relevance for the 3 Folio war poet LEs; I know the additional shipping cost for those three was a bugbear for many folk. As others have already said, they are lovely books and highly recommended at half price.

>160 GardenOfForkingPaths: Do let us know your thoughts when you receive it. I too enjoyed Door in the Wall and have been wrestling with whether to buy London & New York or not.

>147 pse1: How about they do away with 50% off sales altogether and just set their regular prices at a lower point? People paying full price wouldn't feel cheated when a sale comes along. I understand the need for some form of discounting to shift slow-moving stock, but broad fire sales like this discourage buyers from ever paying the regular price for their books. It's not a great strategy for them in the longer term since, in future, I shall only buy outside of sales on an exceptional basis. I'm sure I'm not alone in that.

>148 Jeremy53: This sale is not an indication that Folio is doing well; quite the reverse. A look at their recently-filed statutory accounts to 31 Aug 23 show turnover and profit down. You generally only have sales like this one when you have a cash flow issue and urgently need hard cash.

Luxury goods companies do not devalue their brand with mass 50%-off sales, if they can help it.

Hurry up if you want a copy of Oryx & Crake, it'll sell out this afternoon.

>162 LondonLawyer: Firstly, it looks like you’ve learned what many of us have known for a very long time. Welcome to the club! If you really want it, buy it full price, or risk it selling out before it ever makes it to a sale. If it goes on sale, feel lucky. For example, I’ve been waiting for the Keay volumes to reach what I would consider a more reasonable price, but they just keep increasing and might never go on offer. If they sell out before then, that’s okay. Secondly, FS has never considered itself a luxury brand. It’s thoroughly middle class and has always behaved as such. These sales are nothing like they used to be when FS really was in dire financial straits.

>160 GardenOfForkingPaths: Yes, I foolishly was one who went for the three war poets with individual postage charges - and even then Folio sent two in one box - although they did have the goodness to refund me when I pointed this out. Anyone who is on the fence about these three should really snap them up. They are quite beautiful things. Ditto Hooke & Chabon.

After a restless night, I double dipped this morning on the Zhivago and the Sharpes, now I understand that the three Folio published are a discrete set. I'm not going to endure the likes of Isabella Bird sticking her tongue out at me when I passed her by at some ridiculous price last time, and besides, the WMAG7 code covered the postage..

>163 cronshaw: Oryx & Crake is now down to 16 copies.

Low stock counters have also appeared on Bomber Command (currently at 96) and Sophie's World (98).

>156 eric923: "But I noticed their recent collection of M.R. James ghost stories and the Folio Book of Horror Stories (the one with the face covered with a red claw mark) aren't available anymore. Does anyone remember did these books go on sale and then got sold out? Or did they never go on sale and got sold out at full price?"

The (excellent) spreadsheet of past sales indicates that Ghost Stories was on sale only once (in January 2021) and that the Folio Book of Horror Stories was never on sale.

As to when they sold out, we used to have two threads that were really useful for noting this sort of thing: one on books with low stock, and another on books which had sold out. Both seem to have died a death in recent years, sadly.

Took the plunge on The Sharpe Trilogy, Oryx and Crate, and Killing Floor -- all rainy day material for me, but well worth it at these prices. In terms of the sale, I wouldn't read too much into it. Most of these are older, lesser selling titles that Folio is simply trying to move out of the warehouse. But definitely welcome!

>162 LondonLawyer: The point in your second paragraph is largely being overlooked amidst the celebration. The sale has disappointed most of the newer devotees, while invigorating many of the older ones. It doesn’t really bode well for the fans in the latter group - the FS isn’t doing anyone favours, they’re offloading books they simply can’t easily sell anymore.

>67 antinous_in_london: Just saved 50 quid thanks to your mention of the coupon code.

Happy New Year, and many thanks!

>169 What_What: I'm not sure if it's been overlooked - it has been quite apparent and spoken about in depth on these forums for years. I suppose the interesting dilemma for Folio is, What's next? Go the Suntup route and publish only sci-fi/fantasy/horror/popular fiction and lose a large fanbase and hope to attract others? Try to appease both groups and hope the 'older ones' start buying more popular titles? Time will tell.

Regardless, I'm very happy with my order for someone who hasn't purchased a Folio Society book in two years.

Kicking myself a bit that I didn't throw in Shackleton’s Boat Journey, since folks have such nice things to say about it. It seemed like gilding the lily after putting Antarctica in the cart, but now it sounds like a worthy companion book. The order has already shipped however, and I'm not paying nearly the cost of the book again in shipping to get it now.

Meanwhile, here's the current summary of sold-out titles so far:

Stasiland
Mr Rabbit’s Symphony of Nature and Other Tails
A History of Christianity
Creators, Conquerors & Citizens
Waiting for Godot

>162 LondonLawyer: I guess it depends on one's preferences. My favourite genre is children's literature. With every recent sale, there have been just a few such titles. It seems that in most sales, about 60% of the discounted titles comprise of non-fiction, LEs (which I wouldn't buy even after a discount) and crime novels. There is a minimum of modern fiction or children's lit. So waiting for sales is a pointless endeavor for some people.

If I were mainly splurging on the above mentioned genres, I'd probably keep checking how close they are to running out of stock and waiting for sales because a significant enough amount of those actually do get discounted.

Yes. I’ve never felt bad about buying full price, because no book I’ve bought full price has ever been on significant sale. On the other hand, I have felt bad about waiting to buy several books, when they then sold out and prices skyrocketed on the secondary market. Really depends on what kinds of books you want to buy.

>169 What_What: I was reading comments in Instagram and people there have overwhelmingly negative responses to the items on the sale. People over there suggesting Folio bestsellers being discounted.

Changing topic... does anybody recommend Outlaws on the Marsh? On the FS Reddit sub they are very bullish on Folio's edition and I was thinking to buy it.

I have bought quite a few books now on sale either at full price or at 10% off. I would have loved to save money, but am happy to support FS by buying books when they launch and want the books enough to not risk them going out of stock. I think if you want certain kinds of books stocked, you should support that by buying them at full price (assuming you think they’re worth the price).

>175 dyhtstriyk: does anybody recommend Outlaws on the Marsh?

Absolutely. It's one of the best items in the sale, even at full price.

>176 RRCBS: I would support FS at regular prices if those prices were fair to US customers. But typically they have an arbitrary and unbalanced markup, which adds further insult to the high shipping costs. So I tend to only buy during sales, in spite of wanting several titles which probably will never be in one. If they would charge me the same price as UK customers, they'd get more of my custom.

>162 LondonLawyer: People paying full price wouldn't feel cheated when a sale comes along.
I would correct that, by putting the word 'some' in front of this sentence. I have paid full price for a number of books in the sale, and certainly don't feel cheated. I don't feel cheated when other items I buy full price land up in sales either.

It's a fact of life. If you feel cheated in such a position, simply don't ever buy anything except in sales, although you'll then risk being disappointed when they don't appear in the sale. Basically, it's all about opportunity cost. How much is one prepared to pay to get the specific books wanted, bearing in mind all those books bought at full cost that don't appear in the sales?

How about they do away with 50% off sales altogether and just set their regular prices at a lower point?
I strongly suspect this would simply not work better for a number of reasons. Sales generate excitement and interest. They also generate sales (look at how many people have added full price books to their sales choices). They encourage sales of books that people wouldn't otherwise buy etc etc. The danger would be if the sale became predictable - if every book at some stage appeared in a regular 50% off sale. Neither 'every book' nor 'regular 50% off sale' apply currently. There used to be such an expectation, and FS suffered as a result. I think they've probably (hopefully) learned their lesson.
This comes from someone who thinks that the vast majority of FS books are too expensive at full price and has become much more picky and choosy (not least because they don't publish as many books as I used to be interested in!).

At this point Folio is so rarely publishing titles I really want that it doesn't make sense to wait for a sale or wait for them to release enough to group into a big order. If I'm only getting one or two per year I'll do it as they come out at regular price.

>106 antinous_in_london:
The cancellation and re-order using the 10% discount code appears to have worked. I had a "live chat" with FS customer service this morning and he confirmed that my original order was cancelled yesterday prior to shipment and he went ahead and processed my credit card refund. Almost immediately I received an email from FS confirming the refund request to the credit card company and my order history changed from Processing to Closed on the cancelled order.

So it seems to have paid off to take the gamble of placing a second order while waiting for the cancellation of the first one. As fast as the sale items are flying off the shelves, I have serious concerns I would have missed out on some of my order had I waited for everything to fully process.

Grateful, of course, for the reminder on the discount code (and since it is single use I am glad to have saved it for a largish order). Thanks antinous!

>175 dyhtstriyk: People's expectations are funny sometimes. This is obviously a clearance sale on old books. Taking a cursory look, it appears these titles run from the years 2011-2022. During this 13 year period, Folio produced over 850 titles, so this is roughly the bottom 7% that didn't move during that period -- a pretty low gambit if you're waiting for a sale (unless you're a connoisseur of the Limited Edition poetry books).

>179 Willoyd: I think many people will look at this sale and conclude that paying full price for a Folio book (particularly the two volume non-fiction titles at the £150ish price point) is nuts, when they can just buy in sales and keep an eye on the Last Chance page to avoid missing out on anything that doesn’t make it that far.

>183 LondonLawyer: The wait for the sales strategy will work for the few but not the many. If many people do exactly what you describe then FS will make less money from non-fiction titles. Revenues will be both smaller and delayed and FS will need to finance unsold stock. FS's rational response will be to take notice of the lack of interest in non-fiction titles, publish fewer of them and/or produce them in smaller print runs and put more resources into more popular books. That may not be the outcome you want.

