Folio Poets - Tennyson

Can anyone please tell me if this volume contains the complete Idylls of the King?
If not, then approximately how much of it?
I'm debating whether to get the EP Idylls in addtion to this FS, but prices for the EP are quite steep. Is it worth getting both?
Thank you.

The Tennyson volume contains the Dedication, The Coming of Arthur, The Round Table (Merlin and Vivien, Lancelot and Elaine, The Last Tournament, Guinevere), and The Passing of Arthur. I think this is approx 50% of the Idylls.

> 1
I cannot tell you anything about the Folio version since not only do I not own it, I have never seen it in person. However, I am the proud owner of the EP Idylls illustrated by Gustave Dore (there is another Famous Editions version with different illustrations by Robert Ball, I may buy that as well someday). It is a particularly fine production and well worth the extra I spent on it. I didn't even know when I bought it that it featured Dore, whose illustrations I especially enjoy collecting.

So I would recommend at least getting the EP version with the Dore illustrations, and I also wouldn't worry too much about a duplicate of this rather fine work.

I too, would like to extoll the the EP Dore edition of Idylls. I got it a few years ago as part of the Famous Editions library, and it is a real beauty! One of my favorite EP books, and well worth finding. Of course, the FS Poets series is one of my favorite FS series, and that too is worth owning. So, do yourself a favor and get both :)

> 3, 4

Absolutely - any excuse to acquire more books !!!

Thank you enablers all. I think I knew before asking that you'd recommend getting both.
Which is exactly WHY I asked, to help justify doing what I was already leaning toward doing anyway. Now I just have to coax more coin from Mr. Piggy bank. He's awfully stingy these days. Thanks again for your input. Cheers!

Quicksilver is correct. The FP Tennyson contains the six idylls he mentioned which is exactly half of the 12 which are in the complete collection. Wikipedia is a very handy tool.

If anyone can upload the full table of contents of the Folio Poets Tennyson I would be very grateful.

I’m looking at getting the LEC Tennyson and wonder how much overlap they have. Thanks in advance.

>1 SaxonWarlord:
The EP/Dore edition contains the Dedication, Enid, Elaine, Vivien, and Guinevere. The same contents were also published in a much larger and pricier (16” x 12”) Deluxe Limited Edition of 600.

>8 PartTimeBookAddict:
The LEC did both a Poems and the Idylls. At least one eBay listing shows you the table of contents of the former!

Edit: Sorry, I see you wanted the Folio TOC. Hopefully there’s an ambitious eBay listing for that, too!

The Dore illustrations are superb, but the EP / Dore edition is incomplete. It only contains half of the idylls. If you want a complete Idylls, you'll need something like the EP / Robert Ball edition.

>11 Betelgeuse: is the LEC Idylls not complete?

>12 RRCBS: I'm not familiar with the LEC Idylls. Tennyson added to the Idylls throughout his life. The most complete version contains twelve Idylls: The Coming of Arthur, Gareth and Lynette, The Marriage of Geraint, Geraint and Enid, Balin and Balan, Merlin and Vivien, Lancelot and Elaine, The Holy Grail, Pelleas and Ettarre, The Last Tournament, Guinevere, and The Passing of Arthur. The EP edition with Robert Ball illustrations contains all twelve. The EP edition with the Dore illustrations contains only four idylls, I believe.

>10 GusLogan: Thanks. Yes. I found a copy of the Poems of Tennyson LEC while I'm currently travelling. I have the Tennyson Folio Poets at home, but am trying to discern how similar their contents are, so as not to double up.

One ebay seller has a photo of the contents page, but only up to p. 93.

What looks like an unusually good copy (because the sheepskin tends to deteriorate) of the LEC Idylls was just added to eBay (US) for a very decent price (no affiliation!) for anyone who was following this thread with interest. It contains all the Idylls as listed in >13 Betelgeuse: and a short postscript poem titled ”To the Queen” as well as an introduction by Henry Van Dyke. It has rather terrific colour litographs by Lynd Ward printed from the plates.

Edit: The deal was so good it’s gone!

>8 PartTimeBookAddict:

I hope these are good enough

This post on the George Macy Devotees forum of the TOC of the LEC Poems of both Tennyson and Shelly should assist those who wish to compare the two editions: https://www.librarything.com/topic/333211#7539768

Now if only a good Samaritan would care to upload the TOC of the Folio Poets edition of Shelley and an admin should amend the thread name to Folio Poets - Tennyson and Shelley, we would have a mirror comparison of the two editions.

>16 N11284: Thank you both so much.

It looks like the FS edition has more of the Idylls of the King, but the LEC has the complete Maude and a handful of other small poems.

The bookstore (Bargain Books in Van Nuys, CA) is having a huge closing out sale so I might as well grab it this weekend and not kick myself later.

For anyone in the Valley, they didn't have much in the way of FS in stock, but a few LECs and quite a few Library of America volumes.

>18 PartTimeBookAddict: good to know, it is a 20 minute drive up the 405 for me, depending on traffic of course!

>19 Hamwick: It’s only open Fri and Sat fyi.

Also checkout the nearby Illiad Bookshop for LECs in various states of quality, but hardly any folios.

>20 PartTimeBookAddict: interesting, I was just looking at the Illiad website. Quite a few books on architecture, that alone makes it worth a visit for me. I am not an architect, but it is an interest. Particularly Frank Lloyd Wright. Thanks for the recommendation.

>21 Hamwick: You’re welcome. Illiad is probably 8 times larger than Bargain, if you’re dividing your time between them. Happy hunting!