Letterpress Shakespeare question

I notice some titles are limited to 3500, yet some 1000. Are these two totally different collections of the full sets, and what are the differences

>1 frostymaxim: It is the same series. The Folio Society's initial expectations for the demand for this endeavor was wildly overly optimistic. The FS then trimmed the limitation of future volumes to 1000 but increased the price even more to try and capture some of the expected loss in revenue. For a while, different plays sold for different prices depending on the limitation. Eventually, the FS set the price somewhere in the middle, though still very high, and charge the same for all of the plays (I believe the Sonnets were more expensive). To make matters more confusing, for a short period they sold some of the plays for a reduced price by shipping them in a slip case instead of solander boxes and dropping the companion volume. In any case, one can buy many of the plays on the used market for a fraction of the current selling price.

>1 frostymaxim:

The first titles released in the series were given a limitation of 3500. Presumably in response to sales far below what the FS had thought possible, the limitation was changed quite soon to 1000, which seems to be a more realistic figure as the Sonnets and Poems volume is still the only one to have sold out. If many more than 1000 sets of sheets of the early volumes have ever existed, it seems safe to assume that most of the excess will never see the light of day, at least bound in the present format.

Brilliant for your swift response everyone, clearly helps. Thanks so much

Is that why we saw a new edition of Twelfth Night show up last fall? (Sheets of early volumes, boxed in a warehouse.) The Letterpress editions are way over my budget, but I'm intrigued by the Twelfth Night edition. If more show up, so it appears as a series, I may turn it into a "project".

>5 TriKnighg:

Well, there should be about 3000 sets of sheets of Twelfth Night surplus to requirements, but the production details of the recent Folio offering don't mention its being printed letterpress on Zerkall mould-made paper: anyone who owns the volume could confirm if it is, but I imagine the FS would have mentioned the fact at the risk of dismaying some customers for the limited Letterpress book.

Completely agree: it would be dismaying.

I've already been dismayed by the lower price "The Sound and the Fury" that quickly followed the high price one that sold out quickly. Both are in the differently colored inks Faulkner had initially suggested.

The page size is definitely large enough on the new Twelfth Night for them to "reuse" the surplus pages from the Letterpress edition. I don't have mine handy to check to see if I can sleuth it out but I would expect that is what this is. Just makes business sense if they have the unbound sheets lying around....

Interesting prospect, then, of a Shakespeare series that could extend to twelve volumes but no further, with its twelve plays including the arguably eccentric choices of Coriolanus and Titus Andronicus..

It would seem a tad extraordinary to me for the FS quietly to embark on such a venture, and I can't help thinking that if a few of us here have bought the recent Twelfth Night someone at least would have noticed and mentioned by now the remarkable quality of paper and printing.

They could have been more eccentric. One of my favourite lecturers, good old Robert Smallwood, was handed the job of editing the Penguin edition of King John by his old boss and regularly dropped its status as the lowest selling play in the canon into as many lectures as possible over a good many years. Eventually I gave in and bought a copy.

>6 terebinth:

I purchased the new Twelfth Night and I can confirm it is internally the same as the "deluxe" Letterpress series, but without the leather and hand marbled paper.

These new editions were bound and printed in Germany. The copyright page even says "printed on Zerkall mouldmade paper". I gave it the finger and eye test and can confirm these are printed letterpress.

I am very puzzled why Folio Society didn't mention this on their website. I didn't expect this new edition to be printed letterpress on the same paper. I thought about emailing FS to ask why they don't advertise this. It even comes with a ribbon marker which the website fails to mention.

>12 johnaba: I purchased the new Twelfth Night and I can confirm it is internally the same as the "deluxe" Letterpress series,

That's put the cat among the pigeons ...

>12 johnaba: without the leather and hand marbled paper.

But with the Balbusso illustration(s) which, for me, is a huge plus.

I'm almost tempted as a one-off, but not the series (though, as terebinth wisely pointed out, if all they're doing is selling their stocks of unused Letterpress Shakespeare, it's looking like a short series of twelve).

Edited for omission.

>14 kdweber: Smart move by the FS as there is no way they can burn through the high limitation at current prices. I'm guessing they clipped the deckle edge as the page size is slightly smaller.

And the Twelfth Night suddenly moves to the top portion of my wish list.
So the size difference is simply due to the fact that they trimmed the edges. Letterpress on wonderful paper for a price of a regular edition? Sign me up!

Edited: wasn't aware of kdweber's post when I was writing my remark about size difference.

