>tfw all the collectible books on my wishlist cost like 500 dollars a piece.
Franklin Library Oxford Divine Comedy (approximately 600)
Franklin Library oxford moby dick 300-400$
Franklin library oxford yeats 400-600$
Franklin library oxford paradise lost 500-600$
Easton Press Tolkien Classics 400
Easton Press Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe 400-500
Easton Press Carl Sagan Cosmos 300-500
You guys, I think that my collecting days have hit a wall.
>franklin library
>easton press
strong meh. i find easton press often uninspired and design possibilities are suppressed for the sake of uniformity. same goes for many of frankllin press leather editions. it's nearly the same book i could get from any generic mass hardcover publisher, the only additions are leather binding, moire endpaper, and gilded edges.
truly fine editions take care in the typefaces used, the paper its printed on, which draft of the text is chosen, the manner in which illustrations are put to page, and so on. some presses commission original illustrations, woodcuts, engravers, and unique runs of paper from niche mills.
if you think your wishlist has hit a wall now, i wonder how your wishlist will look after you've looked at catalogues from the likes of arion press or barbarian press.
>his collectible books aren't signed by the dalai lama and don't come with their own little table
pfft
>it's nearly the same book i could get from any generic mass hardcover publisher, the only additions are leather binding, moire endpaper, and gilded edges.
Well, they literally do republish certain editions simply with leather binding, like the Taschen press Easton Press edition of the complete works of Euronymous Bosch. It even says Taschen, not Easton Press on the inside, so I won't deny that. I really like the quality of Easton Press and Franklin Library though. I'll admit, I usually opt for Folio Society, but none of these brands are in any way unpleasant to own. I feel happier and more at home looking at my Easton and Folio books on my shelf (I don't know many Franklins).
There's some stuff that Easton Press doesn't do that Folio Society does, which is why I said I usually prefer FS. Type face, good translator (I don't buy translated works from Easton Press because usually they have old translations), and Folio Society in particular gets really nice commissioned works and customizes each edition nicely. Although Easton Press does print on archival quality paper, and Easton Press also mills paper especially for their editions. I will say that Easton Press is not great when it comes to art commissions whatsoever, but you can tell which company is more financially secure. Easton Press catalogs come in a sort of magazine paper, and Folio Society comes in this beautiful photo print paper that feels so solid you don't even want to throw it away after you're done using it. That said, I am not complaining about my Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, 15 inch tall edition with 40 enormous photos of Gustav Dore illustrations. Or really any of my editions for that matter, Easton Press is beautiful, and if Folio Society never printed an edition of a book I want to read, I will go with Easton Press any day.
Oh yeah, and Arion Press is the one that made that 4000 dollar copy of Don Quixote. I think I would rather spend that sort of money on a new wrist watch like the Stowa Flieger, and a custom built computer, and a high end pair of portable earbuds like the Campfire Andromeda, which I actually am saving up for right now, than spend all that money on one book.
I was curious about the Arion Press bible and went to their site...
>Unbound, in cloth-covered box: $7,250
>Bound in full cloth, in cloth-covered box: $7,750
>Bound in full goatskin (black spine, purple sides, red bead between), in cloth-covered box: $8,500
>Illuminated initial letters: add $2,500
$11,000 for a bible I could get for free from the Gideons. we are reaching peak profligate, guys.
Just pirate them :^)
>collecting books
Is this bait? Why would you collect a book that's been printed recently?
>spending $600 on a translation
Yeah man, don't go to an art museum either, just look at the pictures on your phone.
n-nothing wrong with a little armchair dilettantism
It's about the quality of material and feel and aesthetic. I don't really care if a book was made recently if it has those thing. I don't collect vintage first press copies because you have to worry about handling them. I want to actually read my books.
>I don't really care
then they're hardly collectible books buddy
Wow, better go sell my Eastons and Folios then (They are collectible btw, they increase in value, but whatever better go sell them still). I don't really care about collectors value anyways, I plan on keeping my books until I'm dead, and then passing them down to my children. Seriously, there's nothing more awesome than Heirlooms.
>yfw your kids are born dummies and don't like reading and now your fancy books are just regular-style kindling
I'll beat them if they don't like books.
doesn't work like that daddio, it's impossible. some kids just can't into books. the brains they were born with don't have the patience or aptitude for reading.
What is Veeky Forums's stance on Norton Critical Editions? Are the footnotes worth the extra money?
They're not that expensive, just buy them.
>18 by 13 inches
>1,356 pages of 100% cotton fiber paper
>Weight, with box, is approximately 50 pounds
>the last Bible to be printed by letterpress from metal type
>original commission for capital letter type
>original commission for gold and watercolor illumination
niche presses aren't for people who just want to read
Or for people with stupid amounts of money to blow and nothing better to do with it.
uh bro you could buy some land in the desert or put a down payment on a house for what that bible costs.
i'm just saying. it's kindling.
I know the feeling.
>you'll never own the Arion Press Moby Dick
why fucking live?
Is this what passes for ornate books these days?
>Carl Sagan
>Tolkein
Buyfags are never recovering from this
Uh, OP said it's like $500, it's like 2 days pay.
You have to literally be a millionaire to buy shit like this. On a minimum wage job, of course this shit would be a third someone's yearly salary. My parents own a fucking sail boat, I think it cost something like 15000 dollars or something. You could buy 3 of these useless fucking books OR A SAIL BOAT. You have to be a rich bitch, fancy yacht snob to be able to buy these goddamn things. My parents don't even fuck around with fancy editions of anything, because they prioritize where they spend their money.
>I hate hobbies.
I'm not sure what you're getting at user, it's not really "ornate". Just incredibly well bound, typeset, and featuring beautiful engravings.
This is a different publisher, they produced 250 copies at an original price of $1000. They did another run of it as a paperback but it's not as good.
Pretty sure they were meant for university libraries user, not randos with loads of money.
The only thing I'd really be into is the Folio history edition which I have to admit is fucking gorgeous. And I can't even fucking get it because I live in Europe and shipping it would be a pain in the ass. Usually I go for cheap editions and won't pay more than 10 Euros except when it's really worth it i.e. Landmark editions.
why would anyone buy collectible editions of books besides "i like to spend my money on dumb shit"?
right, better spent on fish and chips with the lads