Thornton's limited edition Silmarillion
9 Mar, 2018
(edited)
2018-3-9 3:36:53 PM UTC
Edited by Urulöké on 2018-3-9 10:10:29 PM UTC
2018-3-9 3:36:53 PM UTC
eBay Item #253478178470
Guys
anyone ever seen one of these.
The seller had no real info but thought it was a Thorntons offering being similar to Roverdom?
Guys
anyone ever seen one of these.
The seller had no real info but thought it was a Thorntons offering being similar to Roverdom?
I've never seen nor heard of one. But by the look of it, it's definitely by Temple bookbinders, who also did Roverandom.
As far as I am aware, the hobbit wasn't done. Just Roverandom and The Silmarillion.
{This information was received directly from Temple Bookbinders who did the binding}
Wim {Thornton's} also mentioned receiving 50 copies {in an email} in total - which I took to mean 25 Roverandoms and 25 Silmarillion's. [Edit - see next comment]
{This information was received directly from Temple Bookbinders who did the binding}
Ignore the comment about Wim's email in the previous post (Can't seem to edit post).
Upon re-reading email - he was referring to 50 copies of Roverandom he recieved of which 26 were bound (25 Numbered and 1 unnumbered for himself bound with both the UK & US Editions).
However, the communication with Temple Binders is correct and I don't think the hobbit was ever done.
Upon re-reading email - he was referring to 50 copies of Roverandom he recieved of which 26 were bound (25 Numbered and 1 unnumbered for himself bound with both the UK & US Editions).
However, the communication with Temple Binders is correct and I don't think the hobbit was ever done.
Ahhh i forgot the thread from before, thanks. Its a nice book. First one i have seen though, but i guess with limited copies its not suprising.
My sincerest apologies if this was asked, but when I tried to find any information no this Thornton edition, my attempt has been fruitless so far.
I understand that Thornton is an established "bookstore(?)" in England and I assume the aforementioned bookstore commissioned the Temple Bindery to rebind the Silmarillion and Roverandom and subsequently issued them for sale as "Thornton's Limited Edition."
My questions are as follow;
Why are these book so desirable? Arn't these merely rebinds done by a private company with no official affiliation with HarperCollins? They do not even belong on the pantheon of the "Tolkienbooks.net." I love rebound books and despite the discouragement from most of the venerated members here, I have purchased a rebound Hobbit to add to my personal collection. I just don't understand what is so special about these "Thornton's Limited Edition" copies when they are not officially "licensed" products, like the Limited Edition Folio Society ones.
I state this with some element of humor, but can't everyone practically have Bayntun-Riviere or the Chelsea Bindery rebind the original 1st Ed. 1st Imp. copies, put a faceplate with the following notes " [Insert your name]'s Limited Edition" and sell them for nonsensical pricing? This is how I look at it, but once again, being a novice collector, I would be extremely grateful if someone could educate me on this!
I understand that Thornton is an established "bookstore(?)" in England and I assume the aforementioned bookstore commissioned the Temple Bindery to rebind the Silmarillion and Roverandom and subsequently issued them for sale as "Thornton's Limited Edition."
My questions are as follow;
Why are these book so desirable? Arn't these merely rebinds done by a private company with no official affiliation with HarperCollins? They do not even belong on the pantheon of the "Tolkienbooks.net." I love rebound books and despite the discouragement from most of the venerated members here, I have purchased a rebound Hobbit to add to my personal collection. I just don't understand what is so special about these "Thornton's Limited Edition" copies when they are not officially "licensed" products, like the Limited Edition Folio Society ones.
I state this with some element of humor, but can't everyone practically have Bayntun-Riviere or the Chelsea Bindery rebind the original 1st Ed. 1st Imp. copies, put a faceplate with the following notes " [Insert your name]'s Limited Edition" and sell them for nonsensical pricing? This is how I look at it, but once again, being a novice collector, I would be extremely grateful if someone could educate me on this!
10 Mar, 2018
(edited)
2018-3-10 1:50:40 AM UTC
Edited by Stu on 2018-3-10 2:42:41 AM UTC
Edited by Stu on 2018-3-10 3:30:03 AM UTC
Edited by Stu on 2018-3-10 9:34:27 PM UTC
Edited by Stu on 2018-3-10 3:30:03 AM UTC
Edited by Stu on 2018-3-10 9:34:27 PM UTC
2018-3-10 1:50:40 AM UTC
The_Antiquarian wrote:
My sincerest apologies if this was asked, but when I tried to find any information no this Thornton edition, my attempt has been fruitless so far.