I'd buy this edition in a shot if I hadn't already bought the original edition for, GASP, $445. In fact, I prefer having a slipcase instead of the solander coffin and the nice frontispiece. I hope they don't have any of the bound LEs in stock as it's hard to fathom who would pay $545 + $50 shipping vs $80 + $10 shipping for essential the same edition. I do prefer the deckle edge and hand marbled binding but that's $505 for a deckle edge, leather and hand marbled binding, solander, and companion volume.

>16 kdweber: Except that a lot of people would not know it is the same edition. :)

>17 AnnieMod:
Which is why the FS is playing down the letterpress printing etc. on their website.

>19 EclecticIndulgence:

I don't know, but I don't think that way myself. It's not the first time sheets from a limited edition that didn't sell as well as expected have been reissued at a much lower price in a more basic binding. If there were about 3000 sets of sheets of each of the early Letterpress plays left over, owing admittedly to a colossal error of judgment as to demand, what should have been done with them? With this edition selling at £50, that's a potential income of £150,000 from it alone less the costs of binding etc. and the fees to the Balbussos: a very helpful sum toward the survival and flourishing of the Folio Society. Early buyers of the LE still have what they paid for, indeed with a much smaller limitation than they were expecting, and buyers of the new volume get an absolute bargain.

The Folio Society (and many fine and private presses) sometimes issue different states of the same book. This is really not that different even if it is more in hindsight than planned ahead. As far as I am concerned, even as an owner of the Letterpress Shakespeares, I would prefer they didn't waste all those unbound sheets of fabulous letterpress on awesome paper. Many times in the past, the FS has made specially bound editions using the same text blocks as there trade editions. They have also offered up unbound sets of sheets to binders who wished to create their own bindings.

I would say take advantage of this unexpected gift and "thank you very much" for a $80 Twelfth Night on that paper.

I wonder if we wll see another in the "cheap" letterpress Shakespeare series emerge in the Spring catalogue?
They may release three or four a year until all the excess stock is used.

>23 EclecticIndulgence: "There is no reason why they couldn't reduce the price on the LE's"
I think that would be unfair to the customers who bought it at the original price.

I'm glad Folio can put the unused LP Shakespeare sheets to good use, but I understand why it might make some folk uneasy.

Personally I'd rather have the full version than the trimmed, but I'm halfway through my collecting and can no longer stop ...

I was wrong to say this is dismaying. I have changed my mind.

>12 johnaba: What you are saying is that we are receiving a bargain printed in letterpress? Amazing

>28 EclecticIndulgence:

Interesting how this matter divides our responses. Something had to happen to a vast stack of superbly printed sheets of glorious paper, and I'd much rather this outcome than pulping. To me, the original purchasers - for that matter, any new purchasers too - of the Letterpress Shakespeare have all that they paid for and all that they contracted to receive.

I've benefited myself from the Fine edition of David Roberts, also from a sale offer of the Temple of Flora flower plates, though I wouldn't rule out my sooner or later buying the full bound book if finances allow. On the other side, the first LE I bought was the Kelmscott Chaucer facsimile, and I was rather pleased than otherwise when that was made available in a much more affordable binding a few years later. My perfect contentment with my £550 purchase way back in 2002 wavered only the tiniest bit a couple of years ago when I saw for the first time the buckram-bound edition at a book fair and recognised that it has a considerable beauty of its own.

And now I'm a wee bit tempted by the Twelfth Night bargain, but will probably resist, as a strong preference for the old orthography led me to buy the LEC Shakespeare and I'm likely hardly to open any modernised edition.

I agree with you, the LEC Shakespeare is an amazing production

>28 EclecticIndulgence: I will pick up your discarded torch, sir! To me, it's dismaying.

Allow me to give you a hand with that torch. It's dismaying, deplorable and just plain bad. Very symptomatic of the trend Folio is following recently and especially since ditching membership. I am so, so glad I haven't invested in the letterpress Shakespeare. My condolences to those that have.

Edited to clarify intended meaning.

>28 EclecticIndulgence: >32 folio_books: But, to be a devilled avocado, I'd say the half-leather, exquisitely marbled, deckled-edged limited editions are no less handsome for this new version of Twelfth Night, indeed they're now even more exclusive as part of a smaller limitation than LE buyers had originally expected, as Terebinth points out. Moreover, it seems very probable that you won't be able to collect a full set of the new version.

>29 ironjaw:

It is, indeed, a bargain!

