Spring Collection 2024

Just to announce that the teaser image for the Spring Collection is up since 15 mins ago:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2uXX3yNfwu/

More than a month until the reveal. I don't recall such a long lead time. Maybe they want to build up the hype learning from the different reveal method of the Christmas collection.

The bottom one is probably the Batman edition. Additionally, a substantial possibility for the last Bond somewhere in the stack. Curious about the reprint though, something "fantastic", as they wrote

Thanks. Yes quite the build up unless they are releasing earlier this year.

I have uploaded the teaser pile photo below:

Bottom one seems to be the DC: Batman which they plan to release 20th February.

The two next-bottommost seem like they could be a set. A good number of others seem to have plates, so probably a fair amount of non-fiction (or illustrated fiction).

It stated that there would be nine new titles and a reprint. Five down looks like Day of the Jackal.

>6 assemblyman: Nice spot, looks like it!

Had to double check what month we're in.

Aren’t we supposed to be getting a three-volume Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell? I guess the fourth through sixth from the top could be a three-volume set…

>9 ambyrglow: as I understand, Jonathan Strange is a LE and should be released later in the year.

Looks like the final Bond is not in this stack.

>6 assemblyman: great spot and I am personally very glad to see this getting a reprint. Another edition with u reasonably high secondary prices.

Did they forget the month of February entirely? I feel like they posted this picture a month early. Maybe they will be forced to release them early now, too. I honestly feel like they lost track of time. Bit early for the Spring collection, isn't it?

>13 Lady19thC: I guess they’re trying something new. I like the early notice.

>6 assemblyman: excellent detective work! This edition is a Folio classic, superb binding design and fantastic illustrations, all in Folio's first ever slipcase with a whopping great hole in it. It'll be interesting to see if Folio has made any design changes, such as replacing the custom colophon with the (ill-matching) standard oval one - as they did with The Handmaid's Tale and Lord of the Flies reprints.

>15 cronshaw: Interesting that from the image released so far the upcoming Origin of Species LE doesn’t seem to have any colophon at all , so maybe FS are becoming more flexible re colophons

>16 antinous_in_london: Great notice of detail. I hope it is a sign of being more flexible. To add to the colophon debate, while they are used for marketing, I think more upscale, quality manufacturers rely on the quality and uniqueness of the product rather than gimmicky logos. The new interest in "quiet luxury" exemplifies that branding and logos are more of a signal to others who do not know how to judge a product by its quality, etc.

They sent out an email with descriptions of each of the new books. Any guesses which titles they could be? I can't copy and paste from the email, but maybe someone else can manage - or type better than me.

New email from FS came today. Very random as I had not received a few previous email announcements. Teasers for all ten books below. I think you can work a fair few of them out.

The latest email from Folio regarding the Spring Collection lists 10 upcoming editions:

1. Trans memoir
2. Pulitzer Prize winner by "one of the most important writers of our time" - possibly Colson Whitehead if I had to guess.
3. "Three thrilling masterpieces of the fantastic in one gorgeous edition"
4. Presumably The Dogs of Riga - the sequel to Faceless Killers
5. Standard edition of The Shadow of the Wind
6. Book that inspired the HBO war drama miniseries - possibly Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose?
7. Batman comic collection
8. "Bizarre and mysterious" collection, exclusive to Folio
9. On the Origin of Species
10. The Day of the Jackal

Edit: Oops, thank you to >19 assemblyman: for actually posting the image I was attempting to summarize!

1 - Man into Woman by Lily Elbe (maybe)
2- ?
3- Gormenghast Trilogy (standard edition)
4- The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell
5- The Shadow of the Wind (standard edition)
6- The Band of Brothers (?)
7- Batman
8- ?
9- ?
10- The Man from Havana by Graham Greene (maybe)

"Challenge Your Literary Lore!

1. Joyful and revelatory, this moving autobiography by a great writer is also one of the earliest and best-known trans memoirs.

2. This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by one of the most important writers of our time is a hyperreal and harrowing story that grabs your emotions.

3. Three thrilling masterpieces of the fantastic in one gorgeous edition. Fans of Mervyn Peake and Dave McKean are in for a treat!

4. The second book in our thrilling detective series from the writer who introduced the world to Nordic Noir.

5. Following our sell-out limited edition, we present a collector's edition of this fantastical mystery set in the heart of post-war Barcelona.

6. The book that inspired the phenomenally popular HBO war drama miniseries is presented in a thrilling new Folio edition.

7. Our DC series continues with one of the most iconic Super Heroes! Can you guess who's swooping in to the Spring Collection?

8. Exclusive to Folio, this new collection of the bizarre and mysterious has been curated by Michael Dirda. Be warned - these tales are truly weird!

9. Best-selling and award-winning, this collection of essays by a renowned evolutionary scientist shared the wonders of the world with the general public.

Returning to the Folio fold!

10. An electrifying political thriller that inspired a generation of writers, including the introducer of our edition, Ken Follett."

Edit, oh haha.

I was thinking Conundrum by Jan Morris for #1

>21 sekhmet0108:
1. Jan Morris's Conundrum seems much more likely to me.

2. Looks like "Underground Railroad" by Whitehead.

3. In the book stack photo there doesn't seem to be a single volume to contain all of Gormenghast. They say "one gorgeous edition" but I hope it's multi-volume. Could someone who bought the LE confirm that is Gormenghast artwork?

8. A Cthulhu type thing?

10. That is art from "Day of the Jackal" reprint.

1. Jan Morris autobiography, Conundrum?
2. The Underground Railroad
3. Gormenghast
4. Henning Mankel, maybe The Dogs of Riga
5. The Shadow of the Wind
6. Band of Brothers
7. Batman
8. Folio Weird Tales collection
9. The Rise and Reign of Mammals
10. The Day of the Jackal

9 will probably be Gould's The Panda's Thumb, and about time too.

Looks like prob 2,4 and maybe 9 for me. I have a few in other editions. Looks like it’ll be a nice collection though.

I agree that 1 sounds like Conundrum, which is a fantastic choice - it is a remarkable book, and Jan Morris is one of my favourite authors. The Pax Britannica trilogy was one of my first Folio purchases. I asked FS a few years back if they had plans to publish any more of her work, and they said no, so I will be very pleased if this prediction turns out to be true.

