Monthly Letters and Sandglasses missing/desired

Since the old one is 371 entries long, thought I would start a new one.... Robert, hope you are okay with that!

Finally took stock looking through all my LEC's and the Google Drive...the following are the letters I do not have, nor are in the google drive. If anyone has any of these, would be awesome if you could let me know...would someday really like to have the full set with the lec set. And they are very helpful for Books and Vines articles!

Divine Comedy
Anderson Fairy Tales (Kredl)
Lysistrata
Marcus Aurelius
Pride and Prejudice
Flowers of Evil (1940/47)
Old Wive’s Tales
The Devils Dictionary
Tales of Soldiers and Civilians
Pilgrims Progress
House of Seven Gables
Marble Faun
Scarlett Letter
Herodotus
Hoffmann Tales
Far Away and Long Ago
Hunchback of Notre Dame (1929)
Rip Van Winkle
Daisy Miller
Gil Blas
Icelandic Fisherman
Death in Venice
Spoon River Anthology
The Stranger
Sartus Resartus
Discovery of Mexico
Troilus and Cressida
Cicero
Punch and Judy
Confucius (1933)
The Heart of Darkness (1969)
Youth, Typhoon
Last of the Mohicans
Tyl Ulenspeigl
The Prarie
Great Expectations
Final Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Camille (1937)
Jonathan Wild
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Fables of Fontaine
Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard
Beggar’s Opera
Faust
Elegy in a Country Churchyard
Crock of Gold
A Child’s Garden of Verse
Kidnapped
Dracula
Huckleberry Finn (1942)
Roughing It
Tom Sawyer
Ethan Fromme
Leaves of Grass (1929)
Natural History Selborne
Ballad of Reading Gaol
Our Town
Evergreen Tales with Beauty and the Beast
Evergreen Tales with Sleeping Beauty
Evergreen Tales with Aladdin
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Baron Munchausen (1952)
The Republic
Plutarch’s Lives
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Arthur Gordon Pym
Poems of Poe
Irish Folk Tales
The Grapes of Wrath
In the Penal Colony
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Genesis
Revelation of St John the Divine
Zora Neale Hurston

Since the old one is 371 entries long, thought I would start a new one.... Robert, hope you are okay with that!

Finally took stock looking through all my LEC's and the Google Drive...the following are the letters I do not have, nor are in the google drive. If anyone has any of these, would be awesome if you could let me know...would someday really like to have the full set with the lec set. And they are very helpful for Books and Vines articles!

Divine Comedy
Anderson Fairy Tales (Kredl)
Lysistrata
Marcus Aurelius
Pride and Prejudice
Flowers of Evil (1940/47)
Old Wive’s Tales
The Devils Dictionary
Tales of Soldiers and Civilians
Pilgrims Progress
House of Seven Gables
Marble Faun
Scarlett Letter
Herodotus
Hoffmann Tales
Far Away and Long Ago
Hunchback of Notre Dame (1929)
Rip Van Winkle
Daisy Miller
Gil Blas
Icelandic Fisherman
Death in Venice
Spoon River Anthology
The Stranger
Sartus Resartus
Discovery of Mexico
Troilus and Cressida
Cicero
Punch and Judy
Confucius (1933)
The Heart of Darkness (1969)
Youth, Typhoon
Last of the Mohicans
Tyl Ulenspeigl
The Prarie
Great Expectations
Final Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Camille (1937)
Jonathan Wild
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Fables of Fontaine
Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard
Beggar’s Opera
Faust
Elegy in a Country Churchyard
Crock of Gold
A Child’s Garden of Verse
Kidnapped
Dracula
Huckleberry Finn (1942)
Roughing It
Tom Sawyer
Ethan Fromme
Leaves of Grass (1929)
Natural History Selborne
Ballad of Reading Gaol
Our Town
Evergreen Tales with Beauty and the Beast
Evergreen Tales with Sleeping Beauty
Evergreen Tales with Aladdin
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Baron Munchausen (1952)
The Republic
Plutarch’s Lives
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Arthur Gordon Pym
Poems of Poe
Irish Folk Tales
The Grapes of Wrath
In the Penal Colony
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Genesis
Revelation of St John the Divine
Zora Neale Hurston

Chris, I have spare copies of some of these, acquired in an auction of a miscellaneous bunch of MLs. Not all are in pristine condition, but I would be happy to send you the spares if you would do the other members here the courtesy of scanning and uploading them. Various personal circumstances have made it difficult to find the time to do much of this kind of work, or even to be as active here as I would like.

PM me if you are agreeable.

>1 busywine: The ML for Tom Sawyer along with some newspaper clippings is in the folder LEC ML Uploads. It should have been moved to the regular ML folder.

>4 BuzzBuzzard:, thank you!

Busywine's request reminds me that I have accidentally-acquired copies of the ML and announcement for The Red Badge of Courage. They are in the Monthly Letters folder and I've no intention of buying the LEC, being content with the Westvaco 'bullet hole' edition. If anyone would like them PM me!
Edit: Re-homed.

Sandglass 6B for Crime & Punishment is in GD.

Sorry these aren't on your list busywine, but if anyone is interested I've added the MLs for the Peloponnesian War and the second set of the King James Bible (Apocrypha and New Testament (which includes some amusing Files on Parade about the LEC Ulysses)) to GD.

Courtesy of Django the Sandglass for South Wind is in GD.

Sandglass 8A for the HC Scarlet Letter is in GD.

The Monthly Letter for The Rime of The Ancient Mariner is shared. Thanks Django!

I am looking for the ML of 1940 The grapes of wraith, can someone please upload a copy ? thank you very much .

>12 kafkachen: I don't believe that there was a ML for this book, since it was a special publication. However, I believe that I have a piece of ephemera for the three specials, GOW, Decameron and WITW. I will have to check on that, but perhaps you have that one?

> 13
Is the ephemera you refer to already in the shared drive? I don't think I've ever seen it. I only have the WITW so far but really really want the Decameron. I almost never see it for sale and when I do not in a condition I would collect or at a price I would pay. Also would love the GOW, but Decameron would be more interesting to me personally.

>14 UK_History_Fan: I haven't seen it there, so I will scan my copy and upload it within an hour. Probably every other page will be upside-down since I dont want to break the fragile spine. I will see if I can correct the orientation - otherwise perhaps ironjaw will know how to do it? I have a new scanner and try to learn to use it.

Edit: Done.

> 15
Thank you. I sympathize in not wanting to break the spine. If it end up wrong side up I can always save a local copy to my computer and rotate it in my viewer!

>12 kafkachen:

Yes, this was not part of the basic subscription (Macy might have felt it was too provocative for his more conservative subscribers) and there is no Monthly Letter. There was a pamphlet "Why John Steinbeck wrote the Grapes of Wrath" and inside the first volume a single sheet "How this Book was Built." There was another piece of ephemera dealing with the care and treatment of the cowhide quarter binding.

>parchment

I didn't know there are no ML for the specials, thanks a lot , any scanned image is good enough for me , don't mind the quality.

>Django6924
Right, I forgot the atmosphere surround WOG when it was published , could it be the reason the author was not signing it , I read from John Steinbeck's letters that he didn't like to signed for book.

By the way, vellum finish looks like steel to me, of all the leather treatment, this seems like the most durable one. they are so beautiful too.

>18 kafkachen: In the end, the result was rather nice. The Brother software was easy and intutive and I could change those images that were upside down by a simple click. From my 20 year experience of using printers, cameras and scanners, I have decided never again to buy any products branded HP (bad) or Canon (worst) - they seem to never provide any driver softwares compatible with new OS's. On the other hand, I have three Brother products, and they work as they should - even on El Capitan - and they actually have such an oldfashioned thing as telephone support with a real person to talk to.

I sent the file yesterday to the LEC ML upload folder, but I don't know what happens from there. Will ironjaw check it and move it to the shared folder, or have I done something wrong?

>19 .parchment: Ironjaw is supposed to check periodically and move files to the other folder where we have read access only. May be you should have given the file a descriptive name.

>19 .parchment:

You've done the process correctly. The file is in the upload folder, which I can see. Faisel hasn't yet given me authority to assist in maintaining the main folders (e.g. moving files around, etc.); I will remind him about that as well.

Faisel's likely quite busy right now, so give it a few days and I'm sure he'll move it over before long.

EDIT: I've changed the file name to Specials and have placed it in a folder, so all Faisel has to do at this point is move it over to the read-only main folder for us.

Good to hear. I first put it in a folder, but was informed that the folder couldn't be uploaded with Safari, and since I do not want to install another browser, I removed the file, and then it could be uploaded.

I had contact with ironjaw yesterday and explained that the file is in my upload folder. kafkachen had asked me to mail the folder, but when I tried to, he didn't receive more than the cover scan. Unfortunately, I threw away the file from my computer after I had uploaded it, so I can't help him through the mail.
The folder is still in the upload folder, but hasn't appeared in the shared folder. I really don't know what to do more. It seems like we will just have to be patient for a while.

>23 .parchment: This must be a monologue from "Dr. Strangelove".

How about you download the file from the upload folder and email it to Kafkachen?

Fuhgedaboudit!

>.parchment,
Thanks a lot for your help ^^, I can wait .

Can anyone share the ML for Mayor of Casterbridge?

>19 .parchment: My experience exactly, l keep to Brother products. Just works with Mac OS X

I'll check the file, what was the name again? Oh specials folder. I remember that I moved a bunch of files some time ago without inspecting them

>21 scholasticus: Greg, sorry I forgot about that, will give you access now.

Yes, I've been busy but then I just saw that my view setting on LT under Talk was different so I did not see these posts. I usually am here on a daily basis!

And I think we all should take 5 seconds and give ourselves a welcomed congratulations and a bow on our work to accumulate these letters. What a feat! August 29, 2010 the initiation of this project. Nearly six years ago this August!

Update: Greg I've changed your permission to edit, so you're a co-editor now. Also in case of unforseen circumstances I think another editor should be appointed so that we are three. Editors can change access and add new people to our shared folder.

Anyone know Karl Ronnevik? I've received a request to access LEC folder. I did not recognize the name and I don't really add people unless they are from here.

I think iron jaw deserves congratulations and thankful applause from all members here for setting this up and maintaining it for the benefit of the GMD.

You certainly have my personal thanks Faisel.

>30 Django6924: Seconded!

Agreed. Kudos ironjaw!

Definitely useful and interesting information, I love getting a new book and learning the particulars of its production. Thanks for compiling the MLs!

Just added the 1964 Mayor of Casterbridge ML to the Uploads folder; I don't have the Announcement Card, though.
This is my first ML scan/upload. I have quite a few more I could do sometime soon. Does this one look okay? Should I have done a higher quality scan?

>34 astronauteric: Thanks! I was looking for this one. Looks great to me. You could try a higher resolution but we need to keep files size reasonable. I belive this was discussed in the past. I personally see no reason why a four page high quality pdf document should be larger than 5MB. Scanner softwares do funky things sometimes. Thanks again!

You're welcome, BuzzBuzzard.

Yea, I'll probably experiment with a slightly higher resolution next time and see how it turns out.

I actually did have the announcement card for Mayor of Casterbridge and just uploaded it; better late than never.

>37 astronauteric: One thing I forgot to mention is that some members have asked to have pfds searchable if possible.

>38 BuzzBuzzard: BuzzBuzzard: Yes, that is a good idea. That's what I have been doing thus far (with my sole contribution).