I own five or so of the Letterpress series, but as several people have noted, the price is too expensive for me to collect them all. Not to mention where I would store all those things! So I was happy when I received Twelfth Night and saw it was the same internally. I love the leather, marbled paper, and deckled edges of the Letterpress series, but going forward, I'm very happy to buy these "budget" editions.

>33 cronshaw: I'd say the half-leather, exquisitely marbled, deckled-edged limited editions are no less handsome for this new version of Twelfth Night

No less handsome, for certain. Just six times as expensive!

>33 cronshaw: they're now even more exclusive as part of a smaller limitation than LE buyers had originally expected

That is a valid point I hadn't considered. But I'd still be pretty cheesed off if I'd blown the family fortune on the Letterpress, and I still think Folio have pulled a fast one here.

Points mentioned above explain why I changed my mind. I'm not saying I'm now wild about this repackaging, but I want Folio to get some returns on all those sheets.

The environmental factor is the second biggest one for me.

P.S. I don't think any of us are wrong on this issue: it is a matter of perspective.

Perhaps if Folio's finances were rosier, a different decision would have been made (e.g. binding the sheets in a budget way, and sending plays to the libraries of state schools in deprived areas, perhaps with some corporate sponsorship).

>21 jveezer:
Hear, hear

I will add that "large-format gift edition" maybe a little specious :-)

>35 folio_books: I have about half of the Letterpress set and it doesn't bother me a bit that the FS has decided to use up the extra text blocks in this manner. Also, it's not the first time that they have come out with a Fine Edition of a previous LE.

I actually think, personally, the new Twelfth Night edition would be a better vehicle for a complete Shakespeare. More compact on the shelf than the true letterpress edition, but not one of those klunky, fat completes, which most of us likely have. No commentary with this edition, but my iPad at my side can help me with that. I'm going to buy the new Twelfth Night, and hope they do the plays complete. The latter ones need not be letterpress nor on the uber high quality paper.

As for those who are collecting the real letterpress, I cheer you on! They are beautiful editions.

>41 TriKnighg: "and hope they do the plays complete"

My guess is that they'll only do it for the earlier editions that had a limitation of 3750 (the latter editions had a limitation of 1000). On Folio's LE page these larger limitation editions all now say only 300 copies left.

Actually, all of the editions (except the Sonnets, which is sold out) now say 300 copies remaining. This applies whether they were originally 1,000 unit offerings or 3,750 unit offerings. Now obviously not all of these volumes made it down to 300 at exactly the same time, so that would suggest to me that pages have been set aside to bring each offering down to 300. Whether that means that some of the cheaper releases will have 3,000 units offered while others will have 200 (or whether they will print more pages to bump up those with fewer remaining pages) remains to be seen.

In any event, I own the new Twelfth Night. I think it is a handsome edition, and I am very pleased to own it. I certainly hope that they will release each play separately in this new format, as I will happily buy each one that they release. Having said all of that, this edition does not come close to comparing with the Letterpress limited editions in terms of beauty and quality. It is my opinion that no one who bought the more expensive edition should feel cheated at all, as he certainly received a premium product for his premium price.

As noted elsewhere, yesterday I had a most productive meeting with fellow FSD Edal. We planned ahead to bring our respective volumes (Edal The Letterpress Twelfth Night; me the new "cheapo" edition) for comparison. It was an interesting and informative exercise. Folks here may recall the when I tried to adjudicate on the question myself (does the new edition consist of rebound sheets of the Letterpress version) I concluded with an embarrassing "dunno".

Together, we could compare page-by-page. All elements of design appear consistent, other than the overall reduction in page size, presumably caused by trimming the deckle edges. The fingertip test for both us, I think I'm right in saying, was inconclusive. Overall my position shifted from the exact midway point to being rather closer to declaring this rebound letterpress. Edal seemed quite convinced this is the case. More certain than me, anyway. I'm still not quite there because my Folio friend was adamant the new one is "definitely not letterpress" which gives that argument a lot of weight. There is, of course, always room for a genuine mistake and I'm starting to believe he may have made one.

In any event, as I said before, whether or not the new volume "really is" the Letterpress Twelfth Night in new clothes is almost irrelevant. The newly-published one is a gorgeous book in itself and ultimately that's what it should be judged on. I'm certainly delighted to have added it to my Folio collection.

Interestingly, the side-by-side comparison also highlighted an anomaly with Edal's Letterpress edition, one which I believe he intends to raise with Customer Services. I'm sure we would be interested to hear how that plays out. For those who have the Letterpress version, you may want to check the page number of the last page.

The last page in my LE copy is numbered 87. What's the anomaly in Edal's copy?

