Your first LEC

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Your first LEC

1Glacierman
Nov 29, 2020, 3:45 pm

My very first LEC was a near mint copy of Tristan & Iseult picked up at the now-defunct California Book Auction Company about 35 years ago or so for $35.00.

What was yours?

2kdweber
Nov 29, 2020, 5:01 pm

A NF copy in a sunned slipcase Of The Nature Of Things (De Rerum Natura) by Lucretius for $64 in April of 2009. I was so impressed by the edition that I searched the web for this Limited Editions Club entity and landed upon LibraryThing. 462 LECs and 11 years later I'm still on LibraryThing having learned a bunch about the LEC and fine books in general.

3stopsurfing
Editado: Nov 29, 2020, 5:10 pm

My first was just last week in fact: Toilers of the Sea, by Viktor Hugo, for my birthday. Very happy with it. Thanks to all who referenced (and praised) it here on the forum, so helpful. Having started to get over a Folio Society addiction, thankfully, I aim to be very restrained from now on, only buying books I realistically will read and then in the form that enhances my reading experience the most. This one seems to tick those boxes...
Edit: price paid $US35+$70 postage (!) from the US to Germany

4WildcatJF
Nov 29, 2020, 5:21 pm

I just recorded my next video on this very topic! It won't post until the 9th of December, though, so I'll just say it was Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw, and save the long version for when I post that video in a couple weeks! :)

5921Jack
Nov 29, 2020, 6:14 pm

My first LEC was Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad with lithographs by Lynd Ward. I picked it up randomly for $5 before I knew anything about fine press or the limited editions club in general. Those were probably the most expensive $5 I ever spent!

6abysswalker
Nov 29, 2020, 6:19 pm

The Four Gospels (1932), for 45 USD (plus ~20 USD for shipping and import charges to Canada), earlier this year.

7LolaWalser
Nov 29, 2020, 6:43 pm

The Song of Roland in 2011, without the slipcase, for 20 USD. I was impressed enough to buy five more LEC that year, including the full Shakespeare set.

8Django6924
Nov 29, 2020, 8:09 pm

In 1967 I was taking a course in 18th century lit and one of the novels we were reading was Vathek which was in a paperback edition with Castle of Otranto and Polidori's The Vampyre. I was browsing a used bookshop and happened to see the Limited Editions Club Vathek in the slipcase/chemise and after opening it, had to buy it: $25 which was a whole week's wages (part-time job).

9AMindForeverVoyaging
Nov 29, 2020, 8:10 pm

I obtained New Arabian Nights and Antigone, both mid-'70s productions, around 7 years ago for something like $30 total, and then never got any more until this year, when my collection grew to well over 100. Funny, I never got around to reading those first two until this month and now I wish I had cracked them open sooner, as I enjoyed both quite a bit.

10housefulofpaper
Editado: Nov 29, 2020, 8:58 pm

Robert Graves Poems, from an antiquarian bookshop in Cambridge. The first LEC I'd seen in real life, although I'd been aware of them since the '90s when I bought a reprinted copy of Adrian Wilson's The Design of Books, which includes images of the LEC Oresteia as an example of designing a limited edition.

I paid £95, which I can seen from copies on AbeBooks now is very very expensive, even after factoring into the comparison postage from the US to the UK.

Edited to add: it was December 2013.

11Sport1963
Nov 29, 2020, 10:17 pm

>1 Glacierman: The Black Tulip by Dumas for $50, with the limitation page removed (I paid too much often back then). Way back in 1993 at Lien's Bookshop in downtown Minneapolis. All in all still a fond memory - I was looking for second-hand Easton Press books (The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written series), and Mr. Lien was kind enough to educate me about the origin of most of those Easton Press titles, and the difference between a fine press book and a "reading copy".

Over 27 years later and I'm still collecting LEC's. An even dozen to go, and I will have the full collection. A most enjoyable pass time it is and has been! Let's just say old Mr. Lien effectively baited and set the hook.

12wcarter
Editado: Nov 29, 2020, 11:55 pm

>11 Sport1963:
That is an extraordinarily impressive collection!

