Collectable Lord of the Rings Books

[Nurvingiel]

I was in one of my favourite second-hand book stores the other day, when I saw they had the Folio boxed set for $100. (It was only $100 because the spine of one had been slightly damaged.)

However, the owner was not satisfied with the quality of the Folio books. His main complaint was the not-highest-quality paper. Hey, when you're making a collectable book, these things matter.

Then he showed me a mint condition copy of the Allen and Unwin The Fellowship of the Ring. It was gorgeous. They used the finest paper, the jacket was shiny and unblemished, and I've always loved Allen and Unwin's covers. This, to me, is the ultimate dream of Tolkien collectables. (But the one book was $40, so I resisted the strong urge to buy it.)

About two years ago at this same wonderous book store, I found a mint condition hard cover copy of the Harper-Collins publication of Tales from the Perilous Realm, and a mint soft cover of Roverandom. As far as Tolkien collection goes, these too are part of living the dream. :D

What Tolkien books, in specific publication (year or company) and/or obscure title, were you overjoyed to obtain?

Discuss other aspects of collecting Tolkien's books as well.

[Nurvingiel]

No one buys extra copies of Tolkien's books just for the gorgeous cover art? Am I the only one? :D

I got a second-hand copy of The Hobbit today, partly because my regular copy is so ancient I'm a little scared to open it, and also because the cover features a gorgeous painting of Smaug. :cool:

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Well, I just bought a lovely volume of Oscar Wilde's stories...not Tolkien, but I more or less bought it for the cover...

[Nurvingiel]

Thanks Gwaimir!

Nice to see a fellow book collector.

Though I try to collect books that I wouldn't be scared to read. :D

[littleadanel]

Oooh... *is tempted*

Times like this, I'm glad that I don't have much money on my hands. I was reallyvery tempted when I saw a beautiful edition of The Silmarillion (in Hungarian). It had this Nasmith picture (http://www.herrderringe-net.de/kalender/23/silmaril.jpg) as a cover. It was so beautiful, and not even that expensive. But *grits teeth* I already have my Sil, and if I'm to buy Tolkien books, it should be HoME. Which is expensive, so I need to save my book-money for those...

Edit: so this was that prettiful one - http://www.konyvoldal.hu/kepek/0000088655-konyv.gif and this is mine. http://europakiado.hu/boritok/195.jpg

I like mine, though. Esp. because 'twas a gift from my dad.
But still, that beautiful, illustrated one...
*grits teeth*
*tries to resist temptation*

[Lizra]

I must post in anything with the word collectable! I have an antiques booth, and have been immersed in vintage stuff for years. You really do not run across much old Tolkien stuff. I've picked up a few Ballentine paperbacks over the years, and a "Sunsout" Hildebrandt Smaug Dragon puzzle once, and thats about it. Anything pre-movie would really rev my motor....but there wasn't all that much I guess. You NEVER know though....what you might find at a garage sale.....you never know. :)

[Nurvingiel]

Heya Lizra! Second-hand bookstores, like garage sales, are often full of surprises. I should scan the covers of The Hobbit and Unfinished Tales, which I recently got. They are both gorgeous!

I was tempted to get another copy of The Hobbit because there was a picture of Tolkien on the back. Heh. :D I restrained myself.

littleadanel, those are incredibly covers! I wish you could buy a print of the covers, wouldn't that be great! I love that Nasmith picture.

[Lizra]

Tempted! :eek: ;) A collector BUYS....no excuses! (We must have them all! Every single one we see! :p :D ) :cool:

[littleadanel]

Heh. Maybe "no money" or "I'll get kicked in the butt if I go home with yet another Tolkien book costing my pocket money of two months" are at least... semi-valid excuses? :p *mumbles* About time to get a job...

And Nurv - yes, prints would be nice... *sniff*

[Lizra]

Shoot yes! Jobby job job.....ain't nothing like a paycheck! :D

[littleadanel]

Woohoo! I got a beautiful edition of The Hobbit on Friday - with notes, and illustrations, and appendices on the runes and the Quest of Erebor... :) :)

And, it's a revised translation as well - previously it didn't really line up with, for example, LOTR, esp. the names of races, characters and places... The translation itself is beautiful and ingenious, IMO - and now with the corrected terms, PERfect.

Lookit, here's the cover, I scanned it... :)
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/6771/hobbitcover2um.th.jpg (http://img187.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hobbitcover2um.jpg)
(Well, yeah, ignore the Hungarian words. It's nice anyway.)

[gwilwileth]

I would just love collector books of tolkien, but they sure cost a lota cash. So, instead, because its not as expensive, I'm decided to spend my money buying a copy (collector's or not) of almost every Tolkien book( I say most because some of his books there r only 6 copies in the world) and read them. What a great hobby eh? :p

[Huorn]

I got the red bound collector's edition of the Trilogy and the green bound edition of the Hobbit. I am very happy with those.

[Merlin1958]

Hi,

I'm new to the boards, but I'm a novice Tolkien collector and a somewhat accomplished Stephen King collector.

I have several collectible LOTR's, but the jewel in my collection is a set of U.S. 2nd edition, 8th printing LOTR books. I'm still searching for earlier (and saving up) editions.

How do you guys display them?

[EllethValatari]

I am an enthusiastic book collector, and I currently have 48 copies specifically of books by Tolkien. The jewel of my collection is most likely my 50th Anniversary Edition of Lord of the Rings, but my favorite piece is my 1962 edition of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, found through the librarian of an old, shut down library in Virginia. I also have The Histories in a 3-book special edition hardcover boxed set, which come in handy :) As far as other books go, I enjoy collecting the Clothbound Penguin Classics (look them up right now! You will love them!) and reference books (such as the Great Books collection and Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples)

[Peregrina_Took]

I would love to start collecting Tolkien books. Unfortunately, I get most of my money from hiding under phone booths and hoping someone will drop a quarter...Or something like that.

So I really only have the Trilogy in falling apart paperback, a scribbled over copy of The Hobbit and The Tolkien Reader, my most prized posession. :)

[Rían]

keep checking at used book stores and library sales, and good luck! :)

[EllethValatari]

Nurvingiel,
I am very jealous of your bookstore! Where I live there are only stores with the newest, glossy books-not many used bookstores.
You should have bought the Allen and Unwin The Fellowship of the Ring! I would have spent money on it and not eaten for a couple of days if I had to! ;)

What is your favorite Tolkien-book?

[Peregrina_Took]

Yay! I got a very nice paperback edition of The Silmarillion, plus The Unfinished Tales for my birthday yesterday. :)