Folio society standard editions: which text version?

I have also been drawn to the standard (currently green) Folio edition, but I don't own them. My impression from things somewhere on this site or on Reddit? is that they do have an older version of the text, likely BEFORE the 2004/50th text revision. So I have assumed they have something similar to the 1996 text which had more "errors." Take that with a grain of salt.

To answer your 2nd question, I have wondered the same thing and have come to the conclusion that the annoyance (of reading older texts with some errors) would be minimal. After all, most of my formative read-throughs of LOTR were early Ballantine paperbacks and then the Houghton Mifflin 1996 edition, neither of which benefited from the excellent work by Hammond & Scull. In other words, if things like text size, font, paper, and binding strongly affect your reading enjoyment and experience, finding those qualities that you like may enhance your reading (and collecting) experience with minimal downside even if a slightly older text version.

I am curious if newer FS editions have updated versions of the text. I suspect not, based on copyright and licensing, but I am not sure.

wiseSam wrote:

I have also been drawn to the standard (currently green) Folio edition, but I don't own them. My impression from things somewhere on this site or on Reddit? is that they do have an older version of the text, likely BEFORE the 2004/50th text revision. So I have assumed they have something similar to the 1996 text which had more "errors." Take that with a grain of salt.

To answer your 2nd question, I have wondered the same thing and have come to the conclusion that the annoyance (of reading older texts with some errors) would be minimal. After all, most of my formative read-throughs of LOTR were early Ballantine paperbacks and then the Houghton Mifflin 1996 edition, neither of which benefited from the excellent work by Hammond & Scull. In other words, if things like text size, font, paper, and binding strongly affect your reading enjoyment and experience, finding those qualities that you like may enhance your reading (and collecting) experience with minimal downside even if a slightly older text version.

I am curious if newer FS editions have updated versions of the text. I suspect not, based on copyright and licensing, but I am not sure.

I certainly relate a lot to what you are writing. My early readings where of an even more distant edition, the older Swedish editions translated by controversial translator Åke Ohlmarks who in places even changed crucial parts of the story, and I have not suffered from it.

I would also be interested to know if they have an updated text for the limited edition.

I sent their customer service and email (asked about both the standard and limited editions). Will post any response I get as soon as possible.

Although I have to admit, I am considering getting them no matter what the response is.

EmilK wrote:

wiseSam wrote:

I have also been drawn to the standard (currently green) Folio edition, but I don't own them. My impression from things somewhere on this site or on Reddit? is that they do have an older version of the text, likely BEFORE the 2004/50th text revision. So I have assumed they have something similar to the 1996 text which had more "errors." Take that with a grain of salt.

To answer your 2nd question, I have wondered the same thing and have come to the conclusion that the annoyance (of reading older texts with some errors) would be minimal. After all, most of my formative read-throughs of LOTR were early Ballantine paperbacks and then the Houghton Mifflin 1996 edition, neither of which benefited from the excellent work by Hammond & Scull. In other words, if things like text size, font, paper, and binding strongly affect your reading enjoyment and experience, finding those qualities that you like may enhance your reading (and collecting) experience with minimal downside even if a slightly older text version.

I am curious if newer FS editions have updated versions of the text. I suspect not, based on copyright and licensing, but I am not sure.

I certainly relate a lot to what you are writing. My early readings where of an even more distant edition, the older Swedish editions translated by controversial translator Åke Ohlmarks who in places even changed crucial parts of the story, and I have not suffered from it.

I would also be interested to know if they have an updated text for the limited edition.

I sent their customer service and email (asked about both the standard and limited editions). Will post any response I get as soon as possible.

Although I have to admit, I am considering getting them no matter what the response is.

I'd be interested to hear a response. The main thing preventing me from getting them is the lack of discounts lol. That, and it seems like they would be available anytime I decide to act.

The Silmarillion text is very good. In fact, prior to 2021, it was IMO the BEST Silmarillion text (it had corrections HarperCollins had not yet uniformly applied). I spoke to the publishing director about it and he said they do their own copy editing.

I can't speak to The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings.

James Tauber wrote:

The Silmarillion text is very good. In fact, prior to 2021, it was IMO the BEST Silmarillion text (it had corrections HarperCollins had not yet uniformly applied). I spoke to the publishing director about it and he said they do their own copy editing.