Monthly Letter for 1956 The Last Days of Pompey is now available. Who shall seek answers on Craemer will find none.

Great, I've moved it over to LEC folder.

If curious to read the ML for Pinocchio it is available now.

> 42
Did you find a copy of the book too? I have yet to see one of these where the spine wasn't badly faded and the slipcase badly damaged, both of which are deal breakers for me.

No. I have the letters for the eight series. I have not been looking for this one either. I am not sure if I like the illustrations. Do you?

They don't inspire me. But that probably applies to about 100 or so LEC books I own!

Have either of you read Pinocchio? I was initially only familiar with it from the Disney treatment, and when I read the LEC, I was very surprised at Jiminy Cricket's fate.

>46 aaronpepperdine: I have not read Pinocchio. Where I grew up the story of Buratino was more popular. However there were a couple of characters in there like Karabas Barabas (and a believe a fox as well) that absolutely terrified me. Perhaps this is why I have not attempted to read either of the stories in later year. I am curious if Tolstoy's story is/was popular in the United States. Recently I read Tolstoy's Stories and Legends in their Pantheon edition and really enjoyed it.

1959 The Three Cornered-Hat is missing the last page that talk about how the artwork was reproduced , sadly, also the reason I checking this ML.

I can help with Lysistrata and quite a few of these. I have a complete set of LECs from 1929-1988, many with the newsletters, as well as what I think is a pretty complete set of ephemera. If it would help, I could upload an excel spreadsheet of my collection (including which have newsletters) and then if you let me know where to post the images of the newsletters I could upload them. Some of my newsletters - including the first 50, come in the special bindings that members could send away for. I hope that would be helpful?

>49 drgug:

A very generous offer and one which I'm sure will be appreciated by the members. The Letters database is maintained by Faisel (ironjaw) and one or two others and they can provide the necessary steps to upload.

So Greg (scholasticus) and Jack (featherwate) are still acting with edit privileges and if I'm unavailable can invite new members on their own and manage the ML as well as the upload folder.

I've cleaned up a bit and moved some files from the upload folder to the main ML folder but haven't had time to go through all the folders to check the names and contents. Greg and Jack can you both make sure to take a backup of the folder, like burn on a DVD or something just to make sure.

On another note, six year anniversary is coming up on August 29th. mboudreau started the first thread here back in 2010 and on September 9th, 2011 the first Dropbox folder was created by me. On August 8, 2015 we moved to Google Drive almost five years with using Dropbox with a couple of accidental losses on the way.

There are approximately 369 letters (I've counted the folders and not incl. the mulitvolumes) minus the HP Sandglasses and Archive folder and ephemera. The letters range from 1929 with Baron Munchausen to 2001 Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, Number 591.

Faisal, we all owe you a great debt of gratitude for this service. (And also, a very large thanks to Jack and Greg for helping.)

>54 busywine: here, here! Agree, thank you Faisal, Jack, Greg and all who have added some!

Indeed, thanks to everyone for starting and maintaining this database.

I missed the migration to Google, so I'll have to remember my login and pass it along as some point.

Thanks Robert, Sean and Wildcat. It's nothing really, just happy to play my part. I'm really happy with the Google migration. Google Drive is awesome.

Does anyone have the LEC letter for Anthony Adverse they could share?

>57 Jan7Smith:

I've owned 2 copies of the LEC over the years--neither had the ML.

>57 Jan7Smith: I might have it. Ping me in two weeks time because I can't check right now.

>59 BuzzBuzzard: I will remind you. Thanks.

>57 Jan7Smith: Just added the LEC for Anthony Adverse. The ML also covers Punch and Judy, as many members didn't want Anthony Adverse and the Club gave the option to get Punch and Judy instead of, or in addition to, Anthony Adverse. I don't have the announcement card for either title, but I did add a 'special note' from the Club advertising portfolios of Wilson's nine lithographs for Anthony Adverse for $25, and the 'Artist's Note Upon the Lithographs.'

>51 ironjaw: How often are MLs added to the Drive folder without a mention of it somewhere here? I downloaded the whole folder some time ago and renamed/reorganized my personal copies to my liking, and I've tried to keep up with new MLs when they're added, but now I'm not sure if I've missed some. Is there a way to see just what's been recently added to the folder?

>61 astronauteric:
I've been thinking about this since I learned at 51 above that I have edit privileges. Back in the days when the Monthly Letters/Sandglasses were being stored in Dropbox, people usually used this present thread (sorry, topic) to publicise any uploads they made. That made - and still makes - sense when the upload is in response to a request from another member of the group. But I was wondering if would help to have another topic which would be basically a reference list of all available Letters, Sandglasses and relevant ephemera which the editors would update whenever they added new material (giving credit to the donating member, something I don't think the Google Drive list does).
Any use?

>61 astronauteric: I scanned through the LEC Monthly Letters, all 373 items and I failed to find the Anthony Adverse in the list.

>63 Jan7Smith: It is still in the Uploads folder, and I'm sure one of the editors will move it to the regular folder when they get an opportunity.

>62 featherwate: I don't know how many others, if any, have the same problem I do, but yes, I at least would find something like that very helpful.

>64 astronauteric: That explains it...Thanks.

A valid point indeed. I self one upload ML because I don't have any new ones to add, but when I did I'd always mention it here. I know that the google drive app on the Mac has a notification when new files are added to the Google drive folder. That could be used to see what new files are or we could ask future uploaders to mention it.

>62 featherwate:

Jack, I'm doing something similar with the Folio Prospectuses list but I must tell you that it takes a lot of time to add them to the post. I'm not saying it can't be done but it would take some patience, a shot of whiskey and time.

It's just I find the list in Google drive much easy to browse in the folder. The only thing is that you need to browse by year, which I'm completely happy with. If you're using the website it can be tiring but at least you search quicker.

>64 astronauteric: I have printed your Anthony Adverse ML and I really appreciate it.

>69 Jan7Smith: I hope it worked out okay. I've only scanned two or three monthly letters and I'm not sure I've found the right balance between file size and quality. And unfortunately this particular letter had some discoloration, especially on page one, that I hope isn't too distracting.

>62 featherwate:
>67 ironjaw:

I discovered today that on the Drive app on my phone, I can sort the MLs by date of modification, so I can see what new ones have been added recently. So that sort of solves my problem. I do still think it would be convenient if either the uploader or editor(s) mentioned when something is added, if that's not too tedious. But if not, no big deal.

>70 astronauteric: The size and quality were both fine. Just a small crease line where the letter was folded which is to be expected. I am very happy with it.

Other recent additions:
Monthly Letters for The Analects of Confucius (1933) and Spoon River Anthology (1942).
Sandglass 4G for Ambrose Bierce's Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1943) (first Heritage printing of the same year's LEC edition).
All three are searchable PDFs.
Bierce's Tales is an attractive piece of book making; illustrator Paul Landacre is yet another fine American engraver I'd never heard of, so another nod of thanks to the shade of George Macy. But an extraordinarily grim volume to publish in wartime!

>51 ironjaw:
Faisel, I've made back-ups as of today on disc and in Dropbox (which I still use).

Thanks for the Spoon River Anthology, been looking for that for a while

>74 kafkachen:
Glad to be of service!

Does anyone have a copy of the ML for Poe's Tales of Mystery & Imagination 1941 to share?

Quick question...where does one find the database of all these scanned letters?

>77 kpfeifle: I think you contact Ironjaw (Faisel) to get access to the ML data.

Thanks to aaronpepperdine, the 1943 ML for Moby Dick is now in the Google Drive Monthly Letter folder, together with an interesting 'Special Letter' which George Macy sent to his members explaining that a new era of cooperation between the LEC and the Heritage Club. Macy being Macy, he manages to present this as a positive step despite its being forced on him by the exigencies of war.

Edited to take account of 80 below.

>79 featherwate: Thanks to aaronpepperdine!

>80 BuzzBuzzard:
That's what I was expecting but it came through with Vasily's name as the owner (and it seems impossible to remove it). But at least credit can be acknowledged here!

Yes, thank you Aaron--again!

>79 featherwate:
Jack, that letter is most interesting as it definitely marks the transition from the Heritage Club being an independent entity in its productions to a lower-cost version of the LEC productions. I wonder if the post-war plebiscite mentioned in the closing paragraph ever took place?

>82 Django6924:
Yes, I wondered about that, Robert. I think the post-war Heritage Club produced fewer originals, didn't it? which suggests that the LEC members had not been formally asked if they wished to regain their independence from the Heritage Club or to continue to benefit from the economies of scale set out in Macy's letter. After all if the quality of their books remained high, they probably never gave it another thought; perhaps even the Oldest Members had forgotten that Macy had once pledged never to sully the uniqueness of LEC books by reissuing them in 'cheap' editions. For their part, the directors of George Macy Companies Inc may have realized that the organization's financial situation, battered by the war years, did not allow them the luxury of returning the LEC to its previous splendid isolation. In which case it would have been sensible to 'forget' the plebiscite - after all, canvassing people's opinions may not get you the answer you want.
Perhaps all will be revealed in Ms Grossman's history....
BTW, I was surprised at the number ('hundreds') of LEC members who had apparently already disappeared into the armed services during 1942/3. I'd somehow thought of the average member being fairly, um, old. Would they have been volunteers, or was there already a draft in place by late 1942? If so, what would have been its upper age limit?

>83 featherwate: from history.com:

"November 11

On this day in 1942, Congress approves lowering the draft age to 18 and raising the upper limit to age 37.

In September 1940, Congress, by wide margins in both houses, passed the Burke-Wadsworth Act, and the first peacetime draft was imposed in the history of the United States. The registration of men between the ages of 21 and 36 began exactly one month later. There were some 20 million eligible young men—50 percent were rejected the very first year, either for health reasons or because 20 percent of those who registered were illiterate.

But by November 1942, with the United States now a participant in the war, and not merely a neutral bystander, the draft ages had to be expanded; men 18 to 37 were now eligible. Blacks were passed over for the draft because of racist assumptions about their abilities and the viability of a mixed-race military. But this changed in 1943, when a “quota” was imposed, meant to limit the numbers of blacks drafted to reflect their numbers in the overall population, roughly 10.6 percent of the whole. Initially, blacks were restricted to “labor units,” but this too ended as the war progressed, when they were finally used in combat.
"
By war’s end, approximately 34 million men had registered; 10 million had been inducted into the military.

Does anyone have the ML for the Histories of Herodotus? I'm updating my old Heritage post with my new LEC and would love to expound upon the two editions if possible.

(makes mental note to get PM to ironjaw for access to the Google account)

>85 WildcatJF:

Jerry, I have it and would be happy to scan it today and send it to you and to anyone who could add it to the Google database.

86) That would be great, Robert. Thanks!

I ended up utilizing a bunch of quotes from you from when I originally wrote the post to stand in! But it will be nice to have the actual letter, too.

Does anyone have the Monthly Letter for Cicero Orations and Essays?

>88 Django6924: It's not already posted? I've got it. I'll try to get around to scanning it tomorrow.

>89 kdweber:

Thanks, Ken. I'm curious about the reproduction methods for Fiume's illustrations; in the other Mardersteig books his paintings are generally on coated stock and tipped-in.

>89 kdweber:
>90 Django6924:
Cicero Monthly Letter and publisher's announcement now available in Google Drive.

