The Folio Society is a privately-held[1] London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971.[2][3] It produces illustrated hardback editions of classic books, with new bindings and specially commissioned illustrations. Most come with their own slipcase. Membership of the society was estimated at 140,000 in 2007[4] and 120,000 in 2011[5].
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The Folio Society was founded in 1947 by Charles Ede, Christopher Sandford (of Golden Cockerel Press), and Alan Bott (founder of Pan Books)[6]. Folio and the Golden Cockerel Press shared premises in Poland Street until 1955[7][8]. The Folio Society moved to its current location, 44 Eagle Street in London, in 1994.[9]. The firm's goal was to produce "a poor man's fine edition"[10] – a well-designed, printed and bound book which the ordinary reader could own.
In 1971 The Folio Society was incorporated and purchased by John Letts and Halfdan Lynner.[3] Under their ownership, The Folio Society published the collected novels of Dickens, Trollope, Hardy, Elizabeth Gaskell and Conrad.
Since 1982, Lord Gavron has been chairman of The Folio Society.[11]. Former Folio Society directors include: Toby James Hartwell (current director); Peter Francis Scannell; David Hayden; Claire Aris; Susan Bradbury; Duncan Stirling; and Brian Hodder[3].
The society issued its first three titles in 1947. In October of that year Tolstoy's Tales went on sale[12] for sixteen shillings (this would have been about US$3.00 in 1947, or just over US$10.00 in 2011[13][14]). Tales was followed in November and December by George du Maurier's Trilby[15] and a translation of Aucassin et Nicolette, establishing a pattern of monthly publication.
The company currently produces over 100 titles per year, including multi-volume sets. Most titles are produced digitally and printed using the offset method by printers in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain. Between 1987 and 1991, The Folio Society produced a number of Folio Fine Editions, printed using the letterpress process, which was the normal form of printing text from its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century until the 19th century. Starting in 2007, the company began using letterpress production for its series of limited editions of Shakespeare’s plays. The letterpress editions are hand-bound, a process which, acording to 2008 Production director Joe Whitlock-Blundell, involves " ... about 12 people ... " and which is " ... slow, slow, slow ...”[1].
Until 1954, most Folio books were issued with printed dust jackets, but during the latter half of the 1950s coloured card slip cases were introduced, to protect the books and retain focus on the decorative bindings. Solander boxes are generally used to protect the limited editions.
Folio publications are printed in a range of formats (in 1951, for example, these included Royal Octavo, Medium Octavo, Crown Octavo and Demy Octavo) and custom sizes are also common. Use of materials also varies greatly, with occasional innovations such as the use of aluminium foil in the binding of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World in 1971 and vegetable parchment in the binding of Voltaire's The Calas Affair in 1994. Marbled papers (often produced by Ann Muir Marbling Ltd.) have been used for several volumes in recent years, either for endpapers or the board-papers of quarter bindings. Moiré silk (usually artificial) has also been used sporadically over the years as a binding material, but the most common material is buckram or a similar book-cloth. Leathers – vellum and goatskin – are sometimes used, latterly chiefly for the more expensive editions.
Noted artists who have contributed to Folio Society publications include Francis Mosley (the works of Hardy and Conrad)[16], Paul Cox (P. G. Wodehouse and others)[17], and Neil Packer (I, Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves). Joan Hassall and John Lawrence - recognized for their wood-engraving skill - have also illustrated Folio Society books.