I recently got some correspondence from the Folio Society indicating they were planning to complete their Letterpress Shakespeare series in 2014. The series began in 2005 with Hamlet and is now finishing up with the final six volumes including Pericles, Cymbeline, The Two Noble Kinsmen, and Henry VI. A piece of ephemera was included in the mailing that is limited to 250 copies, so I suspect that means that less than that number of Shakespeare lovers have collected the whole series. The edition size they finally settled on after some experiments early on was 1000. They have typically released these in groups of three but want to be done in time to celebrate the Bard’s 450th birthday in April 2014. I think my credit card just melted in my wallet…but this series has tied up a large part of my book budget and it will be satisfying to complete it and to maybe have some money available for other discretionary book purchases.
Speaking of discretionary purchases, I’m also excited to see that they will be publishing Victor Hugo’s The Toilers of the Sea. The book will be illustrated with drawings that Hugo himself did and bound into the original manuscript. I just wish they would take their time with that one so I might be able to afford it when and if my budget recovers from Shakespeare! As you can see from my previous review of the Limited Editions Club edition, I love that book, and will be sorry if I miss the Folio edition.