I noticed these books yesterday. I can't believe that they actually are trying to sell two of them! It is really a pathetic forgery too. I agree that it is sad to see people actually bidding on these. Funny, though, to read things like:

"THIS BOOK WAS FOUND AT A BOOK SALE AND WAS I EVER SURPRISED TO SEE THE AUTHOR'S SIGNATURE INSIDE!"

Just got my books last night!. My brother-in-law toted them from the U.K. to the U.S., so although they were still shrinkwrapped, he had to remove them from their boxes in order to pack them. I have only opened one of them an it was #34/500. Since the box is gone, I do not know if the other one is #33 or #35 (assuming that I got a sequential pair).

Regarding my opinion of the book.... It truly is a fine binding. The leather is very nice. Although I understand Deagol's sentiment that a very nice slip-cased edition has a great feel (although I have yet to experience the sensation produced by an '82 Super Silmarillion), the clamshell will ultimately protect better.

I just wanted to show my appreciation for people discussing when they ordered and what number they ended up getting. I live in the U.S. and had to ship my two book to my brother-in-law in Oxford, so I haven't seen which numbers I got. My order was placed 19/Nov/2007 11:55:08, so it sounds like I will get reasonable low numbers. I was afraid I would miss the boat and end up with something in the 200 or 300 range! (My brother-in-law is visiting for Christmas, so I will actually get mine in two days. I can't wait!!)

These two auctions are pretty funny (though sad, at the same time). The first one (with the name mis-spelled) is a classic, and even comes with a COA! The second one is a shear bargain at 990.00 GBP. I am sold!!

Just for comparison, here is a link to an auction that appears to be authentic. Notice the difference in the ink. The real one looks like a standard pen (maybe ball point, roller ball) the other looks like a fine tip sharpie.

http://cgi.ebay.com/CHILDREN-OF-HURIN ... ZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

This is sad, not only for this auction, but because the ease of forgery with these bookplates certainly reduces the value of the real ones. The only real way to avoid this is special limited editions that only exist in signed form. It is much harder to produce a facsimile of a special binding.