>183 LondonLawyer: As Willoyd mentioned, it comes down to whatever opportunity cost you're willing to accept. You may wait patiently for four years, say, until the set you want appears in a sale - if it does, but then you've not had that book to read and enjoy in your own home during those four years. Moreover, as is the case with almost all the books in the current sale, the 50% off discount isn't half the original price. Almost all Folio titles have seen large price increases over the past few years.

>183 LondonLawyer: "... and keep an eye on the Last Chance page to avoid missing out on anything that doesn’t make it that far."

That's a very risky strategy as the Last Chance page is far from comprehensive (it seems it is only occasionally manually updated). Of the five titles listed in >172 Shadekeep: as now sold out, only one made it to the Last Chance page.

>166 TheEconomist: Only 8 Oryx & Crake remaining now

It's a gamble: Most books I buy from them sell out without a sale, some don't. If it's something I care about, I buy full price. If I don't, I might get tempted if the price drops low enough. But with the price hike for shipping to Germany, that hasn't been the case in a long time since it adds so much to the actual cost.

>185 cronshaw: That's true they have. I ordered Captain Cook's Journals and Shackleton's Boat Journey which at current non-sale prices are £155 and £47.95. They were originally going for £120 and £25 on release. I dither on these things which is why I had not bought them previously.

>190 assemblyman: Cook's Journals is very tempting at the sale price but I already own the old single volume version from the 'Victorian exploration' series so it's hard to justify. They do look nice though.

>162 LondonLawyer: ..slow-moving stock,
>188 Cthulhu.the.Eldritch: .."we wanna get rid of the dirt we have in our storages for years"

Ah... the good ole 'Run Non-moving Items Report' in any worthwhile Inventory Management System :)

>186 PeterFitzGerald: This was exactly the strategy I employed when waiting for Lolita to go on sale…

…then one day *pooff!* it was gone

>191 HuxleyTheCat: Hello HuxleyPuss, lovely to see you again! I too was purring over Cook's Journals, and like you decided to forgo that particular mouse-hole in preference for the single volume Captain Cook's voyages from 2003. It may have fewer illustrations overall, but I prefer the binding design and, importantly, it takes up less space on the shelf.

>191 HuxleyTheCat: The single volume version was a definite consideration for me up until now. I went with the three volume version because I preferred how the voyages are split per volume and I really like the binding design with the chart included. It reminds me a little of the Shackleton set.

>194 cronshaw: Yes finding space is always a battle even for me with a relatively small collection. I bought two small bookcases late last year but will have no shelf to put these latest purchases on?

>195 assemblyman: I forgot that the current 3-vol set also has the large fold-out chart, that's a definite plus :)

>195 assemblyman: >194 cronshaw: >191 HuxleyTheCat:
The last few years have seen an almighty battle for shelf space. I'm now back to where I was a few years ago, with surplus volumes (not Folios!) suffering the ignominy of relegation to the attic, after all other options, including dozens given away, have been exhausted. I'm with Brendan on the choice of Cooks.

Bomber Command is down to 84. Probably the best time to get this book.

Not super low stock, but questionable if they'll to make it to the Summer Sale:

Mask of Command 96
Outlaws of the Marsh 221
Waterloo 201
Thomas Hardy Poems 119
Doctor Zhivago 190
Sharpe's Tiger 138
Around the World in 80 Days 171
Expedition of Humphrey Clinker 109
The Prophet 208

>198 PartTimeBookAddict: And 289 Kavalier & Clays...

>184 Pendrainllwyn: No, it’s not the outcome I want but it’s the natural (if not inevitable) consequence of pursuing this particular sales strategy.

Oryx and Crake sold out now as well.

>181 UK_History_Fan: I just noticed in the magazine they say that the WMAG7 code expires on 20th December 2023 - so i guess it’s also thanks to FS for forgetting to turn it off !

How many Americans and Canadians picked-up The Waste Land? I personally have not seen a finer edition, and at $750, it's easily worth the asking cost. Interestingly enough, I found a few copies on ebay for a "mere" $3k...

>200 LondonLawyer:
It might be natural for you, and good luck to you. However, for the reasons I and others have detailed, and from experience, it's not one I'll be adopting any time soon myself, and by the sound of it I'll be anything but alone, so I'd disagree that it's inevitable.
(BTW being in my mid-60s, with a father who died of heart disease at 58, and all previous males on his side dying younger than me, the opportunity cost of hanging around on the chance that a book might be bought cheaper in a couple of years time, is way, way too high for me!).

I have the 2011 Call of the Wild. Does anyone here know if there's any difference in the current version beyond Buck's pose on the cover? £20 is such a nice price...

Thanks to compilation by Redshirt, the latest FS sale statistics and comparative table have been uploaded to the FSD wiki here.
See link under FS SALE STATISTICS AND HISTORY

>204 Willoyd: So to sum up, you think there will be little to no adverse effect on Folio’s revenue from full-priced non-fiction books because people will not alter their behaviour to wait for the big sales in which those books have a track record of appearing? And that only outliers like me will refrain from dropping £150+ on a full-price book in future, where previously they’d have opened their wallets thinking the days of good sales were gone?

>207 LondonLawyer: People will inevitably stop buying some books with the intention of waiting for the sale, implying a revenue loss of full price - sale price for each such book.

But the sale will also induce some customers to buy who would never have been willing to pay full price, implying a revenue gain equal to the sale price from each such purchase.

It is classic business strategy 101 to occasionally have sales to scoop up the revenue from the second group. The key is to calibrate the frequency and intensity of the sales to ensure these gains outweigh the losses you are worried about. We don't have access to detailed data from Folio Society to know whether the trade-off works for them, but the fact that they continue to consistently hold sales suggests that they think the data supports the strategy.

>183 LondonLawyer: I agree with this to an extent. Since 2022 I have placed 14 orders with the FS (I won’t count up the total number of books from these but it is probably a good amount!). I thought the days of the good sales were over so if I saw a book I liked I would buy it.
However this sale has indicated that I should adjust my behaviour. I’ll still buy an LE upon release if they look attractive, but won’t buy any non-fiction unless in a sale. With fiction if I am desperate for a book I’ll buy it otherwise I’ll hold off.

Really this will just be a trial period for a year and I’ll see if the sale is repeated in 12 months. It is an easy year to make this adjustment, Everyman has suddenly gone from issuing 6 books per year to 12.

The Casino Royale LE has been added to the sale.

>210 PeterFitzGerald: I wonder if they'll add the Beowulf LE, I think I'd pick that up at half price.

>210 PeterFitzGerald: Yikes. Am sure they thought a Bond LE would be fairly sure-fire, but evidently not. The design is drab, essentially a super-sized standard edition, and why anyone would pay £500 (or even £250) for Fleming's awful prose is beyond me.

Over 10% of titles are sold out already, so hopefully a few more will be added to keep things lively until the 14th.

I've just received my parcel and what a pleasure it is to unwrap Folios for the first time in over three years.

>194 cronshaw: ->197 folio_books: Space isn't a problem at the moment as I did a major cull during relocation and the bulk of my collection is still in Hampshire along with virtually all my LECs. Thinking about it, the single vol Cook is still down there, and I do like a nice pull-out map. Hmmm.

I could be tempted to place another order, very tempted...

>213 Cthulhu.the.Eldritch: The Hornblower was in the sale from the start, you must have just missed it…

>211 EdmundRodriguez: Highly unlikely. I would put Casino Royale with Turn of the Screw. Both were vastly overpriced when compared with the SE versions which internally are extremely similar (if I remember Casino LE adds a couple of extra illustrations). Beowulf doesn’t have a matching SE & doesn’t to me seem vastly over-priced for what you get when compared with Casino Royale/Turn of the Screw.

Even at the reduced price of £250 i struggle to see the value in the Turn of the Screw over the standard SE at £39.95 - for me a tooled leather cover & a few added embellishments don’t add £210 of value (let alone £460 of added value at the original price). I’m guessing others agreed & they weren't selling which is why they're now 50% off.

Well, the FS edition looks a bargain compared with this...

https://shop.penguin.co.uk/products/casino-royale-james-bond-007-bentley-edition

(tbf the latter does come with playing cards)

Oof. I need to get off my high "look at me not tempted to spend money" horse because I was kind of hoping for 50% off the Casino Royale LE and was sad but also relieved when it wasn't in the sale yesterday because I figure if I'm not willing to pay full price for a FS book, then that most likely means it's something I don't need and/or really want, and thus, I don't need it at half price either.

I am about to waste my whole day contemplating this. ✌️

I really wish they'd put everything (Bond included) in the sale right away. Shipping to Germany is very expensive these days and one instead of two parcels would have been very helpful in that regard.

>219 SF-72: Completely agree.

>219 SF-72: I wonder if the fast sale of Turn of the Screw LE has driven the inclusion? I believe it started the sale at just over 100 copies left, and in a couple of days is now down to 23 copies. I don't think it's a coincidence that Casino Royale LE was originally priced at £500 as well.

>207 LondonLawyer:
No I'm not saying that. The simple answer is I don't know.

First of all, I'm not sure of what you mean by 'big sales in which those books have a track record of appearing'. As I see it, we've had one big sale (other recent sales have not with one or two exceptions exactly been 'big' when it comes to discounts), which is insufficient to create a 'track-record' IMO. Looking down the FS sales stats spreadsheet, of those non-fiction books appearing in this sale, most have appeared once before, significantly less heavily discounted. In other words, as we stand, this is a one-off. I'm not sure why you specifically refer to non-fiction books - perhaps because it's the latter you are interested in? As far as I can see, they've been treated pretty even-handedly.