>29 DZWB: I suspect you're right. If so, it will be an instant pickup from me (as would Panda and Underground Railroad)

>29 DZWB: >30 gmacaree: The graphic that comes at the top of the email has the letters C O U N visible, so I think that must confirm it.

>31 red_guy: And the second image is a blue line drawing of a train on a black background, the smoke/steam of which is confined, perhaps, by a tunnel.

>31 red_guy: Great spot. I think I'll enjoy this release

Conundrum could be fantastic, if they don’t ruin it with poor design. By the way, BBC 4 (if I recall correctly) recently re-broadcast Michael Palin’s interview with her in the last years of her life. It features a very special book she shares with some very special signatures and inscriptions which I won’t spoil here.

Not bad, I'll likely get Conundrum if the price differential for the US isn't a slap in the face, and may get Gormenghast as well. The Weird book sounds interesting, though with a number of fine presses turning their hands to the same I don't know that the FS take will tempt me much. Still, a couple of solid choices, and some others that may tempt when they are revealed.

I hope The Shadow of the Wind doesn't get a massive downgrade for the SE. I really, really hope it's not paper bound. Hopefully it will be cloth.

The guessing game is back on it seems. Some solid guesses so far. Gormenghast SE and Shadow of the Wind SE could be great. Also interested in Folio making a Weird Tales series. Centipede Press has the field well covered but can get expensive and niche.

For me the weird tales collection depending on price, illustrations, and binding. The others are a pass.

My first thought for #1 was The Naked Civil Servant by Quentin Crisp, although I don't think he ever identified as trans so the above guesses are probably more likely.

Good to see more affordable versions of the LEs. Seeing as Folio really wants to coax customers into buying a whole series The Shadow of the Wind SE was probably inevitable since there are more books in the series they want to sell you.

Sadly, they almost always seem to do SEs of LEs that I really have no interest in, and rarely if ever do SEs of LEs that I am interested in. Gormenghast? Have a perfectly good (actually better than that!) FS edition already, which IMO was not improved on by the latest production, and much as I enjoyed Shadows, am not really bothered for a fine edition. Now if it was an SE of the last Madame Bovary, or Tristam Shandy, or the Waterfield Herodotus......a whole different game!

Conundrum is exciting mostly because it opens the door to more Jan Morris in the future. I'm pretty happy with my Slightly Foxed edition, though I suppose an interesting enough design might sway me.

>23 RRCBS: I thought this too as they have already published several volumes by Jan Morris

>39 Willoyd: I would assume it’s partly based on sales - Shadow of the Wind sold out quickly whereas Bovary/Shandy/Herodotus hung around for quite a while before selling out. If an LE flies off the shelves there’s surely a greater incentive to produce an SE to tap into those customers who missed the LE or were interested in the edition but prefer SE pricing (or have no interest in signatures /frame-able prints etc) - Shadow is also the first of a series so I'm sure they’ll want to produce the rest as SE’s

I am pretty sure that the three volumes above Batman in the stack photo will turn out to be the Gormenghast Trilogy.

>43 gmacaree: Yes, that seems very likely, especially as there are 10 clues for 12 books, meaning one is a trilogy (or two are pairs).

>44 Shadekeep: Makes sense, as Titus Alone is the shortest of the three.

If the trans memoir is Conundrum it is almost certainly the top book on the stack as it is quite short (around 150 pages).

>43 gmacaree: I think you're right. Excellent.

The only book in the stack that is still a mystery is #8. I'm most excited about that one.

A google result for Dirda + Lovecraft:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/09/07/michael-dirda-summer-literary-do...

Wonder where the last Bond is…

>41 antinous_in_london:

Correct, or with Everest I think an introduction from her. I’m pretty certain this will be Conundrum.

Otherwise, the predicted books will attract limited interest from me which is probably just as well after far too many sale purchases.

What Bond Title are we waiting on?

>50 sdawson: Octopussy and the Living Daylights

If it's Gormenghast that will be a strange return to the origins of enchantment for me - the very first folio set I bought, based on a random Google search when I was looking for a nice edition for my now wife in 2011!

I've been watching the second-hand prices for The Day of the Jackal with despair for quite some time. I'm very happy that it might finally get a reprint - not buying it when originally published is one of my greatest FS regrets.

Hmmm.... What's the opposite of schadenfreude? In other words, the sinking feeling one gets when one is the recipient rather than the witness? I can't help feeling frustrated when an SE version of an LE comes out. The Gormenghast LE is wonderful but I'm sure most - if not all - of the artwork will now be in the Spring Collection SE for a fraction of the price, with the difference in the quality of the edition doing little to justify the price differential. It makes me feel increasingly cynical about investing in LEs.

Sneak peek of the Gormenghast SE!

https://twitter.com/foliosociety/status/1753348307491918208?s=46&t=U5FeI2rnV...

>55 BooksFriendsNotFood: I much prefer that binding to the LE!

>55 BooksFriendsNotFood: Dammit this looks good from what can be seen. I had been intending to get the original FS edition. First world problems lol.

>56 cronshaw: Me too.

>54 Windfall: Your error was assuming that recent FS LE’s are an “investment”, hoping that they’d be an appreciating asset.

I remain delighted with my Gormenghast LE purchase, and I hope that people who buy the upcoming standard edition enjoy theirs!

The LE remains one of the best Folio productions of recent years imo.

I'm really not fond of the open, glued spine of the LE Gormenghast, but the covers are gorgeous. If they left out the beautiful images printed on cloth but use this pattern instead, the limited edition will still be very special compared to standard, even if that (likely) contains all the interior illustrations.

>55 BooksFriendsNotFood: remind me of my older copy of LOTR!

>57 assemblyman: I bought the 2002 reprint on eBay for $50 some years ago. Yet I'm tempted to get another Folio Gormenghast.

Btw, Folio has confirmed that the collection will be Unveiled Feb 4th but will be available for sales until Mar 5th. A whole month. Interesting strategy.

>63 dyhtstriyk: Teasing people for a month has some marketing logic in building hype, but unveiling it all a month ahead of actually being able to act on the hype just seems like it'd be a wet blanket on people's enthusiasm to buy? I'm no marketing grad though.

>63 dyhtstriyk: I suspect it will be a better strategy. This way there is less speculation that some favorite book will be released followed by disappointment. Customers can build anticipation for titles actually happening.

