Beren has published a long interview with Mark Faith on his site about the Festival in the Shire

http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/9 ... Festival_in_the_Shire.php

It has a quote from Mark that seems relevant to Wellinghall's thread on the number of books in your collection.

http://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... =ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0



I'm interested in what people think of some of Mark's other points in the article, such as his views on rarity, collectors and

Seems to me he's on the defensive about the money he's charging; while at the same time going on the attack against collectors who he perceives as not seeing things his way. Thus bracing everyone concerned in case the event folds perhaps?

Onto another issue:

Q. - "Why did you decide to do this Tolkien festival in Wales?

A. - "Wales is where it all started."

Rot! (as North Polar Bear might say). The reason why Mr Faith wants to hold his event in Wales is because that's where he happens to live! (he also owns a few acres with 'bunkhouses' for tourists).

If Mr Faith had settled in Scotland, then doubtless the area he lived in would then become 'the heart of Tolkien Country' (as he named Macynlleth, the event's original venue).

The BBC news website has just put this up:
"Tolkien festival to recreate Middle Earth in mid Wales"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/10374622.stm

Apparently, "Mr Faith said Tolkien, as a boy, was fascinated with the Welsh place names he saw on a train journey from Birmingham to Aberystwyth."

- wellinghall

He said: "It wasn't an accident that I chose this part of Wales for the festival."

As I said earlier - I fancy that if Mr faith had chosen to settle in Scotland (or anywhere else in the British Isles) then that place -wherever it might be - would suddenly sprout a formerly unknown connection to Tolkien.

And, as I also noted; this venue was not Mr Faith's first choice; accident or not.

(some folk just enjoy making things up about Tolkien, esp. when there's money to be made.)

I agree the whole Wales line is simply Mark with his business hat on, rather than his collector hat; the kind of antics I would have thought he would have objected to, judging by some of his other comments. That said, some of what Mark says is true enough. Unfortunately for him though, as a book seller, he becomes part of the very problem he criticizes. Upon close examination, many of the books he sells are neither rare nor scarce; & are are not, in my opinion, 'worth' what he is charging for them.

I also dislike all this 'true' collector rubbish. In the field of Tolkien collecting, bargains are few and far between; & the ony hope most collectors have of acquiring anything like a rarity are on sites like eBay --where many sellers are unaware of what they are selling. Otherwise everything is expensive & overpriced. You can be as knowledgeable as you like, you ain't going to get anything 'rare' without hard cold cash.

BH