LEC books are almost completely unknown in Australia, but when visiting what is arguably the best antiquarian bookstore in Australia (Kay Craddock’s in Melbourne), I came across Maggie, A Girl of the Streets in mint condition for A$120 (US$80). As I was already interested in fine press books, I bought it, and as with others here, became LEC addicted.

I only have about 60 LEC books, mainly because of their scarcity on this side of the planet, and it usually costs more to ship them here than buy them.

13const-char-star
Editado: Nov 30, 2020, 12:03 am

My first LEC was a NF copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, acquired in the past 6 months. I’m quite happy with it and it fits in well with my collection.

14edgeworn
Nov 30, 2020, 7:31 am

Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard, bought in 2018 in near fine condition in a near-fine slipcase for a fairly beefy £140 including transatlantic shipping. But what superb illustrations by Agnes Miller Parker!

15SolerSystem
Nov 30, 2020, 9:38 am

The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles Finney, purchased last February for $35. It's one of my favorite novels, and it was between this or the Centipede Press edition. So glad I went with the LEC! Claire Van Vliet's artwork is fantastic.

16BuzzBuzzard
Nov 30, 2020, 11:00 am

My first LEC was Jack London's The Sea Wolf picked up seven years ago for $50. Prior to this I had picked up some HP titles, the very first being Russian Folk Tales. I remember being blown away by the quality of the HP. Through my various online searches at the time I managed to stumble upon this online group, for which I am so grateful. A big thank you to all of you!

17affle
Nov 30, 2020, 12:34 pm

Heading towards the third anniversary of my first LEC, Willa Cather's A Lost Lady. She isn't lost now - thanks to the collective enthusiasm and wisdom of the members here, I have been encouraged to add sixty or so companions for her. About a third of these have been sourced in Europe, but the rest have come with the discouraging shipping costs mentioned by Warwick (>12 wcarter:). The enjoyment of the quality of these books does long outlast the pain of the shipping costs, however.

18Glacierman
Nov 30, 2020, 1:07 pm

Thinking back over the years and the books acquired is a rather pleasant pastime, is it not? Keep 'em coming, ladies and gentlemen.

19elladan0891
Nov 30, 2020, 3:33 pm

Discovering the Folio Society led to LT. LT led to the LEC and other fine publishers. My first LEC was Argonautica, purchased about 5 years ago.

20GusLogan
Editado: Nov 30, 2020, 3:38 pm

The chainmail-y 1940 Ivanhoe, VG+. That was just under 18 mths ago, and now I have 36 plus the full Shakespeare set and a couple inbound... maybe I’ll be able to set a clean 100 ceiling? There are 34 on my wishlist, so I’ll start by counting the bard’s stuff as _one_...

This group is fantastic by the way. An oasis.

21Glacierman
Nov 30, 2020, 4:52 pm

After my first one, it took me quite a while to really get going. About 30 years ago, I picked up three more from an AAUW book sale (The Warden, the 1932 Three Musekteers and The Charterhouse of Parma) and then nothing until about two years ago when I started on something of a rampage and added another 30 to date.

22kermaier
Nov 30, 2020, 9:09 pm

The Notorious Jumping Frog & Other Stories (Twain), in VG condition, bought on eBay about 2012 for about $40.

I’ve since expanded to a total of 30 LEC titles, plus 4 HP exclusives. I don’t expect this collection to grow — there are a few titles I’d like to add, and a few I’d like to subtract.

I must say, though, that LEC was my gateway drug to the world of fine/private press books!

23DenimDan
Dic 2, 2020, 11:17 am

I have had sort of a weird relationship with LECs.

I was aware of LECs very early on in my fine press collecting, and I bought a few as gifts for friends and relatives. Oedipus or Comus was my first LEC, but I gave them away to people I thought would enjoy them. I've since repurchased both.

The first LEC I purchased for myself was actually Quarto-Millenary. I had a fascination with bibliographies of fine presses; I suppose I still do. But at the time, that was pretty much all I was buying, and I found a very cheap, serviceable copy of QM. Of course, I loved the book and was seriously interested in a lot of the titles described there. And after that, it was all downhill.