>63 dyhtstriyk: Interesting strategy all right. They are also releasing the Darwin LE two days after the Spring release unveiling.

>54 Windfall: "What's the opposite of schadenfreude?"

Freudenschade.

>64 A.Godhelm:

I suspect it'll drive people to clean up the secondary market of those titles in advance of the go-live date. That should, in turn, cause many who might've previously considered the secondary market to avoid modern Folio pricing to simply accept it after the go-live date.

I suspect the SE Gormenghast Trilogy will still be pretty expensive, especially here in the US with the extra charge FS imposes on Yankees. Those who encounter sticker shock when it's released might want to consider "The Illustrated Gormenghast Trilogy" in a single volume published by Overlook, $31 on Amazon. The illustratiions are not at all as impressive as FS, but there are over 100 of them, albeit mostly small and all in B&W. However, they do have one advantage over FS in that they were drawn by the author himself. It's interesting to see how the author envisioned his own creations.

Having just scrolled through the collection announcement email, I noticed that the Gormenghast series has a clever little detail to the spines, viz. within the 'O' of 'Titus Groan' there is the '1;' in the 'O' of 'Gormenghast' the '2;' and in the 'O' of 'Titus Alone' the '3'.

As both vol. 1 & 3 have the 'O' in the same position within their respective titles, the position is pleasingly mirrored: low, high, low. Rather nicely done I thought.

Here’s the link for anyone who has not seen it.

https://www.foliosociety.com/spring-collection-sign-up

All of the books in the collection look nice! I already have a few in nice editions, but will definitely purchase The Underground Railroad and Dogs of Riga. Maybe The Panda’s Thumb. I like the idea of the Weird Tales collection, but have so many Tartarus Press weird tales volumes that I assume there won’t be much I don’t already have.

The Gormenghast trilogy is looking great. I’d expect it to be priced around the same as their current Farseer Trilogy.

>71 assemblyman: Thanks for the link.

The binding designs generally look pretty good. The Shadow of the Wind and Band of Brothers aren't doing much for me but the others all look nice, especially the Weird collection, Gormenghast, Day of the Jackal and Underground Railroad.

It's often hard to tell what's cloth and what's paper from the photos.

The Dogs of Riga and Batman are the only ones I find physically attractive and I’m looking forward to those!

I’m tickled by how The Shadow of the Wind SE has the LE on the cover! The design of the SE isn’t exactly to my taste but I hope it grows on me because I’m holding off on reading the rest of the series in the hope that FS will do them (with more beautiful illustrations by Jorge).

Gormenghast, Shadow of the Wind, and Day of the Jackal all look good to me. I like the looks of the Band of Brothers edition, but read it already and am not sure I want a fancy copy of that particular book. I will investigate Conundrum, which might be another for me.

FS's design's appeal to me. There's something interesting going on with all 8 slipcases shown. Presumably the other 2 are plain. The Underground Railroad (wonderful design), The Dogs of Riga (I loved Faceless Killers), The Gormenghast Trilogy and The Day of the Jackal for me.

Band of Brothers was a good read, and a recent one. Not sure if I need a fancy copy of that, but it was an engaging read.

I love my original set of Gormenghast by FS, so no need to replace it. Would have to see what is actually in Weird Tales to make it worth my while.

Other than that, nothing here for me.

I like the simple but effective design of Conundrum, which is the one I'm most interested in from this collection. Tempted by Gormenghast too, I like the bindings on it. Weird Tales looks nice as well, but is unlikely to contain anything I don't already have from other presses.

Each new release gets easier for me to skip but I am glad they are doing well and generating interest.

Gormenghast is tempting -- my favorite spine design for this set to date.

Looks like a nice collection for me, will be tempted by quite a few of them!

I've been begging Folio to publish Gould for years. It's marvelous to see his work treated properly. If you don't know him or are on the fence on The Panda's Thumb, pick some of his work up at a library. He's one of the greats.

Also excited about Whitehead's appearance. There are three first-day buys here for me, which isn't bad going

A nice looking collection. Good to see Jackal back, even though they screwed up the colophon.

I haven't read Panda's Thumb or Conundrum yet, so I'm interested in checking them out.

I'll probably get the Gormenghast (the slipcase would make a nice display) and Weird Tales (depending on contents - I like the look a lot).

I read The Dogs of Riga last week to see if it was any better than Faceless Killers. It was pretty boring and hokey; standard airport fare, full of cliches. I don't get why FS is doing this series, but hopefully it sells well. This cover looks cool, though.

Underground Railway, Conundrum, The Panda's Thumb and Gormenghast all look wonderful. I hope they're all cloth bindings.

>84 PartTimeBookAddict: That's so silly of Folio to do that. If they'd maintained the original creative colophon, they're bound to have achieved more sales: some among the more aesthetically sensitive (and/or more anankastic) Devotees are likely to insist on the original and will simply buy from secondary market sellers rather than giving their money to FS.

>86 cronshaw: I doubt Folio cares about 6-7 lost sales lol. Come on, let’s be real here. The pool of people who won’t buy the book because of the colophon must be incredibly small.

>86 cronshaw: Anankastic! Thanks for the new word.

Also, I'm pretty darned proud of this group for being able to guess all the titles.

>87 Nerevarine: That’s probably the more accurate assessment of the two.

Underground Railroad was published in the fall of 2016 - has FS ever had a 'quicker' turnaround of a major, prize-winning work?

I'm getting dangerously close to a major purchase - Dune Messiah, No Country for Old Men are also must haves for me.

Have to say that whilst FS have almost given up the ghost when it comes to classics, they have distinctly improved their American literature coverage, particularly black writers. These are starting to grow into an interesting looking collection.

Based on the email image, I wonder if #9 is actually The Panda's Thumb by Stephen Jay Gould.

>92 jillmwo: It is. You can view all the titles here: https://www.foliosociety.com/spring-collection-sign-up (thanks assemblyman)

I wanted to compare what I could see of the forthcoming edition of The Shadow of the Wind to the previous LE, but that must have sold out as I couldn't find its description on the site...

