Saturday 6 August 2016

The Folio Society Classic Book Gifts - The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy

The Folio Society have been producing gorgeous editions of timeless classic literature for almost 70 years. We were given the opportunity to review, and I chose a relatively modern book which has been read and enjoyed by almost our whole family, The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams.


As soon as your book arrives, you know this is something special. The quality is often shown in the detail, and the packaging really delighted me, I love this box!


Inside the box, your book is carefully bubble-wrapped, and shrink wrapped inside it's slipcase to protect it from any chance of getting wet. At this point it looks a little disappointing, but 'don't panic' (as should be printed on the outside of our book).


As soon as you remove the plastic you can see, smell and feel your book properly, and you won't be disappointed. The quality is exceptional, the slipcase fits perfectly and is made from strong white card with a lovely matt-yet-glittery external finish.


The book itself is a little less subtle, illustrated by Jonathan Burton, and realised in cloth with silver print, glitter and embossing. Even my 8 year old automatically holds this book incredibly carefully in his hands.



Jonathan Burton also supplied the 8 illustrations inside the 192 page book. Full colour plates crammed full of detail with a somewhat unusual style, they fit very well with the quirky nature of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.


For those unaware of Douglas Adams' story, it features a gentleman named Arthur Dent, who gets up one morning and within only a few hours is travelling the universe with a selection of aliens and a bath towel. Suitable for teenagers and older, it's really rather good.


I'm resistant to letting my children have screens in bed, I like them to read paper books, and I love the feel of a real book in my hands. The Folio Copy feels so incredibly special, no piece of technology can replace that. This is an item I'd never buy for myself, and a gift I'd be incredibly happy to receive. Something to treasure forever and which I will very much enjoy bringing out to be read by my two youngest children, and later on, my grandchildren...


The Folio Society have hundreds of titles to choose from, in every book genre you can recall. Books vary in price depending on a number of factors, but quality is always foremost. Shorter books such as children's novels start around £20, and just in case you really want to spoil someone, a copy of the Peterborough Psalter from the middle ages (using gold leaf and lapis lazuli throughout) will set you back £5500 for a limited edition copy.

The Folio Society edition of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy costs £29.99. Available now from The Folio Society website.




4 comments:

  1. This is really a dream treat
    Going t have a look

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    1. Isn't it just Margaret. Everyone keeps getting it down and looking at it :D I have told my 7 year old he has to wait until he's 12 :D

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  2. The Folio Society editions are indeed lovely although it's no longer clear from the website whether their editions of the first three Hitchhiker novels still come with slipcases. The illustrative images on the description pages no longer show them and the production details no longer mention them whereas, in the cases of other books with slipcases, the illustrative images and the production details do mention them. One small, but important, point of information: the protagonist of the novels is "a human, from the planet Earth ... his name is Arthur Dent". Ford Prefect is one of the aliens he travels with and is "from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse, and not from Guildford after all".

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    1. Thanks Julian, you are of course absolutely right hahaha. I typed a longer introduction to the story, clipped it and yet neither I nor anyone else reading, including the Folio Society, has noticed such a ridiculous error! The obvious error is often so much harder to spot than the ridiculously tiny! Thank you *red-faced*
      I'll edit it, I can't leave it now I've seen it, but your comment will still make sense with my explanation.
      You are right, it isn't clear, but they are lovely people and I am sure would happily answer any questions - you can contact them by phone or email :)
      020 7400 4200 Customerservice@foliosociety.com

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