So, what was I saying? I was simply trying to point out that I, and later it appears others, thought differently to you: I don't feel a fool or cheated by buying at full price, treating a sale such as this as part of everyday life and part of the opportunity cost equation, so I don't intend to change my approach to buying, which will continue to depend on whether I see sufficient value in a book at the price set (full price or sale), that value depending on a variety of circumstances. That's my way of buying, but I totally agree with you when you say that "I'm sure I'm not alone" - there will certainly be others who think the same way as you. Now, what effect the sum total of all those feelings, yours, mine and other permutations, will have on revenue, I hesitate to guess. And it would be a guess, as I have no access to any hard data. It may indeed, turn out that I, rather than you, am the outlier. If so, then I'll have to readjust the values I set, as the circumstances will have changed, but as things are at the moment, a one-off 'big' sale is insufficient for me to change my approach.

Having said all that, I reckon we're probably very different buyers: I nowadays buy new very infrequently: the substantial rise in prices and the changes in the range of books FS now produce mean that far fewer books are of sufficient perceived value to tempt me, especially at full price. So for instance in non-fiction, there are a significant number of modern histories that I already have in trade hardbacks and don't see a need to replace expensively. And of course the range of different buying preferences that will add to the lack of certainty as to what will happen!

So, as I said, the simple answer is I don't know!

>219 SF-72:

Agreed, I put my order in a day or two ago, then this pops up. Uggh.

I pulled out my Casino Royale SE and I'm not really feeling an overwhelming desire to upgrade so I think I'm going to skip the LE. In case anyone is on the fence though, here are several photos of the actual book from Instagram:

• https://www.instagram.com/p/CwuxnZvq6Yq?img_index=1
• https://www.instagram.com/p/C1t8Lx5ty7B/

This sale is perfect for people like me who are not very particular about getting Folio Society books, but are happy to get a good deal. Ordered the following:

- The Journals (1768 - 1779) of Captain James Cook
- All Hell Let Loose
- Outlaws of the Marsh
- Shackleton’s Antarctica

Will now wait for next similar sale and act quickly as I missed "History of Christianity" this time.

>219 SF-72: it’s pretty standard marketing - if you put everything in at once people visit, buy what they want & go. If you drip feed some new titles in then people revisit & may make additional purchases (even of full price titles to justify the postage etc).

I can’t really complain as i’m in the UK & their decision to charge a flat rate of £9.99 for LE’s saved me a fortune in postage. I finally caved on the war poets & a few other LE’s & they all came in one box with a single charge of £9.99 for next day shipping. I hope the ability to combine shipping on LE’s continues & isn't just a sale thing

Nice to see they finally reached their "more than 65 titles", as it's now at 66 (at least for US buyers). However, a number were already sold out before they pushed up the total, so it's still a grey area.

I think anything else I'd want them to add is far too new, so my one purchase is likely to be the only from this sale.

>221 Thwack: It definitely worked - Turn of the Screw LE now down to 3 & won’t survive the weekend !

>229 antinous_in_london: & may not survive the weekend. Down to 3.

14 at your pre-edited post. 11 sold in an hour. Word is out.

Turn of the Screw sold out.

>230 Pendrainllwyn: Yes , i looked 15 minutes after i posted & it had gone from 14 to 3 !

Can anyone give us their opinion of the Micrographia SE? Which paper does it use, does it feel overly reduced compared to the LE (ie does it feel special at all)? Would love to hear from someone who has (or has seen) both the LE and the SE...

>224 BooksFriendsNotFood: Things that were stated in the morning...are only valid in the morning. I just placed my first sale order! I caved and got the Bond LE - I'm hoping it's going to be brilliant in-person with the larger size, larger text, integrated illustrations, etc. similar to the Hitchhiker's LE, plus I'd rather not regret skipping it after the sale and then end up paying double the price later. I'm basically investing in the hope that 1-10 years from now I will desire to re-read Casino Royale lol.

I also got the last five Bond books (only one of which I've read) since WMAG7 is apparently still working. I created a new FS account with a different email just to use the coupon again so thank you >114 antinous_in_london: for saving me almost $40!

A thought on the "buy at full price or wait for a sale" sub-conversation: Buying at full price not only gives you access to the book earlier than waiting for it to show up in a sale, and not only makes it a relatively safe bet that you'll actually get a copy, as people have mentioned, but there's also the slightly sinister variant of those two: an order placed during a low-stock period (which gets accelerated during a sale) risks a no-recourse scenario if the book were to arrive damaged. So in a way, buying early at full price ensures that you'll get a pristine copy, either on the first try or the next. With that in mind, it's pretty easy to imagine most of us, perhaps not even realizing it, buy at prices inversely proportional to our risk tolerance.

Patience is another key point, in my opinion! While some people can laudably wait one or more years to get their hands on a FS copy which they believe will go on sale, others may happily - or grudgingly, as the case may be - pay the asking price to have it in their hands within 1-2 weeks (and even that wait may feel painful).

EDIT: I just realized that >235 treereader: already made the same point in less words.

Hope this is allowed here - but if anyone is thinking of purchasing Get Shorty - I'm selling at present a sealed copy / mint condition less than FS's price on ebay.

Will further knock off 15% for LT'ers- (so £20+p&p) I'm based in the UK but will ship worldwide at cost - postal service of your choice.

DM me for details.

>145 Willoyd: Thanks for confirming! I put the order before seeing this so I took a leap of faith :) This is actually my first non-fiction purchase from FS so I'm fairly excited for it!

This sale seems to have helped clear the remaining copies of Italian Folktales as it is now sold out. A lovely set that I just never could commit to buying.

>239 assemblyman: Same here. I kept hoping for it to make it to a sale, instead the price kept creeping up. It was on my wish list of books I'd absolutely buy, but only at a lower price. Oh well.

>240 santiamen: Same here. I wanted to buy it so bad but couldn't justify the price. I remember it being on sale once and wish i had taken advantage then

>241 DramPan: And same here as well. I have Folio's other folktale books (Japanese, etc), but couldn't pull the trigger on this one. I'm sure I'll check the secondary market regularly, be aghast at the prices, and regret not buying it when I had the chance.

>237 Ignatius777: Hope this is allowed here

For future info and for the benefit of ayone else who might be thinking about it, no sales allowed. Regular contributors may post trades.

Edited to change "so" back to the intended "no"!
Apologies for any confusion.

>240 santiamen: It did make a sale a year or so ago , you must have missed it ! I had been on the fence but the combination of seeing it was down to about 10 copies , the 10% off code & FS offering a flat rate of £9.99 next day shipping meant that i chucked it into my basket with some half price LE’s (I finally bought the 3 war poets & a couple of others). FS combining shipping on LE’s & only charging £9.99 for as many as you wanted meant i saved well over £100 on shipping so i tell myself the Calvino paid for itself.

The wonderful Around the World in 80 Days sold out. It'll be interesting if it reaches the popularity of 20,000 Leagues on the secondary market.

Sure to sell out during sale:

Bomber Command 37
Doctor Zhivago 21
Waterloo 129

Probably won't make it to the summer sale:

The Prophet 167
Outlaws of the Marsh 161
Letters From Fairyland 179
Anna Karenina 191
Living Mountain 214
Kavalier and Clay 248
Shackleton's Boat Journey 263

I still don’t understand why Kavalier and Clay hasn’t sold out a long time ago!

>246 RRCBS: Me too. It's a brilliant book, superbly executed by Folio, and with excellent illustrations that are pitch perfect. I can only assume that people don't really know enough about it.

>203 astropi: Moved to the US from the UK last April (apparently just in time for this Folio sale :)). I was tempted by The Waste Land in the previous sale when the price was 1150. I could not resist now, so I got both this and Selected Poems.
For whoever is on the fence for "Dr. Zhivago", I bought it on the first day Folio released it. It was worth the money on full price (and feel no regrets). At the present price, it's a steal.

>246 RRCBS: >247 red_guy: I read it years ago when a friend of mine gave it to me after reading it himself. I really liked it but I didn’t feel the need to pick up the FS edition and read it again.

Time for an updated Sold Out list:

Around the World in Eighty Days
Creators, Conquerors & Citizens
Doctor Zhivago
A History of Christianity
The Hornblower Set 2: Captain Hornblower
Mr Rabbit’s Symphony of Nature and Other Tails
Oryx and Crake
Stasiland
The Turn of the Screw (Limited Edition)
Waiting for Godot

You all are really working hard to sell me on Kavalier and Clay, even though I have a perfectly good trade copy sitting here that I've never even cracked.

>251 ambyrglow: I'll prove that I'm a heathen, and say that I wasn't really impressed with Kavalier and Clay. It was fine, but nothing that I told friends to read. As I recall, I didn't think it ended well. Not that I wanted to make your decision more difficult, but just wanted you to know that the praise isn't unanimous.

>252 coynedj: Hah! I appreciate it. (I liked Yiddish Policeman's Union a lot, and didn't like Gentlemen of the Road. Not sure where that puts me in terms of Chabon aficionados...)

>252 coynedj: Same here. I found Kavalier and Clay to be a bit rambling, like it was trying to hard to be an epic. No slight against Chabon though: his Wonder Boys is among my favourite novels of all and I wish Folio Society would publish it.

>251 ambyrglow: I thought the story was ok but nothing special. I haven’t read anything else by Chabon, but I was impressed with the quality of the FS volume

>253 ambyrglow: It's bigger, but more accessible than either of those novels.

Buy it and join the cool kids!