>94 St._Troy: The LE is sold out but it is still shown on the site. Link to it below. I had to scroll through the LE section to find it as it did not show up on a search.

https://www.foliosociety.com/row/the-shadow-of-the-wind-limited-edition.html

>42 antinous_in_london:
You are probably right but to me this points up exactly where FS is getting classic books (or at least their readers) wrong. They keep producing LEs that obviously don't sell in the numbers they're looking for (?), but don't produce them as SEs which might well sell. I want really nice reading copies of authors' works not one off collectors' items, and I don't think I'm alone.
Just strikes me they've got classics readers completely wrong, but that may just be my anecdotal experience.

>96 Willoyd: I think I agree with Willoyd in that I mostly get Folio Books to have nice reading copies of authors' works that I can return to many times. I think it would be shame to buy a book and never open it. And it you buy a book for the art, you still need to open it to see it.

More importantly, is what are Folio Society customers interested in? Can Folio prosper if they skew more towards high end collectibles that cost as much as an iPhone or iPad? At some point, if you're not insanely rich (and probably if you are), you must ask yourself, "What value am I paying for?"

With each new collection I use the list of upcoming titles as a recommendation list of new (to me) things to check out on ebooks and then if I am completely blown away I consider picking up the Folio. This week I read The Underground Railroad and Conundrum.

The Underground Railroad - pretty good. The only other Colson Whitehead I had read was some zombie novel he did that I wasn't wild about because it never got past the basic zombie tropes I've seen a thousand times. The Underground Railroad was much more engaging. I'm still not sure how much the fantastical (ahistorical) elements added (any kid doing a report on the underground railroad for a class who watches the tv adaptation is going to be in big trouble) but it mostly works and is well written. Interesting characters and you care about Cora's plight. The Folio cover design looks good so maybe a pick up one day if it's in a sale or something or perhaps sooner if the illustrations absolutely blow me away.

Conundrum. This one had some issues. Morris drops a lot of casual sexist, racist, classist, homophobic statements and seems completely unaware this might be a problem for anyone. I've seen some people defending Morris saying she's of that WWII upper crust generation and therefore those attitudes are "of its time" but as I am one of those people Morris is actively insulting it's difficult to give her a pass and care about her difference when she seemed so very ok with exploiting her privilege as a (by appearence) rich white guy for most of her life and not showing much empathy for those she snobbishly feels are beneath her. By the way, if you are sensitive to proper trans pronoun usage just know that was obviously not a thing in the 1970s and Morris consistently uses he/him for other MTF trans women she discusses.

If you have an unlikeable protagonist, you need that person to be at least interesting but a lot of this book is Morris telling you about her exotic foreign travels where mostly nothing of interest actually happens. Like at one point she name drops meeting Che Guevara in Cuba but it's one sentence - there's no story or anecdote or insight there. You can imagine she's sent to Cuba for a story and meets him at some state dinner or something but there's nothing but the name drop. It's like listening to a trust fund baby brag about her exotic vacation where she did the same things every wealthy person can afford to do. So she lived in Cairo and climbed Everest but since nothing of interest happened while she was there, the fact she had the option to do those things is supposed to be fascinating enough and for me it wasn't.

>99 LeBacon: You must be quite young to not appreciate how transgressive Morris was and just how deeply classist and homophobic the broader culture really was. For her to transition when she did was genuinely brave and took real courage. If you’re concerned about her use of pronouns and the language she uses, you’ve missed the point. Oh, and she did a little more than go to Everest and “do nothing”. Chippiness is not attractive.

>100 cwl: I'm not that young. I remember the 1970s and am perfectly aware that homophobia existed then. I also know that there were people who weren't as casually homophobic like Morris - the 1970s was when gay rights really started to gain a foot hold in the broader culture. The statements Morris makes are uniform in depicting gay people as childish people with empty lives (a think she says their failure to procreate makes them "uncreative" and their lives "a void"). Not everyone thought that way even in 1974.

Morris gives me strong Caitlyn Jenner vibes - someone who was seen for decades as a successful straight white male and when she transitions the focus is entirely on how everyone should understand and accept her but she never demonstrates any empathy for anyone outside of her elite circle. I wouldn't pay Folio prices for a Caitlyn Jenner memoir either.

Edit - ok so I never read a Caitlyn Jenner memoir so downloaded it ("The Secrets of My Life") and whipped through the first 100 pages. The Morris book is 10x better writing than whoever ghost wrote Jenner's book, but Jenner's is a better memoir. Jenner's book has more scene setting where the reader can appreciate a situation and how people feel in it. She's is a lot more empathetic and self-aware than I assumed she would be, admits faults and genuinely seems to care about how her actions have affected and continue to affect other people. With Morris everything feels like a sketch and when she talks about other people it all feels flat and distant like she's an outside observer who doesn't understand people but nevertheless is often ok with judging them anyway.

If you want good prose but poor characters and scenes choose Morris. If you want to read a trans memoir because you are interested in the subject, consider the Jenner book.

I find it interesting how often readers are surprised to find thoughts and opinions other than theirs in texts written by people other than them.

>100 cwl: What did she do?

>103 PartTimeBookAddict: Read up on her earlier life as James Morris and his reporting of the 1953 summit. It was his/her first journalistic scoop, of which more were to follow.

>99 LeBacon:
If you have an unlikeable protagonist, you need that person to be at least interesting but a lot of this book is Morris telling you about her exotic foreign travels where mostly nothing of interest actually happens. Like at one point she name drops meeting Che Guevara in Cuba but it's one sentence - there's no story or anecdote or insight there. You can imagine she's sent to Cuba for a story and meets him at some state dinner or something but there's nothing but the name drop. It's like listening to a trust fund baby brag about her exotic vacation where she did the same things every wealthy person can afford to do. So she lived in Cairo and climbed Everest but since nothing of interest happened while she was there, the fact she had the option to do those things is supposed to be fascinating enough and for me it wasn't.
You appear to be missing the point. On the specific Che 'name drop', it's simply one of a host of things she rapidly lists to illustrate the sort of life she was living at the time as a man. The book itself is largely about the complete mismatch between the lifestyle and how she is internally. As such it's more inward looking than most of her other books. If you read her 'travel' writing, you will know that it's not about things of interest happening but about the place she's in and how she interacts with it - not all travel writers need an 'adventure', and not all readers need one either. But then, as you will have gathered, I didn't find our protagonist unlikeable, rather the opposite.