I'm sorry if I haven't been able to do much organising in the ML folders. I've just been too busy with the packing and the move to London end of this month as well as applying for scholarships for the postgraduate course I'm taking over at the BPP.

I think the same goes with the Folio Society prospectuses folder at FS.

Sandglass Number IV:18 for the Coronation Edition of The Faerie Queene is now on Google Drive. It is in the Heritage Press section of the Monthly Letters Folder.

Does anyone have the monthly letter for War and Peace?

>94 BuzzBuzzard:

I've scanned it. If someone who has the technology to upload it to the Google Drive will PM me, I'll email it to you.

Is the ML for Plato's Republic available?

Thanks to Django the ML for War and Peace is now available.

Monthly Letter 133 for the May 1941 Tales of Mystery and Imagination is now available on Google Drive, thanks to GMD SDB2012.
The subscribers were offered the chance to reject this book. It was being offered as a replacement for one or other of two scheduled books whose printing had been held up: by the Luftwaffe in the case of The Old Wives' Tale and for tactfully unspecified reasons in the case of The True History of the Conquest of Mexico. The Old Wives made their appearance a few months later, but it was nearly 18 months before the conquistadores finally burst on the scene.

>98 featherwate: You might want to move the 1938 Crime and Punishment from ML to HP folder.

>98 featherwate:

I wonder if anyone did reject it - the illustrations are some of my favorite the club commissioned. I only wish it had been done with a sturdier binding.

>99 BuzzBuzzard:
So done.

98) I imagine the delay of The Conquest of Mexico was due to Miguel Covarrubias' tendency to work on projects well past the deadline. He was not, shall we say, a prompt deliverer. It wasn't the first time Covarrubias left Macy hanging on a book, either. Quoting from my post on All Men are Brothers:
All Men are Brothers, a Chinese novel that stands as a world classic, was Covarrubias’ final commission for the George Macy Company in 1948, one that dragged Macy through a very prolonged suffering as Covarrubias took his sweet time to illustrate the work (for more details, check the Announcement letter for the Heritage Decameron via this link: https://georgemacyimagery.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/heritage-press-the-decameron-.... Perhaps this was the straw that broke Macy’s back, as Covarrubias would not see another job from the Company, and he passed away in 1957, a considerable lapse of time that he easily could have performed multiple commissions.

>102 WildcatJF:

I believe Miguel Covarrubias never read All Men are Brothers or he couldn't understand it, the illustration doesn't fit the personality of characters . and was in quite a bad taste.

Does anyone have the ML for The Idiot and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea?

The Monthly Letter and Publisher's Announcement for Death in Venice (LEC, 1972) has been added to the ML Folder on Google Drive.

Is anyone in possession of the flyer for The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard? Incidentally printed by the Marchbanks Press, which we just discussed in a different LT thread.

>106 BuzzBuzzard:

I'll scan it this week if no one preempts me.

>107 Django6924: Thanks! The ML is in the Drive.

For the inquisitive, and I know there are many on here, the 1938 Elegy Written In a Country Church-Yard letter and card are now available.

Great fine press book, designed and produced to a very high standard! I too have the HP edition and can say now that the engravings are noticeably better in the LEC edition.

Hi,
Sorry for my ignorance. Is it possible to have access to the Google Drive folder?
Many thanks in advance, AM.

A couple of years ago when I joined this forum I asked the very same question. I was then told that a member needs to be established as an active GMD contributor first and then he or she can get access to monthly letters database.

Now let me put the question forward: what is our entrance criteria to the ML database? As it is only natural for us to have one.

I think the reason for that requirement was to negate any new one-day members of capitalising on the copyrighted letters. To put it in another way, we were all worried that sellers on ebay would get access to our letters and use them for purposes that seem now unknown. These letters are the copyright of LEC and we are a small community of LEC enthusiasts that would like to accumulate a complete digital archive but we don't have their permission for distribution.

However, I open the floor for discussion.

But yes, I am the Keeper of LEC letters, along with my trusty comrades.

I recently acquired a 5 volume set of bound monthly letters 1-477. Am happy to assist with this project.

Added to the ML Folder: publishers' announcement and Monthly Letter No 412 (June 1968) for Maupassant's rake-on-the-make novel Bel-Ami, one of Van Gogh's favourite books. He read it more than once, it appears in one of his pictures (Still life with plaster statuette, a rose and two novels), and is in part the inspiration for one of his famous 'starry night' paintings, Café Terrace at Night. Sadly, he did not live long enough for George Macy to commission him to illustrate the LEC... but the book, a handsome volume designed by Adrian (Nostromo, Ah Wilderness, etc) Wilson is large enough to show Bernard Lamotte's dozen paintings off to good advantage.
Bel-Ami has been adapted several times for film, television and the stage, though rarely in France itself. The 1976 Franco-Swedish production, Bel Ami - den stora överraskningen!, for example, was filmed entirely in Stockholm. Its title translates as Bel Ami - the Big Surprise!, which makes sense when you know that Bel-Ami was played by the well-endowed adult film star, Harry Reems. Although in this case he seems not to have risen to the occasion: the Swedish censors passed the film as suitable for 11 year olds.

Publisher's announcement and Monthly Letter No 44 (January 1933) for Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are now available.

Anyone has the ML of Captain's daughter and other stories of Pushkin please help ?

>116 kafkachen: I have a copy I can scan and post.

Update: Found the book, scans of the Monthly Letter and Announcement are in the upload directory.

Captain's Daughter ML and Announcement now available in the LEC Monthly Letter collection thanks to Ken.
>117 kdweber: Thanks, Ken!

Thank you so much !

Monthly Letter for 1956 The Idiot is now available.

Hi All -- Anyone have the ML for the 1937 Camille, by Alexandre Dumas, fils, with illustrations by Marie Laurencin. Next week's B&V article covers the 1937 and 1955 editions, and I do not have the ML from the 1937. Thanks!

>121 busywine: I believe I do. Will check tonight and scan tomorrow.

>122 BuzzBuzzard: Thanks!

>123 busywine: Camille is in the upload folder.

Thank you!!!!

Can someone remind me how to access the monthly letters on the Google Drive(?)...It's been too long since I last did it that it might have been when we were using the Dropbox instead. Blonde and 50. That's my excuse for everything these days. ;)

>126 jveezer: I am interested as well. I only own 7 LEC titles so far, but 2 are missing the MLs and I'd very much like to read them (1960 Ben Hur, and 1934 Canterbury Tales).

>127 chrisrsprague:

It will be 70 before you can blink.

Write me a private PM with your email address and I'll send an invite to the Google Drive ML folder.

>aaronpepperdine

Took me nearly four years to accumulate 250 titles

>129 ironjaw: Thank you.
>130 kafkachen: Well, in addition to my 7 LEC titles, I also own 3 HP titles. I spend a lot on FS books as well, so my resources can't all go towards LEC books.

Lysistrata (1934) was included in the LEC Monthly Letters folder in Dropbox but has vanished in the transfer to Google Drive. Could anyone supply a replacement?
(And no, I haven't just bought the book! I was interested in reading the ML is all.)
Correction: I think it may have disappeared while it was still in Dropbox.

>132 featherwate: Enjoy it!

>133 BuzzBuzzard: Many thanks, I have! One of the most interesting things in it is the explanation of how the LEC acquired its own print shop, The Georgian Press, from the unfortunate Richard W. Ellis, metallurgist turned horse-and-buggy printer (literally: he never learned to drive an automobile).
According to a tribute from one Earl Schenck Miers in The Journal of the Rutgers University Libraries, Vol 5 No 1 (1941)*, Ellis was unfortunate not only in having to put The Georgian up for sale because of the bankruptcy of his main customer - Cheshire House, a publishing firm established by Walter Chrysler, Jr. "in" the ML says disdainfully, "seeming imitation of the LEC" - but also in his everyday business transactions:
"There was the incident of six hundred dollars worth of handsome handmade paper with a deckle on the four sides which he shipped to a distant printer with instructions to save the deckle. The printer was an obliging fellow—carefully he trimmed the deckle off the paper and shipped it back to Mr Ellis...." (Don would have enjoyed that anecdote.)
The LEC did not take over Dick Ellis along with his press, but Fortune now repented:

and found him a berth aboard The Haddon Craftsmen, the printers and binders whom Macy sometimes commissioned (most notably for the Robert Ball The Compleat Angler, the Miguel Covarrubias Green Mansions, and the much sought after 'colored threads' Gulliver's Travels). Ellis continued as an independent producing much admired work for clients of his own.
Despite the ML's dismissal of Cheshire House, the 18 books Ellis produced for Walter Chrysler rarely come on the market; some fetch high prices when they do, but others are more reasonable and I'm tempted to sample one or two of these....

Edited to add full publication date supplied by BuzzBuzzard, to whom thanks.

>134 featherwate:

Richard Ellis also designed The Red And The Black (1947).

If you are interested in the life and works of Richard Ellis (1894-1942), The Journal of the Rutgers University Libraries, Vol 5 No 1 (1941) has a very nice write up available online: http://jrul.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/jrul/article/view/1195

>134 featherwate:

He also designed one of my very, very favorites: the first LEC version of Heart of Darkness.

>134 featherwate:

Jack, I am always impressed by your storehouse of ribald information! Where did you find that illustration with its Mercurio-esque caption?

Does anyone have the monthly letter for An Iceland Fisherman that could be shared? Thanks in advance.

138) I don't, but would also appreciate it! Thanks!

>138 Jan7Smith:

I think I have it in the First Fifty Monthly Letters volume; I'll check tonight.

>140 Django6924: Being the 21st LEC it's certainly in the First Fifty collection.

OK, I sent a scan of the Monthly Letter for An Iceland Fisherman to Jerry (WildcatJF) so if he will be good enough to post it to the Dropbox, it will be available for all.

142) Responsibility! UGH :p

I'd be happy to. I'll try to do that here shortly, since I'm in George Macy mode.

143) Hm, looks like I'm not able to add new items to the directory on Google. Ironjaw, could you help me out?

I'll pm Jan7Smith with the copy Robert sent.

Thanks, Robert and Jerry for the quick response. I really appreciate getting the letter.

>144 WildcatJF:

Sorry Jerry, it's rather sad that I can't seem to master Dropbox, but not only can't I post to it, I have lost all access to the letters already there. I'll have to see if I can get some tech support.

Robert, the current place for the monthly letters is in Google Drive. Just login to GD with co......24@gmail.com and you should be able to access the repository. Same is true for Jerry - login to GD with your gmail account.

147) I tried Google Drive and have access to look at the files; not the capability to add a new folder or files.

There are two folders: 1) LEC Monthly Letters & 2) LEC ML Upload. You can only view 1) but add/edit content to 2). Safety mechanism so that material does not inadvertently disappear like it used to happen in the past. Only a few people including Jack and Faisel have edit privileges to folder #1. Occasionally they check and move new MLs from the upload folder to the actual repository. I would say a very smart system :-)

149) Ah, okay. I'll take another look tonight and figure it out. :)

>147 BuzzBuzzard:

Thanks, Vasil--that works!

Great. It would be nice if someone can upload the ML for An Iceland Fisherman then.

152) It's in the ML Uploads folder now. :)

I've moved three folders to the ML folder in Google Drive, so there should be access to these files.

And yes, we "dropped" Dropbox some time ago in favour for Google Drive.