>256 PartTimeBookAddict: Buy it and join the cool kids!
That's saved me 50-odd quid instantly! ;-)

>161 ubiquitousuk: I've now spent some time with London & New York and can give a few impressions. I haven't delved too deeply into the introductions and commentary yet.

I'm stating the obvious, but this is a different kettle of fish from The Door in the Wall, not only because the latter was a brilliant union of literature and photography, but also because it felt like a fine press book despite being a facsimile. By contrast, London & New York are turn of the century photography/art books with only a slight fine press sensibility. That's nothing to do with the quality of the job that FS has done here, it's just the nature of the beast. To me, somewhere around £250/£300 feels like an appropriate price. Mileage varies tremendously with these judgements, and there was surely a lot of time involved in the research, reproduction, tipping in and hand-binding.

Bearing the above in mind, I'm delighted with them. They're huge (41cm x 31cm) handsome books and seem to be very faithful facsimiles; well printed, well bound and using nice quality, well-chosen materials. The Materica paper feel like a good quality art paper, while the Canaletto (apparently 20% cotton) used for the introductions is very nice with a soft, slightly textured feel; nothing to rival the mould-made paper used in the Door in the The Wall but pleasant enough. Looking at the overall work with 21st century eyes, the photos range from exceptional to very good to just a handful that have perhaps not stood the test of time so well. Nonetheless, all are interesting and rewarding to look at from historical, artistic, and history of photography perspectives. Initial thoughts are that I find the London volume to be more interesting and accomplished work, although that's probably to be expected as I know the city better than New York.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I always find that looking at photos published in their original form and sequence offers a completely different and enriching experience compared to looking at them online or in exhaustive retrospectives. I had similar feelings seeing W. Eugene Smith's famous photos in old issues of Life Magazine; or looking at a copy of Henri Cartier-Bresson's The Decisive Moment instead of a modern monograph; or indeed any other original photo book where the photographer has worked closely with the publisher to create their own particular vision. In Coburn's case, his involvement was apparently extensive: planning, sequencing, pulling the photogravures himself and supervising the entire print run.

London & New York is a pretty amazing window (almost literally due to how the photos are mounted in the book) into a lost age as well as into early 20th century photography. The photos also bring to life literature written and set in this period and are certainly excellent fuel for the imagination. I think for anyone who enjoys Coburn's photography and is willing to adjust their expectations to nearer the sale price rather than the full price, it's a very safe recommendation. I don't find it to be as magical or impressive as The Door in the Wall, but an excellent set nonetheless.

PS. One other pleasant surprise from my sale order: the John Wyndham collection. I didn't expect it to be quite so nice as it is: clothbound slipcase, sturdy volumes, great design and illustrations.

>258 GardenOfForkingPaths: thanks very much for the detailed report. I think it helps me resolve not to buy London and New York right now. Part of what I enjoyed about Door in the Wall was the fact that it felt like a fine press book—very well put. I'm not sure the images themselves interest me enough to carry the other edition. I might reconsider at some point in the future, no doubt when the only option is the secondary market at inflated prices…

>259 ubiquitousuk: No problem. I completely understand that decision. At the rate it's selling it might be in a few more sales yet. I'm not sure I can ever see there being a mad rush with this one.

>258 GardenOfForkingPaths: One other pleasant surprise from my sale order: the John Wyndham collection. I didn't expect it to be quite so nice as it is: clothbound slipcase...

Odd that they don't mention that: it's paper-covered for my set from an earlier Folio sale (second printing, 2011). Still, it came at a very low price, and the books are well produced, printed in Berwick-upon-Tweed and bound by Hunter & Foulis of Edinburgh.

Thanks for the link in >160 GardenOfForkingPaths:, good to see an original copy: I think I'm glad the FS didn't reproduce the dust jackets, I find the spines a welcome sight on the shelf. And very glad that it hasn't disappointed you: all points taken on board in the comparison with Door in the Wall, still L & NY comes down from the shelf much more often, as dreaming my way into those lost cityscapes just bears more repetition than reading the Wells, a treasure though it is.

I've just placed my first Folio order in over two years, a modest one for Shackleton's Boat Journey, and my previous one was for Shackleton's Antarctica. Books of exploration are a minuscule part of the household library, and those we have are almost all from Folio, it just seems to be the main area where FS methods and my tastes are still aligned.

>257 Willoyd: How dare you! Ha ha.

>161 ubiquitousuk: Not an item I would purchase, but I eagerly await your video review!

>261 terebinth:
it just seems to be the main are where FS methods and my tastes are still aligned
So agree - over 80% of my (almost as small in number as you) purchases in the past few years have been in this area. Don't think Shackleton's Boat Journey will disappoint.

I’m tempted to buy a LE from those currently offered at a 50% discount. I wonder which might be the ‘best value’ offering? I’m interested in Rob Roy which is not far from the price of a high spec SE but note the overwhelming disappointment in this volume expressed in this forum and elsewhere. I wonder about London & New York but this is a very different publication.

I’ve tended to buy facsimiles in the past including the Mappa Mundi and Aurora Australis offerings but also recently purchased The Shadow of the Wind and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy set.

Any views?

I settled for Kavalier and Dr. Zhivago. The former was in my wishlist for a long while but, since it reached almost 100GBP, I expected to miss out. Quite satisfied with both purchases. Can’t wait to get them in hand.

>264 pse1: If you are interested in poetry, then both Thomas Hardy and the War Poets (letterpress printed) are very good value, I think. The Wilfred Owen volume seems particularly strong.

>264 pse1: I'm an unabashed Sir Walter Scott fan and have for many many years bemoaned the dearth of Scott publications relative to other, in my opinion, lesser works which have been published by Folio.

And then out of the blue they choose one of his great novels and make a pig's ear out of the presentation in just about every way.

I would not buy it even at half price. The illustrations are an affront.

Three new additions this morning:

I Capture the Castle
Operation Mincemeat
The Old Patagonian Express

I would have bought all three but I already made my sale purchase and don't want to pay more shipping to Australia. Such a shame

>267 LesMiserables: At least there is the lovely earlier SE.

>266 BorisG: I thought I was done with this sale but I'm still pondering Thomas Hardy. I remember that I was quite taken with it on release but the price was too much for me.

Does anyone who bought it previously have any thoughts on it?

>270 assemblyman: Yes, true. And with so little WS published, why do Rob Roy again (and so awfully)?

Operation Mincemeat - interesting that another WWII related title is discounted. I guess they aren't selling as well anymore?

>271 LesMiserables: Happy New Year Steve, have you seen Warwick’s copy? I was hugely unimpressed when I first saw the LE advertised on the site but recall being pleasantly surprised when I held it in my hand.

I would love to see a Folio edition of Ivanhoe one day.

>268 PeterFitzGerald: Three new additions this morning:.....The Old Patagonian Express
>207 LondonLawyer:
One I bought in October using up birthday voucher - pretty much just covering postage. C'est la vie!

>271 LesMiserables: Reissuing previously released titles is common practice with FS at this stage. Some more deserving than others depending on who you ask. For Rob Roy it was the 250th anniversary of Walter Scott's birth.

>275 assemblyman:
Even more salt into the wound then! What a way to commemorate such a great writer. Possibly one of FS's worst efforts, and then limit the target market even more.

>273 plasticjock:
And to you, my friend. No I have not had a close up. I'd be surprised though if the physical copy would charm me.

>275 assemblyman:

Ha. I wrote to FS, in both 2009 and in 2016, specifically about the forthcoming 250, giving them plenty of time to create something worthy of such an illustrious and yet under-represented author in the Folio pantheon.

I could have walked that project backwards through a midge infested bog, and came up with a more fitting commemoration.

Happy with the Rob Roy SE from 2001, but hard to fathom how Ivanhoe and Mid-Lothian haven't been done yet...

>264 pse1:

Selected Poems: Thomas Hardy.

>280 dlphcoracl: >264 pse1:

I agree that the Thomas Hardy LE is well worth it's price in the sale

>268 PeterFitzGerald: All three notably overpriced to begin with.

I’m intrigued by I Capture the Castle, but Folio’s older edition of it is quite cheap on the used market. I suppose I’ll have to work out which illustration set I prefer.

>268 PeterFitzGerald: Well dang, it would have been nice to have those as choices when I placed my order. As others have indicated, I too have no interest in paying for shipping again to the US. Nice for UK customers I suppose, who increasingly seem like the only ones FS truly cares about anymore.

>272 LeBacon: Dare one hope that people are beginning to find war less fascinating?

>284 Shadekeep: many of us U.K customers also baulk at having to pay for postage a second time, which wouldn't have been necessary if FS had just posted all sale editions at the same time. Moreover, the knowledge that you can't use the 10% off code more than once makes placing a second order yet more disgruntlesome. I may well have been tempted to put one of these volumes in my first sale basket, but I'm not tempted now.

Poor call, Ms. Mole :(

>285 cronshaw: Good points, though I expect the local shipping isn't as dunning as the overseas. My shipping costs typically run equivalent to the cost of an extra book, and that's including the "American gratuity" they tack onto the price. Altogether it makes a second order notably unappealing for me.

>285 cronshaw: Anyone with an ounce of creativity should have no problem using the 10% code more than once…

Also, technically the code expired on 20th December 2023 so shouldn’t even be valid on sale purchases anyway - though FS haven't turned it off yet so the use of it is an unofficial bonus.

>284 Shadekeep: I just read a book of short essays by a Czech writer and one of his observations was how Hitler seems to be in our households more than any other living or dead person, including current politicians. Due to the abundance of documentaries on WWII on daily basis across all channels.

