Title Page Blunders

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Title Page Blunders

1BionicJim
tammikuu 6, 2021, 8:28 pm

While reading through Folio 60, I was fascinated to learn this about Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days: “Second Impression: 1984, printed and bound by the Pitman Press. For this impression the title-page has been reset, and the artist’s name misspelt ‘Peter Brook (sic)’.” I guess I’m a bit weird, but I found this to be hilarious and had to find a copy of this book (not hard), so here it is:




Recently, after noting that my family’s editions of the Harry Potter books were in sad shape and regretting that the Folio Society hadn’t yet printed them, I discovered new editions from Bloomsbury that were quite nicely printed in “House” colors, with each House getting different art, edge coloring, dust jacket, and other things. However, when I opened my copy of the latest available, what a disaster!:



The title of the book is what?! It sounds like something Harry ordered at the Hogs-Head Inn: “Make it over-easy and I’ll take a Butterbeer with it.” It’s too bad this isn’t the definitive edition of the novel I was hoping it would be.

I believe George Macy called the Title Page the “Front Door” of a book and he took special care to make sure it was exactly right (to his eyes). One story I recall reading about was Grabhorn Press deciding to print their own version of the Title Page to the one and only book they made for the LEC, Robinson Crusoe, which enraged the artist and publisher.

So I’m wondering if anyone else has any anecdotes about Title Page blunders?

2duonkha
tammikuu 6, 2021, 11:58 pm

>1 BionicJim: I have trouble understanding how the artist name was misspelled

Was it Peter Brook or something else?

3wcarter
tammikuu 7, 2021, 12:54 am

>2 duonkha:
The artist’s name was Brookes.

4SimB
tammikuu 7, 2021, 6:13 am

>1 BionicJim:
Perhaps the most famous one for the Folio Society is the 1954 Moll Flanders. Since you have Folio 60 you'll be able to read about it there!

5InVitrio
tammikuu 8, 2021, 4:11 am

Not a title page blunder, but I have a Penguin Classic whose spine suggests is called The Siege Of Sbebastopol.

6wcarter
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 8, 2021, 4:52 am

>4 SimB:
As many here do not have Folio 60, to paraphrase the relevant entry in Folio 60, the long and complex full title of Moll Flanders was initially written down from memory by Charles Ede (the founder of the FS) as a mock up, and he got it wrong. Some copies were inadvertently printed with this incorrect title page.
See here to see the full title on a later edition of the book.

7Chemren
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 8, 2021, 6:14 am

I have a Bantam Classic edition of Drums Along the Mohawk whose spine attributes authorship to James Fenimore Cooper. The title page correctly cites Walter Edmonds as the author. I bought it back in the day through sheer amusement at the blunder.

8cronshaw
tammikuu 8, 2021, 5:22 pm

I remember a spelling error in the Editor's Note of Folio's Micrographia limited edition, which I ended not buying, or rather not keeping. Something discretely indiscreet!

9BionicJim
kesäkuu 10, 2023, 7:27 pm

From the new Folio Society Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy LE;
It's not on the Title Page, but... oops

10FitzJames
kesäkuu 11, 2023, 4:41 am

Oh...

11ubiquitousuk
kesäkuu 11, 2023, 5:06 am

>9 BionicJim: I don't know how this is even possible. Even people who don't read books know the title because it's so deeply embedded in culture. This is akin to the publisher printing "Mouth" on the title page for Jaws because they've been under a rock for the last half a century.

12mr.philistine
kesäkuu 11, 2023, 6:33 am

>11 ubiquitousuk: You mean Mouths in lieu of Jaws?

13ubiquitousuk
Muokkaaja: kesäkuu 11, 2023, 6:58 am

>12 mr.philistine: a typo within a typo; how apt! Although, a pedant could argue that one mouth is made from two jaws.

14gmacaree
kesäkuu 11, 2023, 7:09 am

Good heavens. I was initially thrilled with the Hitchhiker's LE — the design and presentation felt, to me, spot on. But increasingly it seems that Folio have moved beyond caring about the text. I won't even give them the cop-out of suggesting this is some sort of trade-off, since errors like the omission in Restaurant or this title page gaffe could and indeed should have been fixed with minimal effort. They've taken their customers for rubes.

It's really soured me on them, to be honest. How am I to trust that they've put the care their prices demands into their books?