Does any of you have the ML for the 1941 LEC Treasure Island?

Does anyone have the ML for The Old Wives Tale 1941?

>155 BuzzBuzzard:
Unfortunately, no.

>156 Jan7Smith:
Yes--I can scan it Thursday and try to upload it to Google Drive (which my good friend Faisal assures me is easier than uploading it to Dropbox--a skill I never acquired).

>157 Django6924: Robert, thanks for your efforts to upload the ML. I look forward to reading the letter.

>158 Jan7Smith:

I uploaded the ML of Old Wives to my Google drive but didn't have editorial permissions to add it to the Groups folder. I sent a shareable link to Faisel, and would be happy to send a link to you if you PM your address!

>159 Django6924:

Robert, are you able to add the ML to the LEC ML Upload folder? Faisel, Jack, or I can then move it from there to the LEC folder itself.

>160 scholasticus:

I think I was able to. I can see it there, anyway.

>158 Jan7Smith:
>161 Django6924:

It's now in the LEC folder. Jack beat me to it!

'Thanks for the combined efforts to make The Old Wives'Tale ML available.

>157 Django6924: Thank you for the scan, I've uploaded it to the folder, though I didn't get time to move it to its own folder :)

I recently obtained a nice set of The adventures of Gil Blas and would like to get the ML if anyone could provide a scan. Also the Woman in White.

>164 ironjaw:

Thanks Faisel!

>165 Jan7Smith:

I have Gil Blas and will scan it tomorrow. I believe the ML for The Woman in White is already on Google Drive.

The Monthly Letter and the Announcement Card for it are in the ML Upload folder on Google Drive. As soon as an administrator moves it into the main area it is available (incidentally, although I uploaded the Announcement Card separately, it is also page five of the ML upload).

Page 4 of the Letter is interesting as it includes a Files on Parade section--a feature that was being discontinued--and it includes the Popularity Ballot of the members for the previous (Eighth) Series. The highest-rated book by the members who voted was The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini with a landslide 128 1st place votes, followed by Paradise Lost with 99 1st place votes. Morte d'Arthur trails weakly in the relative 3rd place with only 36 1st place votes. The Beggar's Opera, Main Street, The Kasidah, Anthony Adverse and Great Expectations (in that order) all got more 1st place votes than did Malory, but still finished lower in the Relative ranking due to fewer 3rd and 4th place votes. The lowest-rated in the Relative rankings (working from the bottom upwards), were The Frogs, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, Pinocchio, Punch and Judy, and Camille (the first version with Laurencin's art).

Interesting to see how time has reversed many of these choices in terms of desirability. The top three rankings are probably less desirable for collectors today than the 10th, 11th, and 12th rankings, with number 12, The Ballad of Reading Gaol being considered by many on this site as perhaps the most desirable in the series. Incidentally, the bottom-rated The Frogs was 13th on the list because, due to the disapproval voiced by many when Anthony Adverse was announced, the Club offered members the alternate choice of Punch and Judy (or they could take both). It is odd that in the same ML that details how much members loved the combination of printer John Johnson and illustrator John Austen in the previous offerings of the duo, that the members should cast such disdain on The Frogs, which is Austen's least characteristic work for the Club, and to me the most satisfying (although his work on Vanity Fair is also very appropriate to the work and I like it very much).

In addition to the current popularity of the LEC edition of the Wilde poem, the low-ranking Pinocchio (#11), Punch and Judy(#10) and Camille (#9) all seem harder to find and bring higher prices today than the top 3 rankings. I remarked in another thread how the highest-rated The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini is for me, despite the typical Mardersteig excellence in production, somewhat unsatisfying, and I have never been interested in the LEC Paradise Lost, much preferring the Heritage volume with Blake's illustrations. Likewise, I have the Heritage Morte d'Arthur for the text only, as Gibbings ornamentations leave me cold. I have always said that the Grant Wood illustrations for Main Street (#5) are my favorite among all LEC illustrations, and The Beggar's Opera (#7) is another ideal marriage of illustrations and subject (although I wish the LEC edition would have included the music for the songs, as the later HP edition did).

>168 Django6924: Robert, I really appreciate all you do for us less informed. Your great knowledge of all the wonderful books is something I always look forward to reading with great anticipation. You rated The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini highly and although I don't have the LEC version, I do have the Brentano's (1906). I intend to delve into it very soon based on your opinion of it. I will try to pester you less concerning ML request as I know it is time-consuming. Thanks again for sharing so much.
I can hardly wait to see the Gil Blas ML and Announcement Card.

>169 Jan7Smith: As long as you have access to the ML Folder you should also have access to the Upload Folder.

Gil Blas has ascended to ML Heaven.

Got it...thanks to all.

Speaking of Anthony Adverse, is it just my lack of knowing how to download from Google Drive that keeps me from seeing anything other than page one of the ML or downloading it, or is there some issue with this particular file?

I can see this ML just fine. Four pages.

>173 Django6924:

Robert, have you downloaded the Google Drive plug-in for Mac so you can see the Google Drive folder on your Mac Finder?

I have checked your viewing rights and you have like everyone else viewing permissions. So that looks good.

I have checked the ML for 1937 Anthony Adverse and can see all four pages as well as the special notes. When I use the browser to view the file, there is a discreet right button that you can click to see the next page und so weiter or you can scroll down. Are you able to do this?

>175 ironjaw:

Faisel, I can see all the other letters just fine, but that one didn't seem to open past the first page when I downloaded it until I opened it in Photoshop, then saved each page as a separate jpeg. I will go back and try to view it using that right button.

Thanks!

>176 Django6924:

Robert, have you tried opening it with Preview or Adobe PDF?

>177 ironjaw:

Yes, for some reason it opened as 4 illegible files. I'll send you a screenshot.

I am so sorry to hear you are having problems, Robert. I wish there was something I could do to help

>179 ironjaw:

No problem Faisel. I was able to open all pages in Photoshop and only the Anthony Adverse was giving me a problem. You have done so much for this group, and I want to add my fervent thanks with the others for making this resource possible.

I don't suppose anyone has the sandglass for the 1936 HP Compleat Angler ?

Does anyone have the letters for The Magic Mountain and Jonathan Wild to share? Thanks.

>182 Jan7Smith: I only have a copy for Magic Mountain but it's not needed as the Announcement and Monthly Letter are already posted on Google Drive.

>183 kdweber: I could not get a suitable print of that Magic Mountain letter.

>184 Jan7Smith: Ah, you're requesting a better scan.

>185 kdweber: That is my desire...to print a copy that is almost the original on ivory granite paper.

I just put Jonathan Wild in the LEC ML Upload folder. If one of our Google Drive Gurus will move it to the main folder, that would be greatly appreciated.

(As a side note: there's almost nothing about Fielding's story in the ML, virtually the entire letter being taken up with T.M. Cleland who illustrated and designed the book, even down to a promo at the end advertising some art prints Mr. Cleland is offering to the Club members at prices that must have seemed rather surprising at that time--one of the versions of these prints he is selling for $75 apiece--about five times more expensive than the price of an LEC!)

>187 Django6924: Thanks, Robert...I guess that doesn't bode well for Macy's thoughts concerning the book, which I haven't read yet. I hope to enjoy it anyway!

>188 Jan7Smith:

Fascinating story, really, and if you have some background about the real life characters--not only Wild himself--but Walpole, who Fielding was satirizing in the character of Wild, you should find it very interesting.

>187 Django6924: Robert your scan of Jonathan Wild is perfect for printing. Thanks.

Robert, page four has this comment about Jonathan Wild: We risked the assertion that it will go down into publishing history as one of the six finest of all The Limited Edition's publications. I know this was in 1943 but still high praise from Macy.

>191 Jan7Smith:
George Macy, bless him, was rather given to such exuberant assertions. Only the year before, he had declared apropos Boardman Robinson's contribution to Spoon River Anthology:

What though they don't quite live up to that fanfare? George was excited by and loved what he was doing and wanted his subscribers to share, if not his love, certainly his enthusiasm. At the very least, he infused them with the warm glow of pleasurable anticipation; if the reality didn't always match the rhetoric, their disappointment hardly had time to take hold before it was extinguished by the arrival of next month's promise of delights...

Of course, had the LEC's success rate not been so consistently high as it was, George's enticing encomia would have been written off as the flimflammery of a fly-by-night snake oil salesman. Unfortunately for his competitors, he could not be dismissed as the upstart huckster that they must have hoped he would turn out to be.

>192 featherwate: Interesting...I guess one has to toot their own horn at times. I love most of his selections and his descriptions of each volume. The quality of the books is really impressive as is their
content. His enthusiasm was contagious to me. Thanks for the insight.

>193 Jan7Smith:
Yes the quality of the Macy's books is astonishing, especially when you consider the relentless timetable (a lasting work of art every month!) and the complexity of co-ordinating so many talented - but not always reliable or amenable - printers, designers, illustrators, colorists, academics and binders (and, of course, ensuring a constant supply of high grade paper). And to do this not only against the background of economic depression and a world war, but also across a series of sites in the USA - a large enough area in itself! - and in Europe, Russia, the Far East and the Far South, with all the attendant complications of language, shipping &c. There have been intermittent GMD discussions on the problems there must sometimes have been in getting colophons signed – Mariette Lydis (The Turn of the Screw, 1947) managed to avoid the chore by disappearing to South America. GM was not pleased, and I don't think ever employed her again.
And as well as Macy's contagious enthusiasm, the Monthly Letters contain so much useful background. As Robert put it some time ago:
“One of the things I always admired about George Macy is that he thought such information was interesting, and that his members would think so as well, and that it should be included as a separate article to the book itself in the form of the Sandglass and the Monthly Letter. Those ephemera, which many members did not keep are minor courses in the art of the book, and explain how important such details as paper, font, and binding materials are to the overall production. Few other publishers thought such information worth sharing with their customers, and today, no corporate entity would tolerate the added cost in providing such."

>194 featherwate: This is so entertaining and informative that I would love to read a weekly or monthly letter of yours. You and Robert exhibit such knowledge of fine books and I am better for being exposed to you. Thanks and keep posting.

The Monthly Letter for 1943 The Praise of Folly is now available for reference.

...as is The Monthly Letter for 1960 The Nibelungenlied (I hope).

>186 Jan7Smith: I've posted a new four page searchable pdf scan of The Magic Mountain on the LEC ML Upload directory.

>198 kdweber: I really appreciate it. I enjoy the information provided by the letters and it seems to make the book complete. Thanks.
edit to add that it made a beautiful copy when printed...looks almost like an original.

I would be grateful if someone could post the ML for the 1941 LEC Plutarch's Lives as I have as I have a set on its way in the post.

>200 howpim: "I would be grateful if someone could post the ML for the 1941 LEC Plutarch's Lives"

I second that.

>201 Django6924:

It took me a while to decide between the HP and the LEC, and with a google search I noticed even your own opinion fluctuate concerning the relative merits of the two. Anyway, Plutarch is *essential* reading and Im looking forward to North's translation.

>202 howpim:

The LEC Plutarch is a typical Dwiggins production--8 small octavo volumes, beautiful multicolored title pages, nice letterpress, good, but not exceptional, paper. Nothing fancy about the blue cloth binding but very sturdy.