Hi I am a new member to this site,but I have been reading this Folio forum for quite a while.I have collected Folio books for years when I could find them,but they are not so plentiful in the U.S.I just got a Letterpress Macbeth with book but no box.I was curious to know If I could buy a regular slipcase for my Macbeth?Thanks and looking forward to talking with yall and not just being a stalker.....John

Welcome along. I don't think there's much chance the Folio Society would oblige - for a little while the Letterpress Shakespeare volumes were available at a reduced price in slipcases, without the commentary volume, but that option was withdrawn several years ago. There are suppliers who will make slipcases to order, as good as or better than Folio ones, alternatively I think a few members here have been known to make their own.

If this book is left-over copies of the LE pages, does that mean it won't form part of a new collectible series? I don't have a Shakespeare set and am interested in the book but have never read it before. If it was a new collection then I may pick it up, otherwise if it's a one-off to clear unused stock then I wouldn't bother.

>48 leemeadowcroft:

Seems likely enough that there will be more volumes, but extremely unlikely that they will ever extend beyond the twelve plays that were originally intended for editions of 3750 Letterpress copies. You can check those out on the list half way down http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Groups:Folio_Society_Devotees if you're interested. Hence, I suppose, Folio promoting this book from the start as a "gift edition" rather than as the start of a new Shakespeare series.

>46 johnferrell:
I once contacted FS with the same question, and they replied in the negative. It is too expensive for them to fabricate and ship slip cases on demand, and they don't have extras in stock.
In my case, I have the box and companion volume for Macbeth, but I'd gladly swap them for a nice slipcase.
Having a nice cloth covered slipcase custom made would likely run about $100 for a folio sized volume.

First of all, there are many ways to ask a letterpress Shakespeare question, this is one ..

So, to those that got the voucher, are you to add some letterpress Shakespeare to your collection for 2/3`s of the price ..

This offer fell out from nowhere, so i believe Ed.Thomas must wait .. Macbeth, King Lear or Romeo/Juliet for me

>51 Pellias: to those that got the voucher

Which voucher are you talking about, Øyvind? There was one sent out a few months ago specifically for the Letterpress Shakespeare but nothing since then, as far a I know.

>51 Pellias: This offer fell out from nowhere, so i believe Ed.Thomas must wait

Well the offer's been around for a while now. If I were you I'd check it's still valid. But even so, the Edward Thomas is such a beautiful book. I don't know how you can bypass it. Tough call, my friend...

>52 folio_books:

`As a collector of our Letterpress Shakespeare plays we are delighted to offer you each volume at one-third off in celebration of the Bard’s birthday.

These books, bound in leather and hand-marbled paper and printed letterpress, are the ideal reading editions of Shakespeare’s plays.

Enter code HSHX33 at checkout to receive 33% off your order. Terms and conditions apply. This offer is valid until Sunday, 30 April 2017, midnight UK time`

- - -

That said, i have bought `Hamlet` earlier, so i got a `personified post`. So i guess i`m on the `earlier purchaser list`

It has been a while since i have bought something now, maybe they want to lure me back (and they will with good offers, just needed a FAD break)

- - -

Yes. But the Ed. Thomas is not that much discounted, and will probably not `run out the window`(in time/couple of months, i will probably get it)

- - -

So now, i saw an opportunity to add to the letterpress Shakespeare .. tempting .. the offer were sent 24.04 - and last until as mentioned 30.04, so it`s not long ..

>53 Pellias: the offer were sent 24.04 - and last until as mentioned 30.04, so it`s not long ..

Ah, right. I haven't had that offer. One-third off is pretty good, but not good enough to tempt me. Even if I'd heard about it ...

>53 Pellias:

Thanks for putting the offer code up. I may have to purchase my favorite play(as there is only 33 left) Henry V.

>55 Sorion:

I don`t know if it was ethical or not to do so, and i do not know if it work (probably not if you are not a former letterpress Shakespeare buyer). But, what i do know is that (if it work) would also benefit the FS .. as it starts with one ..

`We few, we happy few, we band of brothers` .. must stand together ..

I got this offer the other day too and was anticipating a burst of chatter on here. When no one mentioned it I concluded it must have been restricted to a very few previous purchasers. I'll admit I'm quite tempted by a third off, but I've already spent far too much this month already, so sadly I won't be taking advantage of it.

