Book lust

[julesjones]

I have in general been very good about Not Buying More Folio Society Books. But a recent thread on the FS group on LibraryThing prompted me to go off to eBay last weekend to see if I could finish off a themed set where I missed the last couple of books I might have been interested in, courtesy of having moved to the US. And there on the first page of search results was a book I had been wanting for 13 years, but had never quite gotten around to buying -- the Folio Fifty. This is a bibliographic volume with a selection of essays, and a detailed bibliography of all the books published by the Society in its first 50 years. And its starting price was a tenner including postage, it had 2 hours to go, and nobody had bid on it yet.

I couldn't ignore that.

I collected it from the sorting office this morning, it having been too big to fit through my letterbox. It is beautiful. And it's mine. For rather less than it would have cost me had I bought one new from the Society when it was first published in 1997. The phrase "all good things come to those who wait" seems oddly appropriate here. :-)

Comments

[glitterboy1]

That's a very nice catch!

I've had some excellent finds of their books on eBay. At one point, I had daily e-mails from eBay, with the results of searching for 'Folio Society'. I had to wade through countless listings of Greek Myths etc, but the delight of seeing the occasional gem pop up was rather like that feeling when you idly scan the shelf in a book shop, and find something you've wanted for years.

[julesjones]

I acquired Greek Myths from eBay about three years ago. I'd admired it when I was a member back in the 90s, but could never quite justify the cost. Then I decided that I needed a reference book for Greek myths for possible writing research, and went off to check if the price of a Folio edition on eBay would be less than buying a Penguin new. And indeed it was, although postage added a little bit...

I bought some other nice FS books from eBay over the course of a year, but decided that I then had to stop until after I'd read the ones I already had. The one I am particularly pleased with is Eagle of the Ninth, which alas I have still not gotten around to reading. Curse you, Evil Day Job.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Oh, how well do I know that "it's mine" feeling...

Folio books are lovely, oh yes. We only have a few (1055, Alice, the History of Myddle which I treasure)

[julesjones]

They are unfortunately ever so expensive direct from the Society outside the UK (a fact which is causing a lot of grumbling in the group on LibraryThing.) I dropped my membership when I moved to the US, and didn't pick up when I moved back, on the grounds of so many books, so little time. However, eBay provides for those who are willing to watch and wait.:-)