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By Elwë
Home away from home

Library Edition Hobbit - 1938, 4th State

13 Sep, 2010
2010-9-13 2:41:47 PM UTC

I just wanted to post a few pictures and get a little feedback from the forum regarding a recent acquisition of mine. Many of you likely saw this come up on ebay. It was poorly described and poorly photographed, and went without bids until the very end. I decided to go ahead and check it out since the seller actually lived down the street from my workplace, and thus I could actually see the book before I bought. The seller was a kid in his early 20's who had inherited a box of books from his great uncle, which included this Hobbit. I'm not entirely sure about its value, or if it was a good investment, but it was interesting and unusual enough that I decided to get it (if for no other reason than to share and document it here).

So, has anyone ever seen an early library binding done in this fashion? I thought it an interesting choice to use the "Hobbit with shoes" as the cover art. Overall, it's in pretty decent shape for a library edition. There are areas of foxing here and there, but no tears or major problems. The maps are not pasted down and are in great shape. Unfortunately, it does have a library stamp on the title page (which I think is the biggest negative mark against its value). Anyway, here it is. Let me know what you think!

(P.S. The images aren't the greatest. I tried to shrink them down for upload and lost a lot of clarity.)

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13 Sep, 2010
2010-9-13 4:35:52 PM UTC
Love it!
13 Sep, 2010
2010-9-13 4:42:39 PM UTC
Seems like a cool find. I saw it on eBay but ended up not bidding on it because of the library markings, though the first time it was listed was for $100; I almost bid on it then. You paid $200, correct? I still wouldn't mind owning it, but the library markings for me do depreciate the value and desirability of it. As far as value, I have no idea; Pieter would probably know best.

Josh
13 Sep, 2010
2010-9-13 5:00:26 PM UTC
Jlong wrote:
You paid $200, correct? I still wouldn't mind owning it, but the library markings for me do depreciate the value and desirability of it.

Josh
Yes, Josh, I paid $200. I never saw it listed for $100, but no matter. I agree that the library markings detract, but to me the value was in the uniqueness and novelty of the binding. Mostly, I just wanted to check it out. Not sure yet if I will hold this in my collection or sell, but I would certainly consider any offers. At first, I thought it might have some value for rebinding (particularly for the maps, since they are not pasted down and are in nice shape), but I hate to see it dismantled. It's a nice example of the variety of library bindings out there, of which many I am sure did not stand the test of time.
26 Sep, 2010
2010-9-26 6:02:12 AM UTC
Thats a nice find. I like these obscure editions more than anything else in tolkien collecting. Especially when its something not in any bibliography.
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