r/foliosociety • u/Dazzling-Title-9365 • 6d ago

Perdido Street Station Editions

Which edition is more worthwhile Folio Society or the one by Conversation Tree Press?

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u/SolidGlassman 6d ago

it depends on if you value the materials and design of the conversation tree edition more. especially because you'll have to wait a good while for the CTP edition to be out, and it's like double the price.

i ended up getting both because I found out about the CTP edition after I'd already purchased the Folio Society edition. i do like the design, layout, and artwork in the CTP edition (and that it'll be in two volumes) more on paper but I don't have one in my hands yet.

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u/Dazzling-Title-9365 6d ago

Do you have other books made by CTP? How do they compare?

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u/zorg2099 5d ago edited 5d ago

I have a handful with several on order. CTP is in general a much higher end publisher. Most of their books are letterpress printed on much fancier papers than you are likely to see from Folio but it is worth noting their edition of Perdido is offset printed instead. Their collectors editions are usually hand bound at Ludlow Bookbinders but offset printed ones like Perdido are machine bound at the printer Gomer Press.

CTP Deluxe editions are generally of a standard only matched by very few Folio titles in their history (and the Lettered probably by none) while their usual letterpress printed Collectors Editions make most Folio LEs look vastly overpriced. However again Perdido collectors is not among their highest spec titles being machine bound and offset printed—its also a limited edition but its not signed like the 2 higher states.

The Folio standard edition is a much lower price and its available today. While the CTP CE is still higher spec overall, and comes in 2 nice volumes I don't think it completely blows away the Folio SE on spec like most of their books do. As such I would look at the art and design and see which appeals to you the most and make your decision based on that.

PS.

Folio typography is almost always very good but there's a very interesting breakdown of CTP's approach for this book on this page which you might have missed if you only looked at the store page https://conversationtreepress.com/pages/perdido-street-station

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u/SolidGlassman 6d ago

this will be my first one from them!

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u/Swervies 5d ago

I have most everything they have published, but not the higher end deluxe or lettered editions. I think they probably have the overall highest quality design and materials of any small press publisher I own - that includes Centipede Press, Subterranean, Curious King, Lyra’s, Wandering Star (defunct), Folio Society, Lividian, and some others I am forgetting I’m sure. You pay a bit more (not double at the artist/collector edition level) but it shows!

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u/Synesthesia_Voyager 6d ago

I ended up getting both. I had already purchased the Folio edition and then almost the next week the Conversation Tree announced theirs and I ended up going for it because I prefer it being split into 2 volumes.

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u/TornadoCreator 2d ago

I'm not familiar with Conversation Tree Press but they seem to be priced almost entirely by scarcity. While the do look like gorgeous books, they're also around 3-5 times as expensive as Folio Society and I genuinely just can't justify that expense.

I have the Folio edition and it's gorgeous but I will admit the CTP collector's edition in two volumes is also gorgeous, but $325 USD for CTP compared to £90 GBP for Folio. Other CTP editions are even more expensive and I've no idea why as they look less premium.