Folio Society
Encyclopedia
The Folio Society is a book club based in London that produces new editions of classic books. Their books are notable for their high quality bindings and original illustrations. Most come in a specially designed slip-case.
publishers, including Golden Cockerel Press
and Nonesuch Press
. Indeed, Ede persuaded Christopher Sandford
, then partner in the Golden Cockerel Press, to become a founding partner in Folio with Ede and Alan Bott, and several early publications (including the 1952 publication of Thomas Jefferson Hogg
's Memoirs of Prince Alexey Haimatoff) were realisations of projected GCP publications. Folio and the Golden Cockerel Press shared premises in Poland Street until 1955. The Folio Society was, however, never intended to compete in the very exclusive private press market and Ede aimed instead to produce 'a poor man's fine edition' – a well-designed, printed and bound book to which the common man could aspire.
The Folio Society issued its first three titles in 1947. In October of that year Tolstoy
's Tales went on sale for sixteen shillings, and it was followed in November and December by George du Maurier
's Trilby
and a translation of Aucassin et Nicolette, establishing a pattern of monthly publication that was retained for many years.
In 1971 Folio was purchased by John Letts and Halfdan Lynner, although editorial continuity was ensured by the retention of Brian Rawson, Editorial Director from 1956. In the subsequent decades, the Society developed the technique of publishing series such as the collected novels of Dickens
, Trollope
, Hardy
, Elizabeth Gaskell
and Conrad
, over several years as a means of attracting and retaining members.
Between 1987 and 1991, Folio produced a number of 'Folio Fine Editions', printed by letterpress, and subsequently it has introduced a series of deluxe, limited edition publications at substantially higher prices, often facsimiles published in conjunction with The British Library. These are priced on a volume-by-volume basis, but at least one publication per year is made in the £500–£900 range. In 2007 the Society began publishing a new letterpress limited-edition of Shakespeare's plays in the same price-range.
In 1994 Folio moved to its current offices at 44 Eagle Street, Holborn
. The current chairman and owner of the Society is Lord Gavron
.
s, but during the latter half of the 1950s coloured card slip case
s were introduced, to protect the books and retain focus on the decorative bindings. Solander box
es are generally used to protect the deluxe editions.
Folio publications are printed in a range of formats (in 1951, for example, these included Royal Octavo
, Medium Octavo, Crown Octavo and Demy Octavo) and custom sizes are also common. Use of materials also varies greatly, with occasional innovations such as the use of aluminium foil for Aldous Huxley
's Brave New World
in 1971 and vegetable parchment for Voltaire
's The Calas Affair in 1994. Marbled papers (often produced by hand by Ann Muir) have been used for several volumes in recent years, either for endleaves or the board-papers of quarter bindings. Moiré silk
(usually artificial) has also been used sporadically over the years as a binding material, but the most common material is buckram
or a similar book-cloth. Leather
s – vellum
and goatskin – are sometimes used, latterly chiefly for the deluxe editions.
Since his first binding design in 1981, David Eccles has gradually established himself as the most prolific of Folio’s designers. Amongst his many projects for Folio has been the series (sometimes known as "Victorian Epics of Exploration") beginning with Richard Burton
's The Source of the Nile in 1993 and still in progress in 2008.
Amongst the illustrators, many have made an impact on the history of Folio. Charles Keeping
is notable for his drawings for the complete novels of Dickens, while Francis Mosley illustrated the works of both Hardy and Conrad. Paul Cox has contributed comic illustrations for, among others, seventeen volumes of novels by P. G. Wodehouse
. A major publication was Paula Rego
's Nursery Rhymes, in which the artist controlled many aspects of the design and illustration, but this was an exceptional case. Some illustrators have been called upon for a small but significant contribution, such as Neil Packer, who contributed striking full-colour illustrations to I, Claudius
and Claudius the God by Robert Graves
. The Society is notable for its support for younger artists, and for contemporary wood-engravers, especially Frank Martin
, Peter Forster, Richard Shirley Smith, Peter Reddick, George Tute, Joan Hassall
, Simon Brett and John Lawrence
.