24skyschaker
Editado: Dic 8, 2020, 2:58 am

I got my 1st LEC books in 1999, in a small used-books store in Ventura, CA. The book was Molier's Tartuffe. I had no knowledge about LEC, and the elder friend of mine, who had been the collector in 60-70, convinced me to buy this book and start a new collection. His small collection had been sold, and he decided that I might continue collecting this series. I bought it only to make him happy, as I was not aware about this set and was happy to hear some info. Tartuffe was a great book to start! In a few months, when I visited Ventura again, we went to the book store again, and a few more books were added to the new collection. A long way to learn about LEC and get it all, but I am glad I could do it! It took 15 long years to complete the collection.

25SteveJohnson
Dic 3, 2020, 9:00 pm

I didn't know much about the LEC and saw four books at an estate sale, for $6 each. Did not buy them, went home, did some research, realized what I had passed up, went back the next day and bought all four. I remember Beowulf was one of them. Although most of the LECs I've bought since then have come from book stores, I've actually found 8-10 more at estate sales, tho in the book-crazy New York metro area and not down here in Georgia where I am now.

26finepressman
Dic 7, 2020, 6:29 pm

My first post here after lurking for years. My first LEC was Ten Years and William Shakespeare purchased in 1973 from Ardis Glenn at her shop (Glenn Books) in Downtown Kansas City. That led to a subscription with The Heritage Book Club. At that time LEC books were an expensive $27.50 per volume and out of reach for this graduate student. It wasn't until 2009 that I purchased my first true LEC book: The Beach of Falesa for the sum of $25.00; from David Spivey's Books, Maps and Fine Arts shop in KC. Alas, both of the shops are history (Glenn Books still exists with another owner, run from his house). In 2010 I discovered this site and this group. Reading messages from this group led me to purchase the Shakespeare set Django mentioned in his post of November 22, 2010. It was and still is in pristine condition (all of the volumes came encased in their glassines). Thanks to all in this group for the information you provide.

27Django6924
Dic 8, 2020, 12:03 am

>26 finepressman:

I was going to write "it's a small world after all" when that damned tune started playing in my head. Anyway, it seems to be the case. I also got my first LEC, Vathek at Glenn Books! They had about a dozen there, and I remember being very attracted to Tono-Bungay, but after spending a week's wages on Vathek, and having to borrow rent money that month, I refrained from further purchases until I graduated from the university. Glenn Books was like Disneyland for me.

28jpinomaha
Dic 8, 2020, 2:47 pm

Found a copy of the Book of Ruth at my favorite used book store.

29ubiquitousuk
Editado: Dic 17, 2020, 5:29 pm

My first was Kenilworth. I bought it because it was available from a UK seller on eBay at a low-ish price and I wanted to compare LEC with the Folio Society books I was more familiar with before spending more. As it happens, I bid for and won a Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea before my Kenilworth arrived. That was lucky because the Verne novel is much better produced than the Scott, and it was the former that really sold me on buying more of these books (but Kenilworth was a fantastic read, so no regrets at all!)

Most of the LEC books I have bought since have made the perilous (and costly) transatlantic crossing. And like >22 kermaier: LEC served as a stepping stone into the wider world of fine/private press for me.

30BionicJim
Editado: Dic 17, 2020, 6:24 pm

I accidentally discovered Heritage Press when bidding on a bundle on eBay 2 years ago to get The Brothers Karamazov, which I wanted to read since my daughter’s paperback copy was falling apart. The bundle included Omoo, Billy Budd/Benito Cereno, and The Man Without a Country. Total cost shipped: $18. The included Sandglasses mention the “big sister” LEC and unlocked the passion I have now for beautiful editions of the classics. I was completely satisfied with my Connecticut Heritage of Omoo (must be one of the good ones), but I was most excited about Brothers, which is a beautiful book all-around.

I decided to try an inexpensive LEC and got Sindbad, and was completely astonished by the gorgeous hand-colored illustrations and, of course, limited numbered edition. After a bit of research, I dived-in Whole Hog and my next purchase was the 39-volume Shakespeare, which has been life-changing.