What happened on Everest in particular was actually very interesting, but this wasn't the book to go into that sort of detail. Of course, she never actually climbed Everest, although she certainly climbed on it, and was regarded as a useful member of the expedition even though there as a journalist. I think her highest point was Camp IV, around 22000' (6700m). And I'm not sure either why you feel she was wealthy privileged. She certainly may have landed up well off - she was a successful journalist and writer - but she came from a very ordinary (if musically talented) lower middle class family.

>101 LeBacon:
The statements Morris makes are uniform in depicting gay people as childish people with empty lives (a think she says their failure to procreate makes them "uncreative" and their lives "a void"). Not everyone thought that way even in 1974.

Those words occur in the context of discussing the family she and her wife Elizabeth had before she transitioned:

I always respected the emotions of homosexuals: but the truth and pathos of their condition seemed to me exemplified by their childlessness. Years ago I lived briefly in the same house as a devoted homosexual couple....So real was their bond that when the pianist died the businessman killed himself - and they left behind them, apart from the musician's records, only a void. A marriage as loyal as marriage could be had ended sterile and uncreative: and if the two of them had lived into old age their lives, I fear, would have proved progressively more sterile still, the emptiness creeping in, the fullness retreating. I could not have survived such a life, for my instinct to have children was profound

Morris may well have not understood how the couple might have felt themselves - but the point is that what she's trying to say is that for her a homosexual relationship would have felt uncreative, and it's something she couldn't have handled. She was also explaining why she'd taken a certain direction (delayed) in starting her transition. It's not the homosexual aspect that's the problem for Morris per se, but the childlessness - that's what the whole section is about. As such, I wonder what she would have felt/said if she'd not been able to have children. Equally, I wonder what she would have written if today, when things are rather different on that front (even if not always successful). Incidentally, I couldn't find any implication of Morris regarding gay people as childish (did you mean childless?).

And yes, you're right, not everyone will have thought 'that way', even in 1974, but that's true of any age - the point is that the norms were different in 1974 (and, as far as I can see, Morris was rather more sensitive/aware than the norm).

>105 Willoyd: There's also this one:

"I do not speak of all the poor castaways of intersex, the misguided homosexuals, the tranvestites, the pyschotic exhibitionists, who tumble through this half-world like painted clowns, pitiful to others and often horrible to themselves."

It's not like there are "good" Morris quotes to pull. They're all negative. And that's not to mention the really racist bit on Africa:

"I had disliked the continent always, except for those regions which had been illuminated by the light of Islam. I loathed the fetishes, the meaningless high jinks, the edible slugs, the tribal savageries, the arrogant upstart politicians, the ludicrous epauletted generals, the frightening art, the empty history (for I am skeptical even now about those lost civilizations of the African past). Black Africa seemed everything I wanted NOT to be."

At a certain point I hit a wall and wasn't open to hand waving away Morris's multitude of snobby condescending takes on people different from her, 1970s context or not.

The Ghormenghast Trilogy will be worth it. I hope the books will have all the 142 Illustrations from the LE

>106 LeBacon: Oof, that does have more than a tinge of imperialist privilege to it. It smacks of that same kind of personal exceptionalism one sees in those who are vehemently opposed to abortion, except when they (or their daughter) needs one. "It's different when I do it."

That's one book off the wishlist.

>106 LeBacon:
Except context is everything.

I do not speak of all the poor castaways of intersex, the misguided homosexuals, the tranvestites, the pyschotic exhibitionists, who tumble through this half-world like painted clowns, pitiful to others and often horrible to themselves.

This comes in a section where Morris is talking about whether she regrets her transition or not: But I do not for a moment regret the act of change. I could see no other way and it has made me happy. But, she goes on to say, not everybody can be made happy by such a drastic move - and she quotes two specific instances of people she's known who have been left very unhappy because they did it for the 'wrong' reasons. If these people could have got it so wrong, then others, including the range of people listed above, will also be made even more desperately unhappy. Her point is not, for instance, that homosexuals are misguided, but that many of those going down this route and left unhappy have been homosexuals who were misguided as to what it all entailed. In short, it worked for her, but there are an awful lot of vulnerable people where it really won't work....something that has not changed today, as the row over the likes of Tavistock has shown.

I had disliked the continent always, except for those regions which had been illuminated by the light of Islam. I loathed the fetishes, the meaningless high jinks, the edible slugs, the tribal savageries, the arrogant upstart politicians, the ludicrous epauletted generals, the frightening art, the empty history (for I am skeptical even now about those lost civilizations of the African past). Black Africa seemed everything I wanted NOT to be.

This quote is immediately preceded by this: I came much later to the sympathy of Africa.
She then goes on to make this honest confession about what she used to believe (through ignorance), followed by her discussing how her attitudes were changed and that she came abruptly to see the black Africans in different terms altogether. I learnt to accept them not at my values at all, but at theirs. I was a child of the imperial times, and this was a difficult process with a description of some of that process - all under the subtitle 'The solace of Africa'.

In both cases, I would not expect to see the language used in a modern work, but, I do think you are, for whatever reason, taking these comments out of context to suggest views that are actually contrary to what is actually being said.

Can't wait to see what Dirda's selections are. I've always requested more Blackwood, Machen, Aickman and other wirters of the "weird" when prompted by Folio, through surveys. Clearly Lovecraft is being included and I hope a lot of British writers are included too, given that Dirda has met and knows Mark Valentine and so has a tangential connection to Tartarus Press.

I'm aware she tries to pull that "sure I was extremely racist before but I changed" sort of argument but I found it unconvincing. Sort of like someone who goes on at length on some racist diatribe then says "but I have black friends so I'm not racist." Not buying it.

She's judgemental as hell. It's all over the book in little swipes at otherness here and there - even when she talks about the other post-op trans people recovering at the shady Moroccan clinic that does her surgery she says:

"We were brunette, jet black, or violent blonde. We were butch and we were beefy, and we were provocatively svelte. We ranged from the apparently scholarly to the obviously animal."

Obviously animal? Not sure exactly who she means (she doesn't elaborate further) but it's definitely yet another who she feels is beneath her. And yes I know the next section is how she feels a kinship even with the "obviously animal" among her, but it is still condescending. That's the totality of context I am considering.

If her attitude doesn't bother you, buy the book. I won't and am suggesting anyone considering a blind buy to look into it first as I suspect a lot of people who may have an interest in paying Folio prices for a trans memoir might have a similar aversion.

