MANHATTAN – On Tuesday June 5^th, representatives from the Folio Society marked its entrée into select New York City bookstores with champagne toasts and hands-on time with some of the publishing house’s finest wares. Chartwell Booksellers hosted the event. The celebration marks the first time in Folio Society’s sixty-seven year history that its titles are available in bookstores. 

The fine books publisher began developing a partnership with retailers in 2001, when the company extended its catalog to London-based Harrods’s, Waterstones, the British Library and the British Museum. Tuesday’s affair recognized the Folio Society’s US launch.

Folio Society’s move into bookstores means customers do not have to first become Society members, and they will be able to physically handle the books, two salient points the company considered before pursuing its push into retail outlets. “The best way to appreciate our craftsmanship and the quality of our editions is to experience them first hand,” says Folio Society’s managing director Toby Hartwell.

In addition to Chartwell Booksellers, New Yorkers can find Folio Society editions at the Community Bookstore in Brooklyn, children’s books at Books of Wonder and at Writers Shop at the NYPL. The Frick Collection will be offering art books for sale as well. 

 The Folio Society plans to expand its retail presence into Boston later in 2014.