When does the quality of the book override the quality of the craft

Just curious for you guys: Is there a point where the craftsmanship of the book is amazing but the book (story/writing) itself is not good enough to warrant your purchase? Or do you purchases solely based on the quality of materials/craft?

I've just noticed that the best stories/books don't often also have the best craftsmanship. I think SubPress get publishing rights for my favorite books, but their quality is not on the level of other publishers. However, for me I could look the other way if the quality is passable and has good illustrations if the story is great. Because I actually READ the books I don't think I would find the opposite true; wherein I would purchase an amazing quality fine-press book of a story/author that is just 'okay.'

Edit: I basically thought of this because I caved and bought the latest Suntup book SEED, which doesn't have stellar reviews. But the illustrations look nice and I'm hopeful that future books will be one's more in my tastes

I wouldn't buy a book I didn't intend to read. For me, a well crafted book adds to the reading experience. I look for nice or fine editions of books I want to read or in genres I like to read in the case of Suntup Editions or Centipede Press. I know Centipede isn't really fine press but that's a case where the quality in most of the books isn't as high as what you'd see in a fine press edition but I love the stories he chooses and I think he offers some great bang for the buck. I haven't read SEED but enjoyed Brother by the same author.

There was a point where I was buying any book if I thought the quality high enough. Thousands of dollars later and many ebay sales later I only buy things of genuine interest that I will read. This is drastically slowed down my buying but drastically upped my enjoyment of purchases.

This comes up for me a lot with the fine press "art" books. Many of these are stunningly beautiful but for the most part they're things that I would go through once and never look at again. Just own. This is the chief reason I have never purchased any of the Barbarian Press Endgrain Editions. I just know I would never read them. They are wonderful works, but just not for me.

If you concentrate on buying what truly interests you, what you'll read and enjoy I think you'll find yourself much more content with your library and enjoy additions to it on a deeper level.

This results in books whose inherent build quality may not be the same as a Endgrain Editions** but whose purpose and place in your library is more assured and satisfying.

**Endgrain Editions just used as an example.

>3 Sorion: I'd say that's what I have done up to this point, but consequently have never bought a fine press book because I haven't seen them publish a book to my tastes (I read mostly fantasy).. so every book I own is from SubPress or Folio. I guess Suntup is on a similar level craftmanship wise? I know SEED is not letterpress and that seems to be what most people use to differentiate, I'm new to all this.

I agree with >2 SDB2012:. I never buy a book I don’t intend to read, and craftsmanship is just icing on the cake. I buy and read a lot of Library of America volumes, New York Review of Books paperbacks, and even Kindle editions because they usually aren’t available from fine presses or near fine presses at reasonable prices.

I find that I enjoy the experience of reading fine books more, which takes the marginal books that I wouldn't want to read and makes them just about bearable. That, in turn, makes me more willing to experiment. Thus, while I too buy only books I plan to read, I have had various serendipitous occasions where I bought a book that looked well-made and later found that I enjoyed reading it much more than expected.

>4 Soup811: I read mostly fantasy or at least primarily fantasy. Before purchasing any fine press outside your preferred genre I’d suggest that you first establish some other interests reading wise and then collect towards that. I have a couple broader interests I’ve had to establish and try to collect towards those things. If you want to explore fine press and at the same time work to broaden your personal interests I’d suggest starting with the LEC. The price of entry is cheaper and the work is often fantastic and very resellable if you find it isn’t up your alley. LEC is the perfect jumping off point.

I only buy books that I want to read. If it’s a limited edition expensive book and I haven’t actually read it, I’ll read a part of it before buying (e-book). I can’t be bothered having to sell books later.

Count me among those that generally place more emphasis on the content than craftsmanship. If I’m not interested in the content, I have a very hard time spending the money, no matter how beautiful the book. That’s not to say I don’t buy “art” books—I’m very happy with my recently received copy of 2020 Vision. But it is the reason I’ve so far resisted Foolscap’s The Travels of Sir Mandeville or by the usual selections of Suntup. As beautiful as they are, the content doesn’t stir me. Of course there are exceptions, but my basic acquisition policy is the books I love to read in the best quality I can find them in.

>4 Soup811: I know SEED is not letterpress and that seems to be what most people use to differentiate

I wouldn't overfetishize letterpress. It's just a loose collection of printing methods and techniques. On one hand, there is nothing like well-done, tactile but not too deep byte of metal type on luxurious hand-made rag paper. But often letterpess is just barely or not at all distinguishable from offset when light "kiss" impression is used, and there are plenty of examples of bad letterpress, from cheap mainstream pulp and newspapers (once upon a time everything, including cheap newspapers, was printed letterpress) to some examples from the world of fine/private presses (usually early efforts when printers were still learning their craft and did poor typesetting work, jammed type way too deep so it sticks out on the other side of the page, etc.). I'd certainly prefer good offset from the likes of Folio over poor letterpress.