In addition to the monthly volume, Folio publishes an increasingly large number of extra volumes and additional publications announced irregularly throughout the year. Deluxe editions, often targeted at a segment of the membership, are produced from time to time: these are often facsimiles either of famous books (Johnson's Dictionary
and the Kelmscott Chaucer) or of notable manuscripts (such as the Luttrell Psalter
and William Blake
's complete illustrations to Edward Young
's Night Thoughts
).
Long-running series still in publication include those on The English Poets, Victorian Epics of Exploration, Medieval History and Myths & Legends.
Membership levels have waxed and waned in the decades since the foundation of the Folio Society, and the number of members is generally not advertised by the Society. However, it is clear that membership levels began in the hundreds and stood at the tens-of-thousands by 2000.
History
The Folio Society was conceived by Charles Ede (1921–2002), who had been inspired by private pressPrivate press
Private press is a term used in the field of book collecting to describe a printing press operated as an artistic or craft-based endeavor, rather than as a purely commercial venture...
publishers, including Golden Cockerel Press
Golden Cockerel Press
Golden Cockerel Press was a major English private press operating between 1920 and 1961.The Press was founded by Harold Midgley Taylor in 1920 and was first in Waltham St Lawrence in Berkshire where he had unsuccessfully tried fruit farming...
and Nonesuch Press
Nonesuch Press
Nonesuch Press was a private press founded in 1922 in London by Francis Meynell, his wife Vera Mendel, and David Garnett.-History:Nonesuch Press's first book, a volume of John Donne's Love Poems was issued in May 1923. In total, the press produced more than 140 books. The press was at its peak in...
. Indeed, Ede persuaded Christopher Sandford
Christopher Sandford
Christopher Sandford of Eye Manor, Herefordshire, was a book designer, proprietor of the Golden Cockerel Press, a founding director of the Folio Society, and husband of the wood engraver and pioneer Corn dolly revivalist, Lettice Sandford, née Mackintosh Rate.-Biography:He was born in Cork,...
, then partner in the Golden Cockerel Press, to become a founding partner in Folio with Ede and Alan Bott, and several early publications (including the 1952 publication of Thomas Jefferson Hogg
Thomas Jefferson Hogg
Thomas Jefferson Hogg was a British barrister and writer best known for his friendship with the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Hogg was raised in County Durham, but spent most of his life in London. He and Shelley became friends while studying at University College, Oxford, and remained close...
's Memoirs of Prince Alexey Haimatoff) were realisations of projected GCP publications. Folio and the Golden Cockerel Press shared premises in Poland Street until 1955. The Folio Society was, however, never intended to compete in the very exclusive private press market and Ede aimed instead to produce 'a poor man's fine edition' – a well-designed, printed and bound book to which the common man could aspire.
The Folio Society issued its first three titles in 1947. In October of that year Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
's Tales went on sale for sixteen shillings, and it was followed in November and December by George du Maurier
George du Maurier
George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier was a French-born British cartoonist and author, known for his cartoons in Punch and also for his novel Trilby. He was the father of actor Gerald du Maurier and grandfather of the writers Angela du Maurier and Dame Daphne du Maurier...
's Trilby
Trilby (novel)
Trilby is a novel by George du Maurier and one of the most popular novels of its time, perhaps the second best selling novel of the Fin de siècle after Bram Stoker's Dracula. Published serially in Harper's Monthly in 1894, it was published in book form in 1895 and sold 200,000 copies in the United...
and a translation of Aucassin et Nicolette, establishing a pattern of monthly publication that was retained for many years.
In 1971 Folio was purchased by John Letts and Halfdan Lynner, although editorial continuity was ensured by the retention of Brian Rawson, Editorial Director from 1956. In the subsequent decades, the Society developed the technique of publishing series such as the collected novels of Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, Trollope
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...
, Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
, Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson , often referred to simply as Mrs Gaskell, was a British novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era...
and Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
, over several years as a means of attracting and retaining members.
