All I know is that I want one of these!! But not for the price that the "flatsigned" auction went for. No siree,

Stu

I'm not sure what plate is the "proper" one. Deagol suggests the title page plate is the first variant (no priority mentioned, or likely); & the FFEP one (that Trotter posts) is the 2nd variant. Purely anecdotally, the FFEP friends of the publisher plate seems to be the more common. I've posted an image of the title page one. garm's plate is quite uncommon in itself --but I've never personally seen one in a Methuen copy.

BH

EDIT: Btw, the copy that had this title page plate (shown), had the FFEP plate too!

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  [eBay] SILM Metheun Sticker (on TITLE pg.).jpg (40.05 KB)

My copy has one of those title page stickers, too. And it has a Houghton Mifflin leaflet loose in the back - it's glossy and folded vertically into four. Under the title 'Announcing the literary culmination of JRR Tolkien's career' we have Tolkien's picture 'The Mountain-path'; in colour, as it appears on the jacket of the 1st HM ed. It also lists a slew of books by and about Tolkien.

I like this book very much - I've had a slip-case made for it, with a pull-ribbon an' all. I guess I'm unlikely to find a copy of the 1982 super de luxe, but I reckon this one is just as nice.