Not to be completely OT, I agree it's not the best choice to have titles trickling into the sale almost one by one every few days. The UK postage is all right (maybe not with LEs) but, in my case at least, they lose due to the the splurge-followed-by-guilt effect that takes place with the first order.

>288 santiamen: they lose due to the the splurge-followed-by-guilt effect that takes place with the first order

A fair point as well. Somewhat like setting out new dishes at the buffet after everyone has already stuffed themselves to repletion.

>289 Shadekeep: A lot of folks here (myself included) are like a book buying version of bulimics. The solution is to binge and purge, binge and purge.

>290 LeBacon: Definitely include me in that group. Boxes of books coming in, boxes of books going out...

What greater delight in the depths of winter (and antidote to all the rubbish on the gogglebox) than to snuggle up next to the wood-burner with a newly acquired Folio. The Living Mountain is a reminder of all that is good about the Folio Society I've known and loved, with perfect confluence of design and subject. It's a small book but solid with a slight grippy quality to the cloth which suits it well to the beautiful descriptions of the granite massif. The abbey wove paper is smooth, creamy and has a decent level of opacity. A well-chosen introducer and a good number of beautiful illustrations make this an absolute steal at the sale price for anyone who delights in the environment or simply beautiful writing.

ETA - Not acquired during the sale but happily purchased at full price, the Maigret set is another which, to my mind, is a super advert for the best of Folio, representing excellent value at sale price.

Well, I took the plunge and bought . . . a used copy of I Capture the Castle. Sorry, Folio. It's hard for a 50% off sale to tempt me into new purchases when I'd still be paying twice what a copy costs on the secondary market.

I'm coming late to the conversation, but here's what I picked up:

Shackleton's Antarctica
Doctor Zhivago
History of Christianity
Two of the Tey novels

Two of those three have since sold out, so I'm feeling confident that they're good choices. Safety in crowds. Or... the comfort of being a sheep?

I'm also in Australia, where the "cheap" shipping is $60 Australian ($40 US). There's no way I'm buying a second round from this sale. I already have the older I Capture the Castle, and I think I like the illustrations better than the new one, anyway.

I might have picked up Operation Mincemeat, but since the shipping basically doubles the cost of the book, I can't justify it.

EDIT: Plus the galling perennial issue of the book itself costing more than it would if I were allowed to buy it in pounds.

>292 HuxleyTheCat: couldn’t agree more about The Living Mountain. I plan to pick up another two copies in this sale to present as gifts. It’s a gem and as you said, beautifully written. I can’t fault it. And now to have a good look at the Maigret set

>293 ambyrglow: I much prefer that older edition of I Capture the Castle and I'd chose it over the current edition even if they were the same price.

>296 mazzyhope815: As far as I can tell the main downside to the older edition is that the spine fades if you look at it cross-wise. I've found a copy with an unfaded spine, and plan to keep in hidden in the dark!

>293 ambyrglow: >296 mazzyhope815: I'm also a fan of the first Folio edition of I Capture the Castle. Delightful binding and profuse illustrations.

Ooof. I for sure would have grabbed a copy of Old Patagonian Express to go with my matching copy of The Great Railway Bazaar in my big order.

I can wait and see if any other books are added to the sale. Does anyone know how long the sale lasts?

Hey, Mole. If you're listening, add A Perfect Spy, Pompeii, SPRQ and Mr. Campion and I'll buy all 5!

>299 PartTimeBookAddict: The sale lasts another six days.

>300 LeBacon: Thanks. Unlikely that they'll add anything before then. I guess I'll let it slip until my next order.

>268 PeterFitzGerald:

I’m surprised that Operation Mincemeat and the The Old Patagonian Express are additions to the sale as they’re both 2023 publications and I would have thought they would have been relatively popular. I certainly considered buying both when released and, despite the (UK) postage, will purchase both although I’ll hang on for a few more days in case there are still more new additions.

I flirted with skipping the sale given that I am trying to offload numerous FS books to make room on my shelves, but a bridge too far I suppose. I went for Edward Thomas poetry to join my Wilfred Owen (have zero interest in Rupert Brooke's poetry so I am breaking up the band), Old Patagonian Express, Mask of Command.

Wilfred Owen & Edward Thomas finally get low-stock counters ! Could the war poets actually sell out at some point over the next year (or two) ?!?!

>166 TheEconomist: "Low stock counters have also appeared on Bomber Command (currently at 96) and Sophie's World (98)."

Both of these have now sold out.

Received the Thomas Hardy LE and very happy with it.

Can anyone tell me if Micrographia is actually an interesting read? I know Samuel Pepys thought so, but I can't take that as a guarantee.

I can tell I've had too much coffee today.

>202 antinous_in_london: 'Thanks to FS for forgetting to turn it off !'

Folio move in apparently random and inscrutable ways: they added a free magazine to my sale order after failing to do so on previous orders. Ours not to reason why.

>216 antinous_in_london: 'Even at the reduced price of £250 i struggle to see the value in the Turn of the Screw over the standard SE at £39.95'

Me too, even as it ticked down to zero copies, I was happy to let that one go.

On the other hand, I did cave on three LE's: Babar; Peter Rabbit; and London & New York. They had always niggled away at me but I just wasn't prepared to pay the full price. Half-price, though, and I'm in.

I will be curious to see how they box them up, though, given that they don't appear to be charging the usual special LE fees.

>307 cronshaw: No! I started this last year (I ordered it the day Folio released it as a SE) and have really struggled with it. I haven’t ever not finished a book and should finish this in March, but reading a technical explanation of how to build your own microscope isn’t fun

>258 GardenOfForkingPaths: 'PS. One other pleasant surprise from my sale order: the John Wyndham collection. I didn't expect it to be quite so nice as it is: clothbound slipcase, sturdy volumes, great design and illustrations.'

My one slight regret from this sale is that I bought the Wyndham collection a couple of months ago. But it's not a real regret because I was really impressed by it and was kicking myself for having waited so long. It's beautiful :-)

>264 pse1: I am very much in the minority on Rob Roy but I think it is a delightful volume. I bought it when it was announced at full price and do not regret it. Whatever you think of the artwork, it's beautifully made. At half-price, I would jump at it.

I guess I'm the opposite on London & New York. I wouldn't have paid full price but I did go for it in the sale and I expect it will make me wonder why I left it so long. That's my usual experience with Folio's LEs :-)

>266 BorisG: The Hardy volume is a particularly striking piece of design with its unusual binding.

>292 HuxleyTheCat: I had only intended to place one sale order. Fiona. But your enablement is tempting me. Badly.

Grrrr ;-)

Is their Oryx and Crake good? Looking for a nice replacement to my mass-market PB.

>315 AndrewL: Popular enough to have sold out I'm afraid :(

>316 cronshaw: Ah, didn't notice that. Figures :)

Could someone please remind me what day the sale ends? Do we know what time of day it will end?

>318 ubiquitousuk: It ends at midnight on Sunday.

>310 DMulvee: "...but reading a technical explanation of how to build your own microscope isn’t fun"

I find that hard to believe!

>146 pse1: I spent a full winter on the Falkland Islands back in 86'.

Stunning.

>309 Cat_of_Ulthar: All of my LE’s & SE’s came packaged in one outer box, though the LE’s were all slim volumes so didn't need the industrial-strength protection FS use for big sets like the Shakespeare/Hitchhikers etc. At a single £9.99 shipping charge for LE’s & SE’s combined i cant complain about shipping costs when compared to the usual individual charges for each LE.

>292 HuxleyTheCat:
The Living Mountain is perhaps the best book I have read of its genre.

Simply magnificent.

>323 LesMiserables: Can't wait for my copy to arrive

>245 PartTimeBookAddict: Anna Karenina already showing up out of stock as well

>314 Cat_of_Ulthar: I'm genuinely surprised that The Living Mountain isn't in your collection already, Andrew. It is, to quote >323 LesMiserables: Steve, "Simply magnificent" in a compact, understated manner.

>295 stopsurfing: "And now to have a good look at the Maigret set"

I had never read any Maigret prior to Folio publishing the first of its two sets, but I found the character to be interesting and the stories sufficiently compelling to wish to read more. The sets themselves are gorgeous little gems of quality book making. Of late Folio has understandably sought to broaden its appeal and some of its output has tended towards the garish to my (small c conservative) eyes, and perhaps value vs materials has slipped a little in some areas. No worries on either of those accounts with its Maigret efforts, where nice quality cloth which feels lovely in the hand, decent paper and superb woodcuts by the inimitable Harry Brockway combine to make subtly lovely little books.

And, talking of enablement... video presentations of the Cook and Shackleton sets along with the Hardy poems make all three rather enticing. (And the clock is ticking.) Hmm.

Folio have today jiggled the order of the titles as they appear on the sale webpage rather than add more sale titles. Perhaps this indicates no more goodies are to appear.

>326 HuxleyTheCat: I concur Simenon, whether through Maigret or his romans durs is a compelling writer. I'd snap up this Folio Maigret set in the sale if I didn't prefer to read him in French. The engravings look charming. You'll regret not lugging Shackleton onboard at half price while you have the chance. It's a magnificently produced set.

Another update of the list of the fallen:

Anna Karenina
Around the World in Eighty Days
Bomber Command
Creators, Conquerors & Citizens
Doctor Zhivago
A History of Christianity
The Hornblower Set 2: Captain Hornblower
Mr Rabbit’s Symphony of Nature and Other Tails
Oryx and Crake
Sophie’s World
Stasiland
The Turn of the Screw (Limited Edition)
Waiting for Godot

13 out of 69, pretty good shelf clearing so far. As indicated earlier, quite a few titles in the sale are in low numbers as well.