I understand that Thornton is an established "bookstore(?)" in England and I assume the aforementioned bookstore commissioned the Temple Bindery to rebind the Silmarillion and Roverandom and subsequently issued them for sale as "Thornton's Limited Edition."
My questions are as follow;
Why are these book so desirable? Arn't these merely rebinds done by a private company with no official affiliation with HarperCollins? They do not even belong on the pantheon of the "Tolkienbooks.net." I love rebound books and despite the discouragement from most of the venerated members here, I have purchased a rebound Hobbit to add to my personal collection. I just don't understand what is so special about these "Thornton's Limited Edition" copies when they are not officially "licensed" products, like the Limited Edition Folio Society ones.
I state this with some element of humor, but can't everyone practically have Bayntun-Riviere or the Chelsea Bindery rebind the original 1st Ed. 1st Imp. copies, put a faceplate with the following notes " [Insert your name]'s Limited Edition" and sell them for nonsensical pricing? This is how I look at it, but once again, being a novice collector, I would be extremely grateful if someone could educate me on this!
I'm not convinced they are *especially* desirable (beyond what one might expect for a good quality rebind). Personally, I quite like the Roverandom. The Silmarillion binding, being like the jovial Roverandom one, seems rather misguided.
The_Antiquarian wrote:
Why are these book so desirable? Arn't these merely rebinds done by a private company with no official affiliation with HarperCollins? They do not even belong on the pantheon of the "Tolkienbooks.net." I love rebound books and despite the discouragement from most of the venerated members here, I have purchased a rebound Hobbit to add to my personal collection. I just don't understand what is so special about these "Thornton's Limited Edition" copies when they are not officially "licensed" products, like the Limited Edition Folio Society ones.
Thorntons has been around for a long, long time and had a Tolkien specialization focus for many decades. From their website http://www.thorntonsbooks.co.uk/:
Established in Oxford in 1835 - Member of the ABA since 1907
So they have established a customer base, and (at the time) were quite able to sell these custom editions to collectors who knew and loved their store. I believe, but don't have any evidence at hand, that these were blessed by the publisher, but as you say there's no need for that.
So, in short, yes - anyone can do custom rebinds and try to sell them on at a premium. Thorntons did this.
Thank you for the answers!
I sincerely doubt that Thorntons received some kind of official blessing by HarperCollins and even if they had, certainly not at the level that Folio Society enjoys with the rights to publish ornate versions of the original works.
I am just startled by the obscene pricing charged by the secondary market sellers when it comes to the rebound work by Thornton's. I still believe that there is a huge difference between rebound books that have received some kind of endorsement from the original publisher vs. books rebound by [insert your name] without any blessing. Without any form of official recognition or a nod by HarperCollins, I don't see a single speck of difference between a book that has been rebound by Temple Bindery under the request of [insert your name] vs. a book that has been rebound by Temple Bindery under the request of Thornton Bookstore, completely regardless of the fact that the aforementioned bookstore is a century old and the rebound books come in "limited editions."
I just wanted to cover more on this because there is a high likelihood that another novice collector like me could pay obscene pricing demanded by the secondary market sellers to acquire rebound Thornton books, with misguided belief that these rebound works are on a equal footing with the works done by the Folio Society (which belong in the Pantheon of the published works on Tolkienbooks.net).
I sincerely doubt that Thorntons received some kind of official blessing by HarperCollins and even if they had, certainly not at the level that Folio Society enjoys with the rights to publish ornate versions of the original works.
I am just startled by the obscene pricing charged by the secondary market sellers when it comes to the rebound work by Thornton's. I still believe that there is a huge difference between rebound books that have received some kind of endorsement from the original publisher vs. books rebound by [insert your name] without any blessing. Without any form of official recognition or a nod by HarperCollins, I don't see a single speck of difference between a book that has been rebound by Temple Bindery under the request of [insert your name] vs. a book that has been rebound by Temple Bindery under the request of Thornton Bookstore, completely regardless of the fact that the aforementioned bookstore is a century old and the rebound books come in "limited editions."
I just wanted to cover more on this because there is a high likelihood that another novice collector like me could pay obscene pricing demanded by the secondary market sellers to acquire rebound Thornton books, with misguided belief that these rebound works are on a equal footing with the works done by the Folio Society (which belong in the Pantheon of the published works on Tolkienbooks.net).
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