The LEC has all the lives, and I confess I doubt if I will ever read all of them. The HP edition is in two larger volumes (taller and wider as well as thicker), with a Dwiggins ornamental design used for the black and ivory binding--quite striking and I like it better, design-wise. The ornamental title pages are reproduced in B&W rather than color, but to offset this disadvantage, portraits of the Noble Greeks and Romans, drawn for the Nonesuch Press Plutarch, are used at the head of each life. The HP uses a selection of the Lives (28 total) rather than all, and on the whole I think most readers would would be content with these (well, at least I am).

My Plutarch came with the monthly letter for the second set of four volumes. I don't have the letter for the first set of four. The second has little or nothing about the Plutarch content-wise but I will scan it if anyone wants it.

Yes please!

Here is the pdf for the monthly letter for september 1941 which is the second of the two part Plutarch set of eight volumes.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxGA_BYDlr7JZ05nbXFITWpPZjQ/view?usp=sharing

I've uploaded HP Sandglass 4BX - 1937 Romeo and Juliet.pdf to the LEC ML Uploads folder (couldn't see how to upload to the Sandglass folder directly): https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3c_qUdGlwKNWkdVblJiNEtwdlE

>207 kermaier:

Thank you for sharing! This is a real gem.

So 4B means the 4th book of the second series, right? What does "X" stand for? I thought reprint. It seems GM unnecessarily complicated the HP numbering convention so it differs from the LEC.

>207 kermaier: Can you rotate the PDF so the text runs horizontally?

>209 BuzzBuzzard: It's a reprint. Romeo and Juliet where part of the initial six HPs released in 1935. My Bussacco shows the first regular release in October 1937 with a Sandglass labeled 5A. The text appears to be the same as in the 4BX posted version.

>209 BuzzBuzzard: Confusingly, Sandglass 4B was A Tale of Two Cities.

>209 BuzzBuzzard: X stands for extra. R stands for reprint.

>209 BuzzBuzzard:

Vasil, the numbering of the Sandglass for this book is a bit complicated. The first Heritage Press books issued did not have a Series identifier, and consisted of 6 books, the fourth of which was Romeo and Juliet. This book has the blue and gold paper sides and quarter leather binding, and on the title page "The Heritage Press - 1935". There were also 1500 copies os this book, with an additional hand-colored illustration used as a frontispiece and signed by Sauvage. (I have never seen any of these limited HP Romeo and Juliet books, and am relying on Michael Bussacco's HP Checklist, but am sure these 1500 exist as I have the limited A Shropshire Lad with Wilson's signed frontispiece.)

The First Series, which is identified as Series "A," had Romeo and Juliet as the 5th book issued (and should have been identified on the Sandglass as 5A), but the title page reads "Members of the Heritage Club - 1937". Going through Bussacco's HP Checklist, I can not find another time when this edition of Romeo and Juliet was issued.

The "X" usually meant an extra book offered to members (not part of the year's subscription), probably overstock from the original print run but possibly a reprint, and the numbering might refer to the month in which it is offered. 4BX thus might mean it was offered as an additional choice during September of the Second Series, though Bussacco's Checklist does not reflect this.

(Written before Ken's post above, which covers the same ground, but his post beat mine.)

>212 kdweber: >213 Django6924: Thanks for the info!

I posted pictures of the limited Romeo and Juliet awhile back. Very nice book!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/220405

>209 BuzzBuzzard:
I think the "X" probably does stand for reprint. As detailed in this post ( http://www.librarything.com/topic/220405#5568904 ), R&J was originally printed in 1935 for The Heritage Press, Inc., and then reprinted in 1937 for the Members of the Heritage Club. Since this Sandglass is dated 1937, it presumably accompanied the reprint.

I've uploaded a new scan with individual pages in the correct orientation.

>209 BuzzBuzzard:
I think the "X" probably does stand for reprint. As detailed in this post ( http://www.librarything.com/topic/220405#5568904 ), R&J was originally printed in 1935 for The Heritage Press, Inc., and then reprinted in 1937 for the Members of the Heritage Club. (This Sandglass is dated 1937, and it came to me tucked into a copy of the 1937 state.) If I'm not mistaken, the 1935 printing was described only briefly, along with several other books, in the 1935 Sandglass 101.

I've uploaded a new scan with individual pages in the correct orientation.

>216 kermaier: "If I'm not mistaken, the 1935 printing was described only briefly, along with several other books, in the 1935 Sandglass 101"

Precisely--that first notice described the initial 6 books.

>216 kermaier: As I posted earlier, X stands for extra as when an extra edition was issued. R stands for reprint. As an example, 6BX was The Pickwick Papers published in 1938 while 6BR was a 1960 reprint of Crime and Punishment.

>218 kdweber:
Ah, thanks -- I'd missed that post!

>218 kdweber: >217 Django6924: >216 kermaier:

It is likely then that this eXtra Romeo and Juliet is the exact same book that was part of the first series, which is probably identical to the 1935 edition minus the signed illustration. However Sandglass 4BX should differ from 5A (perhaps only slightly), since it mentions HP Penguin Island, which was issued in the second series.

>220 BuzzBuzzard:

If the title page reads "Members of the Heritage Club - 1937", then it is the later printing, and not one of the first 6 issues.

My copy is missing the signed page but has no mention of 1937, only 1935. At some point did they switch from the box to a slipcase?

>221 Django6924: >222 kdweber:

I am sure they could have just printed a new title page... My copy has the signed page but came in a slipcase.

Anyone have and would be willing to part with one of the following?

Swann's Way ML
The Descent of Man ML
Nostromo ML
Plato's Republic ML

Thanks!

I just purchased an LEC copy of The Newcomes and would appreciate someone sharing a Monthly Letter if possible. I also received a beautiful HP edition of The Little Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi and would really like to have a copy of the Sandglass. Thanks.

Just uploaded ML #123 from April 1940. This one is unusual being eight pages and much like LEC Prospectus than Monthly Letter. Information about a couple of unrealized LEC projects included.

>226 BuzzBuzzard: A very informative read. Thanks for sharing.

>226 BuzzBuzzard:
Fascinating, Vasil! Who, one wonders, was the "Basuto black" artist who was busy producing "crude, childlike, altogether charming drawings" for The Story of an African Farm? The relevant Ransom Center correspondence contains only one indigenous African name, that of Ernest Mancoba (1904-2002). He was a South African artist; indeed, according to Wikipedia “probably South Africa's first professional Black modern artist, and exhibited from the late 1920s onward.” But....he was born in a suburb of Johannesburg, appears to have no links to Basutoland, and was an avant-gardiste whose work might have struck the writer of the Monthly Letter as crude and childlike but by no stretch of the imagination have been called 'altogether charming'. However, by 1940 (the year of the Ransom Center correspondence) he had moved to, and was making a name for himself in, Paris. Someone might have suggested him to Macy as a possible source of information on South African black artists.
I did a search for artists or illustrators who might conceivably have been active in Basutoland in the 1930s/early1940s, but could find only a few white names. I also sampled some of the 1930s Annual Reports on the Social and Economic Progress of the People of Basutoland published by the Colonial Office in London. Unsurprisingly, they have little to say about cultural matters, but a few passing references in the 1936 report suggest that the artistic life of the nation consisted of grass, bark and other weaving; the making of clay animals and pots, and the imaginative decoration by women of the outside walls of huts built by men.

That's very interesting! I remember talking about the Books of the World plan in my Oedipus post. I may write up an Of Interest post about this in the future since this lays it all out.

>226 BuzzBuzzard: >228 featherwate:

The fascinating Monthly Letter uploaded here also fails to mention the name of the printer/designer at the Morija Printing Works where the The Story of an African Farm was to be printed. That gentleman was Hans Schmoller and that same gentleman actually did design and print the book--25 years later and in England!

Per the ML for the 1961 edition, Herr Schmoller was a 21-year-old printer in 1938 when he wrote to George Macy, whose name he had seen in an issue of The Dolphin, introducing him to the Morija Printing Works of the Société des Missions Evangéliques de Paris in Basutoland, where he was in charge of the composing and monotype department. "The only printing office of any importance in a country the size of Switzerland with a staff of 32, all but two of them natives, printing books in 15 languages." Macy's suggested that Morija might want to print The Story of an African Farm for the LEC. The ML is oddly silent about whether Schmoller accepted the offer (if indeed he had the authority to make such a decision at his age), but the war intervened and by the time it was over, Schmoller had moved to England where he was Oliver Simon's assistant at the Curwen Press. Macy located him and raised the question of The Story of an African Farm again, but again the ML doesn't say whether Schmoller accepted (if he had the authority to do so). In 1949 Schmoller moved to Penguin Books and by 1961 was the head of the production department and one of the directors of Penguin. By now, Schmoller must have decided that he needed to write finis to the production of this book for the LEC (he was, incidentally, the designer of the LEC edition of Silas Marner back in 1953).

Although Macy did not live to see the edition, and although it wasn't printed in Basutoland, and the illustrator was not a native of Basutoland but an Englishman, I believe George would have been pleased overall with the result--especially the tree-bark binding.

230) I thought you might have more insights on a few of the missing details in this letter, Robert, and I wasn't mistaken! I'll need to update my posts about this series when I get home from work. :)

>231 WildcatJF:

One more interesting bit about Mr. Schmoller: he wrote the standard reference work on frequent Macy collaborator Giovanni (née Hans) Mardersteig.

I just received a beautiful LEC Undine and would love to have a copy of the Monthly Letter if anyone has it available to share. The existing copy is very difficult to print with good results.

I have the original letter. Will try to get a better scan next week. Lovely book, isn't it?

>234 BuzzBuzzard: It is a lovely book...I am proud of it. Thanks in advance for the Monthly Letter.

ML for Undine is now available in more usable format.

ML for 1954 Green Grow The Lilacs also available.

>236 BuzzBuzzard: Thanks for the Undine scan...looks great.

>49 drgug: Unless you have heirs who are interested in the books, you should leave a memo to your executor to contact this group when the time for disposition of the collection occurs!

>194 featherwate: Having just read this, I need to add my praise. Excellent.

>239 laotzu225:, 240, Good to see you here. I hope you’ll enjoy our little creation.

>240 laotzu225:
Thank you! I am presently reading the chapters in Carol Grossman's History of the LEC that deal with the late 1930s and the war years and their aftermath. I am now even more in awe of George Macy. At one level what she shows us is someone whose constant ingenuity and fertility of mind enable him to steer his various enterprises safely through a seemingly endless storm of potential disasters. At another, darker level she shows us a man of lifelong poor health literally working himself towards an early grave to save his beloved LEC, a much more fragile construct than ever I had imagined.

>240 laotzu225: Ms. Grossman's book will be a near-term acquisition for me. There does not appear to be a lot of personal information about George Macy in the typical places one might look for information, like Wikipedia or other online sites.
I did find a link on the Wikipedia article to her 1999 article on the LEC in Biblio and downloaded it. It is clear she has been researching this subject for a long time.

Does anyone have the Tartarin of Tarascon Monthly Letter to share? The copy available now is almost unreadable when printing.

>244 Jan7Smith:
Jan, I've replaced the jpg version with a searchable pdf one scanned from the First Fifty Monthly Letters, which should print out better. Let me know if it doesn't!

>245 featherwate: That printed out just about perfect. Thanks for taking the time to do this. I store the Monthly Letters in the books usually, but I can't do that with the tiny Tartarin of Tarascon so I will have to come up with another storage site. I really enjoy reading the letters though they at times inspire me to purchase another LEC. I have to slow down as my wallet is about empty.

