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Hobbit, LOTR, and languages of Tokien's middle earth books query

29 Aug, 2016
2016-8-29 10:24:26 PM UTC

These books were handed down to me by my father and I can't figure out which print they are nor their editions. If you guys can help me out a little that would be great! I've already done some digging on each book on the internet but Much of it confused me. I'll go through specifics of each book below and post pictures. Warning this thread will be picture heavy! The pictures are taken with my ipod so they are not the best quality or lighting. Also note that I'll be triple posting on here to keep the attached file pictures together and neat for you guys for each book.

First thing I'll talk about is what looks like a 1973 The Hobbit green leather bound book and leather slip case. Both in like new condition. I'm pretty sure this is a trade book but I've only been researching about these books for a day now so please correct me if I'm wrong. I have no idea when this book was published or when it was bought. I was hoping some of the information in the pictures would help determine that. It does have a strange trademark I haven't seen on some of the other hobbit books I've looked at around the web, so maybe that means something.

The book is in pristine condition, bought originally to keep for a collection and never read. The only sign of wear on it is on the books slip case. It can be seen in the picture showing the orange, yellow, and green image on the slip case. Otherwise it has not been touched until now as I get images of the pictures and other parts of the book.

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29 Aug, 2016
2016-8-29 10:36:09 PM UTC
The second book I have for you guys to look at isn't much. A little paper back book by Ruth S. Noel titled The Languages of Middle Earth. This one is a bit easier to find stuff out and I'm really only showing it here so you guys can see it as part of this little collection. If it is something special feel free to tell me but I don't think this is anything special as prints and editions go.

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29 Aug, 2016
2016-8-29 11:03:56 PM UTC
The last book I have to show you guys is the The Lord of the Rings and this one as shown in the pictures says it's a collectors edition. Of course only someone knowledgeable with this would be able to tell for sure. I'm positive there are fakes out there so I have lots of pictures to help everyone figure out whether it's fake or not.

Unfortunately this book is not in pristine condition like The Hobbit book. While the binding is nice and strong and it doesn't look to have been read more than maybe once. The cover is nice like new, but the book slip has some small bits of damage on it. The edges of the pages in spots are a bit dirty. This is probably because when I received the book it was backwards in the leather book slip pages facing out to the world. So that probably was how the pages got so dingy.

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30 Aug, 2016
2016-8-30 4:37:27 AM UTC
Hi Terra-Anne, Welcome and thanks for posting! The two hardcovers are nice, later printings of "collector's editions" that were available for a long, long time. There's not too much resale value in any of them as collectibles, though they are nice books and certainly worth holding on to or passing on to someone as a gift. They have great quality paper for reading. They are both fourteenth printings of their respective editions.

The Ruth Noel book is a fun read, but has been supplanted over the years with much more accurate information published in various places. It is a sixth printing.

These a nice books to have in your collection!

30 Aug, 2016
2016-8-30 5:15:11 AM UTC
Thanks you Urulöké for answering. :D

I didn't really mind that they don't have high resale prices, and really I figured they weren't worth anything at all as fakes or just trade books. I wasn't planning on reselling anyway as I have my own little library of books at home to read. I was simply curious as to if they were more interesting than I already found them. I just think they are so neat looking! I have much newer versions of these books already in paperback and I used to read them all the time. These are two of only like five leather bound books I have in my mini library.

...but yeah they will be in a nice place in the collection. Though I may read a bit more in the languages of middle earth book. I'de always wondered what my name might look like in elvish. XD
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