The "last chance to buy" page is now showing 25 titles, including a few non-sale titles new to the "last chance" page like The Secret Agent and the Sherlock Holmes.

I think Folio Society is doing a good job of clearing their warehouse with this sale.

>330 sdawson: They may certainly be selling many books in this Sale... but as to whether the sold books are actually leaving the Folio Society premises any time soon is not quite so clear to me!

>264 pse1: I’m interested in Rob Roy... but note the overwhelming disappointment

I think the overwhelming negative opinion has much to do with the illustrator choice. So if you don't find the illustrations and the binding off-putting and actually want the book, I don't see why you should be hesitating. And I say it as someone who does find the illustrations off-putting.

I’m tempted to buy a LE from those currently offered at a 50% discount. I wonder which might be the ‘best value’ offering?

I second >266 BorisG: and others. I don't know if poetry is your cup of tea, but in my opinion, the best values are the three War Poet volumes done in the good old traditions of Private Press - letterpress, thick mold-made paper, wonderful lithographs printed under artists' supervision, quarter leather bindings with paste papers over boards - what's not to like? Plus the Rupert Brooke volume features the best ending line of a poem in the English language :)

Also, although I don't own it, the Hardy volume seems like a very nice, elegant LE that definitely seems a better value and more worthy of the LE moniker than the "lazy" LEs like The Turn of the Screw.

>327 cronshaw:
I bought a listing of Tout Simenon books on e-bay a few years ago and received 9 hard backed volumes published by Editions France Loisirs. All the Maigret plus a lot more. I'm now slowly working my way through the volume of short stories with my French dictionary by my side.

>327 cronshaw: NYRB put out a number of Simenon books, curiously none are currently available in their catalogue at this time. But I do have most them myself.

>333 N11284: Chapeau ! I've collected several of the Tout Simenon editions published in paperback by Omnibus. They seem very good quality, printed on bible paper within robust gatefold cover bindings illustrated with photos taken by Simenon on his journalistic travels. I enjoy the combination of several Maigrets and a few romans durs in each volume.

>334 Shadekeep: I too am a fan of NYRB volumes, smart and handy with nicer paper than most paperbacks, perfect for travelling! I've a couple of their Henry Greens.

>322 antinous_in_london: 'At a single £9.99 shipping charge for LE’s & SE’s combined i cant complain about shipping costs when compared to the usual individual charges for each LE.'

Absolutely not!

Folio split my order into two boxes: Babar and London & New York in one (makes sense, theyre both pretty heavy); Peter Rabbit and the SEs in the second.

All arrived in perfect condition as far as I can tell on an initial once-over :-)

>326 HuxleyTheCat: 'I'm genuinely surprised that The Living Mountain isn't in your collection already, Andrew.'

It was actually in my basket along with several other titles until I had an attack of 'common sense' and removed them.

Thanks to you and Steve and various other enablers, I have now rectified that and am helping Folio to clear a bit more shelf space :-)

'The Cook and Shackleton sets along with the Hardy poems make all three rather enticing.'

I have all three and am very pleased with them but, if I had to pick one, it would be the Hardy poems - it's gorgeous.

>331 English-bookseller: 'Whether the sold books are actually leaving the Folio Society premises any time soon is not quite so clear to me!'

My 'next-day' delivery took five days including a weekend so probably three working days. That's normal for the North of Scotland although it's probably no consolation to you. Hopefully your books are just caught up in the backlog and will be out soon.

>334 Shadekeep: I wonder if the Penguin editions of the last decade or so did not end up getting the NYRB editions out of the market (copyright? just market decision?).

My order arrived only one day late from standard delivery times. Not bas givine how busy Folio must be right now.

I have to agree with everyone so far on The Living Mountain - a steal at the current price and the Columbus typeface is among my favourites.

The LE Turn of the Screw was sensibly protected and has beautiful and detailed blocking on the leather - far more precise and impressive than in the product photographs. I was glad to see that this was also set in Columbus. The only minor niggles are with the slipcase: the cloth slipcase is very dark, worse than in the product photos in this case, the bronze damask design doesn't present itself very well. The slipcase is also lined with soft material to protect the leather so I was annoyed to find, upon running my finger over the interior, a small area of hard crust had formed. Not wanting it to scratch the book I had to clean this off myself.

The slipcase is however solid and sturdy.

>339 AnnieMod: I was thinking along those lines as well. I suspect a matter of rights lapsing for NYRB for the time being has knocked them from the roster. They've made up for it though by queuing up a slate of Dino Buzzati, very much looking forward to their forthcoming issuance of The Singularity.

>335 cronshaw:
"I've collected several of the Tout Simenon editions published in paperback by Omnibus. They seem very good quality, printed on bible paper within robust gatefold cover bindings illustrated with photos taken by Simenon on his journalistic travels."
They've now replaced that edition with a new one sans photos. It was my misfortune to have bought only half of the old set at the time it was withdrawn, so I have a pied collection. The new edition does have slightly thicker paper.

I finally caved in and ordered Thomas Hardy Selected Poems. I decided I just couldn’t pass it up and with it now at only 65 left I didn’t want to chance it selling out overnight. It’s a new precedent for me as this is the first time I’ve made a second order during a sale. Surprisingly an unused birthday code from last year worked and took a tenner off for me.

>342 Jayked: Thanks for that information, I'd no idea they'd altered the format. I'll have to be careful in any future eBay searches, particularly from those warehouse-style booksellers that provide misleading stock images.

>343 assemblyman: Congratulations! I think the Hardy is the 'best value' proposition among all the LEs currently in the sale.

I'm still toying with Micrographia in my basket. I actually prefer the look of the SE to the LE: the covers, spine titling and the slipcase design. I don't know whether Folio corrected the spelling error of the Editorial Note in the LE (which contained 'discretely emended' instead of 'discreetly emended') for the SE, I'd have hoped so. I also don't know whether I'd actually read it, that's the drone-fly in the ointment at present.

I wish everyone would stop talking about how wonderful The Living Mountain is. I thought about it, didn't include it in my order, and now can't justify the shipping to the U.S. for just one book. Regrets, I've had a few.

>344 cronshaw: Thanks, I'm looking forward to it. Micrographia is a lovely looking edition. Between the two I would also prefer the SE for all the reasons that you mentioned, with the addition of the size. It would be easier to read than the LE while still being big enough to enjoy all the illustrations in a large format.

>328 Shadekeep: "Another update of the list of the fallen"

The Mask of Command can now be added to that list.

>345 coynedj: Same. I'd cycle back and pick up Shackleton’s Boat Journey and The Living Mountain if the shipping didn't basically kick one of those right back to full price. It would be like getting 25% off still, but that barely cancels the US overcharge.

>347 PeterFitzGerald: Good, good, the housecleaning continues apace!

>214 HuxleyTheCat: regarding your impulses towards the 3-vol. edition Journals of Captain Cook with its attractive fold-out map in the sale, I did a little research into the comparison with the Folio 1999 single volume Voyages of Captain Cook 1768-1779.

It would appear that the Voyages and the Journals are significantly different beasts, beyond the evident differences in size, bindings and maps etc. The 3-vol. Journals are an abridgement of Cook's Journals alone, with most of the comparatively dull long periods on the high sea and associated navigation/weather/rigging details excised so as to concentrate on landings and discoveries ashore. The Voyages are a similarly edited selection from not only Cook's journals, but also the journals of Joseph Banks and other scientists; the resulting narrative of the First Voyage as commissioned by the Lord of the Admiralty was compiled by one Dr. John Hawkesworth, a 'man of Letters', who used Bank's Journal probably more than Cook's and made some substantial amendments - for which he was later criticised; the Second and Third Voyages were edited by Dr. John Douglas, Canon of Windsor, who 'polished' Cook's text to correct grammatical errors, but who otherwise remained faithful to Cook's record, and employed the journal of Lt. James King for the narrative of the circumstances of Cook's death and thereafter. As a result, the edited narrative of the Voyages is much fuller in some of its details and descriptions than that of the Journals, and is generally more 'readable' with far less dry navigational detail in between, which is still present to some extent in the latter even after abridgement. Some comments from readers of this abridged edition of the Journals complain about 'slow' or 'dull' sections concerning navigation etc., but realistically this is to be expected in the journals of any ship's captain, and will no doubt be of interest to some and provide appropriate maritime context. The significant literary advantage of the Journals is that they are pure Cook and no-one else (except where the editor steps in to account for the context and aftermath of Cook's death).

This means of course that you can buy the Journals for its lovely map, and actually gain content which differs quite significantly from that of the Voyages. You also have 72 (mostly colour) plates in the 3-volume set as against 58 illustrations (both colour and b&w but mostly the latter) in Folio's 1999 Voyages. The general introduction by Glyndwr Williams in Voyages is fuller than that in the Journals, and provides great informative context for embarking on the adventures.

The die-hard Captain James Cook fan and Folio Devotee will surely want both editions :)

>326 HuxleyTheCat: >333 N11284: >335 cronshaw: >342 Jayked:
The FS Maigret's do look excellent, and being a fan one might think they'd be a no-brainer for me, but they're actually the opposite! TBH I can't see the point of having a small selection in one 'uniform' format but everything else needing something different. For me, the strength of Maigret is in the collective quality of the novels, not as stand alones or selections. I could never see the point of 'selected' Sherlock Holmes stories either - they're too closely interlinked. Or maybe it's my completism?! I hadn't come across Tout Simenon, but do have the 10 volumes of Tout Maigret (paperback), which are very nicely done. My French can just about cope - certainly good practice! I was collecting the new Penguin editions.....! (I do have the FS Holmes sets!).

>345 coynedj: There's now only 70 copies of The Living Mountain left... just saying.

