Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a huge fan of textile books published by Batsford. They are high quality, bound well/tight, a wonderfully soft (flocked) cover, image quality is excellent. I have many of the textile titles by Batsford. I had a chance to look at a library copy of this book. The library ordered a copy from Amazon about 2 months ago, as well as another Batsford book. Both were the same stunning quality I know from Batsford. The content is fantastic and I decided to order a copy of Slow Stitch to own myself. But what I received was not a first quality book. Thinking it was a fluke, I sent it back and reordered another copy. Same 2nd quality. Here's what's physically wrong with the book. The binding is not tight, so when the book is opened, it lays flat and the stitching in the center crease is clearly visible. It is a hard cover book and is not supposed to open flat (none of the other Batsford titles open this way), so over time, those pages will loosen, fall out and tear at the stitching. In addition, the binding is somewhat tighter at the top of the spine, but less at the bottom. So when opened, visually, it looks wider at the bottom than the top. The paper is of less quality than other Batsford book (and less quality than the library copy) and the images are dark and a lot of the detail is not visible. The flocked cover is not as soft as others titles. I was so surprised that I compared it to the library copy and sure enough, big difference. Especially with the images - library copy, bright, clear and full of detail. My copy - dark, couldn't see detail. If you are a textile artist and treasure your books like I do, purchase this title somewhere else. Other Batsford titles I've purchased from Amazon were of the same top quality I'd expect from Batsford, so maybe it was a bad print run. BUT Amazon shouldn't be selling this title as a first quality book. And yes, it was purchased through and fulfilled by Amazon, not a third party seller.