Favourite and Least Favourite Tactile FS Books

I'm interested in your preferred books to hold, handle, fondle and caress. And the ones you would rather turn the pages of with a 10-ft pole. This has nothing to do with the book's contents, size or design. Just the binding material.

You're allowed one runner-up and a winner/loser in both categories:

My favourite is the velvety goodness of Mort SE
Runner-up: The Folio Book of Humorous Anecdotes. This is delightfully fuzzy soft. I wasn't expecting it as the rest of the Humour (Raconteurs, After Dinner Stories) books have much different bindings.

Least favourite: Nana. Weird Taffeta that feels like a nylon screen door or a seat belt.
Runner-up: Beowulf. 70s printing. A really rough texture better suited for a welcome mat.

I will second your Mort SE ... and add Small Gods to that. In face i was just praising exactly this about these two books to another book enthusiast recently

I will go OT (probably too early in the discussion to do this ... but i'm a rebel ... lol) ... my favorite for 'tactile' ... EP book is the old original run of Mark Twain Huckleberry Finn DLE ... after decades ... the soft leather still smells of glorious leather and it feels wonderful!!! Must be some kind of unique pigskin leather ... cuz none of my other leather covers come close to this.

Least Fav ... I don't have any for FS ... but for EP (OT again) ... idylls of the king DLE w/ Doré Illustrations. It's a giant oversized book ... which I thought would be fun. And as it is wonderful for display and a nice talking piece ... and the larger illustrations are beautiful ... but the 'tactile' ... 'handling' is obviously absurd. Just too giant to actually read in your lap.

>2 thisGuy33:

It's true to the original though (Idylls). I have the original 19th century gift edition and it's a beautiful hernia-inflicting monster. Probably a little bigger than the Easton reprint.

>2 thisGuy33:
EP’s “The Raven” DLE, also illustrated by Dore, is even taller than “Idylls” by about 3 inches — not quite as thick, but just as heavy.

Favorite: Moby-Dick LE
Least favorite: Little Women (the reprint feels cheap and flimsy compared to other cloth bindings)

Favourite: To the Lighthouse. It's a simple cloth-bound number, but I picked it up second hand a few years back and it seems to be nicely worn with love. And it opens beautifully and sits in the hand really well.
Runner-up: The Dickens Nonesuch (Burgundy) editions - they really are a fave of mine on so many levels

Least favourite: A Treasury of Mark Twain (I think I have the 'plasticky' one - I don't hate it, and I'll keep it, but it's certainly not a sensual pleasure to hold.)
Runner-up: The Folio Book of Historic Speeches. Again, not that bad, but not awesome either.

My favourites (among FS) are the Letterpress Shakespeare. Among their merits are the nice, heavy Zerkall paper with a good rag content; the ever so slight texture to the marbled sides that make them feel like more than plain paper; the leather, which, though coarse, feels incredibly sturdy; the thicker than usual boards that make the whole book feel solid; the fact that the books seem to sprawl open very naturally; and the additional tactile pleasure of taking it out of its solander box.

Least favourite (among FS) is probably The Book of the New Sun (standard edition). The paper isn't great, the cloth on the spine feels somehow weird, and the boards are covered in this fairly cheap-feeling glossy paper.

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Edit to fix some terrible typos.

My favourite would be the Wm. Morris Odes of Horace LE, always a treat to lift from its sarcophagus with the black ribbon that's provided: Moby-Dick LE a not too distant second.

Least favourite, Kafka's The Trial, the 1967 edition in full black PVC, not that I would wish it any other way.

I like the feel of Kavalier and Klay.

Favourite: I second >5 L.Bloom:'s nomination for Moby Dick. There's just something special about the Wright's Smooth Grain Leather that's softer than any other leather Folio Society has used for every other binding I own.

Runner up: Liber Bestiarum, the Nigeria goatskin itself is probably equally matched with a couple other goatskin volumes but I think LB gets the edge in how the bevelled cover boards are just so thick that I find it somehow accentuates the leather over other contenders, almost like it has a smidgen more give when you press your fingers against it.

Least favourite: I second >7 ubiquitousuk:'s nomination for the Book of the New Sun SE. I don't mind the cloth itself but the paper used for this binding is rather egregious and reminds me of the plasticized paper found in any generic coffee table book binding.

Runner up: I recently bought a copy of the second printing of the Decameron from the late 60s and I'm not sure if it's necessarily the material itself or whether it's just age worn but the buckram/cloth just feels overly smooth and reminiscent of plastic. As I type I'm honestly not sure if I actually dislike it or not, it's not as smooth and lifeless as plasticized paper as there's still some texture to it, but I'll put it as my runner up because no other edition comes to mind that garners either such dislike or confusion.

I like the feel of the blue brocade of Nicholas and Alexandra.
I very much dislike the cover of Alice B Toklas Cook Book because it has gone wrinkly, and also the shiny silver Brave New World as it is so fragile, and in addition the text is set in a a horrible typeface, Univers light.

I also like the feel of The History of Western Philosophy.

