LOTR First Editions at Auction.

[Araswooon]

I see first edition copies of The Lord of the Rings were sold at an auction in Edinburgh yesterday. They were personally signed by JRR Tolkien himself. And they were sold for.... wait for it..... £2,100!!! What a bargain. I'd have paid double that for them. What would you have paid? How much do you think such treasures are worth??

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

That sounds very cheap for signed first editions, particularly at auction when Tolkien's popularity is at an all-time high. Normally when deciding on a value, one would consider the condition of the books, any special features (such as an inscription by the author or any unusual provenance), and whether the volumes are true first editions (those from the first impression) or later printings.

When looking at the condition of the volumes, a collector would be considering whether the binding is original or has been replaced along with its condition, the state of the dust jackets and whether they have been trimmed to remove the price. The condition of the pages themselves would also be considered (no fading or discolouration; no split, torn or dog-eared edges).

One batch of the first impression of The Return of the King has some slipped text caused by a printing error, which is a feature notable in a number of the copies that I've seen for sale on the internet. Features like this tend to endear books to collectors for their scarcity value, but if each volume of a set were from the first print run of the first impression of the first edition, then one might expect those copies as a set to be worth more than the signed copies mentioned above even unsigned, given good condition.

The most expensive first-edition set I've seen was a very early trio of first impressions in near immaculate condition, signed by Tolkien and in a purpose-made gilt case. Inside The Fellowship of the Ring was an unpublished letter from Tolkien to W.N. Beard at Allen and Unwin in which he complains about the corrections to his spelling ('dwarves' to 'dwarfs', etc.). That piece of Tolkien memorabilia, which is still for sale as far as I can tell, would set the determined collector back some £27,000 (US $51,333). Of course it's worth every penny of that.

I'm currently in the process of negotiating for an unsigned first-edition set of The Lord of the Rings for a much more modest price. You can pick up tenth and twelfth impressions in reasonable condition for less than £600 given a bit of luck.

[Hookbill the Goomba]

I would pay everything I own for that! They say that the first edition of Lotr was different from what we know now... alike to the hobbit and how it changed... If you have read the Biography of Tolkien will know of this.

If anyone knows what is different about it that would be something worth discussing.

[Child of the 7th Age]

There are minor differences between the first edition and the later ones for LotR, but nothing so drastic as what happened in The Hobbit where the scene between Gollum and Bilbo totally changed.

As a librarian who's worked in archives and special collections, I do enjoy collecting interesting editions of some of Tolkien's works (as well as some other writers I enjoy). I think this is a good time to point out that not everything is quite so pricey as the earliest printings of the LotR in pristine condition. I am not as fussy as a "real" collector would be. Some of my books are library copies; others private ones in fair to excellent condition. I don't see this as an inventment: I just love the older books.

Over the years I've picked up a lot of titles in strange places! I've found first editions of HoMe, Easton Press, and the folio series lurking in garage sales, used bookstores, and library sell-offs. Last year, I spent considerable time hunting on e-bay and managed to piece together a set of LotR, first U.S. edition, later printing, for minimal cost. You have to be very patient and pick the right time, but it can be done.

If you look carefully, you can also find early editions of Tolkien's minor works illustrated by Pauline Baynes at a reasonable price: Tom Bombadil, Farmer Giles, etc.. One of my favorite stories is when I nabbed up an old poster of Bilbo's Last Song, published in the U.S. for just $3.00 because no one realized that it was a first edition of the poem. (The one printed by Allen & Unwin in GB actually came out several months later.) Some people I've corresponded with collect softcover books which you can pick up here and there for just a few dollars. They have an amazing collection of different cover illustrations that are fun to look at.
(I've also collected calendars since 1974.)

It takes patience and time, but it can be fun if you like this kind of thing. (Some people do, and others can't stand it!)

If I had a ton of money, I wouldn't buy a pristine first edition LotR. Instead I would buy a first edition Hobbit -- the one before Tolkien did his revisions.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

The first edition of The Hobbit is indeed the one to watch, and I've been intrigued by the original version of Bilbo's encounter with Gollum ever since first I heard of it. A friend of mine works in a shop where one was sold recently, but they're much harder to come by than LoTR, largely owing to being twenty years older. My main interest in the first edition of the later work is the maps, which to my knowledge have never since been printed as full-colour fold outs.

When I was checking the price I'd been offered I saw a leather-bound folio first edition of The Hobbit selling for more money than I'm ever likely to have to spend on a book. Rummage sales and second-hand shops are certainly a good place to find the rarer books, but as Child has said it does require a lot of patience and a sharp eye. Some of us are just spendthrifts, preferring to lay out more money on a certainty than to spend years on the chase. The chase is probably a lot more fun, though.

[Saraphim]

I actually have the first edition of The Hobbit, the unedited one, from before the publishing of FotR! OMG. (I've never said that before.) I had no idea that it was actually worth so much! *hyperventilating*wow!