I have previously only purchased the Letterpress Macbeth, but had two others on my wish list - The Tempest and Henry V.
It seems the numbers available for the publications with a 1000 limitation are getting low (33 for Henry V), and even the Tempest with its 3750 limitation is now down to fewer than 300 copies. These beautiful books are gradually selling out, and in a few years, when all are sold out, may increase in value.
They are almost certainly the best set of Shakespeare's works ever published.
The 33% discount offer from the FS makes these books cheaper than almost all offerings on Abe or Ebay.
As a result I have taken the plunge and ordered the two books on my wish list.
Even though I did not receive the discount offer myself, I have applied it at the checkout, and it went through.
I am slightly down the slippery slope of Letterpress Shakespeare, but I will NOT buy any more of these (unless of course an even better offer comes up).

>53 Pellias:
Thank you for the code

>53 Pellias: Thanks a lot for the code. Finally purchased Julius Caesar and King Lear :)

For my concern, i think it`s great to help out fellow devotees and provide a functional code, as we share this decease. I hope the FS don`t mind .. after all we devotees have splurged a lot through the years, or are going to, if it`s unethical please tell

Then again, they always have to consider a code to find it`s way open for public in the era of the internet and would have locked the code if need be ..

Therefore, enjoy the sale, who knows if it will shut down before sunday/monday if noticed or cared for

Update: Henry V is down to 30 left, them others around 300, more or less

I have one burgundy Hamlet, and it would be nice with a blue and green edition for the change of colour, but i`m sure i will end up with King Lear, and Rome and Juliet/Macbeth (with a close eye on the Henry V instead of the latter)

Glad to share!

>60 Pellias:
I don't think you need to worry about the ethical side of it. A company is willing to sell their product for a certain price. You're just helping to spread the word. You should ask them for commission, if anything )

>61 elladan0891:

Oh, i`m not worried i promise, that`s not healthy, at least not with such small matters. We the customers also want the best for our dearly beloved FS. Buy yourself a letterpress Shakespeare my LT friend :)

Thanks also from me. I would have been very unlikely to jump on the Letterpress Shakespeare bandwagon without the voucher discount, but a copy of Hamlet is now winging its way! Even if the voucher wasn't meant to be shared around, it's more honoured in the breach than in the observance!

To those that found the code through >53 Pellias: and were not contacted directly by the FS this is for you only:

For fun i will try out a sort of statistic of how many there were that in the end applied it

So we can see how active this community was in this case

- - -- - -

I ended up with Lear and Romeo/Juliet, now i just need a place to shelve these massive boxes

PS Henry V are now down to 25 for those that care

Ordered Cymbeline - arriving Friday apparently. Many thanks to Pellias for the voucher code which worked for me as well!

I ordered Henry V with the discount code. Looking forward to that deep, glorious blue goatskin and marbled paper.

I may be mistaken, but I seem to recall that the British financial year ends on 30 April.
Could the sudden and brief discount on the Letterpress Shakespeare books be a way of getting in some quick cash on slow moving books to improve the bottom line?
My Henry V (No. 60 despite being down to the last 30) and Tempest (no.1235) arrived today a week after ordering.
I am slightly peeved that I paid for two lots of shipping, but they arrived in one parcel.

There is no such animal as the British Financial Year covering everybody

There is of course a Tax Year. That ends for various long, tedious and arcane reasons largely lost in the mists of time on 5th April. Go figure.

Then the Government have their own, different Financial Year running from 1st April.

Different organisations have different financial years - 31/3 is quite popular as a cut off but it often depends on factors such as the cyclical nature of a business. I can't remember when the Folio Society have set theirs but there was a discussion on last years results somewhere or other on here.

I bought the two I needed to complete my intended short set of 13 of these beautiful books. I wasn't notified of the discount, but the discount didn't seem to be at all restricted - I simply ordered over the phone, as I had other business to discuss with them. There has been a small snag: the warehouse picked Henry VI 2 instead of Henry IV 2 - which is what happens when you stop teaching Latin to all - but the famous customer service is putting that right.

I hadn't meant to buy new - my set has cost about 40% of new prices - but I get impatient near the end of collecting something, and I think at this level of discount the prices are ones I can justify to myself. Full price is all the more painful because I don't use the boxes, so I have been lucky in getting what I wanted by other means than full price buying.

My set is the Sonnets and Poems and, by chance, four of each group: Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth; Richard II, Henry IV 1 & 2, and Henry V;
Tempest, Merchant, Much Ado and the Dream. It'll take an extreme bargain, or a new enthusiasm for a different play, eg one I'm acting in or directing, getting less likely as time goes by, to get me to extend the set from here.

I've been so tempted to take up this opportunity for adding one or two titles to my series, yet, as it turns out, I will go no further than my current two books: King Lear and Sonnets and Poems.