>111 LeBacon:
Judgemental? Actually, I find your posts far more so. You're reading condescension where I'm reading description. 'Animal', for instance, isn't derogatory per se in my language, but an expression of physicality, more frequently used in respect; there is no 'definitely' condescending about it at all. And where is the otherness in that quote? "We were....." - it's exactly the opposite. Equally, you're reading dishonesty where I'm reading honesty. Maybe we just speak different languages.

If her attitude doesn't bother you, buy the book. I won't and am suggesting anyone considering a blind buy to look into it first as I suspect a lot of people who may have an interest in paying Folio prices for a trans memoir might have a similar aversion.

I won't be buying - I have a perfectly decent first edition (inexpensive) and see no reason for a 'fine' edition. It's an interesting psychological insight and historical document (including the language!), written at a time when this sort of thing took quite some courage, but I can't say it's one of my favourite of her books, not least because it is so dated. And with that in mind, I totally agree with you about being careful if considering blind buying.

>109 Willoyd: Thanks, that is useful input as well. Still not sure if I'll get the book from FS, I had it once already from Slightly Foxed and donated it before I ever got around to reading it (my book purges are Stalinesque in their scope). Thought this release would give me another excuse to try, but perhaps I'll try an ebook version first.

>110 Thwack: It would be awesome to see Francis Stevens included, as she was a notable influence on weird fiction (including Lovecraft). I'd really like to see some Ralph Adams Cram and F. Marion Crawford in this anthology as well.

>113 Shadekeep:
I think that a very sensible idea!

>109 Willoyd: Thank you very much for putting LeBacon's citations of Morris into context. If I had just read the heavily shorn extracts at >106 LeBacon: , I would have been utterly put off Morris and 'Conundrum', but your kind provision of immediate context completely changes the meaning of these quotes, and indeed makes Conundrum sound all the more intriguing to me. I can't think of a better example of how important it is to be always conscious of how text may be cut and manipulated to provide quotes in such a manner as to comprehensively change their meaning and the apparent intention and opinion of an author!

>112 Willoyd: thank you Willoyd - I read the book a while ago and thought it was well written and not in the least bit condescending.

>116 cronshaw: Thank you very much for putting LeBacon's citations of Morris into context.

Hear, hear.

>116 cronshaw: The context does matter and the case bout the childless gay couple in >105 Willoyd: Willoyd makes should tell you there's a problem.

Morris plainly states the "truth and pathos of their condition seemed to me exemplified by their childlessness" and "A marriage as loyal as marriage could be had ended sterile and uncreative: and if the two of them had lived into old age their lives, I fear, would have proved progressively more sterile still, the emptiness creeping in, the fullness retreating."

Willoyd argues "It's not the homosexual aspect that's the problem for Morris per se, but the childlessness - that's what the whole section is about."

That's a problem. Morris is judging another couple's life in an incredibly superficial and (as is common with Morris) negative way. She thinks that because they have no kids their lives are more or less pointless because it would be for Morris. Coupled with her other comment about "misguided homosexuals" and "pitiful to others and often horrible to themselves" at a certain point you have to consider that homosexuality IS the problem for Morris. I don't see her telling straight childless couples that their lives will devolve into something sterile, empty, or uncreative due to lack of kids.

If you look at someone else's life and think "your choices aren't the same as my choices so I can negatively judge your entire existence" that's not empathy. It's prejudice.

By the way, Morris barely talks about those kids outside of that section and sort of glosses over how Morris's wife might have felt about being married to someone who used her to produce offspring but maybe didn't want to be married to a woman in the first place. Maybe having little Morrises is more about her ego than the value she places on children.

An interview with Jan Morris at the end of her life, which when it was published I found inspiring. Amongst other things she talks about her relationship with her wife / and later civil partner Elizabeth, and a need for kindness.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/mar/01/jan-morris-thinking-again-intervie...

>119 LeBacon:
That's your contention, and your (in my view distorted) interpretation. As I said, you're throwing out perjoratives about being 'judgemental', when you are indulging in being just that yourself. No point continuing, as you appear utterly steeped in your own prejudices (as exemplified by the assumptions you've brought to this).

That last paragraph absolutely highlights this: Morris and her wife Elizabeth stayed together until Morris's death last year in a loving relationship, confirmed by them taking out a civil partnership. That's what Morris's wife felt.

>120 red_guy:
Very interesting read - thank you for that. Elizabeth's comments are particularly so in light of the above.

>121 Willoyd: There's a link to the Librarything page on Conundrum at the bottom of this page. Read some of the reviews there or on Goodreads. There are plenty of other readers who came to the same conclusions.

Here's one I found through that link:

http://thelectern.blogspot.com/2011/08/conundrum-jan-morris.html

You can do whatever mental gymnastics you need to do to make Morris's statements not mean what they are saying. I will assume the professional writer doing her memoir understands the words she is using and what they express.

If the idea of not being ok with a bigot's ignorant statements makes me a bigot... yeah, I am intolerant of intolerance. Good call. You can judge me for that if you want.

More assumptions

>123 Willoyd: Yeah, and more judgements from you. I guess we're all guilty.

The horse has been beat to an unrecognizable pulp. Let's move on.

>123 Willoyd:
Will do.
(BTW, I went to delete my post, but having done so, found you'd replied, so reinstated - hence the edit timing after your posting time).

>110 Thwack: I’m probably 50/50 on the weird tales collection, depending on illustrations and story selection. It’s different from what I usually buy from FS but seems like it could be pretty intriguing. I really enjoy Lovecraft, but haven’t read too much other weird fiction.

Is it me or any kind of hype Folio had tried to build for the Spring Collection just died out? It is a very very long lead time for them to reveal and then put the collection on sale.

>127 dyhtstriyk:

To me this was also too long. A week, okay, but not a month.

>127 dyhtstriyk: Perhaps they thought a longer run-up to the reveal would result in greater speculation and buzz. Didn't seem to pan out that way. If it was an experiment, we may see them return to their previous, more brief teaser window.

>129 Shadekeep: I expect that it was exactly that - an experiment.

Are you only considering activity here or are you accounting for all the other message boards, social media sites, and (gasp) word of mouth discussions? Some people could be silently saving away funds to enhance their release-day activity.

I wouldn't say the experiment is going badly at all.