15billburden
kesäkuu 11, 2023, 3:24 pm

>14 gmacaree: I agree. It's pretty depressing. This Hitchiker's LE looked great on the website. Usually Folio Books don't sell out quickly, but if they did usually you'll have to wait years or never for a reprint. That being the case, sometimes I buy editions without intending to read them for a while. I would hate that if I sat down to read a book I purchased a year prior to discover some textual error. The Q&A issues with the book construction just adds to that. I mean, this Hitchiker's Galaxy was a LE. They're charging $875 USD without shipping. I think they should issue and apology and issue refunds or something. It does make you wonder about other Folio Books that will come out going forward.

16What_What
Muokkaaja: kesäkuu 11, 2023, 5:14 pm

>15 billburden: How much do you think they should refund?

17billburden
kesäkuu 11, 2023, 9:02 pm

>16 What_What: Well, it depends. I forgot when exactly it came out, but the Folio website FAQs say you can return anything within four weeks of purchase. So, if somebody is bothered enough to not want the set anymore, they should be able to get a full refund. If they're doing a blanket "I'm sorry" to everybody who purchased, regardless of a return, they could give a discount on his next order. Or, they could try to somehow rectify the situation a bit. I think somebody in the Hitchhiker's Thread said that they would be happy for a page that they could insert or "tip in" that has the corrected text. They could do that and give a discount. I don't know how bad the manufacturing problems are and if everybody is affected. I don't know if an apology would be legally advisable (I live in the litigious USA), but some assurance that they aren't going to have textual problems going forward would be nice. I love Folio Books. I'm willing to give them a bit of a pass on trying new manufacturing techniques, etc. But, the text of the book is important. I've always appreciated that Folio would speak about the text they chose, etc., especially translations (even if I disagreed with the translation choice). But, if Folio is going to be printing books with textual errors, I would rethink further purchases. I didn't buy the Hitchhiker's LE. But, I do expect LEs to be produced with special care. So, given that they have had two textual errors that are extensive enough that you can't just say it was a printing malfunction, I think is a really foreboding sign in a LE.

18RRCBS
kesäkuu 12, 2023, 4:55 am

Has anyone brought this newly found text error to FS’s attention?

19ranbarnes
kesäkuu 12, 2023, 9:14 am

>18 RRCBS:

I have mentioned both this and the missing lines to them via email, and await a reply.

20Joshbooks1
kesäkuu 12, 2023, 9:26 am

Maybe for their mistake they can give everyone an extra towel.

21bacchus.
kesäkuu 12, 2023, 10:08 am

>20 Joshbooks1: … with an imprint of the missing lines

22Joshbooks1
kesäkuu 12, 2023, 8:27 pm

>21 bacchus.: Haha! That was good. Damn, I wish I thought of that.

23mr.philistine
kesäkuu 13, 2023, 12:53 am

>20 Joshbooks1: >21 bacchus.: Maybe for their mistake they can give everyone an extra towel... with an imprint of the missing lines

...enclosed with an illustrated treatise on the dangers of equating a galaxy to a universe :)

24ranbarnes
kesäkuu 13, 2023, 9:22 am

>19 ranbarnes:
I have had a reply from the Customer service Manager, which is enlightening. The contents page "the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe" is a simple error by Folio not picked up in proofreading.

The Missing dialogue lines in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe are because they are missing from the text provided by the publisher hence their absence from both SE and LE. They will raise both with PAN and Douglas Adam's estate, but it seems they were not aware. I don't have access to a recent paperback copy, but I wonder if the lines are still there.

25SF-72
kesäkuu 13, 2023, 10:58 am

>24 ranbarnes:

That's really interesting. Will they let you know if anything comes of their query?

26ranbarnes
kesäkuu 13, 2023, 11:11 am

>25 SF-72:

I wasn't expecting further communication, it's not as if they can reprint. I would still like to check a recent PAN paperback.

27davidjbrown10
Muokkaaja: kesäkuu 13, 2023, 11:54 am

>24 ranbarnes: I have the "commemorative edition," in which Pan republished all five paperbacks, with the original cover designs, in a slipcase, and the two lines are missing there.

28SF-72
kesäkuu 13, 2023, 12:04 pm

>26 ranbarnes:

Reprint certainly not, but what others here have suggested - a page to lay in - would have been nice.

29billburden
kesäkuu 14, 2023, 7:12 am

>24 ranbarnes: This new information is rather interesting. The proofreading error is what it is. But the missing two lines is now a mystery. It is probably suitable for an academic study. When were the two lines "accidentally" deleted? Why has nobody caught this (aside from the astute minded FS Devotee who did)?

30RogerBlake
kesäkuu 14, 2023, 7:49 pm

>29 billburden: I've seen several PDFs on the internet (rather naughty as I expect they're almost certainly breaking copyright) but the missing lines are in those so it beggers belief that the original publisher supplied incorrect text ...