>69 affle:

I'd forgotten they now come in boxes - the four I bought some years ago were in slipcases and I already have all the accompanying annotated Oxford editions. Another reason why I'm reconciled to pass on what is admittedly a tempting offer.

>71 boldface: boldface

It's a pity they discontinued the slipcases. I have 13 with slipcases that I've bought second hand over the years, 3 that were sold without the box or accompanying editions and 6 more, the boxes for which are wrapped up and sitting in the loft! Who has enough shelf space for the boxed editions? I much prefer the sight of the books themselves on the shelves!

>71 boldface: Are the Oxford Editions of Shakespeare sold by Folio also annotated?

>73 NLNils:

Very thoroughly ;) They're the very same books supplied as commentary volumes with the Letterpress Shakespeare.

>74 terebinth: albeit in a folio binding :)

>75 ironjaw:

As I said, the very same books ;) The Folio binding applies both to those supplied as commentary volumes with the Letterpress Shakespeare and to those currently listed separately by the FS, which I'm guessing are stock left over after the decision to reduce the Letterpress limitations.

I thought I'd be helpful and write to the Folio Society to point out that their website advertises The Tempest as having a limitation of both 1,000 (top of page) and 3,750 (under Production Details). I'm not sure they paid much attention though...

Anyway, in the same email I asked why they were advertising (again, on their website) As You Like it as having a limitation of 1,000, despite other sources (e.g., the FSD Wiki) claiming 3,750. The email I got back reassured me that As You Like it does indeed have a limitation of 1,000. I was surprised by this as I felt sure that the FSD wiki was correct on this occasion.

Can anyone settle the matter? Did they retrospectively reduce the limitation or something? I have one of the famed unnumbered copies of As You Like It, which has 3750 printed on the limitation page.

>77 ubiquitousuk:

Given that A Midsummer Night's Dream, not the least popular of Shakespeare's plays, still hasn't sold out (at least it hadn't when the LE sale brochure was printed) in spite of its 1000 limitation, it's very evident that actual limitations (i.e. the numbers that will ever be available presented in Letterpress Shakespeare binding) have been drastically reduced for all the volumes that started out limited to 3750 copies: probably to somewhere around 1000, most likely fewer than that for less favoured titles.

>77 ubiquitousuk:
I pulled out my copy of As You Like It and on the colophon page it states that it is a limited edition of 3750. The FSD wiki is correct.

>80 wcarter: The FSD wiki is correct.

Of course it is!

>77 ubiquitousuk: the plot thickens! Since my rant, the FS have corrected the error on The Tempest web page. Before it contradictorily said both 1000 limitation (at the top) and 3750 (under production details). Now they have amended it to say 1000 in both places.

This is interesting because The Tempest was previously understood to be a 3750 limitation edition (see, e.g., the FSD wiki). Now they are selling it as 1000.

So it looks like they really have retrospectively reduced the limitation for this play (and, presumably, for As You Like It too). That begs two questions: (i) what are they going to do with the other 2750 sets of pages, and (ii) will they update the limitation page with the new lower figure?

My guess on (ii) is no, since it's hard to imagine them making fresh mould-made, letterpressed limitation papers just for this purpose and anything less would seriously degrade the quality of the product.

>83 ubiquitousuk: Maybe they'll tip in an addendum to the colophon, similar to what was was done with the Golden Hours Press editions of several of Marlowe's plays.

>83 ubiquitousuk: what are they going to do with the other 2750 sets of pages

They could do the same thing they did with the extra sheets of the Twelfth Night - chop the edges and bind as a different more modest unnumbered edition. Unfortunately, old William doesn't appear to be nearly as popular as, say, George RR Martin, and Twelfth Night doesn't seem to be flying off the shelves, so I don't know if they will do it with other titles.

>83 ubiquitousuk:

The FS will have realised years ago - at the latest, by the time they reduced the limitation on new Letterpress issues to 1000 - that most copies of the earlier issues, assuming even the sheets of all of them were ever printed, would never sell in their intended form. It's two and a half years since they announced that only 300 copies were left of each play ( https://www.librarything.com/topic/247278#5922071 ). Seems inevitable to me that for some of the less regarded plays the number of copies ever entering circulation will be well below 1000. Quite a few collectors will settle for owning Hamlet but not Two Noble Kinsmen, I suspect it would be hard to find anyone in the reverse position.