What if they lied? What if 3 more books weren't mentioned and we only just discover them on release day?

I'm sure Folio is tracking engagement across platforms and we'll know if this was a success or failure depending on how they choose to announce it in future. For me personally it feels like a dud, and the discussion here went out with a whimper instead of ramping up closer to release. Then again marketing magic often seems divorced from normal logic.

The magic (posting activity) will reappear on release day. And then again about 3 days later when whatever discounting options have been figured out.

>131 treereader:

Saving up for it is a good point. I imagine with them trying to attract a younger audience, this is becoming increasingly relevant.

Earlier the better! Makes planning easier all around.

The quiet is kind of nice. Personally, I don't mind waiting for the release day - I'll be there.

Batman is now live.

Here's hoping for free shipping for tomorrow's Spring Collection. Anyone know of any discount codes that are currently working?

Spring Collection starting to load (though taking its time). Thanks, Jan.

https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/the-underground-railroad.html

Pleasantly surprised by some of the prices I see (£50 for Day of the Jackal, I was expecting £60; £150 for Gormenghast, I was expecting £175).

A bit disappointed to see that Call of Cthulhu is included in the Weird Tales collection, given that it's already included in the (exceptional) edition of the same name.

Weird Tales is nicely done, but I have most of the stories already in various collections. I really like the emerging design of the Wallander series, but am struggling to justify £50 a pop - I can get 10 Maigrets on Kindle for that. May cave eventually, but that would be an expensive collection. Band of Brothers and Conundrum both go on the wish list.

>140 ubiquitousuk: £150 for Gormenghast, I was expecting £175

It is £175 if you purchase it in the US ($225).

Some decent choices in the Weird Tales book, but somewhat underwhelming overall, though I do like the art style. Nothing about it makes it a must-have, though.

The Weird Tales book was the only one I was seriously considering but I already have too many of these in other collections. I understand the need to cover some of these authors but it feels like every weird collection ever published includes The Willows and why publish Call of Cthulhu yet again when they already have the Lovecraft collection? Lovecraft has lots of stories Folio isn't already publishing so I wish Dirda had dug a little deeper. The art and cover are good but it's a pass.

If anyone is into this genre, check out Jeff Vandermeer's The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories. It has four of the ones included in the Folio book plus about 96 other really good ones. It's a lot more bang for your buck.

Just ordered "The Underground Railroad" and "The Gormenghast Trilogy". I am only recently underway collecting FS titles and it's very exciting when the new list comes out!

David

Do I need a third Shadow of the Wind? A translated edition from my mother tongue? (after already owning an early printing of the Planeta first edition and the 20th anniversary illustrated?). I don't know, I don't know.

Do I need to renew my Folio Gormenghast set? The lower-than-expected price and the good production specs tempt me.

Tough questions to ask myself... but it will likely be a no for this month since today is the release of an expensive edition from a conspicuous fantasy writer.

Lots of different countries used for printing this collection. Poland, Slovakia, Italy, Germany and even one book from the UK. Have Poland and Slovakia been used before?

>145 dyhtstriyk: more details please on the conspicuous fantasy writer release today! I missed it, whatever it is. Thanks :)

>147 BorisG: Sanderson's Words of Radiance leatherbound. Released directly on Backerkit @ 9.45 AM Mountain Time.

>146 red_guy:
I think this is the first time the production details on the website include the country

I shamelessly ask: Any voucher codes still active?

>150 MobyRichard: Possibly, though generally voucher codes are not valid on new releases.

>146 red_guy: There are several from Slovakia in recent years - including the following. Mr Campion and Others (2020) Neografia, Slovakia. Hide my Eyes (2018) Neografia, Slovakia. Operation Mincemeat (2023) Neografia, Slovakia. Outlaws of the Marsh (2018) Neografia, Slovakia. Lord Peter views the Body (2017) Neografia, Slovakia. Hangman's Holiday (2018) Neografia, Slovakia. South Polar Times (2018) Neografia, Slovakia.

>152 holymoorside: the latest Lotr + Hobbit 4 book boxed set from Harper is also printed at Neografia. Excellent manufacturing, by the way.

Gormenghast is very tempting at that price point. Even at "USA pricing".

I'm pleasantly surprised by the prices - they actually paid attention and toned it down a bit. With the recent hike ups in prices, I expected each new collection to be slightly more expensive. But unsurprisingly, the two titles I might be interested in are the most expensive ones on the list...

Shocked to see pricing levels actually come down a notch. Very, very welcome. Gormenghast is going on the must buy list at this price point. Bit disappointed with the Weird Tales selections, in choir with previous commenters over the Lovecraft pick - the Lovecraft book of that very name is so much nicer.

The Day of the Jackal will be part of my next order, whenever that comes. I have the previous edition of Gormenghast, so I won't be ordering this one but will encourage anyone who has not read it (at least the first two books - the third is not up to their high standard) to pick up what looks to be an excellent new edition.

I’ll be getting The Underground Railroad and The Panda’s Thumb at some point. Maybe Band of Brothers.

The Panda's Thumb may have been tempting, but my brother actually knew Stephen Jay Gould and I have a signed copy of the original hardcover edition. Good to know that my brother was worth something after all.

I went for the Panda's Thumb, hopefully they'll continue to publish more science books in the future.

I like the fact that they are letting us know where the books are printed. It will be interesting to see if this practice continues. I think it's a great selling point for FS.

I like the look of Weird Tales, but the inside illustrations are pretty bland, especially when compared to The Folio Book of Ghost/Horror Stories collections. They bring to mind Stella Duffy's work on the Miss Marple short stories. I might pick it up in a sale.

The standout by leaps and bounds is Gormenghast. It seems to only have 60-odd copies left. Did it get a smaller print run, or is it just that popular? Everything else has about 2000 copies left (give or take a few hundred).

I’m definitely interested in Weird Tales, but haven’t made a decision yet. I’d be interested to hear impressions once someone gets a copy in hand.

When I first joined FS back in 2013, I filled out a new member survey. They asked about authors I’d like to see included. Stephen Jay Gould was on my list, and lo and behold, only 13 years later, here he is! I ordered yesterday. (Still waiting for Carl Sagan…)

>161 PartTimeBookAddict: I emailed Folio Society about the low stock of Gormenghast (currently 38 left). They replied:

"Unfortunately, this is all the stock that we have available at the moment. I do apologise for any disappointment this may cause. I do hope you get to purchase a copy."