31RRCBS
Dic 17, 2020, 6:02 pm

My first was The Newcomes. I’m a huge Thackeray fan and was happy to find a nice edition. I have maybe 30 now, they’re quite expensive to ship to Canada and I often find the books I want from other publishers like FS. LEC’s are definitely a treat though, absolutely love the paper and enjoy the letterpress. Only complaint is the choice of translations. That said, if it’s the only version I can find with a sewn binding, like the Anatole France books, then I’ll go for LEC.

32laotzu225
Dic 23, 2020, 3:58 pm

I can't be sure but I think it was The Three Musketeers (1953) bought at an antiquarian book fair back when I lived in Boston and probably more than 30 years ago. It was (and still is ) in excellent condition. I think the hand-colored Edy Legrand illustrations right up front were what sold me on it. $50, per the hand written price written on the flyleaf. I'm amazed I paid that much for a book back then. I had already been exposed to Folio
(back when membership required four books a year plus a complimentary Presentation Volume, which was about how many I would acquire then) and the Connecticut-based Heritage Club. But I was not then aware of the connection.
It is interesting to see how many recent enthusiasts have posted here. The possible negative is increased competition for remaining titles.

33Glacierman
Editado: Dic 23, 2020, 6:47 pm

>32 laotzu225: That was a good one to start with! It was among the first 5 we purchased.

34Glacierman
Dic 7, 2022, 12:04 am

For those that missed this one the first time around and our newer members, I resurrect this topic from a couple of years ago. Let's hear YOUR story!

35WildcatJF
Dic 7, 2022, 12:08 am

I never did post my video here, haha. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn1H7FyPykI

36maisiedotes
Editado: Dic 9, 2022, 3:17 am

I joined LT on November 1, 2020, so the original post in this thread probably went over my head. I only knew about Easton Press at that time.

My first LEC, sort of, was A Book of Prefaces, bought for $4 in December 2020. That was my toe-in-the-water.

Then came a Quarto-Millenary ("If I buy this, I won't have to buy any LECs."*) It got damaged en route, so the price was $0.

*Uh, that didn't work!

My first novel was Green Mansions, which I didn't really enjoy but wonder if I owe a re-read. What do you all think?

37Lukas1990
Editado: Dic 7, 2022, 1:26 pm

>34 Glacierman: My first non-trade books were published by Folio Society. One day I was searching for yet another trade book on Ebay and noticed a book with a slipcase. I've never seen a slipcase before, so it made the book kind of special to me. I can't remember the title but it was a pretty expensive (at that time) book by Folio Society. Later on, I've realised I can actually afford a Folio Society book with a slipcase. My first one was The Treasury of Mark Twain, a short collection of his writings. I bought this little book for about 10$ and shipping from UK was a couple dollars (pre-pandemic times + UK was still a member of EU, which means no taxes). I bought some more inexpensive Folio Society books, a Franklin Library Dante (my first half or quarter leather book which was also special) and then I discovered Heritage Press/ Limited Editions Club. A biography of Rembrandt published by Heritage Press really impressed me with it's quality. I only dreamed about buying LEC books because they seemed very expensive and hard to get in Europe but at some point I decided to order one on Ebay. It was this one:

https://booksandvines.com/2012/10/08/the-life-and-journals-of-christopher-columb...

I bought it for about 80 Euros (shipping and taxes included). This book hooked me forever. I now own books by Officina Bodoni, Golden Cockerel Press and other but I still value The Journals of Columbus. It is an amazing book for it's price.

38maisiedotes
Editado: Dic 9, 2022, 3:18 am

>37 Lukas1990: So what year did you acquire that first LEC? You speak very knowledgeably of this and other fine presses, and have obviously found a passion.

39Lukas1990
Dic 7, 2022, 1:26 pm

>38 maisiedotes: I've checked the date of that order and it was made on March 1st, 2021! Less than two years ago! My son was born two weeks later, we also moved to our own flat after two more weeks and this may explain why it feels sooo long ago.

40maisiedotes
Dic 7, 2022, 1:50 pm

>39 Lukas1990: Amazing on all points!