>246 Jan7Smith:
"I have to slow down as my wallet is about empty."
I've lost count of the number of times I've said that.....

The 1942 Huckleberry Finn letter is now available. The book unfortunately will have to be returned...

Not sure if there has been a change in access to the Google Drive Monthly Letters, but I no longer can access it.

What is the nature of the problem? Seems to be working for me.

Well, now I can open the folders, but now I don't see the path to adding to one. I wanted to add the Sandglass for the Nonesuch Princess of Cleves, but don't see the upload folder.

Hi is there anybody else besides ironjaw that has admin rights to the ML google folder? Ironjaw might be out and hasn’t been able to add me. I think I read in a post there are others who can add new members. Thanks in advance.

Ironjaw, thanks for granting access. Also many thanks to others that continue to contribute to the ML database.

I've posted the 1958 Herodotus Monthly Letter and Announcement to the upload directory.

>254 kdweber: Curiously Herodotus Letter lists all the LECs that Jan Van Krimpen was involved with besides the 1955 Notre-Dame. An honest omission I am sure! One thing that strikes me about Notre-Dame is the lack of white margins. Something that was a signature for early LEC. Otherwise I like the book.

I would love to see the Monthly Letter for the LEC's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater if anyone has a copy to share.

254) Great! I can append my post with the info! Thanks!

>256 Jan7Smith: It's posted on our Google drive. It also can be found in the collection of the first 50 monthly letters.

>258 kdweber: The copy posted on our Google Drive is not very good for reading or printing. Maybe someone can post a more realistic scan.

I can scan the original letter next week.

>260 BuzzBuzzard: Thanks, I don't have the book yet, but after Ken's comments about the paper used I am on the lookout for a suitable copy. I enjoy the information in the Monthly Letters, especially the Macy years.

>261 Jan7Smith: And it is available. One of my very favorite LECs. So much that I have two copies :-)

>262 BuzzBuzzard: Vasil, I have a fine HP edition, but after reading all the good things about the LEC edition from several members, I think I must have a copy of the LEC.
Your scan of the Monthly Letter is about perfect. Thanks for your time and effort.

>263 Jan7Smith: Not the best pictures but you can get some feel about the book. I started with an HP copy too and it is nice but the LEC is simply superb. Reading it in the LEC format is such a treat!

Chris also has a review on his website: https://booksandvines.com/2011/07/26/a-review-of-confessions-of-an-english-opium...

>264 BuzzBuzzard: Vasil, I agree that reading most LEC books seems to enhance the enjoyment of the book. Several books I could never read for whatever reason, I got right into when my LEC edition became available.
I just read the review on the booksandvines site and with your pictures, I am hooked. Just hope I can find a copy in fine or near fine that doesn't hurt my finances too bad.

Sorry for not being in touch. I’m still struggling with working too many hours and getting home too late. I will do my best to accommodate any requests.

Does anyone have the ML for The Possessed?

Anybody with ML/announcement for

1. Man and Superman
2. the Virginian

Requesting upload to the google drive please. Thanks.

>267 BuzzBuzzard:

Alas, I thought I did but I think I must have been thinking of the Sandglass for my older HP edition.

>268 Airygold:

I have both and will scan them Tuesday unless someone preempts me.

>264 BuzzBuzzard: Vasil, the Sandglass for Confessions of an English Opium Eater states the text is the original as written by De Quincy. Does the LEC edition use the same text?

>270 Jan7Smith: I am not aware of different versions of this work. Even if there were I am sure the LEC/Shakespeare Head Press would have used the most authoritative one. A fascinating read for sure!

I have scanned the ML for The Virginian and Man and Superman, if someone who has upload privileges to Google drive will PM me, I will email them.

>272 Django6924:

Robert, you still have no access to the ML folder and the ML Upload folder? What about through the website?

On another note:

Did a little spring cleaning and moved some files that were uploaded to the LEC ML Upload to the main LEC ML folder

Thanks to Faisel who reminded me (and to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude for making this great resource available), the Monthly Letters for The Virginian and Man and Superman are on Google Drive.

>271 BuzzBuzzard: I am still looking for the LEC edition for my library.

274) Awesome, I can expand on my Man & Superman post! Thanks Robert!

>275 Jan7Smith: Some LECs come and go in waves. Not that long ago there were quite a few copies for sale on eBay around $100. I see there are some copies on Abe but being patient always pays off.

>277 BuzzBuzzard: Hoping patience will reward me with a fine copy at a more affordable price. Thanks for your information which is a big help.

>270 Jan7Smith: >271 BuzzBuzzard:
This is a book I would like to find as well in the LEC edition.
I believe it is the same original text as the Heritage
I have the Folio version of Opium Eater which is much longer and describes itself as the enlarged 1856 version.
P.S. Can anyone tell me how to italicize the title?

I have just purchased a nearly fine copy of Bacon's Essays (with Bruce Roger' s signature) and only mild tearing at edges of solander box (as it came from LEC).
However, it does not have a Monthly Letter and that one does not seem to have made it into the collection this group is gathering.
Does anyone have one?

Edited to add:

And now The Beggar's Opera has come into my hands: book near fine or at least very good, the slipcase more tape than board. But no ML. Can anyone assist?
(I did download the Heritage Sandglass and learned that the HP came 10 years after the LEC and interpolated several lines of music for each of the airs. The LEC is quite large and unwieldy but of course the Lydis illustrations are printed much larger and better and the embossed cover is very striking. But the Heritage is easier to read and literally handier.

>279 laotzu225: "how to italicize"

It's a HTML thing; here's an explanation:

https://www.wikihow.com/Italicize-Text-in-HTML

>279 laotzu225: "how to italicize"

Or you make it a touchstone by just using square brackets.

>281 Django6924: Thank you.

Hello, everyone!

I am reviving this old thread where it (nearly) all started. I know I haven't been visiting LT as often as I should like, but as with life, a lot has preoccupied my free time. My books are sadly still in storage in Denmark and I can only imagine that I've paid for them a dozen times or so, but I cherish them, especially my LECs and hope that one day to acquire the whole collection with all Monthly Letters. The move to the UK was going to the last, but with all that I have learned, and being self-employed and working from home, as well as nearing 40 next year, I have decided to look elsewhere, or what I like to term: an undisclosed offshore location with sunshine. I know how my body works and I just need that little sunshine everyday.

On another note, I wanted to highlight that this August 29th, will be 11 years since mboudreau started the first thread in 2010 and on September 9th, 2011 when the first Dropbox folder was created by me. So actually this year we will be celebrating 10 years on this great achievement. On August 8, 2015 we decided to move to Google Drive after a couple of accidental losses on the way with some of the letters being deleted. It's been a good 6 years with Google Drive and I am happy paying (minor fee) for it and will continue to support this endeavour. We've getting larger with 74 members currently.

So Greg (scholasticus) and Jack (featherwate) are still acting with edit privileges though Greg is not active here anymore from last time I corresponded with him. And I've haven't heard from Jack. We may need to reaffirm to make sure at least three people have admin access.

I would rather much like everyone to take a backup of the folder, like burn on a DVD or something just to make sure.

Over and out.

>284 ironjaw: Thank you for the personal update and, much more importantly, for setting up the drive for the collected MLs. I can't count the times since i began seriously trying to acquire LECs that I've copied from the drive.
I have posted several times in the group asking for ML copies (motivated by the buying of books without them) to be submitted to the Drive. So, there is still work to be done.
I hope several people will come forward to volunteer to administer.
Also, I believe there are several group members who would like access to the drive but do not know whom to ask for it. Are you still the one to contact for that?
I hope you find your place in the sun! While i am reasonably content with the climate in my adopted Pacific Northwest, I'm beginning to find I'd rather be somewhere else in February.

>285 laotzu225:

Thanks. Yes, I am the one to contact.

I would also like to discuss with everyone here what their opinion is, now that Greg (scholasticus) and Jack (featherwate) might be unavailable (or we can appoint two new members with admin privileges) if I change the privilege settings from "View" to "Edit" for the main LEC Monthly Letters folder, giving everyone edit privileges to make changes, create folders and to delete? What I'm thinking is that anyone can then clean up the folder if needed? I've set it to "View" so as to avoid accidental deletion as we saw in Dropbox.

Edit privileges for everyone is a bad idea! Our problem used to be that users would sync the content of the drive and start modifying files locally not realizing that this affected the cloud source. On at least one occasion the entire cloud repository was wiped out. I think that the concept of the Upload folder where everyone can edit/upload new material is a very sound solution for this problem.

If others are okay I do not mind assuming admin responsibilities for the drive.

>287 BuzzBuzzard: I agree with Buzz about the current system being effective in controlling accidental deletion of content. As Buzz is a regular contributor I think it would be great to add them to the admin list.

As much as I wish to relieve Faisel of the total responsibility of administering the drive, I agree that I think based on past experience it would not be good to give everyone edit privileges. I, for one, am not savvy enough about Google Drive to know how to use it, and were I to have edit privileges would probably make a hash of things.

Although I have no right to volunteer him, SteveJohnson who did the amazing "LEC, Heritage Press - Master List" on Google Drive would be my candidate for administrative privileges.

Incidentally, for newcomers to the site, the 'LEC, Heritage Press - Master List" is the best and most thorough checklist for all of the Macy books. Perusing it before you buy is highly advantageous to know more about each book--especially the bewildering variations of HP titles. You can check it out here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/104iYrlXLQOyHMHdS0ulKei_wv71yEAeE9LQvvSgK...

>289 Django6924: I would second SteveJohnson if he was willing! He did a fantastic job on that spreadsheet. BuzzBuzzard is also a good choice (sorry, I didn't see your post!)

I would volunteer but I don't feel I have the capacity to add this to my plate at the moment.

Both BuzzBuzzard and Steve would be worthy administrators.
I definitely am against edit privileges for all. Too many opportunities for mishap.
Will the administrators, whoever they may be, have the authority to admit people to Drive access? My understanding is that some evidence of active participation and civil posts are prerequisites to access.

>265 Jan7Smith: Somewhat belatedly, I saw the remarks about the LEC Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. Did Jan7Smith ever get a copy?
I also have the Heritage (N.Y.) version and was happy with it but....

>287 BuzzBuzzard:

I would be happy to include SteveJohnson and BuzzBuzzard with admin privileged and recommend them to contact me by private PM with their email addresses so I can double check and change the privileges in Google Drive. Thank you so much everyone.

>292 laotzu225: I still only have the HP edition. I have been a little sidetracked lately. My book collecting has suffered and I hope to get back adding more great LEC editions soon.

I'm fairly new to Heritage Press and still getting the hang of things here at LT. I am looking for the Sandglass for The Iliad and The Odyssey, but don't see it in the drive. Can that be? Are my eyes missing something?

I don't usually frequent social media nor do I check the Facebook groups often, but on Facebook today, I saw this post under the Fans of the Limited Editions Club/Heritage Club about LEC Monthly Letters and it made it think a little.



I am happy that we are group of people that believe in the free flow of information and are not too much fixed on being "compensated for the time/trouble." It sounds so much lawyer-talk

>296 ironjaw: Yes, indeed, lawyer/accountant. The my-time-is-valuable mind-set, typical of those who charge by the hour for their service. And yes, I am being judgmental. And yes, there are exceptions. Most of us are happy to help; a little time spent making copies, a few sheets of paper and a bit of postage aren't worth getting our knickers in a knot over. You are all a great bunch of bibliophiles.

