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Child of the 7th Age · 10-06-2005, 09:19 AM

I have avoided this thread, since I knew I would run off at the mouth. Please bear with me. I am not only a long-time Tolkien fan but a special collections librarian by training. This can be a dangerous combination! I've collected Tolkien and Tolkien criticism off and on from the early 60's. For endless years, I was a student so had virtually no money in my pocket and learned to be creative about acquiring the books I wanted.

When the movies came out, and our family's budget loosened just a tad, I went temporarily berserk. Because of the internet and the fact that people were unearthing treasures out of their attic, you could find older editions that had been virtually unavailable before. Most of the early books I had casually picked up were published in the U.S since this is where I live. One of the nicest things about the movie upsurge was that I suddenly had access to a ton of material published in England, The lure was irresistable. The downside of all this was that prices for some things went through the ceiling and have never totally come down, at least not yet.

I am not an organized or picky collector. Some people know exactly what they want and confine themselves to collecting a particular title, publisher, era, whatever. Other people see their collecting as an "investment" and want their books in pristine condition. Because of this, they hide their "rarest" editions behind closed glass and never touch them.

None of this applies to me. I buy an edition because I love it or find something about it intriguing. I am an inveterate bargain hunter. I haunt library book sales and used bookstores. I will lurk for months on e-bay to get a particular edition at a bargain basement price. Many of my books are old and tatty, since I have read and re-read them many times. I collect paperbacks, hard covers, calendars, and old posters with equal glee. I do get a kick when I see that something I picked up for a few dollars at a garage sale has suddenly skyrocketed in price. But that's not why I do this. There are editions out there that are true works of art because of the quality of the illustrations or binding. And I find the publishing history of these books fascinating. It tells us so much about how different readers and generations have responded to Tolkien.

I have so many favorites I hardly know where to start. I love my early ACE and hippy Ballentine paperbacks. The latter are first printing, but hang together with tape. I also love anything illustrated by Pauline Baynes. One of my prize possessions is a signed bookplate with Farmer Giles and dragon that Baynes designed for her friend and book dealer Rene van Rossenberg. Rossenberg's shop has editions and titles I've never seen anywhere else. Most of Baynes' work appears as illustrations or covers for the Hobbit and Tolkien's minor works, but there is a one-volume edition of LotR, the earliest one the publishers put out, which has a lovely dustjacket that she did. I also like the Harper Collins 1992 India paper edition. The slipcase doesn't look like anything special but the volume is so well put together, plus it is light and easy to handle because of the "Bible" paper. And I love the gigantic clunky one-volume Alan Lee centenary edition (1992) that has those wonderful illustrations.

I've sometimes wondered which editions I would take with me if I was exiled to a desert island. Recently, when Rita threatened to hit Houston, I had the chance to find this out. Our family was making plans to evacuate. In the midst of scrambling around to safeguard my kids and pets, I managed to put some of my Tolkien books on a high closet shelf, hoping they would survive the anticipated flood. At the very last minute, I shovelled a few books into my suitcase. It was interesting to me to see what I chose. I guess when pinch came to shove, these have to be my favorites. I took the quirky old hardcover LotR put out by Houghton Mifflin, because it had so many memories of my days in college from the late 60s and the equally weird 1960 Readers' Union set (the earliest Book Club edition), which was the first hardcover intended for "the workingman". (It is the second row, under the hardcover British first editions.) I just like the idea of that. It has no illustrations and a strange cover that I doubt Tolkien appreciated, but this would definitely have to be the set that Samwise owned!

BTW, if anyone wants to learn more about a particular book they own, I would recommend visiting the Tolkien Collectors Forum. Occasionally, someone like Wayne Hammond will post on the site, and some of these people really know their stuff. BTW, if you have an older book that lacks the "real" dustjacket, you can sometimes pick up a facsimile here. Just insert the name Tolkien in the search line at the top and a page will come up.