I then asked if it would be restocked at some point and they replied:

"At the moment there are no immediate plans to do so. However, given the popularity this trilogy has had, we have already added it as a suggestion."

I am assuming it will be restocked at some point due the short amount of time it has taken to sell the current stock. I like this current set but I still think I might prefer the older editions so I may just pick up an older edition on the secondary market.

>164 assemblyman: They obviously will do a reprint. I wonder what the print run was. If they did go through the usual 3000 copies in just a couple of days then well done.

I read the series a few years ago and got rid of my old FS set. I would be FOMO-ing hard right now, but I don't think I'll revisit this series for a few years from now and I have too many unread books on the shelves at the moment.

But, it does look fantastic.

>165 PartTimeBookAddict: Thank you for alerting me to Gormenghast stocks running low. I mistakenly thought I would have plenty of time. I ordered it this morning. It looks like it will be the best looking SE I have. Also picked up Days of Riga, The Day of the Jackal and The Underground Railroad.

I am hoping The Panda's Thumb will still be available next time I order.

>161 PartTimeBookAddict: For booksellers exporting books we really do need to know where a book is made as it can require disclosure in Customs forms when crossing borders and hence the availability or not of Trade Agreements and their effect on import duties.

The USA was a forerunner in legislation for acid free paper and I often find that American books are published to a much higher standard that European books.

I FOMO purchased Gormenghast last night as well.

>30 gmacaree: and others
I have a couple of Gould's ten essay collections, and wasn't really looking to add more. Is there something particular about The Panda's Thumb that makes it stand out from the other nine?

My delivery of books from the Spring Collection has just taken place - and I'm happy to confirm that the Gormenghast set appears to be superb value for money - with the graphics working well and a very sturdy slipcase - and is another set printed and bound by Neografia in Slovakia.

>170 holymoorside: That’s great to hear. Would you mind telling us the paper used ?
Hopefully it’s Abbey Pure. Thanks!

>171 Nerevarine: Yes - Abbey Pure

>164 assemblyman: I'm so baffled to see this in low stock the week of release. Has anyone ever seen a standard edition sell out so quickly? I wonder if they printed a smaller number of this one for some reason.

It seems like there are fewer than 25 copies, judging by the cart trick.

>173 Auberon: Don't discount the Gaiman and McKean factor. A lot of their fans were priced out of the LE and are jumping on this version.

>174 HonorWulf: I say this as a huge Gormenghast fan (and now someone who owns three Folio editions of it), but its popularity here is also kind of amazing to me. These are deeply weird books, often quite light on plot, with grotesque, unsympathetic characters.

I adore them, but wonder how many people buying them know what they are in for. Maybe, as you say, people are buying due to the Gaiman/McKean connection.

Gormenghast is now out of stock. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to be back in stock.

>166 Pendrainllwyn: Nicely done.

>167 English-bookseller: I like the transparency of listing the country of production. I hope they continue to apply it to all their book details.

Lol, customer service is telling people this morning that "At the moment there are no immediate plans to do (a reprint). However, given the popularity this trilogy has had, we have already added it as a suggestion."

By this afternoon the reprint is already up for pre-order.

Either they organised an emergency DEFCON5 board meeting to rush through the reprint decision, or customer services doesn't have a clue what's going on.

>178 ubiquitousuk: It makes me think they only received a portion of the books from Slovakia upon release day.

The online flippers have two weeks to make some gravy!

>178 ubiquitousuk: Well judging by the answers given by customer services I was not expecting it to be coming back that quick. I would say it got a fair few FOMO buys before it went temporarily out of stock.

>173 Auberon: If I remember correctly they did have it with some LE’s like LOTR where they only had a certain amount of stock initially due to logistical problems & once initial stock sold they put up pre-order for delivery a month or two later for when the next block of stock was ready.

>178 ubiquitousuk: Or it’s a great way to exploit the FOMO & sell the copies they have in stock to panicked buyers before they announce the inevitable ‘reprint’ immediately after it sells out (whether it is a true reprint or just the next block of stock that was already in work, but was delayed initially for logistical reasons, as the initial number they had in stock was way below their usual print run for an SE)

>180 assemblyman: yes, in my opinion CS representatives were being deliberately coy to drive up sales in the short term.

>182 antinous_in_london: >183 dyhtstriyk: yes, it crossed my mind that the standard strategy could be to deny knowledge of a reprint in order to tip people into buying.

But if you read the text of the CS email it contains a quite direct lie. They say definitively "there are no plans". There clearly are plans. I think it's one thing to be coy, but quite another for customer service reps to be outright lying to people.

>184 ubiquitousuk: Maybe they meant it in the legalese, wiggle-room sense? As in "I didn't plan to go outside in the rain, but my dog running out the door made it necessary." Perhaps they were caught so quickly by the sell-out that there was no formal planning process time? I'd be surprised though if FS actually conducted business that way, or if they kept customer service in the dark about their plans just to give them plausible deniability.

This is what it says on the page now:
We are sorry but delivery of this title has been delayed. It will be shipped separately as soon as it is available, no later than 20 March.
So yeah, I agree with >184 ubiquitousuk:

If find the levels of customer service at Folio to be consistently high with great consideration shown to customers. I’d be very surprised if there was some conspiracy to mislead customers. I suspect that the telephone/email team were not briefed on the situation. With copies of Gormenghast selling out so quickly I doubt they need to use underhand actions to boost sales further.

>184 ubiquitousuk: If its not a ‘reprint’ but the next block of stock from Slovakia that was delayed for some reason & wasn’t available at launch then technically its not a lie if they say there are currently no plans to reprint, as these extra copies wouldn’t be classed as an actual ‘reprint’. Given that they are now saying delivery will be delayed until around 20th March it does seem like they are having some logistical problems & they’re expecting a delivery around the 20th.

>188 antinous_in_london: Precisely this!

All this mention of reprints, yet why are we assuming Folio had some superb coup of selling thousands of SEs in the space of but a few days? A few hundred seems much more likely. No 'reprint' is on the cards as yet given Folio hasn't finished receiving all stock from the first print.

This sentence from CS would tally with not having received the entire first print run: "Unfortunately, this is all the stock that we have available at the moment." (emphasis mine)