The Franklin Library , the distributing arm of the publishing division, The Franklin Press , of the The Franklin Mint, was the nation's largest distributor of great books produced in fine bindings for book collectors, similar to Easton Press. The books were designed and bound by The Sloves Organization, Ltd., an affiliate of the mint, whose bindery was one of the few in the world devoted exclusively to the crafting of fine leather book bindings.
The Franklin Mint purchased the Sloves Book Bindery in New York City to help jumpstart its book division in the 1970's. The most recent book offerings were produced by R.R. Donnelly for The Franklin Library.
History
From its founding in 1973 until it closed permanently in 2000, the Franklin Library was one of the two largest publishers in the United States of leather bound books. Today, the high quality leather books produced by the Franklin Library are sought after by collectors. The books were arranged in several series consisting of 50-100 books each. Customers subscribed to a particular series and received one book per month, as long as their subscription remained current, until the entire series had been delivered. Thus, it could take over eight years to complete a 100 book set, such as The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written series.
Today, the books can only be acquired on the secondary market. The eBay community is one of the largest online auction sites in which collectors are able to purchase and sell Franklin Library books, both individually and in lots. Most titles are also easily obtainable on abebooks, Amazon, and similar sites, or from booksellers and bookshops specializing in antiquarian or collectible books.
Although most of the Franklin Library collections were issued in the full leather bindings (like $45 to $28 per book), some were also simultaneously issued in alternate binding materials such as "faux leather" -- also called "leatherette" or imitation leather ($19 per book). Like the best-bound books, these particular better-bound books were printed on archival paper or acid-free paper to prevent yellowing or tanning. They were also gold gilted and decorated on the covers and the edges of the pages of the book were also gilt in gold to protect the paper from damage due to humidity. Other books were isued in quarter bound leather ($9 per book) -- consisting of a "coated cloth" cover with a leather spine like the Franklin Mystery Series.
Some of their earlier, smaller collections were bound in 'bonded leather' (made of leather strips and scraps). This has given rise to a myth that Franklin books bound in other than leather are somehow inferior in publishing standards (such as Easton Press). While some Franklin books are, in fact, not covered in 'real' leather, they are still considered to hold high standards of publishing quality.
Of course, the vast majority of their finer collections were bound in the highest degree of publishing bindings like genuine leather, silk pictorial end-pages and silk ribbons attached for a bookmark (like Easton Press). As a cost-cutting measure, Franklin Library Press went into satin or marbled moiré end sheets and satin ribbons in its Signed First Editions series.
In addition to the cost of the book, subscribers were expected to pay shipping & handling charges as well as sales taxes. As time went on, later subscribers were asked to pay higher prices.
First Editions
Many publishers in the publishing world, including the original publisher of a book, issued "Limited First Editions" of certain books, especially those of popular authors or books that were particularly important due to award nominations, movie deals, or critical acclaim. Consequently, they represent a different category of books as compared to the typical "trade" edition books.
These "Limited First Editions" were issued in limited numbers (about 100 to 1000 and sometimes even more) and they were issued with a particular designation to set them apart by giving them a special distinction such as a special binding, a slipcase, hand-numbering, a signature by the author, or any combination (or all) of the above. Many of these 'special' editions were simultaneously published with the "trade" editions or were done sometimes later.
Some small press publishers actually bought the pages from the original publisher and placed them in a special binding of their own design, had them signed by the author, and had them numbered.
Others, like Easton Press, do their own printing also, using special paper, and they release the "Limited First Edition" up to a year or more after the "trade" edition has been published—something that had made a claim of a true "First Edition" somewhat questionable.
In the case of the Franklin Library, it was their policy to contract for the printing rights of the "First Edition" with both the author and the mass-market publisher first, thus making the Franklin Library edition a "true-first-edition" that was published prior to the "trade" edition. This is something that added considerably to the value of their books. To emphasize this difference or distinction, the Franklin Library "trade" editions bore a statement of "First trade edtion" on the copyright page and had a disclaimer stating that "A signed first edition of this book has been privately printed by the Franklin Library Press." Thus, this statement acknowledged that the "First Edition" issued by the Franklin Library Press was indeed the first printing of the book and truly and accurately described as a "first edition."
A question often asked is: What is the difference between the "First Edition" and the "First Signed Edition"? The difference consists in the fact that a "first edition" contained a signed introduction that was printed along with the book, that is, a "print" of the signature but not a 'real' or authentic or personal signature done in ink by hand. The "First Signed Edition" series, something Franklin Library Press started doing in 1983, consisted of a hand-signed authentic and 'real' signature done by the author for that one particular book, usually done on a separate page that was then bound into the book. A separate and loosely placed tissue or onion-skin paper was placed over it to protect the printed pages.