10-06-2005, 09:19 AM	#27
Child of the 7th Age Spirit of the Lonely Star Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 5,133	The dangers of book collecting... I have avoided this thread, since I knew I would run off at the mouth. Please bear with me. I am not only a long-time Tolkien fan but a special collections librarian by training. This can be a dangerous combination! I've collected Tolkien and Tolkien criticism off and on from the early 60's. For endless years, I was a student so had virtually no money in my pocket and learned to be creative about acquiring the books I wanted. When the movies came out, and our family's budget loosened just a tad, I went temporarily berserk. Because of the internet and the fact that people were unearthing treasures out of their attic, you could find older editions that had been virtually unavailable before. Most of the early books I had casually picked up were published in the U.S since this is where I live. One of the nicest things about the movie upsurge was that I suddenly had access to a ton of material published in England, The lure was irresistable. The downside of all this was that prices for some things went through the ceiling and have never totally come down, at least not yet. I am not an organized or picky collector. Some people know exactly what they want and confine themselves to collecting a particular title, publisher, era, whatever. Other people see their collecting as an "investment" and want their books in pristine condition. Because of this, they hide their "rarest" editions behind closed glass and never touch them. None of this applies to me. I buy an edition because I love it or find something about it intriguing. I am an inveterate bargain hunter. I haunt library book sales and used bookstores. I will lurk for months on e-bay to get a particular edition at a bargain basement price. Many of my books are old and tatty, since I have read and re-read them many times. I collect paperbacks, hard covers, calendars, and old posters with equal glee. I do get a kick when I see that something I picked up for a few dollars at a garage sale has suddenly skyrocketed in price. But that's not why I do this. There are editions out there that are true works of art because of the quality of the illustrations or binding. And I find the publishing history of these books fascinating. It tells us so much about how different readers and generations have responded to Tolkien. I have so many favorites I hardly know where to start. I love my early ACE and hippy Ballentine paperbacks. The latter are first printing, but hang together with tape. I also love anything illustrated by Pauline Baynes. One of my prize possessions is a signed bookplate with Farmer Giles and dragon that Baynes designed for her friend and book dealer Rene van Rossenberg. Rossenberg's shop has editions and titles I've never seen anywhere else. Most of Baynes' work appears as illustrations or covers for the Hobbit and Tolkien's minor works, but there is a one-volume edition of LotR, the earliest one the publishers put out, which has a lovely dustjacket that she did. I also like the Harper Collins 1992 India paper edition. The slipcase doesn't look like anything special but the volume is so well put together, plus it is light and easy to handle because of the "Bible" paper. And I love the gigantic clunky one-volume Alan Lee centenary edition (1992) that has those wonderful illustrations. I've sometimes wondered which editions I would take with me if I was exiled to a desert island. Recently, when Rita threatened to hit Houston, I had the chance to find this out. Our family was making plans to evacuate. In the midst of scrambling around to safeguard my kids and pets, I managed to put some of my Tolkien books on a high closet shelf, hoping they would survive the anticipated flood. At the very last minute, I shovelled a few books into my suitcase. It was interesting to me to see what I chose. I guess when pinch came to shove, these have to be my favorites. I took the quirky old hardcover LotR put out by Houghton Mifflin, because it had so many memories of my days in college from the late 60s and the equally weird 1960 Readers' Union set (the earliest Book Club edition), which was the first hardcover intended for "the workingman". (It is the second row, under the hardcover British first editions.) I just like the idea of that. It has no illustrations and a strange cover that I doubt Tolkien appreciated, but this would definitely have to be the set that Samwise owned! BTW, if anyone wants to learn more about a particular book they own, I would recommend visiting the Tolkien Collectors Forum. Occasionally, someone like Wayne Hammond will post on the site, and some of these people really know their stuff. BTW, if you have an older book that lacks the "real" dustjacket, you can sometimes pick up a facsimile here. Just insert the name Tolkien in the search line at the top and a page will come up. __________________ Multitasking women are never too busy to vote. Last edited by Child of the 7th Age; 10-06-2005 at 10:07 AM.