Between 1987 and 1991, Folio produced a number of 'Folio Fine Editions', printed by letterpress, and subsequently it has introduced a series of deluxe, limited edition publications at substantially higher prices, often facsimiles published in conjunction with The British Library. These are priced on a volume-by-volume basis, but at least one publication per year is made in the £500–£900 range. In 2007 the Society began publishing a new letterpress limited-edition of Shakespeare's plays in the same price-range.
In 1994 Folio moved to its current offices at 44 Eagle Street, Holborn
Holborn
Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...
. The current chairman and owner of the Society is Lord Gavron
Robert Gavron, Baron Gavron
Robert Gavron, Baron Gavron CBE is a British printing millionaire, philanthropist and a Labour Life Peer.Gavron is the son of Leah and Nathan Gavron. He studied at Leighton Park School in Reading and St Peter's College, Oxford and became a barrister, called to the bar by Middle Temple in 1955...
.
Production trends, bindings and illustrators
Until 1954 most Folio books were issued with printed dust jacketDust jacket
The dust jacket of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations. This outer cover has folded flaps that hold it to the front and back book covers...
s, but during the latter half of the 1950s coloured card slip case
Slipcase
A slipcase is a four or five-sided box, usually made of high-quality cardboard, into which binders, books or book sets are slipped for protection. Special editions of books are often slipcased...
s were introduced, to protect the books and retain focus on the decorative bindings. Solander box
Solander box
A solander box or clamshell case , is a book-form case used for storing manuscripts, maps, prints, documents, old and precious books, etc. It is commonly used in archives, print rooms and libraries...
es are generally used to protect the deluxe editions.
Folio publications are printed in a range of formats (in 1951, for example, these included Royal Octavo
Octavo
Octavo to is a technical term describing the format of a book.Octavo may also refer to:* Octavo is a grimoire in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett...
, Medium Octavo, Crown Octavo and Demy Octavo) and custom sizes are also common. Use of materials also varies greatly, with occasional innovations such as the use of aluminium foil for Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
's Brave New World
Brave New World
Brave New World is Aldous Huxley's fifth novel, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Set in London of AD 2540 , the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis of...
in 1971 and vegetable parchment for Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
's The Calas Affair in 1994. Marbled papers (often produced by hand by Ann Muir) have been used for several volumes in recent years, either for endleaves or the board-papers of quarter bindings. Moiré silk
Moire (fabric)
In textiles, a moire is a fabric with a wavy appearance produced mainly from silk, but also wool, cotton and rayon. The watered appearance is usually created by the finishing technique called calendering...
(usually artificial) has also been used sporadically over the years as a binding material, but the most common material is buckram
Buckram
Buckram is a stiff cloth, made of cotton, and still occasionally linen, which is used to cover and protect books. Buckram can also be used to stiffen clothes. Modern buckrams have been stiffened by soaking in a substance, usually now pyroxylin, to fill the gaps between the fibres.In the Middle...
or a similar book-cloth. Leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
s – vellum
Vellum
Vellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...
and goatskin – are sometimes used, latterly chiefly for the deluxe editions.
Since his first binding design in 1981, David Eccles has gradually established himself as the most prolific of Folio’s designers. Amongst his many projects for Folio has been the series (sometimes known as "Victorian Epics of Exploration") beginning with Richard Burton
Richard Francis Burton
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was a British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as his...
's The Source of the Nile in 1993 and still in progress in 2008.
Amongst the illustrators, many have made an impact on the history of Folio. Charles Keeping
Charles Keeping
Charles William James Keeping was a British illustrator, children's book author and lithographer. He first came to prominence with his illustrations for Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels for children, and he created more than twenty picture books...
is notable for his drawings for the complete novels of Dickens, while Francis Mosley illustrated the works of both Hardy and Conrad. Paul Cox has contributed comic illustrations for, among others, seventeen volumes of novels by P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
. A major publication was Paula Rego
Paula Rego
Paula Rego is a painter born in Portugal although she is a naturalised British citizen.-Biography:Rego was born in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, the daughter of an electrical engineer who worked for the Marconi Company. Although this gave her a comfortable middle class home, the family was...
