HPLovecraftian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, English,
>
> I am actually a little interested in The Friends
> of Arthur Machen. But 'making it pretty good
> value' is rather a vague statement; I 'd like to
> see a few facts and figures, so that I can make up
> my own mind on whether The Friends of Arthur
> Machen is 'pretty good value' or not.
>
> Again, I 'd like to know a little more about this
> hard-back edition of Eleusinia, particularly about
> the essays by 'others'. And what is 'attractive'
> about the volume, apart from the poem (Mr.
> Machen's first publication) inside it?
Well, Mr Lovecraftian, "pretty good value" is perhaps a little ambiguous - I shall endeavour to define my meaning. The cost of membership to the FoAM varies depending upon your location, so you'll have to decide your own threshold of good value, but standard annual membership includes two volumes of Faunus, a journal dedicated to Machen. I have only read the one issue, but the contents included (but not restricted to): various articles by Machen, including his Evening Standard pieces on the siege of Sidney Street and a piece on old churches, amongst others, a short story by Rosalie Parker, and some letters by Gawsworth relating to Machen. It's a handsome slim hardcover volume. I believe that membership also includes Machenalia, a newsletter. I do have a couple of old editions of this picked up at a ghost story event, which had plenty of informal nuggets of information about Machen. What the current issue looks like I don't know as I have yet to receive one. All of which may or may not be good value to you. Annual fees for the UK are £17. More if you live outside the UK.
However in this 150th anniversary year price of admission also includes a new edition of Eleusinia. I have yet to read it, so I can't vouch for it's quality, although Machen was himself very critical of its merits. The book itself is a hardcover, blue boards, slim (60 pages) with an attractive if understated dust jacket. The book includes said poem, plates of the sole surviving copy, Beneath the Barley by Machen and about six other articles by vary authors. Again I can't vouch for their quality because I am currently reading something else.
So let me define my "pretty good value" statement by saying I think it represents
better value than usual, especially if, like me, you were considering tracking down the Necronomicon Press chapbook edition. I have seen a copy on eBay for as little as £8 plus a couple of quid postage, but when I last looked Amazon prices were starting at £28... So the way I broke down the value to me of a years membership, was like this: say, £10 for the Eleusinia, which contains more content that the Necron.Press edition and is a hardcover, with the remaining £7 giving me two issues of Faunus and Machenalia. My figures are arbitrary of course, but I think however I broke them down it would represent "pretty good value" to me. How you value it may differ. And of course, the value of Machen is more than monetary... much more.
Here's some links that may help you decide:
[
aklo.blogspot.co.uk]
[
www.arthurmachen.org.uk]
Hope that helps