Does anyone know which numbers of the monthly letter correspond to the 1941 Plutarch? I believe there should be two such letters.

I know someone who might be able to scan these letters for me, but I would like to give them the specific numbers to cut down on the chance of accidentally scanning the wrong letters.

(These letters are currently missing from the drive. I will upload the scans if it ends up happening.)

More generally, does anyone know of an index that links the numbers of monthly letters to the titles released? I did some preliminary hunting in the shared folder and searching more generally, but didn't come across any such index.

>298 abysswalker:
I believe you are looking for numbers 136 and 137. 137 (Sep 1941) would have been issued with the last 4 volumes of Plutarch, but the letter itself is a "Files On Parade" issue, in which Macy quotes from and discusses letters members have written to the Club, and which doesn't have anything to do with Plutarch.

I couldn't find 137 in the drive now, but it must have been there some time in the past because I have a downloaded copy of it (which I just added to the Upload folder).

Does anyone have a Monthly Letter for The Trial and Death of Socrates? I've just ordered the book and I'm not sure if it will arrive with the ML. The Google Drive only has a Sandglass of the Heritage Press version. Thank you in advance.

>300 Lukas1990: Hi Lucas, I do have a copy of this letter #345, I can send you some photo's.

>299 astronauteric: I do have copies of all of the first 150 letters and many more of the later ones. I'm trying to get into contact with Easton Press, to get permission to publish these. If they allow it I will post all of my monthly letter and sandglass copies online

>301 rocklands: Yes, please! My e-mail is... gone!

Thank you once again!

>303 Lukas1990: Please delete your email for GDPR and personal privacy reasons, unless of course you like the unwarranted attention of fake Rolex and performance enhancing substances down under

>302 rocklands: That would be a philanthropic undertaking. I am missing a number of MLs.
However, I just received a "near mint" (and it is) 1964 Heritage press Poor Richard's Almanack with what appears to be an inscription by Norman Rockwell. There is however no Sandglass accompanying it and
I wonder if you or any of our other friends have a copy you can share.

>305 laotzu225: I do have a sandglass for this. I am however repacking my library and no idea where that book is, give me until next week to find it and I will send it through, remind me if I forget

Can anyone share the 1958 LEC Monthly Letter for Zola's Nana?

Thanks!

>307 BionicJim: Yes--PM me your email address.

I also put it in the Google Drive Monthly Letters Upload, so perhaps someone with admin privileges can move it to the main section.

>308 Django6924: I moved all material from the upload folder to the main section.

If anyone would be so kind as to upload to the Google Drive (or email me photos so I can do it) any of these LEC Monthly Letters, it would be much appreciated:

1965 Stories of O. Henry
1958 Far from the Madding Crowd
1938 Kidnapped!
1942 Rose and the Ring

For anyone unable to scan/upload them I am happy to do so.

Hi, Jim. I have a similar thread running here called Monthly Letter Inquiry. The following is a list of MLs I do not have either an original or a copy of. I know you have uploaded a couple of MLs I have located and it would be great for all of us if any of these can added to the drive.

An Almanac for Moderns '38
Salome '38
Treasure Island '41
Bacon's Essays '44
The Coverley Papers '45
Tales of Hoffman '45
Baron Munchausen '52
The Rivals '53
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets '74
The Notorious Jumping Frog '70
The Flowering of New England'41
Roughing It '71

>311 laotzu225:
I have the ML for Maggie. Please send me a PM with details of where to email the scan.

>311 laotzu225:

I'm pretty sure I have some of these. I will check and scan the ones I have Saturday.

>311 laotzu225: I have the '52 Munchausen and will scan that shortly.

>312 wcarter: >313 Django6924: 314>
Thanks for the positive responses! And great examples to other members.

Warwick did send the Maggie ML and it will soon appear on the drive.

I've added the '52 Munchausen ML to the LEC ML Upload section, if someone could please move it to the LEC Monthly Letters.

>311 laotzu225:

The ML for 1945 The Coverly Papers and 1953 The Rivals are in the LEC ML Uploads.

>310 BionicJim:
I think I have the first two, will check. Please PM me an email address!

>311 laotzu225:
I should also be able to bring home the Bacon, so to speak.

>319 GusLogan: I think I'll be able to forgive you that pun if you can turn up the ML! This is such a venerable book (and, as you may know, about as tall as Emerson's Essays, both of which I shelve on their sides in box or case) and it will be a thrill to have a copy of the Letter.

I've just added:
1962 The Innocents Abroad ML
1958 The First-Night Gilbert and Sullivan ML
1959 Ramona ML

I noticed these were missing so rectified it.

>321 BionicJim: kudos!

Contributing the Sandglass for the 1997 (Norwalk) Masque of Comus, whose internals are a reissue of the 1954. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tATVC4vbuDfg8JOnX7cFEBcD_aS11cn8/view?usp=shari...

I just added to the ML upload drive:
1951 King Henry the Fifth (the movie-based one)
1955 The Warden
1965 The Pathfinder

Anyone have the ML for 1959 The Moonstone?

>319 GusLogan: Thanks to GusLogan 1958 Far From the Madding Crowd is now in the Drive Upload Queue. As usual, great information in this ML. The history of the word "madding" among poets is pretty astonishing considering this was before the age of computers. That would've taken some amazing detective work. Here's the relevant text:

WHEN HE DECIDED to call his first great novel Far from the Madding Crowd, Hardy obviously meant to indicate that his setting and his characters were going to be strictly rural. And they are.

Now there are people who go about their work and their play for month after month after month, spending much of their time talking to other people, without once working into the dialogue the word madding. Frequently the month-after-month-after-month sequence becomes year-after-year-after-year, and even decade-after-decade-after-decade. If Methuselah had been able to speak English, the sequence might well have expanded into century-after-century-after-century.

On the excessively rare occasions when one of us actually does insinuate madding into a conversation, chances are a million to one that it will occur in the phrase far from the madding crowd, with or without a credit line to Thomas Gray:

"Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way."

(The final line of the quatrain is one of the world's most familiar misquotations. Virtually everybody says "even tenor," probably because a noiseless tenor is desirable but inconceivable.) Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard assays for a higher degree of quotability than any other literary production of comparable length ever written. The poem consists of one-hundred and twenty-eight lines; fifty-nine of these are cited in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, eighty-nine in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.
But that Gray — was he the sly one! He could quote, too, if he got pushed into it, One-hundred and thirty-seven years before Gray's Elegy was published, William Drummond, who came to be better known as Drummond of Hawthornden (from the manor near Edinburgh where he lived), a poet of high competence who had the misfortune to be born into a time in which major-league poets were a shilling a cartload — well, in one of his poems Drummond of Hawthornden wrote a line that went, "Far from the madding worldling's hoarse discords," and do you suppose for one little minute that Thomas Gray didn't somehow get wind of that?

Madding is an old word, a good word, a sound word, despite the fact that it looks slightly moth eaten around the edges. It goes back in English literature at least as far as Edmund Spenser, who used it in his 'Shepheards Calender of 1579,' and the great Oxford English Dictionary records an example as recently as 1871, if you want to call that recent. As far back as 1802 The English Encyclopaedia characterized madding as "poetical" and declared that it was "never in common use." It means raving, furious, frenzied. It does not mean to madden; it means to be mad rather than to make mad.

Even the poets have, in general, been leery of it. Chaucer ducked it. Spenser used it four times, Shakespeare four (three in the plays and one in the sonnets), Milton one. It is nowhere in the King James Bible. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it suffered a decline even from these infrequent frequencies. Coleridge and Shelley used it once each; Goldsmith, Cowper, Wordsworth, Keats, Browning not at all. Neither did Poe. But Tennyson came through with a smashing five, making him the world's all-time madding-est poet.

>324 BionicJim:
I have The Moonstone ML and will scan it tomorrow (June 11).

The Monthly Letter and Announcement Card scans are in the ML upload file on the drive; hopefully a Good Samaritan will move them to the general folder.

>325 BionicJim:
And thanks right back for also uploading the ML for Bacon’s Essays!

>319 GusLogan: Thanks for bringing home the Bacon, Gus!

Can someone upload the ML for Hamlet illustrated by Eric Gill? Thank you!

How do I get access to the drive?
I know that this is a stupid question, and it has probably been answered earlier numerous times, but...

>331 booksforreading: I sent a message to member ironjaw asking for access, but that was awhile back. Maybe some other user or users can give you access.

>332 Bernarrd:
Thank you! I will try.

I actually find it very difficult to find a link to the general "drive", too. Is it listed somewhere on the group's general information page? I cannot find it anywhere, and going through thousand of messages in the "desired" threads, can only lead to individual uploads (with restricted access anyway).

>334 booksforreading: Try this and see if it works for you.

Here's the upload page.

Is there any reason why the Sandglasses and other brochures relating to LEC cannot be made generally available for viewing as Folio Society brochures are on the FSD wiki (https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Groups:Folio_Society_Devotees)?

>335 Glacierman:
Thank you! Unfortunately, the link under "this" leads me to the same page that tells me I need permission to access, so I can go no farther. The "upload page" goes to a page in the "drive" where I see only six uploads and no more.

>336 wcarter:
I think that it would be absolutely wonderful if this could be done!

There are potential issues with making this material, which may still be held in copyright, available to the general public. I'm not a lawyer or an expert on legal matters, but ironjaw, who made this resource available to the members of this forum, is certainly more knowledgeable about these matters.

It was an immense undertaking and an incredible service to the members here.

>338 Django6924: There are indeed some legal implications in making these available, which is why I haven't shared all my scans yet. Some of your will remember that I am working on a new updated checklist and bibliography with Carol Porter. The idea is that the checklist will have hyperlinks to, photo's of each publication, scan of ML and SN, scans of important ephemera and so forth.

We are working hard at getting permission to share all of these, we have tentative permission for sharing the schiff era stuff, but still working on the earlier material. We might launch the checklist without all of the functions we hope for and update it as we make progress. I've just been quite busy with my day job but hopefully this will be in the near future.

We also plan to have an extensive information of other LEC material, prints, ephemera and more. The bibliography will likely be launched as a website instead of a printed book.

>338 Django6924:
"It was an immense undertaking and an incredible service to the members here."
Yes it was! Thank you VERY much for that! But this is why it needs to be preserved in a format easily accessible for future members of this group (or old members like me who procrastinated for years before trying the drive). What if ironjaw or other members granting the access to the drive become too busy to visit LibraryThing or associated email accounts? Will all this information become lost?

>337 booksforreading: I was afraid of that. Insofar as I know, you'll need to get permission from Faisel, unless there is someone else who can grant access.

An access to the folder with LEC Monthly Letters was granted to me - thank you, ironjaw!

In additional to ironjaw there are five other members who can grant access to the drive. Some of them might not be very active of late and I do not do it often just because ironjaw is always on top of it.

>343 BuzzBuzzard:
Would it be a good idea to list all who can grant access to the drive in a post and pin it to the top?

By any chance does anyone have a copy of the Epicurus monthly letter? It is currently missing from the drive, and I am curious about some of the production details (not to mention the generally amusing Macy anecdotes).