Favorite: generally all books printed in buckram (like the Christies) feel very nice.

Least favorite: the infamous Locked Room Mysteries boxed set. The 'thermo-reactive' paper feels and looks cheap. Probably one of the most infamous C&C productions that had to go 50% off in a sale.

Favorite: The Divine Comedy limited edition. The leather feels luxurious and the design is restrained. While the paper doesn't have the complexity of handmade, it does have a pleasing laid texture and works nicely with the scope of each volume in terms of resulting size. Thicker and the books would probably be too chunky.

Runner up: The Poems of Thomas Gray limited edition. The boards, binding, and paper all have a great solidity to them.

I have discovered that I greatly appreciate boards with greater thickness. It doesn't seem like it would matter all that much, especially since my priorities are generally text block first and binding distant second, but every time I handle a book with more substantial boards, it makes me happy.

I can't think of any offhand that I dislike primarily for the tactile qualities. The baseline Folio quality, apart from a few C&C missteps and slight general reduction of material component quality recently, still seems reliable enough. When a Folio Society book doesn't appeal to me, the shortcoming is generally in the design or art departments.

>9 Kainzow: & >12 Kainzow: I do like your posts; they sound like the declaration at your initial meeting of Fondlers Anonymous :)

I quite like the latest Montaigne’s Essays. The combination of the leather and the intricately blocked buckram is great. I also love the LE Pepys diaries in the hand; they’re very light (yes the boards are a bit too thin) and the leather spine feels good (this is making me wonder if I shouldn’t have sprung for the leather Ebenezer Page after all!)

Least favourite: the plastic Mark Twain probably followed by the Locked Room Mysteries set (both mentioned above)

Favorite: Beowulf (Heany transl.) (leather feels good in the hand, overall high-quality production)
Runner up: A Clockwork Orange (love that faux crocodile)

Least favorite: Brave New World (shiny mirror finish -- need I say more?)
Runner up: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep / A Scanner Darkly (harsh-feeling, minimal cloth spine, slick boards, glossy paper, too heavy in the hand)

>10 wongie: I think I agree with this. Favorite - Moby Dick LE, least favorite - BotNS SE.

Although the LE Divine Comedy is almost on par with Moby Dick. The leather isn’t quite as supple-feeling as MD, but still very high quality goatskin. However, the DC paper handily beats it. I’m pretty sure Moby Dick just uses Abbey Wove. The Corolla Laid is on a whole different level.

Favourite: Le Morte D'Arthur - Gorgeous goat and thick shiny gold on all the edges that doesn't rub off no matter how much you tickle it.

Runner up: Gormenghast LE - Stroke that shiny Setalux, feel that knotted string! Uniquely, you could find it in the dark.

Stinker: Any of those light paper covered sets, e.g. the Patricia Highsmith Ripley, Maugham Short Stories etc. Anathema!

The Book I'd Love to Fondle - That shaggoth-skin black binding of The Call of Cthulhu LE. Eldritch Excitement Guaranteed.

Favorite in my small collection: Wilfred Owen War Poems LE - great size and feel with the leather spine, paper boards and a nice feel to the letterpress. Runners-up are the buckram companion editions for Shakespeare - vastly underrated.

Least - In Parenthesis SE. I love the book in terms of substance but the thick, stiff paper feels way off (like I am reading card stock) and the binding is so-so. It's too bad because I love the concept much better than the execution.

Favourite: Decameron cream leather - the leather feels soft and luxurious to touch. The only other one in my collection that has a similar feel is News from Nowhere.

Runner Up: War and Peace blue leather - beautiful thick leather and the endpapers have a lovely texture to the touch.

Special Mention: Three Kingdoms - I have a soft spot for this bound in Vendome cloth as well as any of the FS editions with crushed silk bindings.

Least Favourite: Fahrenheit 451 - it had an unpleasant plastic feel.

Favourite: Montaigne's Essays, with that design engraved in and the hefty weight. So royal and luxurious.

Runner Up: Anything Buckram. Feels solid, never slippery, never cheap. My favourite choice for average FS books.

Least Favourite: My Trollope collection, or anything similar, with the cheap paper sides that feel so flimsy and as though they are going to peel back.

I like to spend time with "beach books" during summer esp. Call them ordinary FS books if you like. It's not always practical to bring with too nice editions.

That's a nice thing about having a FS library.

Don’t hate me but I love the silver Brave New World. In the huge minority there, so to speak.

>24 Jeremy53:

I think quite a few here appreciate it as an instance of innovative book design: but as a tactile experience? If you like Brave New World, you might love a roll of cooking foil... ;)

Cat’s Cradle feels very good in hand

Favourite: Heaney Beowulf (only leatherbound so not a fair fight) Runner up would be Between Silk and Cyanide, just a high quality cloth whihc many folios have.

Least: The Worst Journey in the World. Though one of my favourite reads, the binding has a very plastic feel.

Best - Full leather Duke’s Children LE and Madama Bovary Le both are tactile delights.

I thoroughly enjoyed holding 1776. It felt "rugged".