Saturday, 27 April 2013

The Folio Society: Devoted to Beautiful Books

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The Icelandic Sagas
edited by Magnus Magnusson

Standing like an island amid the sea of cheap mass produced paperbacks and formulaic new releases from the latest bright young things is the Folio Society. This organization is half publisher, half book club (as it has members) and was founded in 1947 on the principle that books should be beautiful to the eye as well as captivating to the mind.

The Folio Society’s formula for success is publishing books with exceptional typography, illustrations, paper and bindings. The Society sources new introductions from literary experts to accompany classic texts and uses skilled designers and master printers to produce memorable fine books. Fiction and non-fiction is published and you will be familiar with many of the titles and authors.

These books are often housed in beautiful slipcases. Sets and multi-volume editions are commonplace. The Folio Society takes a classic book and finds an expert to write a fresh introduction. It publishes books that are already winners – some of them like The Wind in the Willows and The Canterbury Tales have become iconic – but adds much more to the look and feel.

This list showcases just a small selection of the books published by the Folio Society since 1947.