The seller clearly references (A recently advertised signed Simarillion on ebay sold for in excess of £300! so with this in mind I am starting at a low price.) the item (I think) they copied this from i.e. the David Miller bought US Silmarillion (discussed in another thread); which did indeed sell for >£300.

They (the US Silmarillion, and US BoLTs previously mentioned) were both dated '26th July 1987', when Christopher was in the US at (that) Tolkien conference. This seller seems to have modelled the format on this: To ____, [next line] Christopher Tolkien, [next line] suitable date. In this case (wisely?) not specifying a precise date; & also changing the month and year for good measure! (and dreaming up the imaginative 'Dave' as well!)

The story (I have owned this book for about 15 years and purchased it from an old work colleague who once met Christopher Tolkien in connection with work and eventually plucked up the courage to ask him to sign his books. An amazing result as I understand he does not now sign many books at all.) is long; but (crucially) vague.

Why are they selling? A reluctant sale but in these times finances are needed elsewhere. £324 sound good enough!? I think that will do nicely...

BH

You (Rowns) should really be writing a little piece here, summarising the highs and lows (if that's really how one might describe anything involving book collecting) on TolkienGuide this year!

But seriously; just wanted to say I've really enjoyed the forum this year. I think the volume (and quality!) of discussion has been far higher than in previous years. It seems to be a real community at present (dear me, that sounds corny...); long may it continue! (...to brighten up my otherwise dull existence!)

Think this is me signing off 'til the New Year. Hope everyone has a merry festive season. Roll on 2009!

BH

I agree with Jlong here. I don't think us discussing (& posting) on this site really has any baring or influence on the counterfeit market.

First and foremost this forum is for discussion. Talk of archives and databasing, whilst interesting and in many respects appealing, is one step (in my opinion) towards shattering the whole appeal and pleasure in collecting for the amateur/private collector. By quantifying everything (or aiming to), we risk loosing (sanitising) everything that makes (for me) book collecting (I include in this the collecting of information of any kind about books) what it is.

If I have any issues or questions about signatures, I'll continue to raise them here on the forum, or simply communicate them privately with Beren...

BH

I will do Dior! Thanks, BH.

A Tolkien Collecting Society sounds interesting. Kind of against the whole collecting ethos I feel; buying on this scale, & with this money tho'. At least the books are in good hands. Incidently is this Mark Faith (of GTC), the eBay traider dogfark (Mark Faith Books)?; of the fake AL CoH discussed in another thread...

BH