41blue.eyes2
Dic 8, 2022, 3:38 pm

Sadly I don't remember which was my first LEC. I do remember what started off a kind of literary quest that resulted in my discovery of LEC books. It was a purely fortuitous incident. I had ordered Hemingway's The Sun also rises from one of the large online bookshops. I had just ordered a regular edition of the book (a Scribner hardcover if I remember correctly). I did not receive the book in a reasonable time frame and so I complained and was given a full refund. Eventually, quite a while after I had placed my order, I received the book from that same bookshop (somehow the book they shipped to me must have gotten stuck somewhere for some time). But it was not a Scribner hardback. It was an Easton Press edition of the book which they had sent to me accidentally. I had never seen a fiction book like this and marvelled at my discovery. Some online research led me to the Franklin Library and Folio Society and eventually to the LEC after which I became a George Macy devotee. From what I recall I discovered Wildcat's blog before I discovered this forum.

42terebinth
Dic 8, 2022, 6:14 pm

I suspect my first was the volume of Walter Savage Landor's Imaginary Conversations, of which George Macy remarked "This is one of the ten finest books we have ever issued, and one of the ten least popular'. Most of my still small LEC collection are volumes that happened to be offered here in the UK, but once I knew the Landor existed it had to be ordered, never mind the ocean.

43maisiedotes
Editado: Dic 9, 2022, 12:18 am

>42 terebinth: How do you like your Landor (the physical book and the writing)?
Which are your favorite conversations? I was given a copy recently (thank you, kind devotee), and plan to dip my toe in the water.

44Lukas1990
Dic 9, 2022, 2:22 am

>43 maisiedotes: Let me know if you enjoyed the book. I may order the LEC version.

45ChestnutPress
Editado: Dic 9, 2022, 3:09 am

>34 Glacierman: I think my first LEC was 'The Poems of Tennyson', but it could also have been 'The Man Who Planted Trees'.

The Tennyson was bought from ebay for an unremembered-but-low sum, initially for the Reynolds Stone engravings.

The Giono, which I had to have as it's my favourite short story, came to me through work in lieu of holiday days not taken one year.

46terebinth
Dic 9, 2022, 8:28 am

>43 maisiedotes:

I do hope it rewards you. It's not a spectacular volume at all, no illustrations, just very elegantly composed and printed at the Officina Bodoni by Hans Mardersteig, who signs it. I can imagine many readers finding Landor stiff, pompous, artificial, difficult, but if you happen to get past finding him stiff and pompous there are worlds in him: maybe late Henry James is comparable, but the challenges are different.

As the LEC volume is the one you have, I can't think of a better way of approaching it than to start at the beginning and see what happens. The introduction is informative, won't spoil anything, and gives a sense of what you're in for. As it explains, the choice was made to include only complete conversations, which ruled out some of Landor's most memorable passages since they're in conversations too long to be included without unbalancing the book. His strengths and his weaknesses, though, are fairly consistent, so I don't think you'll be many pages into the first conversation, Aesop and Rhodope, before forming a sense of whether you like him or could possibly get to like him. I haven't come to know the LEC book very well, as I'm more often reading in the 16-volume collected edition (1927-36, limited to 525 copies) or in original printings of the Conversations from the 1820s.

Pericles and Aspasia, essentially an epistolary novel, has probably been as often reprinted as any of Landor's prose and would perhaps have been a better choice for the LEC than the selection of Imaginary Conversations. If you catch yourself starting to enjoy Landor it's definitely worth an early look.

47ironjaw
Dic 26, 2022, 6:28 am

>4 WildcatJF: I’ve been a member of LT long enough to actually remember your post and the subsequent setting up your website.

48maisiedotes
Dic 31, 2022, 12:29 pm

>44 Lukas1990:
>46 terebinth:

Thanks, Terebinth, for your insights. Sorry for the slow reply, but I wanted to read some of the Landor before posting again. I've now tried a couple of the longer and a couple of the shorter conversations, and I found the shorter much more coherent. I attribute my lack of enjoyment to not possessing the background knowledge to appreciate the references. Lukas, you wouldn't have any problems.

As an object, the book is a winner in my humble collection. The paper has texture that I can see and feel. It is hearty, like . . . cornbread that I can really sink my teeth into. The alternating watermarks—"Maslianico" and "L" for Landor (I presume) are like a bonus prize I anticipate after a few page turns. I was reading this on a rainy winter's night, and the warm linen binding felt comfortable in the hands—grippy, no slipping!

