99th Post - Folio Society Treasures

As a precurser to my 100th post giveaway, I would like to obsess for just a minute about the books published by the Folio Society.

To me, an indicator of true luxury is a hardback book. Not only do they look better in shelves, but they have more heft to read, and they age better (no split spines).

The Folio Society takes old (and some more recent) classic works of fiction, fact, poetry, history and art, typesets them, designs a wonderful new cover, and then republishes them.

The Folio Society was conceived by Charles Ed (1921-2002) in 1947, who was inspired by private press publishers in the UK. The Society was not intended to compete with those publishers, rather Ede aimed to produce a 'poor man's fine edition' - a well designed, printed and bound book to which the 'common man' could aspire. In October 1947 Tolstoy's Tales went on sale for sixteen shillings.

To obtain the benefit, you must become a member by paying an annual fee. You then must buy a minimum of 4 books a year. Nothing really. We have bought dozens of their books over the years. Here are some examples of their amazing range:

Justine by Laurence Durrell (part of the Alexandria Quartet and on my summer reading list (it's pretty heavy going)

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (my favourite Roman emperor)

On the Road by Jack Kerouac (perfect for that 20 year old cousin who needs something to rebel against)

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Food In History by Tannahill

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

In Your Garden by Vita Sackville West

Venice by Jan Morris (must read for any trip to Venice)

Trouble is my Business by Raymond Chandler

Songlines by Bruce Chatwin (easily one of the best books about Australian indigenous people ever written)

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (sadly this is I think the only Australian book I have seen them publish)

Jane Austen's letters (Note - the cover is embroidered silk)

Inventions of the Middle Ages

100 Years of Solitude by the grandfather of Magical Realism Gabriel Garcia Marquez

In Flanders' Fields by Leon Wolff

The Elizabethan Underworld (can you imagine? The Melbourne underworld would have nothing on this.)

A book of Mediterranean Food by Elizabeth David

Charlotte's Web by EB White

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown

Grimm's Fairy Tales with illustrations by the wonderful Arthur Rackham

Lewis Carroll's Alice. I have these for my daughter and they came in a lovely red fabric box.

I could go on.

In Australia the Folio Society advertises in the cheap ads in the newspaper magazines. You would be forgiven for putting it in the same category as a dietary drink or exercise machine but they are so wonderful for any lover of books. And because they reprint old books, you can take a (paperback) you may have read many times and replace with a hardback from Folio which will last forever. In the above, very arbitrary list, I am very tempted by To Kill a Mockingbird, my current copy is at least 20 years old and falling apart.

In this post was a hint to a giveaway, which is book related, which I am running next post.

Have a happy day.

(sources: Wikipeida, Foliosociety.com)

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A flowery chair for the Duchess of Devonshire

For Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, aged 88, formerly Debo Mitford, chatelaine of Chatsworth since 1950, keeper of chickens, lover of dogs, grandmother to model Stella Tennant, sister to five famous sisters and one brother who died young, daughter of reasonably nutty aristocrat who whose idea of fun was calling gentleman callers 'swine' and a woman who, ahead of her time, was into organic food and home education, reader of no books (apparently), inveterately optimistic, warm and friendly lady, possibly the most normal of all Mitford sisters, here you are.

I have found you a flowery chair to sit in and rest for just a minute.
I do love those Mitfords. I can't help it, even though, as has been pointed out, they were all slightly creepy. Here is a poor quality photo of part of my Mitford book collection.

However the creepiness does not extend to the Duchess. She seems pretty normal to me. I have just finished reading 'In Tearing Haste' which is a touching collection of the letters between DD and Patrick Leigh Fermor, war hero, generally brave person and a gregarious kind man who loved to travel, visit with people and appreciates the Mediterranean way of life. He is a man who is interested in just about everything and it shows in his chatty vibrant letters.

This is an uplifiting book about people who enjoyed life and made the most of it, in spite or maybe because of the war horrors they lived through. Patrick Leigh Fermor was a hellenophile - he lived in Crete disguised as a shepherd in WWII, he kidnapped the commander in charge of Crete General Krieke and then ultimately moved to Greece and still lives there, aged 94 in his stone house.

These were people who had desperately close friendships, their letters are full of declarations of platonic love, compliments, thankyous for some little weekend away in a castle or cottage and 'do please join me in Paris's.

Here is the Duchess now:



And here she is in the 1950s.




Who knows why so many are entranced by those MItford girls. The beauty is part of it, although it is only Diana who was truly beautiful (you know when people talk about a 'great beauty' of the past and you look at a photo and think I don't really get that, tastes must have been different then? Well I think when you look at photos of Diana you can see that she was really beautiful in all senses of the word).




I have a theory. It is not just to do with beauty. For me at least I am entranced by these sisters because:

(1) By and large, they did what they wanted. That makes them very modern. Whilst we may not agree with their politics or actions, they were strong minded, pig headed, determined ladies, and I love that. For the Mitfords, doing what they wanted didn't involve staying out all night after a debutante ball in South Kensington in 1934. It involved striking up a friendship with Hitler for possible purpose of a radio station between Germany and the UK. Or eloping with one's cousin, not to Venice, no, but to Spain, to help out in the Spanish Civil War.

(2) they can all write. Whether it be a pithy thank you card, a long letter of recollection, a childhood memoir or a full blown book a la Nancy. Of course in those days, people got a lot of practice writing, a skill we have slowly lost since 1980.
I will finish with a letter the Duchess wrote in 2006 when UK Vogue shot her and Stella Tennant at Chatsworth for their 90th anniversary. Unfortunately I cannot find the photo. This is how the Duchess describes it:
'Stella came. We had to be together in a photo for Vogue's 90th birthday come Christmas. So one Mario Testino, famous photographer, came in a helicopter with a crew of helicopter with a crew of makeup, hairdresser, 'fashion editor' etc from London
I've got a really beautiful dress, grand evening, given me by Oscar de la Renta, so that was my kit. They bound Stella's legs, up to where they join her body, in tartan. A Union Jack flag hung from her waist and her top was what my father would have called meaningless...
We looked just like that Grandville drawing of a giraffe dancing with a little monkey. I was the monkey'.
Images (1) Cote Maison (4) wwd.com (5)(6) Style.com

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