The late Stu wrote:

There are quite a few. Of course, each only has a limited number of titles, so you haven't got the breadth of someone like Folio. Examples would be Conversation Tree, Suntup, Copperhead, Morning Bell, Lyras.

Great list to explore. Thank you!

Does anyone own any Grim Oak books? What are they like?

Their website is great at not actually showing the books.

rosshm16 wrote:

Does anyone own any Grim Oak books? What are they like?

Their website is great at not actually showing the books.

Not a member personally, but there is a fine press group over on the LibraryThing forums. Likely some pictures - or at least members that can provide some if you ask - over there.

Edit: If you go to the Grim Oak website and sort old to new, the books that have actually been released usually have photos of the finished product. I agree they don't make it easy to see what their typical product looks like, though!

OlorinCA, I have a couple of books from Arete Editions. They are wonderful, quality paper, real bookcloth, letterpress printing, small runs etc.
https://www.arete-editions.com/

There are pros and cons with all the current publishers of quality limited books and they go through phases of excellence bookended by dull relatively overpriced offerings although with some it's early days. The Folio Society is currently in a down trough in terms of what is being offered for the money and a good example of such,in my opinion, is the limited deluxe 'IT' which is really a slightly glorified standard edition in terms of book making quality. Don't get me wrong,it is still quality but not the premium luxury quality one would luxuriate in or expect for the price. Yes,it sold quickly,vanishingly quickly,but it is by King and his works follow similar rules to Tolkien. The Folio Society,when it's on it,it's on it yet now seem to be resting on their laurels what with being in fashion with the "tik-tok/instagram"/facebook crowd. In 2007-2014 FS embarked on an ambitious project with their Letterpress Shakespeare and these volumes are easily the best and most loved books I own,being hand-bound in goatskin leather, blocked in gold with hand-marbled paper sides,gilded top edge, ribbon marker,printed letterpress on mould-made paper,in presentation boxes with commentary volumes and each one fairly priced at £299,yet even these struggled to sell out towards the end,over reaching in ambition thus reducing the limitation size from 3,650 to 1,000. These may well be my personal favourite but I wouldn't grab 'em in a fire as there are 39 Volumes and they are big tomes! The reason for my highlighting these books on TCG is simple. This is THE minimum standard I expect to be applied by the FS or whoever to my beloved Tolkien when considering quality editions and they can be oversized as in the past with FS or normal sized as with Suntup etc; and for the publishers not to overreach in the limitation size. And then I awoke to the annoying sound of busy traffic.

Olorin wrote:

There are pros and cons with all the current publishers of quality limited books and they go through phases of excellence bookended by dull relatively overpriced offerings although with some it's early days. The Folio Society is currently in a down trough in terms of what is being offered for the money and a good example of such,in my opinion, is the limited deluxe 'IT' which is really a slightly glorified standard edition in terms of book making quality. Don't get me wrong,it is still quality but not the premium luxury quality one would luxuriate in or expect for the price. Yes,it sold quickly,vanishingly quickly,but it is by King and his works follow similar rules to Tolkien. The Folio Society,when it's on it,it's on it yet now seem to be resting on their laurels what with being in fashion with the "tik-tok/instagram"/facebook crowd. In 2007-2014 FS embarked on an ambitious project with their Letterpress Shakespeare and these volumes are easily the best and most loved books I own,being hand-bound in goatskin leather, blocked in gold with hand-marbled paper sides,gilded top edge, ribbon marker,printed letterpress on mould-made paper,in presentation boxes with commentary volumes and each one fairly priced at £299,yet even these struggled to sell out towards the end,over reaching in ambition thus reducing the limitation size from 3,650 to 1,000. These may well be my personal favourite but I wouldn't grab 'em in a fire as there are 39 Volumes and they are big tomes! The reason for my highlighting these books on TCG is simple. This is THE minimum standard I expect to be applied by the FS or whoever to my beloved Tolkien when considering quality editions and they can be oversized as in the past with FS or normal sized as with Suntup etc; and for the publishers not to overreach in the limitation size. And then I awoke to the annoying sound of busy traffic.

I agree with all your comments. Ironically, some of Folio's better recent productions have made it to the half price sale (presumably because of a combination of pricing and too-high limitations). I thought Beowulf was excellent (though I understand some people didn't like the design choices), as was the Peloponnesian War. Beowulf in particular was bound by Smith Settle from pages printed in England (Northend print, Sheffield). Certainly not a low-volume printer, but perhaps not quite so super-high volume as some. Most of their LEs are punted out by Graphicom and LEGO -- basically mass market printer/binders, and these mass-market origins are abundantly clear.

A lot of their recent LE titles (2024/25) seem to be glorified Standard Editions (and often not especially glorified) at multiples of the SE price (which is already usually on the high-end for the product on offer). They seem to sell out quickly when they don't get greedy on the limitations. I put this down to there being a few hundred dedicated fans that just buy every Folio LE that comes out, simply because it is there to buy. Once they nudge over this number, sales slow right down.

I thought about getting into Folio Society collecting a couple years ago. Ordered an Earthsea book and Dracula. Earthsea arrived with weird fading/discoloration all over the cover artwork. I sent them photos and they kindly sent a replacement but it had the same problem. Dracula arrived with several uncut pages. Doubt I'll order from them again. They are well known for their customer service, basically if your book has any subjective flaw they will replace it for free, but at the price point of even their standard editions I just don't want to bother with that.

Say what you will about HC's quality control, and they are definitely not a "fine press", but I've purchased a substantial number of HC "deluxe" editions and none of them have had such issues. Maybe I'm just lucky with HC and unlucky with Folio.

For those of you who have taken part in buying previous signed limited editions previously, how will it work when the time strikes? Will the current landing page be transformed into the buying page? Will you get a link via email if you signed up to be notified? Can you search it directly on the Harper Collins UK website?

Anything I should think about? I have registred an account and already put in my address.

Any common mistakes that one can do to fail getting a copy in time?

EmilK wrote:

For those of you who have taken part in buying previous signed limited editions previously, how will it work when the time strikes? Will the current landing page be transformed into the buying page? Will you get a link via email if you signed up to be notified? Can you search it directly on the Harper Collins UK website?

Anything I should think about? I have registred an account and already put in my address.

Any common mistakes that one can do to fail getting a copy in time?

The last one was in 2009. I'm not sure any past experiences apply. The last one also took 10 years to sell out!

EmilK wrote:

For those of you who have taken part in buying previous signed limited editions previously, how will it work when the time strikes? Will the current landing page be transformed into the buying page? Will you get a link via email if you signed up to be notified? Can you search it directly on the Harper Collins UK website?

Anything I should think about? I have registred an account and already put in my address.

Any common mistakes that one can do to fail getting a copy in time?

You could be notified by one of these methods or multiple ways. Assuming signing up for the mailing list will get a link to your email, but that’s just a guess.

I would say, just be available, if you can on release day. I’m sure members here will post as soon as information is known. I would think you would have a few hours grace period to order before it sells out, but that’s just a guess as to how long it will take to sell out.