>351 Thwack:

For those who find themselves dithering on whether to buy this one, know that this is a treasure.

Buy it, now.

>350 Willoyd:
The Tout Simenon includes all of the Maigret novels plus the short stories. Also a volume entitled Simenon Avant Simenon featuring the detective Yves Jarry. I haven't yet started on this one. Like you my French is just about able for them, albeit with the dictionary never far from hand.

Put in order number 2 just now, mostly due to the enablement for the Hardy LE above. Added Shackleton’s Boat Journey and the great battles series as well.

Previous order was placed on sale day one and included Cook’s Journals, Bright Shining Lie and History of Christianity, all multi-volume sets I’d been intrigued by but couldn’t convince myself to buy due to the high prices.

It will be interesting to see which order gets here first. I got my shipping notice for the first order last Friday, but the tracking info has never updated. The new order defaulted to expedited shipping due to the presence of the LE.

>351 Thwack: I'll probably end up paying double the price on the secondary market some day.

I'm toying with making another order for 'Operation Mincemeat' & 'The Old Patagonia Express'. I am little disappointed that these were added to the sale later BUT I cannot fault FS customer service in any way as they have been gracious and humorous throughout a very busy time.

I'm another who put in a second order to grab The Living Mountain (as well as The Old Patagonia Express, I Capture The Castle and Kavalier & Clay - I had dithered about that for a long time, as I have read it before and am unlikely to read it again - but ultimately decided it's a beautiful edition of one of my favourite books of the early 2000s, so it should go on my shelf, and maybe someday someone will read it!).

The three Marvel compilations (The Golden Age, The Silver Age and The Bronze Age) have been added to the sale.

Received my parcel this morning, containing my 2 orders.

Both books are far nicer in the hand than they looked online, so am thoroughly satisfied! I'm particularly struck by Night At The Circus, which I had doubts about ordering. Illustrations really vivid and powerful, well suited to a Carter book; I'm surprised, having been prepared to tolerate them, but I actually really, really like them. Love it at first sight! Now if they partnered that with a companion edition of Wise Children, I'd be straight in there, even though I've already got the Everyman edition.
The Keegan, Mask of Command, remains for me an uninspiring cover design (why didn't they at least vaguely match it up with Face of Battle?), but it's a typically competent FS edition of a book I've found difficult to source with the combination of format/state/price I was looking for that will be quite happy alongside my other Keegans. I wouldn't have paid more for it, but good value at this price. Looking forward to reading it!

I see that the Marvel compilations are a late arrival to the sale. My wallet is safe - I really can't think of another FS production I'm less interested in. I did umm and aagh about a couple of others (particularly Living Mountain and Kavalier and Clay), but I have perfectly acceptable hardback copies of both, so will save my pennies for another day.

>359 Willoyd: I also have that Everyman edition of Angela Carter (with Bloody Chamber, Wise Children, and Fireworks it's a real bargain) but if Folio reissued Bloody Chamber at a reasonable price I'd upgrade. They really need to beef up that gothic/horror category with some titles that aren't of the "spooky house" or Stephen King variety.

The Folio Bloody Chamber is lovely; well worth tracking down on the secondary market.

>361 ambyrglow: You made me look. Found a fine used 1st edition for about the same price as Folio would charge me, so enabled. They were going for a lot more when I last looked awhile ago. Love that Igor Karash art.

>348 Shadekeep: "Good, good, the housecleaning continues apace!"

And still continues: Sharpe's Tiger now gone.

I was content with Apes, Zhivago, Eighty Days, Micro, Godot, Journals, Sophie's World and Shackleton last week but having kept an eye on this thread I felt like I'd be regretting missing out on the Living Mountain. I ended up putting in another order just for it alone, even with shipping it's still cheaper than full price, I'd rather live with a few pounds lost now than regretting the chance to buy it later before they're all gone. Incidentally it marks the 300th book I've added to my Folio wall.

I may have been a little lukewarm in my enthusiasm for The Folio Society recently but am pleased to record my praise for the following:

My business unit premises this morning had quite a little hill of Folio Society boxes full of the books I had ordered in the sale. As someone who has packed some thousands of book orders over the years I was very impressed with the packing. I had not realised that the Society arranges for some of its cardboard boxes to be sized so that an exact number of a particular book fits exactly into one box. That's clever. I also looked briefly at some 100 or so of the books and every one had been well packed and there appears not to be a single example of even minor damage to any of the slip cases. So thank you to the despatching and packing staff for a great job.

>365 English-bookseller: wow, that’s a big order! Congrats!

>365 English-bookseller: Glad all of your books arrived in pristine condition!!

Yes, the packing really is very good.

Which is particularly noteworthy at a time when packaging as a whole is getting worse, with so many retailers going for the "shove it in a box (or even a bag!) and hope for the best" approach.

>369 PeterFitzGerald: That's why I don't think their UK shipping fee is bad at all. What's the point of free shipping when it leads to dragging everything back to the post office because new items arrive damaged before I even got a chance to touch them?
The only other company that packs books this well, in my experience, is Forbidden Planet.

It drives me crazy when people complain about excessive packaging, as if recycling wasn't an option - instead we end up throwing away the products themselves when they inevitably arrive in a subpar state.

It also tells me which companies actually love their own merchandise and which are in it just for money and couldn't possibly care less.

After much dilly-dallying I put my order in: a couple of copies of The Living Mountain to give as gifts (this was my favourite book of 2022 I think); Shackleton’s Boat Journey; The Killing Floor (not sure about this one but I'm not the type to only read literature) and the Maigret set (>326 HuxleyTheCat: thank you for the description!). I considered The Prophet but luckily read some of it first (YMMV but it’s the type of writing that I almost find physically repellent - each to their own). I was also really tempted by Cook’s Journals and somewhat tempted by Micrographia but experience tells me I wouldn’t do them justice.
All in all an attractive sale.

>360 LeBacon: I also have that Everyman edition of Angela Carter (with Bloody Chamber, Wise Children, and Fireworks it's a real bargain) but if Folio reissued Bloody Chamber at a reasonable price I'd upgrade. They really need to beef up that gothic/horror category with some titles that aren't of the "spooky house" or Stephen King variety.
I have to confess, I sold my copy of Bloody Chamber when somebody offered my a price I couldn't refuse when I was slimming my collection down (and I knew I could get a decent enough copy with Everyman). It was worth it, but I agree it's a lovely volume. If FS extended their Carter offering to Wise Children, I could be persuaded to upgrade again! (Probably sounds completely irrational, but have grown to value Angela Carter's work more). There's a lot they could beef up in preference to some of the titles they do IMO (including Stephen King, whose massive popularity I've TBH never quite fathomed, but then I really don't get of on that genre anyway).

>372 Willoyd: My brother read a Stephen King book, which a friend who was a King fanboy said was his best. I don't recall the title. He told me it drove him nuts - lots of "He did this. Then she did that. Then he did this" without any attention paid to their thoughts or motivations. I think there are too many good books out there for me to read, instead of King.

Ahhh well, I placed another order, (aforementioned titles). Inevitable.

Well, it goes without saying that I must dine well, so I will have to look elsewhere for economies.

I ordered the Selected Poems of Thomas Hardy. It's such a beautiful edition, and I had wanted it for quite some time. The deep discount was extremely attractive, but ultimately, with less than 40 copies now left, it's the FOMO that induced me to pull the trigger on this one.

>34 dyhtstriyk: >35 ubiquitousuk: I think it has been restocked.

https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/the-shining.html

>376 assemblyman: The one odd thing about that is the price is £49.95, while Misery and Pet Sematary are listed for £60.00.

>377 FitzJames: Yes and it doesn’t seem to be a searchable item on the website. You have to do a Google search to bring up the direct page.

>376 assemblyman: yep. surprise of the day. Some chance of an error. Maybe not with the listing (hopefully not), but with the price. I'll probably place an order for it + Misery and if the listing is wrong I'll request a full refund.

>373 coynedj:
Exactly - my experience too! Complete mystery.

Final tally:

71 titles by the end (72 in the US and Canada), of which 20 sold out:

1 LE:

The Turn of the Screw

19 SEs:

Anna Karenina
Waiting for Godot
In Search of the Dark Ages
The Living Mountain
Creators, Conquerors and Citizens
Around the World in Eighty Days
Sharpe's Tiger
Letters from Fairyland
A History of Christianity
Doctor Zhivago
Waterloo
Mr Rabbit’s Symphony of Nature and Other Tails
The Mask of Command
Oryx and Crake
Sophie's World
The Hornblower Set 2: Captain Hornblower
Bomber Command
Stasiland
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Hardy's Selected Poems LE now down to only 12 remaining copies. This one sold very well, deservedly so.

I'm guessing this was far more successful than the last few sales so hopefully this will encourage them to make the straight 50% with a few good newer titles thrown in a regular thing for their sales.

Also, I think we will be well into the next ice age before they clear out those Tey books.

>383 LeBacon: "Also, I think we will be well into the next ice age before they clear out those Tey books."

The advantage to FS of the standard (i.e. mixed levels of discount) sale arrangement is that it allows them to clear out the really stubborn stock with extremely steep discounts - 70%+ off. It's obvious that even 50% off is not going to shift some of these titles quickly. There's no reason, of course, why they can't have an "everything is at least 50% off" sale to solve that problem, though.