49jpinomaha
Ene 2, 2023, 8:59 pm

The Book of Ruth. In 2016

50PartTimeBookAddict
Mar 3, 2023, 7:34 pm

My first was a batch in a used bookstore in Victoria, BC about 2 years ago.

History of Pendennis
Memoirs of Saint-Simon
The Innocents Abroad
Quo Vadis
Tono-Bungay
The Three-Cornered Hat

I usually collect Folio Society or trade paperbacks. But these were nicer than FS and priced the same as trade paperbacks!

I have subsequently collected another 15 or so. "Winesburg, OH" and "Prisoner of Zenda" being two of my favourites.

51PBB
Mar 5, 2023, 12:50 pm

The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 1967, Illustrations by Lynd Ward. Bought because of my interest in Lynd Ward, not TJ. Was vaguely aware of the LEC, and this book really kicked off my obsession. Bought at the end of 2021, and I now have 60 books from the club

52Glacierman
Mar 5, 2023, 6:07 pm

>51 PBB: You have definitely been bitten by the LEC bug! Welcome to the party!

53cartographer144
Editado: Ago 3, 2023, 1:08 pm

I just forced myself to scroll through and reflect on my Ebay and Abe purchasing history. After several Heritage Press purchases my first LEC was Swann's Way just last November quickly followed by Livy's History of Rome both acquired in NF condition for very cheap. By January of this year I was focusing solely on LECs and now own 70 (including the full Shakespeare set as one). An unsustainable pace to say the least, though many were won at auction at low prices I never thought possible.

I started out trying to tackle Britannica's GBWW series to challenge myself as a reader, but desired more readable, attractive, and durable editions that would have a permanent home in my library and actually inspire me to read. This list of classics has remained my focus as a reader and collector which necessitates supplementing with Franklin/FS/EP on occasion, but I find myself increasingly prone to bidding on LECs with titles I never would have considered reading because of their aesthetic appeal, incredible value, and/or glowing reviews in this forum.

My goals moving forward are to slow down on the collecting and exercise some discipline as I focus on reading these books and constructing a home library to house my collection and allow for expansion. Easier said than done when one has been bitten by the bug.

54SteveJohnson
Ago 27, 2023, 9:10 pm

I had never heard of the LEC when I saw four volumes at a local estate sale 8-9 years ago, for $8 each. I passed, went home and checked with Dr. Google and realized my mistake. Went back the next day and the four were still there, reduced to half price. So $4 each. The one I remember is Beowulf, with Lynd Ward's illustrations. I think I'm up to 75 or so now, so I've been unable to shake the addiction.

55KDeem
Ago 30, 2023, 8:11 pm

Two years ago I came across The Life of George Washington by Mason Weems. Had always heard of this book since childhood but had never read it. After getting the book I noticed the signature of the illustrator and started researching the LEC--have close to a hundred LEC books now. Most of the books bought on Biblio, some at a bookstore in Port Townsend.

56mr.philistine
Editado: Sep 17, 2023, 2:39 pm

The original 'your first HP/ LEC' thread: https://www.librarything.com/topic/147988

57DZWB
Dic 14, 2023, 1:35 am

My first was the six volume War and Peace at the end of 2021 - I had been looking for a nice version of it to read, and this looked (and is!) beautiful. It was a wonderful reading experience, enhanced magnificently by the edition.

58GardenOfForkingPaths
Dic 14, 2023, 4:59 am

>57 DZWB: That was one of my early acquisitions too - it's a really great set! I think all the LEC Tolstoy books are worth collecting if the novels themselves appeal to you.

Which LECs are next on your radar to collect?

59DZWB
Dic 14, 2023, 5:26 am

>58 GardenOfForkingPaths: Anna Karenina was my second, although I haven't gotten around to reading it yet - perhaps next year! I just made a short trip to the US - so I took advantage of cheaper shipping and made a substantial order (some Vernes, Austens, the Dickens Short Stories, a Henry James, Pushkin's stories, the Jungle Books, and some others) - I think I need to take a break...!

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