I’m still here guys. Drop in from time to time but yes I’ve been busy. The reason I’ve not made an effort to make the Google drive public is because of said copyright issues that are still with Limited Editions Club and passed on to Easton Press. As far as I understand our repository is private and acts for educational use as well as a backup copy of our own physical copies that one has, right? There is no commercial interest or venture here and I pay personally for Google Drive to store these letters.

A decision some ten years ago was made to move away from Dropbox as someone deleted the entire library. Back then Dropbox was sync only. I don’t know about now but Google Drive provides storage on the cloud with permissions that was not available back then.

A consensus was taken that long standing members of this community would have access to ensure that opportunist don’t capitalise on these wondrous letters. So I and five others were granted edit/admin privileges. I will make a review this weekend and update all of you to pick next 5 members so as to create redundancy. Not that I’m going anywhere.

I’ve just slowed down my purchases of LECs. Space is filled up.

Here’s to another ten years. We’ve all come so far.

>346 ironjaw: Thanks again for all your effort!

>347 kdweber: you’re more than welcome, Ken.

>345 abysswalker: I have it. I will copy it and email it to BionicJim (who apparently has upload privileges). That way we can expand the supply. If you can't wait, send me a private message with e-mail address and I'll send you a copy.
I am personally missing a number of MLs (including copies) and will again list them later in this thread in case others can provide them.

From time to time someone adds a new ML or Sandglass to the Google Drive. This has enabled me and others to make copies of them. Here is my current list of missing Monthly Letters which do not currently appear on the drive.
Anyone who can supply any of them, my thanks go out to you.
An Almanac for Moderns '38
Salome '38
Treasure Island '41
Tales of Hoffman '45
Baron Munchausen '52 (someone did attempt to upload two pages)
The Notorious Jumping Frog '70
The Flowering of New England'41
Roughing It '71 (there is a file listed but it is empty.

I ordered a book not long ago, and the seller sent me as a bonus Monthly Letter #7 from December 1929! Wow... it's definitely different than other Monthly Letters I've read. It really does not talk about the book at all, it starts off about how people were disappointed with Leaves of Grass but loved Gulliver! Page 3 is a reprinting of the title of Snow-Bound, and the last page talks about book exchanges and a few reviews! It's not scholarly, it's like sitting down and talking with the editor :)

I’m looking for the monthly letter of “The Possessed” 1959. If anyone has it and can share, or upload to drive collection, it’d be much appreciated.

I just uploaded to the LEC ML Upload folder:
1932 The Cloister and the Hearth
1955 The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1960 The Book of Psalms

Sorry if any of these were duplicates but I did not see them in the Drive yet.

Just uploaded 1931 The Chimes to the ML Upload folder

Hi everyone - I'm the one that is managing the LEC folder - can I ask the one's that have edit privileges to make a local copy/backup.

If anyone wants to be added to the team please let me know. We want to make sure this resource stays available without any single point of failure.

Hi everyone. I’m reinstating the message that it would be a good idea for those that have access to the Google Drive to let me know if they want to be a moderator keeping track and cleaning up the folder to send me a DM as well as to take a full copy as a backup. I think it would be a good idea to get people in that are active in this group as my time is limited.

>357 ironjaw: PM sent, Sir!

>358 Lukas1990:

Thanks. Updated your privileges.

I’m really happy to announce that Lukas1990 and WildcatJF have joined the moderator team and have edit privileges. Please make them feel welcome. Hear, hear!

First things first, I’ve asked both to take a backup copy of the folder. Hopefully we can get the folders sorted and cleaned up.

Thank you everyone for all your help. This is truly an amazing resource and I hope many of you enjoy it.

Edited: autocorrect fail

Thank you both for volunteering.

Since this seems to serve as a general "Devotee Drive" thread as well as a request thread, I wanted to let you all know I've added the First Series Prospectus to the Drive (courtesy of PBB, thank you!), and have done a little cleanup of loose files into a "To Be Sorted" folder. Everything that was in the Upload folder has been either added to the General drive or placed into the "To Be Sorted" folder. When I get time, I'll work on getting that better organized and make sure we don't have doubles floating around on there.

Thanks!

>362 WildcatJF: Thanks for taking your time to get this done.

I've finally had time to make a backup copy of all the material on the drive and added three more monthly letters: 1933 Gill's Hamlet, 1957 Of The Nature of Things, 1962 The Trial and Death of Socrates.

Thanks Lukas! I haven't had time since the last update I made to do anything, so much appreciated!

I just acquired a wonderful copy of the 1943 LEC's "The Tales of Hoffmann" that is missing the letter. Unfortunately, it's not yet in the drive. Can anyone help rectify this?

Thanks, in advance.

I was just looking out on the drive and I noticed that "The Crock of Gold" by James Stephens is listed with a 1948 date. I uploaded this, and I guess I made a typo somewhere. The date should be 1942, if this could be corrected.

>367 Bernarrd: Fixed.

Going to toss out there that the First Series is only missing the Rip Van Winkle letter, so if anyone has that, I would greatly appreciate it (as would my upcoming book)!

>368 BuzzBuzzard: Thanks

>369 WildcatJF: Just uploaded Rip van Winkle, The Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, and An Iceland Fisherman into the LEC ML Upload folder

>371 PBB: Amazing! Thank you so much!

1930 Notre-Dame de Paris anyone? :)

>373 Lukas1990: Just put that one in the LEC ML Upload Folder too. I just received the book with the first 50 MLs that runs through 1933 Anna Karenina. Any further requests from 1929-1933 let me know

>374 PBB: Fantastic! Thank you very much! Notre-Dame will be my bed-time reading. It is already 11PM here in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Got all of these additions added to the general LEC Letter list. Thanks again PBB!

Looking for the sandglass of the Heritage Green Mansions. If someone has it please try uploading it to the google drive.

>377 blue.eyes2: Done. In the LEC ML Upload folder

>378 PBB: I made a separate Heritage Sandglass Upload folder over the weekend, as I received the Sandglasses from Don Juan on Friday. I have moved the Green Mansions Sandglass there for the time being and will make some effort to sort our Heritage Press items into a secondary set of folders with the same organizational style as the LEC files in the next couple weeks.

>378 PBB: Thank you.

>379 WildcatJF: A good idea.

This is a test to upload an image from Flaubert's Three Tales insert "Number Nine"



For some reason it comes out sideways when I upload it to my LT gallery.

Okay, it seems to work, however I don't know how to rotate it. I'll upload the rest of the monthly letter 511 here.









The lighting isn't the best, but I hope this is visible. Do I need to keep the photos in my LT junk drawer to keep them visible up here?

I can't thank enough all of you: BuzzBuzzard, WildcatJF, PBB, PartTimeBookAddict, Lukas1990, and others that are keeping all folder in tip top condition. I know I don't frequent LT much these days, as I have other commitments but I just want to take this time to let all of you here know how much the help is appreciated.

Mark, is the newest addition to the LEC folder, and I hope he joins us here, as he has much knowledge about LEC and has been able to find some inconsistencies e.g. Bill Majure checklist, as he mentioned over email that it's a good list (which many of us here rely on), but "has a number of errors." I do hope he is able to share his details here.

Let's all welcome Mark.

Just for interest everyone, some of you will know we (Carol Porter Grossman and myself) have been working on an updated checklist for quite some time. We have fixed many errors on the previous list, but also adding lots of additional information. One of our biggest stumbling blocks have been to get permission from Easton Press to include links to the Monthly letters on our list. We finally got permission to do this so working hard to get the first list out this side of the year.

We will be doing a free to use list, which will have all the corrections of previous mistakes along with some additional information. We will also do a paid version which we will continue updating and the plan is to have a summary of each book, interesting information, anecdotes from production (i.e. Carol's book info), ML and more. You will also be able to search by printer, illustrator etc. I.e. clicking on Fritz Eichenberg will take you to a dedicated page for him. Introduction and a list of all the books he worked on.

>384 rocklands: Truly remarkable. Thanks in advance for all your hard work.

>382 PartTimeBookAddict: Flaubert's Three Tales} is one of the bboks I have in fine condition but with out the Monthly Letter. For a bit I feared this may have been an edition without one. iyt was good to see that there is one which might be copied.
But what I would recommend to PartTimeBookAddict is that he get this uploaded to the Monthly Letter/Sandglass Google Drive so it will be accessible to all faithful Macy-ites. Several people have upload privileges which a review of posts would disclose. However, I know BionicJim is one and he would (ha!) be happy to upload this if it was e-mailed to him.

Does anyone have the ML for the LEC The Possessed that can share? According to The Wood and the Graver, the illustration were created on large linoleum blocks and reproduced photomechanically directly from the blocks. In my experience engravings on linoleum don’t have such fine detail, but I want to see if there is more info in the ML. To me these look more like stone lithographs.

Call out to fellow Macy-ites:
I've been looking for the LEC The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor (1949) for some time. Every copy I've seen on eBay has had a badly deteriorated)or no) spine due to the poor leather used. I would have settled for the Heritage counterpart (quarter cloth instead) but I had the suspicion based on what I've seen online that the color illustrations were not as good-perhaps fewer colors used as sometimes happened- and that the LEC illustrations might have been hand-colored. Beautiful Edward Wilson illustrations, by the way.
I've finally found a copy with some minor deterioration at the spine ends but otherwise ok. Book came and I'm not disappointed BUT there is no ML and there appears to be none on the Google Drive. Does anyone have one which you can copy and e-mail or BETTER YET add to the drive?
Thanks in advance!

>388 laotzu225:
A copy in glassine was just listed on Abebooks for a reasonable price. May be worth asking for pictures - if you care that much about this title! Says condition VG overall and slipcase just Good, so could _just_ be that the book itself is Fine, what do I know…

>389 GusLogan: Thanks for reply. I now have a very good copy of the book. It is the Monthly Letter I am now seeking.

Can anyone share Song of the Open Road?

Hello all, I am the one that keeps the archive of the Monthly Letters on Google Drive. I wanted to hear what everyone's opinion is about changing permission from 'view' only to 'edit'? I've kept it as view only for reasons that when we had our archive at Dropbox it was deleted and/or moved so we went over to Google Drive back then to avoid such a tragedy. This will mean that everyone will be able to make changes (and be able to delete folders which I don't hope anyone will do), but more importantly take a backup of the folders and save a local copy. We are about 95+ users here so I could switch over to view only for a week and then change it to view only to give a chance everyone has a copy but it's a manual process clicking each user.

What do the admins think?

What about just downloading a local copy yourself, creating a zip file of it, then uploading the zip file to Dropbox and sharing the Dropbox link publicly? That way there’s no risk to the Google Drive and everyone can still download a copy.

>392 ironjaw: You have put so much work into the invaluable resource. I remember when the previous archive was accidentally deleted and the effort required on your part to restore it. For that reason I am reluctant to seeing the permissions changed--for even a limited period of time.

I totally agree with >393 ChampagneSVP: and >394 Django6924:.

I would like to see the pdf Dropbox option suggested by >393 ChampagneSVP:, but with no ability to edit in Google Drive.

I haven't used dropbox since the archive was deleted - let me check. I guess I can easily create a zip file and share that so that everyone has a copy

I have a spare Monthly Letter for The Man Who Planted Trees to give away. P&P needs to be covered by the recipient.

>398 SebRinelli: sent PM

I have a spare ML for The Divine Comedy that I am happy to send to someone if they'll pay postage, or trade for another ML or something similar if anyone has any extras.