With the project winding down, I doubt there's any prospect of the printed limitation pages being revised. Further issues of surplus sheets in the mould of the "gift edition" of Twelfth Night are possible for all we know, that is to say if the sheets even still exist.

>86 terebinth: All the sheets were printed because they broke down the press block to reuse the type. However, not all of the copies where bound.

>87 kdweber:

Seems very likely that the full allotment of sheets was printed, but my thinking was that, unless we know that all the 3750-limitation plays were printed before the series launch, it could be that, on a hasty review of initial orders, the presses for some of the plays were stopped at, say, a couple of thousand copies, with a certain saving in cost. A limitation is just that, an upper figure on the number of copies of a book that can be produced: it's not a commitment even to begin material production of the stated number.

Something else that I find a bit odd is that Merry Wives has a low stock counter of 25, whereas The Tempest (now also advertised as limited to 1000) does not have any counter.

Are we to believe that Marry Wives, one of the most maligned plays, has sold that many more copies than The Tempest, one of the most loved?

>89 ubiquitousuk:

Yet more proof that Falstaff is more popular than Caliban.

>90 podaniel:

'... Falstaff is more popular than Caliban.'

Perhaps, but in which genre(s)?

(And now I really wish I hadn't let common sense get the better of me when Folio were offering the complete Grove Music at a special price all those years ago, lol. Mind you, I think it would have been out of date for this particular challenge.)

Per wikipedia*, there are at least 9 operas based on The Tempest:

The Enchanted Island (a pastiche using Baroque music); Die Geisterinsel (settings by Fleischmann, Reichardt, and Zumsteeg, and other settings by unnamed composers); Der Sturm (Martin); Noises, Sounds & Sweet Airs (Nyman); The Tempest (Holby); The Tempest (Ades); and The Tempest or The Enchanted Isle (Smith).

But only 4 based on Merry Wives:

Falstaff (Verdi); Falstaff, or The Three Jokes (Salieri); The Merry Wives of Windsor (Otto Nicolai); and Sir John in Love (Vaughan Williams).

No Sweat Shakespeare** offers:

based on the Tempest:

The Tempest by Felice Lattuada (1922)
The Knot Garden by Michael Tippett (1970)
Un Re In Ascolto by Luciano Berio’s A Listening King (1984)
The Tempest by John C Eaton (1985)
The Enchanted Isle by Thomas Shadwell (1674)

based on Falstaff:

At the Boar’s Head by Gustav Holst (1925)
Der Kustigen Weiber von Windsor by Otto Nicolai (1849)
Sir John in Love by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1929)
Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi (1893)

Britannica*** adds:

Linley and Garrick's Tempest (1756)

An old Musical Times piece**** states that there have been over 30 operas based on the Tempest.

And as for Merry Wives, Shakespeare en devenir***** suggests 'a dozen settings of Shakespeare’s domestic comedy to music' but 'only three have remained on the stage and enjoy various degrees of popularity', those three being Verdi, Nicolai and Vaughan Williams.

I must admit I have never heard of half of these but it looks like Caliban wins on points in the opera stakes. Still, there seems to be scope for someone with access to a decent music library to come up with a better answer.

:-)

*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Operas_based_on_works_by_William_Shakespe...

**
https://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/resources/shakespeare-inspired-operas/

***
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shakespeare-and-Opera-1369569

****
https://www.jstor.org/stable/950433?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Operas on 'The Tempest'
Winton Dean
The Musical Times
Vol. 105, No. 1461 (Nov., 1964), pp. 810-814

*****
http://shakespeare.edel.univ-poitiers.fr/index.php?id=788

>89 ubiquitousuk: The Tempest was at 74 copies in April this year, so it's not too far behind presumably. Even still, I'd guess that Merry Wives has even less copies in limitation than the Tempest. Who knows, it's a Folio LE. Anything could have happened.

To my surprise and delight, I unexpectedly stumbled upon a fine copy of the Letterpress Hamlet in a Hobart antique shop last week (at a fraction of the RRP)

Once the purchase was sanctioned by my ever-tolerant and understanding Treasurer, I could finally see and feel what all the fuss has been about...

Wow.

Now I just need the same collection as >69 affle: to feel complete and whole...!

>93 plasticjock: (and >69 affle:)

A fine selection indeed.

Edit: Hang on - no Twelfth Night?!

>91 Cat_of_Ulthar:

Uhhhh, you do realize that Verdi's Falstaff has been performed more times than everything else you cite--combined?