The series
Due to overlapping series themes, the same title may appear in more than one series, but ordinarily with a differently designed binding. Many of the book collections issued by the Franklin Library were "open" or "trade" editions, therefore, no edition figures are available.
Here is a list of the individual series:
100 Greatest Books of all Time (leather, 1974-1982, $28.00; leatherette, 1973-1986, $19.00) First Edition Society (leather, 1976-1980) Pulitzer Prize Series (leather, 1975-1982) 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature (leather, 1976-1984, $35.00) 60 Signed Limited Editions (leather, 1977-1982, $45.00) - (the most spectacular collection) Stories of the World's Greatest Writers (leather, 1977-1985) 20th Century's Greatest Books (leather, 1977-1982, $39.00) World's Best-Loved Books (leather, 1977-1986, $39.00) Great Books of the Western World (leather, 1978-1985) - a great one to own! World's Great Books Family Library (quarter-bound, 1979-1984) Heirloom Library of the World's Greatest Books (quarter-bound, 1979-1983) Oxford Library of the World's Great Books (quarter-bound, 1981-1985). Note: e-Bay member book fever has provided examples of at least some of this series proving that they were issued in full leather as well. Greatest Books of the World's Greatest Writers (cloth, 1981-1985) Signed First Edition Society (leather, 1983-2000) Franklin Mystery Series (cloth and leather versions, 1986-1989 - offered in either leather or cloth; the leather versions didn't sell well and they were discontinued. The leather editions version contained a different or separate list and didn't follow the same sequence of the cloth editions. Metropolitan Museum of Art (cloth and leather versions, 1987) - a 12-volume set - each volume highlights the art of a different society and culture. Foreign Language Editions (early '80s) - Franklin also issued great books collections in German (The German Masterworks I & II) and Japanese (The Japanese Heirloom Library), mostly leather-bound or quarter-bound, but with a few Sturdite editions as well (possibly just prototypes).
The 100 Greatest Books of All Time (1974-1982)
Considered to be one of the more popular collections, the titles shown below were bound in genuine leather with 22k gold accents between 1974 to 1982.
This series was also published in the same quality paper starting in 1973, pre-dating the leather bound series, but using the faux leather or leatherette bindings decorated in gold/silver with printed design papers for the end-pages and gold on the edges of the pages of the book but without the ribbon bookmark. Some book titles were substituted with others. Books with this type of binding were published beyond 1986.
- The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams
- Oresteia by Aeschylus
- The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
- Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen
- Five Comedies by Aristophanes
- Politics by Aristotle
- Confessions of St. Augustine
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Selected Writings of Sir Francis Bacon
- Le Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac
- The Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
- Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake
- The Decameron by Giovanni Bocca
The World's Greatest Stories - George W. Sarris
What are "The World's Greatest Stories from the World's Greatest Book? The World's Greatest Stories TM are a unique series of Bible stories combining the ...
Greatest Warrior in the World Book 1: The Pelgoth by Gordon Good
Otter Risenhart's unfolding discovery of his magic world of Vernavion.
The World's Greatest Stories - George W. Sarris
Dramatized Bible stories taken directly, word for word, from Scripture using the style of a storyteller.
The World's Greatest Paper Airplane and Toy Book: Amazon.co.uk: Keith ...
The World's Greatest Paper Airplane and Toy Book (Paperback) by Keith R. Laux (Author) "The designs in this first chapter are all highly competitive craft ..."
ReformationSA
THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD. This article is available as a tract in printable pdf format here. One cannot speak of the Bible without speaking in superlatives.
Amazon.com: The World's Greatest Book of Useless Information: If You ...
Amazon.com: The World's Greatest Book of Useless Information: If You Thought You Knew All the Things You Didn't Need to Know - Think Again (9780399535024): Noel Botham: Books
Amazon.com: The World Greatest Blackjack Book (9780385153829): Lance ...
In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
The World's Greatest Book of Useless Information, Noel Botham ...
The World's Greatest Book of Useless Information: If You Thought You Knew All the Things You Didn't Need to Know - Think Again by Noel Botham
The World's Greatest Book of Useless Information: Amazon.co.uk: Noel ...
The World's Greatest Book of Useless Information (Paperback) by Noel Botham (Author) "When Marlon Brando signs into hotels, he goes under the name Lord Greystoke, aka Tarzan
The World Greatest Book for Kids - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Currently the world record in creation of the largest book belongs to the writer from Russia - Andrey Tyunyaev. "The World Greatest Book for Kids" - it's a name for the largest ...