As for the original question, I'm with most others. I buy only books that I think are of reading interest to me and my family. Production values just enhance reading experience. I still do consider myself a bibliophile; a reader and a bibliophile, but not a collector. However, what a nice production can do is to attract my attention and make me check on an unfamiliar work to see if it might be of interest.

>10 elladan0891:

On the other hand there's plenty of older, quality letterpress for $15 USD or less out there.

>11 MobyRichard: Absolutely

I don't know, I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. There are so many LECs that I've bought where I hadn't read the book or even heard of the book in some cases and the title wasn't even contemplated being put on my TBR list; and yet, I really enjoyed reading the book.

I bought a Doves Press book titled Unto This Last by John Ruskin and bound in limp vellum because I love limp vellum bindings and I wanted an example from the Doves Press in my library. It turns out that the four political essays are still topical today. A fine read which I have recommended to others.

Likewise, I bought The Bright Island by Arnold Bennett again bound in limp vellum and printed in two colors on Kelmscott hand-made paper because I wanted a nice example from the Golden Cockerel Press. Again, it turned out that the play was topical and made for an enjoyable evening's light read.

As my final example, there is the purchase of my one and only edition from the Kelmscott Press. Printed in red and black using Golden type on Flower paper and bound in limp vellum it is the only book of this press to use red initials. Though The Love-Lyrics and Songs of Proteus is not a particularly great read it is still interesting.

>13 kdweber: I think it goes without saying that there are exceptions to every rule. Mandeville was an exception for me. I think the general principle is a good one but of course we all have to be flexible. I own a LE all about the colors of Ancient Greek houses with reproductions of the colors.. I bought it because it was blue. So yes, exceptions to the rule!

Well, as usual, I am late to the party, but I would like to take the opportunity to add my two bits to the chat. I am with a good many others who have already expressed their position in that I am concerned with content first and presentation second, for I am a reader. HOWEVER, as the man said, there are exceptions to the rule. I don't read Latin, but I would love to own a good facsimile of a Gutenberg Bible, as that is a typographic milestone. I confess I have been known to buy a book whose text is of little or no interest to me but which are just so darn well done that I can't pass it up. I usually end up reading it and sometimes discover that I enjoyed the work. Phyllis Hartnoll's The Grecian Enchanted was one of those. Lovely book, well printed and with wonderful illustrations from the Golden Cockerel Press containing what I found to be a pleasant and enjoyable story.

There are those texts which I thoroughly enjoy and which I obtained in paperback or a trade hardcover but which I desire to own in a better edition, be it fine press or just a Folio Society issue.

I eschew books wherein the presentation is the raison d'être for the book and the text is secondary. Those usually cost far more than I could ever afford anyway, so that objection is moot, really.

Starting to ramble. Time to go.

I have two kinds of books: ones I read strictly for their content, and those that I collect (and do occasionally pull off the shelf to read) because of the book's artistry.

The ones I have strictly to read I don't especially care what happens to them. I can toss them in a bag, underline them, leave them on my nightstand, put them in arm's reach of my kids, whatever. I do try to pick respected editions or translations of the texts. These are most of my books.

The ones I collect I do so because of some features of the object of the book: paper, typeface/setting, printing, binding, what have you. Of course, I read these too, but I read them differently: for how they present the poem, for the quality of their illustrations, and how these things pair. I don't collect books I dislike (e.g., Jane Austen). But there are books I love that I can't collect because there are no fine press editions (Piers Plowman), can't afford (Four Quartets by Officina Bodoni), or find (Four Quartets by Rampant Lions). Some I collect are basically type or paper specimens whose content is incidental. And finally I have quite a few whose main attractions are their etchings.

Long way of saying that it's easy for me to collect books based on their artistic quality over their content. On the other hand, most of the books I own are my reading copies whose quality is not a factor, apart from the authority of the text.

>16 DenimDan: The Folio Society's 2014 edition of Piers Plowman may not be fine press but it's really really nice.

>16 DenimDan: The Elston Press did an edition of Piers the Plowman--I have seen it but don't own it.

>18 Flaubie: Didn't know Elston did one. That was a quirky age, wasn't it! I'm not the biggest Arts & Crafts fan, but it would be cool to see their Piers Plowman.