I just received an invitation to join the Folio Club. I enjoy reading such invitations even though I haven't joined a book club in 30 years, but this particular invitation is tempting. The temptation consists of the 3 volume, beautifully bound, set of John Julius Norwich's Byzantium. I checked Amazon.com and one would spend $32 a piece for these volumes; so while the Folio Society claim that they are worth $175 isn't true for Amazon, $96 is not negligible. As I opened the packet, pictures of the other things they are prepared to give me fell out: The Compact Oxford English Dictionary and the Oxford Compact Thesaurus, both beautifully bound - a pen with the Folio Society logo on it - a thank you gift token worth $17.95. It would go against my principles to join this book club. One buys Folio Society Books, I presume, in order to keep them in perfect condition, while I tend to mark up any book I purchase. A person tempted by the Folio Society might also be tempted by the Loeb Classical Library. I'm looking now at a copy of Manetho Ptolemy, his Tetrabiblos - not Folio Society standards perhaps, but very well done. This copy was printed in 1971 and seems in perfect condition - aside from some highlighting here and there I myself have done. I notice that this volume has "No. 350" on the back of the dust cover. I assume that means that at the time of the printing there were 349 other volumes. Amazon.com sells Loeb volumes, typically for $24 each. 24 x 350 = $8,400. That is a handsome gift JL intends for his Swimming Pool Library. Even though he hopes to get them for less than $24, there are probably a lot more than 350 by now. I considered collecting Loebs some time ago but eventually rejected the idea. I see the seller has "5.00" on the inside of my copy, but the prices I saw during my period of temptation were generally higher - and such possibilities do not exist out here in the San Jacinto sticks where there are just a couple of used books stores and they don't cater to this sort of thing. I had to go through the packet several times to find what their volumes generally sell for: ". . . as low as $29.95 with many under $40." I seem to recall that book and CD clubs have outrageous shipping and handling fees. I am probably overcoming my brief temptation. Lawrence