>94 GusLogan:

Well, no - Twelfth Night is a tricky one, as it has a sentimental claim: I was never a juvenile lead, but I did play Sebastian when my amateur troupe was a little short-handed. It is one of half-a-dozen plays where I have the Oxford hardback commentaries ready to be tempted by cheap copies coming to market. The only one that has, in the two plus years since I posted my list, is As You Like It. I'd also be tempted by R & J, Julius C, Measure for Measure (I've just seen the RSC production at Stratford), and The Winter's Tale. But on the whole I'm very happy with my set of what is now 14.

>95 podaniel:

'Uhhhh, you do realize that Verdi's Falstaff has been performed more times than everything else you cite--combined?'

Maybe it has, but I wasn't looking at that. I was comparing how many composers and librettists had been inspired to build on Shakespeare's work. If you prefer to use 'bums on seats' as a measure, that's fine but I don't think it invalidates my post; it's just a different approach to the question.

I have no reason to doubt your assertion about the Verdi, although you quote no figures, but I would note that it dates from 1893 and has had much longer to rack up performances than some of the other works (Nyman or Ades, for example, dating from 1991 and 2004 respectively).

If we come back in a hundred years, will Verdi still be out in front?

Of course, there are other ways one could measure relative popularity: sales figures for print editions of the two plays; numbers of translations into other languages; movie adaptations; and probably many more. All would be interesting to look into.

:-)

Timon of Athens and Troilus and Cressida seem to have shown up as back in stock.

I wouldn't mind having a dig down the back of the FS sofa to see if they also have a Henry V stuck down there…

>98 ubiquitousuk: I think I'm going to have to pick up the Timon. I've nearly completed my Tragedies

For the last six months I have been keeping a record of every Letterpress Shakespeare I have seen on the secondary market. I think this should be every copy that has shown up on eBay (bid and buy it now), AbeBooks, Ardis, HC Books (didn't actually see any on there), and Francis Edwards during the period. It also includes a few copies I saw on other websites, although it is hard to systematically check the entire web every day! To be included, the item must be complete, in the UK, and priced in GBP.

Here is some summary data. The first number is how many copies I have seen come onto the market. This is followed by minimum observed price and average observed price.

All’s Well That Ends Well 0
The Comedy of Errors 2 £176.49 £192.72
Cymbeline 0
Henry IV part 1 3 £300.00 £300.00
Henry IV part 2 3 £265.00 £288.33
Henry V 1 £300.00 £300.00
Henry VI Part 1 0
Henry VI Part 2 1 £335.00 £335.00
Henry VI Part 3 1 £335.00 £335.00
King Henry VIII 1 £250.00 £250.00
King John 1 £231.49 £231.49
Love's Labour's Lost 1 £208.95 £208.95
Measure for Measure 0
Merry Wives of Windsor 2 £208.95 £214.48
Much Ado About Nothing 1 £220.00 £220.00
Pericles 0
Richard II 1 £300.00 £300.00
Richard III 1 £256.00 £256.00
Romeo and Juliet 2 £155.00 £190.30
The Merchant of Venice 3 £95.00 £226.15
The Taming of the Shrew 0
The Winter’s Tale 0
Timon of Athens 0
Troilus and Cressida 2 £166.49 £240.65
Two Gentlemen of Verona 2 £156.49 £182.72
Two Noble Kinsmen 1 £290.00 £290.00
Sonnets and Poems 8 £265.00 £330.06
A Midsummer Night's Dream 7 £151.49 £182.73
Anthony and Cleopatra 3 £175.00 £235.20
As You Like It 6 £155.00 £226.80
Coriolanus 5 £156.49 £224.84
Hamlet 12 £85.90 £201.98
Julius Caesar 3 £120.00 £165.00
King Lear 9 £155.00 £183.00*
Macbeth 6 £175.00 £239.02
Othello 12 £151.49 £184.63
The Tempest 8 £95.00 £190.82*
Titus Andronicus 4 £174.80 £216.15
Twelfth Night 5 £95.00 £191.96

* For each of these two books I have omitted a data point of a seller asking more than £400 (since both books can be bought new from FS for less than that). With these data points included the average would be a little over £200 for each.

- Edited to correct error in the data.

- Edit 2: Also, The Tempest, Othello, and Lear are all currently on sale on FS for anyone who is interested.

Just throwing it out there that I'm interested in buying the following companion volumes:

• Macbeth
• Hamlet
• Othello
• Romeo and Juliet
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• The Tempest
• The Merchant of Venice
• Much Ado About Nothing
• The Comedy of Errors
• The Taming of the Shrew

Feel free to reach out if you have any or all of these volumes and are willing to sell. :)