One thing they rarely seem to do is discount titles outside a full sale. They only seem to have two modes: "massive sale" and "everything is full price". (Or maybe three, because they sometimes do brief discounts on a few themed titles to mark a special occasion, but these are rarely very substantial.) Maybe they need to rethink that in respect of some of these titles: there's no reason why they can't apply permanent "clearance"-style discounts to some titles that they're keen to get rid of outside the normal sale schedule.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me
On the first day of the sale I ordered:

- Around the World in Eighty Days for my 10-year-old, now sold out
- Outlaws of the Marsh - less than two dozen copies left now, so very happy I got it
- Shackleton's Antarctica - this was an eventual must-buy for me, so was very, very happy to see it in the sale
- Maigret set 2

Unfortunately, at that point I hadn't realized that the Wilfred Owen was running low on stock and missed the opportunity to combine shipping costs (which I also didn't know about at that point, as I'm used to FS adding up shipping for LEs). So...

On the last day of Christmas the sale I placed the second order to complete my War Poets LE set. Although using the word 'complete' for the War Poets series always leaves a bad taste in my mouth - cutting Rosenberg will always remain one of the unforgivable deadly sins on Tom Walker's and Ms Omni's consciences.

Anyway, definitely the best sale in some time. For me - since the half-price sale of summer 2020.

>381 PeterFitzGerald: Glad I finally grabbed In Search of the Dark Ages, which I hemmed about for years. Quite a good stock clearance by FS this time. And nice that both Sandwyks in the sale sold out. I likely would have gotten them myself if I had been paying attention, but Mr Rabbit was gone by the time I noticed.

I waited until the 11th hour and then decided to order the Shackleton set. No idea when I'll (re)read this set, which is why I waited so long and almost didn't place the order. I have happy childhood memories of nearly unbearable Houston summers made more bearable by checking these books out from the library and imagining a much colder time and place. So I suppose it's worth "spending" the shelf space even without immediate reading plans.

I ordered Living Mountain, Sharpes Fortress, Sharpest triumph and Planet of the Apes in my first order on the first day of the sale, and then a second order a couple of days ago with Letters from Fairyland, Dark Ages and Outlaws of the Marsh.

I've not received either yet, and am sceptical of getting the first order at all from evri, as it has sat waiting to be delivered since 6th January, according to an email from them

Did anyone make a purchase on the Free Diary day? https://www.instagram.com/p/C2Hi25GNkJM/

Guess they didn't move as well as expected. A bit naff that only folks on that day got one.

>389 Shadekeep: I noticed that the sale items were still at sale prices early Monday morning so it was possible to get the free diary with a sale order. They changed back to normal prices not long after that.

>390 assemblyman: Oh, was that separate from the sale? I must have gotten the terminal date confused, I thought it was a motivating extra on the last day of the sale.

>389 Shadekeep: FS's current diary design is too impractical to make me ever want to buy and actually use one. Every week in the diary is displayed over two pages but each page spread bears a wide illustration header that takes up so much space there are only two-thirds of any page you can use as a diary. It would be much better IMO if they only had one (or two, recto-verso) full page illustration(s) per month, and fully blank diary pages. That would still be 12 (or 24) illustrations for the volume, far more than any regular standard fiction volume.

>387 JacobHolt: I received the Shackleton set a few days ago and am so impressed with it. The sale price seems like a real bargain to me. I hope you enjoy yours when it arrives. Definitely worth the shelf space, IMO!

>391 Shadekeep: I only noticed the diary was free on the Monday morning so you may be right.

>394 assemblyman: I think you have it correct that the two are unrelated. Checking their other posts it looks like the sale was intended to end midnight Sunday and the free diary to be for purchases on Monday. So the lingering sale items were probably just them not clearing things up promptly.

>382 cronshaw: I managed to resist the enablement and didn't place a second sale order, so have likely now missed out on the Hardy. It is undoubtedly a lovely item and I may well regret it once it's gone, but probably not. The only Folios that I have berated myself for not acquiring are Mappa Mundi and the centenary Wind in the Willows which I foolishly passed up direct from Folio and then had to pay a premium for on the secondary market. As it is arguably the most beautiful Folio I am content now to own it. I still occasionally have a wistful thought for Mappa Mundi though.

I'm not exactly complaining. The savings were good for me this sale. But I think it's funny that the 1-3 day express shipping from FedEX has taken a week to be handed over to FedEX. I sense a confliction.

I think the sale didn't shift enough of the diaries. Now it seems like every product page on their website has a big button suggesting you order a Folio Society 2024 diary. This button is directly below and larger than the button to buy the product you are actually looking at, which suggests a certain degree of desperation to get those things out of the warehouse. It's pretty funny to be looking at a £600 limited edition and the main thing Folio seems to want you to do is buy a £5 diary.

>398 ubiquitousuk: 2024 is running its course - the longer it keeps around the more irrelevant it becomes. Did they charge for the diary in previous years? I remember ending up with a couple for free.

The diary is now listed with a permanent (i.e. undiscounted) price of £5. I think it was previously £15, discounted to £7.50 in the sale.

It's not the only thing to have been permanently reduced in price, by the looks of it: the individual comic book titles (Spider-Man, Captain America, etc, rather than the compilations) are now all £65. Weren't they all £95 previously?

>401 PeterFitzGerald:
195£ if iam correctly informed.

They dont sell I assume.

>401 PeterFitzGerald: I never understood that shift to the comic by FS. Even if one were to justify it commercially, which they haven't been able to, how could they ever think it aligned in any way with the tastes of their customer base?

>403 LesMiserables: In looking for a wider customer base, some misfires are inevitable. But you can bet that you and I are not among that new customer base - I prefer actual books when I buy books.

Are the Folio Diaries one of those obligatory products they sell? As in, they've been offering them since 1945 so they can't stop now?

I'd find them more useful and desirable if they weren't diaries pegged to a particular year or divided by days. If they were non-temporal journals they'd have more utility, since I could use them with projects or as lab notebooks.

>406 treereader:
They started producing diaries in 2001, and until this year they were given away free with any order around new year.

>407 wcarter:

Just to add, the first Folio Diary was for 1994 in a taller format than the current series mentioned by Warwick. 1995-2000 were fallow years.

>402 Pax_Romana: "195£ if iam correctly informed."

The compilations are £185 and they were definitely a fair bit cheaper than those. They're quite a lot smaller.

ETA: The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine confirms £95 previously, up from £84.95 originally.

I received the one book that I bought during the sale, the LE of the Selected Poems of Thomas Hardy, a short while ago. I'm so glad to have it, and I'm particularly chuffed that I got one of the last copies and bought it at half price! For anyone who may be interested, I've added 20 images focusing on the illustrations by Stanley Donwood to my IG (handle: cjdeldotto).

I just received my order. All packed well in the new honeycomb wrap and my first experience with the paper book covers. I like it. Sometimes the shrinkwrap can compress and bend the slipcase and I always worry when cutting the book free.

The books are awesome, all heavy-hitters:

Micrographia - Very large. Just wish it was all cloth or buckram.

Working - A strange size, definitely a tabletop read. Awesome presentation.

Outlaws of the Marsh - A real standout. Much taller in person with a very robust illustrated slipcase. Worth picking up even at full price before it sells out.

Anna Karenina - Just excellent. I think this version looks much nicer than the first iteration.

Creators, Conquerors & Citizens - More b&w photos than I hoped for. The cloth is very thick. The slipcase is very strange. Some kind of mix between fibreboard and insulation? Does anyone know if this kind of slipcase has been used before? Very glad I grabbed it in time.

Planet of the Apes - Excellent. I don't know why this title isn't more popular. Such a great cover design.

Shackleton's Boat Journey - Second time buying this title after giving away my first copy. Also near selling out and worth it at full price. A harrowing story you can read in a day or two.

Shackleton's Antarctica - Just amazing. This might be the first really deluxe FS book set I ever bought that wasn't a limited edition. I love that the cloth slipcase matches my LE of South Polar Times.

By far my biggest order, but it really is a stunner.

>411 PartTimeBookAddict: I agree re Planet of the Apes. Great illustrations, and a great story too! The only other one on your list that I have is Outlaws of the Marsh, also a superb edition.

>411 PartTimeBookAddict:

I think CC&C has an ordinary card slipcase, covered in textured paper: examine its interior.

>413 affle: Yes. I mean the paper. It looks like Rockwool insulation. It reminds me of greeting cards embedded with flower seeds.

It seems like a one-off design; I guess to make it look like ancient stone. I was wondering if this has been used before. Almost all the rest of my slipcases are smooth paper, unless cloth-covered.

>414 PartTimeBookAddict: I was wondering if this has been used before.

Yes, exactly the same, including colour: The Diversity of Life, Edward O. Wilson, 2019 - plus matching endpapers.

>415 bookfair_e: I don't have that volume, but it does look the same on photos. Must be stocked at the C&C Offset Co.

My copy of Kavalier & Clay arrived this morning and it is simply swell. The volume itself has a subtle matte texture that sent me to the publication details page to find it was Corvon-coated paper bound at Kösel, Krugzell.

The slipcase on the other hand, has a texture so satin I want to call it shadowy, but what sort of textural descriptor is that?

(Oh, and for the record, Folio did indeed list on the external Customs Dec. that the value was £95... 'Madness' in the words of Maj. Clipton.)

Happily my second January sale order arrived yesterday, just over two months after I ordered it, with the delay definitely due to Folio putting the non-sale value on the green customs declaration. Thanks to everyone that provided enablement about Shackleton’s Antarctica - I wouldn't have bothered without the positive reviews, but it's stunning and I'm glad that I went back for it. And the Velveteen Rabbit is quite charming too!

>418 IainFyfe: were you hit by additional customs charges?

>419 drizzled: No extra charges, just six weeks chasing the local delivery partner, then it suddenly cleared when I asked Folio either to deliver or refund.