No, I was unable to go on Thursday or Friday.

I have also emailed Rupert Powell (the Managing Director of Bloomsbury Auctions) a dossier showing the problems with this item. This will be hand delivered on Monday and I will ask for a receipt that it has been received. I encourage others to email Rupert (rupert@bloomsburyauctions.com).

I also note from Bloomsbury's terms and conditions the following so any potential buyer has recourse

9. (a) Notwithstanding any other terms of these conditions, if within fourteen days of the sale the Auctioneer has received from the buyer of any lot notice in writing that in his view the lot is a deliberate forgery and within fourteen days after such notification the buyer returns the same to the Auctioneer in the same condition as at the time of the sale and satisfies the Auctioneer that considered in the light of the entry in the catalogue the lot is a deliberate forgery then the sale of the lot will be rescinded and the purchase price of the same refunded. "A deliberate forgery" means a lot made with intention to deceive.

I have emailed the Auction House to express the concerns about this particular item shown in this thread, but as it is 10 minutes from my office, I will go and see them tomorrow to make sure that they are aware of the problems with the item.

The paperback Silmarillion is now listed with a publication date of 3rd November 2008 and can be bought from Amazon.co.uk Silmarllion Paperback.

The Deluxe Tales from the Perilous Realm signed by Alan Lee is published on the 17th November 2008 and as Beren states is only available from www.tolkien.co.uk.

I have just bought the PAL VHS 110 minute copy and agree that this makes very interesting viewing.

I also bought a copy of the Japanese DVD mentioned by Jeremy earlier in the post.

The DVD said that it was narrated by Judy Dench, same as the VHS, so I gambled on it being subtitled in Japanese.

The interviews are subtitled, but the narration is dubbed, so unless you are fluent in Japanese, I would not buy the DVD

Thanks for that Beren.

But you should not have to tell people this, Harper Collins should do it themselves.

Why do they not do it?

This has also been raised on the forums at tolkien.co.uk Forums

It appears that a Paperback copy of the Illustrated Silmarillion (Ted Naysmith illustrator) may also come out in October, but again Harper Collins would prefer us to stumble upon it, not tell us directly.