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.
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.
That COH / Hobbit combo certainly does look to be a fake. One thing to keep in mind - I know of zero instances that the bookplates were put into books other than The Children of Hurin.
There are US trade editions with bookplates, and British trade editions and a handful of British Deluxe editions. There were no loose bookplates that I know of.
If you look at that dodgy auction image, even the helm emblem looks like it was scanned in at very low resolution - the lines are very fat and smudged compared with the fine thin lines in the original bookplate:
There are US trade editions with bookplates, and British trade editions and a handful of British Deluxe editions. There were no loose bookplates that I know of.
If you look at that dodgy auction image, even the helm emblem looks like it was scanned in at very low resolution - the lines are very fat and smudged compared with the fine thin lines in the original bookplate:
Hmm, this ad looks like it was written by the same seller who had the COH with the Alan Lee and Ted Nasmith illustrations (all lower-case, "piccadilli," etc). It is very suspicous.
I don't think it is the same people, after all the seller with the previous adverts was actually at Waterstones, but they are guilty of selling the scanned image on Ebay and starting what will be a huge problem in fake bookplates. I have given up reporting these to Ebay, as they don't care if they are fakes as long as they get their money for selling the item.
Rowns, what has happened to the number of posts they all went back to zero?
Rowns, what has happened to the number of posts they all went back to zero?
I fixed the posts count for now, but we may lose them again until I can patch a bug that is triggered by a spammer in the news comments section. It's an easy patch to get the counts back, but I want to take my time on core changes so we don't lose anything key on the site.
Does anyone know if Alan Lee wrote the date when he signed all the Children of Hurin Deluxe editions? I noticed that all the copies for sale on ebay signed by Alan had the date. But I found one for sale on another website that is signed by both tolkien and alan lee but is not dated.
There is now an American deluxe edition with a bookplate on eBay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260130456166
I haven't heard of any loose bookplates that individuals could have to put in deluxe American editions, nor have I heard of Houghton Mifflin giving any away if they had held onto any bookplates this long.
The deluxe edition in the US was released almost a month after the bookplates were all given away in the USA.
Beren, any possibility this is real?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260130456166
I haven't heard of any loose bookplates that individuals could have to put in deluxe American editions, nor have I heard of Houghton Mifflin giving any away if they had held onto any bookplates this long.
The deluxe edition in the US was released almost a month after the bookplates were all given away in the USA.
Beren, any possibility this is real?
Re: dated bookplates by Alan Lee
The US trade editions with bookplates were not dated, as they were signed in advance by both CJRT and Alan Lee before being mailed over the Atlantic. The UK bookplates signed by CJRT in advance were signed by Alan Lee in person, and all dated (I believe) by Alan Lee.
Other CoH signings done just by Alan Lee he has always dated the signature, to my knowledge.
The US trade editions with bookplates were not dated, as they were signed in advance by both CJRT and Alan Lee before being mailed over the Atlantic. The UK bookplates signed by CJRT in advance were signed by Alan Lee in person, and all dated (I believe) by Alan Lee.
Other CoH signings done just by Alan Lee he has always dated the signature, to my knowledge.
Well for starters... i have a US deluxe with a bookplate myself... it was given to me together with a letter from Sanj the marketing director of Houghton Mifflin. He insisted the only 'other' such edition was in his office.
Now, then something happened that was curious... I saw 4 deluxe US copies being sold, and I can say that the bookplates where absolutely genuine. I don't want to mention names, but these bookplates came 'from the UK' and where 'leftovers' from a bookdealer. (imagine leftovers). Funny enough this bookdealer ran out of UK deluxe editions and when seeing the amount of money offered by some people he stuck them in 4 US Deluxe Copies which he then sent to the US. There they got sold within one day after arrival.
Secondly, I know now some bookplates have been distributed to some 'good' client bookdealers to assure they have some 'presentation' copies for themselves. Some must start to hit the market now....
So the 4 US Deluxe, plus the true 2 US Deluxe makes 6 already, is this number 7?
By the way... not all UK bookplates have Alan Lee's autograph on the bookplate (most are on the title page) and not all are dated.
Now, then something happened that was curious... I saw 4 deluxe US copies being sold, and I can say that the bookplates where absolutely genuine. I don't want to mention names, but these bookplates came 'from the UK' and where 'leftovers' from a bookdealer. (imagine leftovers). Funny enough this bookdealer ran out of UK deluxe editions and when seeing the amount of money offered by some people he stuck them in 4 US Deluxe Copies which he then sent to the US. There they got sold within one day after arrival.
Secondly, I know now some bookplates have been distributed to some 'good' client bookdealers to assure they have some 'presentation' copies for themselves. Some must start to hit the market now....
So the 4 US Deluxe, plus the true 2 US Deluxe makes 6 already, is this number 7?
By the way... not all UK bookplates have Alan Lee's autograph on the bookplate (most are on the title page) and not all are dated.
The one on ebay is a UK edition. It's difficult to read in the picture but I believe it says Harper Collins. There is also one signed on the Tolkienlibrary.com that is not dated. I sent an e-mail to the person selling on ebay. He said he purchased this from a silent auction and can provide the paperwork. I would love to have signed deluxe edition but I would not want to pay so much money if there is a chance they might be fraudulent. If you have any advice for me I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!