's Nursery Rhymes, in which the artist controlled many aspects of the design and illustration, but this was an exceptional case. Some illustrators have been called upon for a small but significant contribution, such as Neil Packer, who contributed striking full-colour illustrations to I, Claudius
I, Claudius
I, Claudius is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius. As such, it includes history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41...
and Claudius the God by Robert Graves
Robert Graves
Robert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
. The Society is notable for its support for younger artists, and for contemporary wood-engravers, especially Frank Martin
Frank Martin
Frank Martin may refer to:*Frank Martin , Swiss classical composer*Frank Martin , ice hockey player*Frank Martin , head men's basketball coach...
, Peter Forster, Richard Shirley Smith, Peter Reddick, George Tute, Joan Hassall
Joan Hassall
Joan Hassall, was a wood engraver, book illustrator and typographer. Her subject matter ranged from natural history to illustrations for English literary classics...
, Simon Brett and John Lawrence
John Lawrence
John Lawrence may refer to:* John Lawrence , English illustrator and wood engraver* John Lawrence * John Lawrence , Irish landowner, owner of Ballymore Castle* John Lawrence a.k.a...
.
Membership and publication programme
Invitations to join the Folio Society are regularly made in press advertisements worldwide. Usually the offer is a set of books at a substantially discounted price in return for which one buys four books (sometimes higher value books count as 2 or more volumes) at full price from the Society's catalogue. In early Autumn the Society publishes a prospectus including the books for the forthcoming year and existing volumes in print. Members are required to buy four volumes per year to maintain membership, and a "presentation volume" (sometimes with other incentives) is produced and given to renewing members. Lapsed members remain on the mailing list for several years.In addition to the monthly volume, Folio publishes an increasingly large number of extra volumes and additional publications announced irregularly throughout the year. Deluxe editions, often targeted at a segment of the membership, are produced from time to time: these are often facsimiles either of famous books (Johnson's Dictionary
A Dictionary of the English Language
Published on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, sometimes published as Johnson's Dictionary, is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language....
and the Kelmscott Chaucer) or of notable manuscripts (such as the Luttrell Psalter
Luttrell Psalter
The Luttrell Psalter is an illuminated manuscript written and illustrated circa 1320 – 1340 by anonymous scribes and artists...
and William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
's complete illustrations to Edward Young
Edward Young
Edward Young was an English poet, best remembered for Night Thoughts.-Early life:He was the son of Edward Young, later Dean of Salisbury, and was born at his father's rectory at Upham, near Winchester, where he was baptized on 3 July 1683. He was educated at Winchester College, and matriculated...
's Night Thoughts
Night Thoughts (poem)
The Complaint: or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality, better known simply as Night-Thoughts, is a long poem by Edward Young published in nine parts between 1742 and 1745.The poem is written in blank verse...
).
Long-running series still in publication include those on The English Poets, Victorian Epics of Exploration, Medieval History and Myths & Legends.
Membership levels have waxed and waned in the decades since the foundation of the Folio Society, and the number of members is generally not advertised by the Society. However, it is clear that membership levels began in the hundreds and stood at the tens-of-thousands by 2000.
Sources
- Cave, Roderick & Sarah Mason, A History of the Golden Cockerel Press, 1920-1960. London: British Library & Oak Knoll Press, 2002.
- Nash, Paul W., Folio 50: a bibliography of the Folio Society, 1947-1996. London: Folio Press in association with The British Library, 1997.
- Nash, Paul W., Folio 60: a bibliography of the Folio Society, 1947-2006 with essays by Sue Bradbury, Joseph Connolly and David McKitterick. London: Folio Society, 2007.
- Nash, Paul W., 'Folio fine editions' in Parenthesis (4, April 2000, pp. [22]-24). Includes a checklist of the 'Fine editions', giving the print-runs.