That is very good to know. I did not even consider what text version the Silmarillion was. Thank you for the added information.

wiseSam wrote:

I'd be interested to hear a response.

I got a response within a day (probably the fastest customer service response that I have ever gotten). It looks like the limited edition was from 2020, whereas the standard edition text version was from 1977 (although I feel they got a little bit stingy that I called their non-limited edition "standard").

Folio Society customer service wrote:

Hello [Emilk],

Thank you for getting in touch with the Folio Society today!

The limited edition text came from the 2020 Harper Collins text, based on the reset edition first published in 2014 which in turn is a revised version of the reset edition published in 2004.

Our Folio Book edition (nothing we do is 'standard'[)] dates back to 1977 and doesn't feature the HC corrections)

I hope that helps but do let me know if you need any more information.

Thanks again.

Kind regards

(Things in square brackets added by me.)

Since I know that there have been many corrections and revisions since the publication (allegedly sometimes the introduction of errors), I am not sure how "corrected" the 1977 version is beyond it not having the HC corrections in the 2010s.

I replied asking if they had any plans to (i.) update their standard edition with HC corrections and (ii). release additional Tolkien works (limited or non-limited) in the next couple of years. Will post back with any reply I get.

EmilK wrote:

wiseSam wrote:

I'd be interested to hear a response.

I got a response within a day (probably the fastest customer service response that I have ever gotten). It looks like the limited edition was from 2020, whereas the standard edition text version was from 1977 (although I feel they got a little bit stingy that I called their non-limited edition "standard").

Folio Society customer service wrote:

Hello [Emilk],

Thank you for getting in touch with the Folio Society today!

The limited edition text came from the 2020 Harper Collins text, based on the reset edition first published in 2014 which in turn is a revised version of the reset edition published in 2004.

Our Folio Book edition (nothing we do is 'standard'[)] dates back to 1977 and doesn't feature the HC corrections)

I hope that helps but do let me know if you need any more information.

Thanks again.

Kind regards

(Things in square brackets added by me.)

Since I know that there have been many corrections and revisions since the publication (allegedly sometimes the introduction of errors), I am not sure how "corrected" the 1977 version is beyond it not having the HC corrections in the 2010s.

I replied asking if they had any plans to (i.) update their standard edition with HC corrections and (ii). release additional Tolkien works (limited or non-limited) in the next couple of years. Will post back with any reply I get.

That comment about "standard" is really on the nose, especially as they called them "Standard" themselves until recently (they seem to prefer to call them "core" now...).

The Folio Standard Tolkien editions are *very* basic, and tend to get a lot of complaints about quality online in the Folio groups, particularly the gilt rubbing off, warped boards, prone to spine fading, etc. The bindings are pretty non-durable cosmetically. Some prints have fairly poor text reproduction as they have clearly been offset from earlier editions. I'm not sure if that is the case with the current LoTR, but there were some prints of The Silmarillion that were absolutely shocking.

Folio is a really mixed bag, and their Tolkien books are very much legacy offerings that have the dated design of the era they were released, but not the production values from when they released, so they are cheap facsimiles of themselves. I actually think the HarperCollins editions are much better, personally. Unless you want the specific illustrations from Folio, of course.

The late Stu wrote:

The Folio Standard Tolkien editions are *very* basic, and tend to get a lot of complaints about quality online in the Folio groups, particularly the gilt rubbing off, warped boards, prone to spine fading, etc.

Do we know why the spine fading happens on folio books? I have seen it on a lot of second-hand offerings. Is it sunlight? Would it happen if I stored them with the spine inward in a bookshelf? Would the spine-fading happen anyway?

EmilK wrote:

The late Stu wrote:

The Folio Standard Tolkien editions are *very* basic, and tend to get a lot of complaints about quality online in the Folio groups, particularly the gilt rubbing off, warped boards, prone to spine fading, etc.

Do we know why the spine fading happens on folio books? I have seen it on a lot of second-hand offerings. Is it sunlight? Would it happen if I stored them with the spine inward in a bookshelf? Would the spine-fading happen anyway?

Sunlight, heat. Spine inward will prevent it, as will ensuring bookcases get no natural light.