I would offer no more than £5000 for it, prices have gone up recently, it would not have been as high as this last year.

Demis wrote:

What would you consider ‘fair’ ? He is offering it to me at 7.250£ / My view was that fair is circa £6.000

I'd personally wait for a copy that isn't coloured in. That kills the value. I'm with Trotter on his estimate.

Thank you Stu and Trotter, that helps a lot !

I have to say that the (I think rather attractive) watercoloring of the one plate doesn't "kill the value" at all for me. If it were a childish crayon coloring, it would be another matter. In fact, if the previous owner had similarly colored all the plates, I'd consider that a bonus: an added layer of skilled art. (It's not like we can't find and see Tolkien's uncolored versions any time we want.)

That being said, I do think £8,000 is high for a copy sans dust jacket and with a crack starting.

Ultimately, though, a book is worth precisely as much as you are willing to pay for it: no more, no less.

Whilst you may like the watercolored version, Aelfwine, the market is very clear that deviations from original condition significantly affect market value relative to an otherwise identical unmodified example. Unless, of course, the deviation is in some way notable (e.g. if it had been coloured in by Tolkien). That's not my personal opinion, it is well established. What is an attractive embellishment to one is an eyesore to another.

As I said, Stu, it doesn't "kill the value" for me. I'm not talking about "the market", I'm talking about myself. Personally, I would advise against buying anything Tolkien on the basis of "the market" — which is too mercurial to justify any purchase, really. Buy what you value, for what you personally value it at. Anything else is very likely to result in disappointment.

Aelfwine wrote:

As I said, Stu, it doesn't "kill the value" for me. I'm not talking about "the market", I'm talking about myself. Personally, I would advise against buying anything Tolkien on the basis of "the market" — which is too mercurial to justify any purchase, really. Buy what you value, for what you personally value it at. Anything else is very likely to result in disappointment.

Sure, I do get that, but the OPs question was about what the book was worth (essentially what is a fair price). And without the market as a barometer for that, the question itself becomes meaningless as does any answer.

The eBay listing states that it was sold for £8,000 but I don't trust that.

I’ve only seen blue cloth boards for this book - what’s with the white boards here?

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Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on the History of Middle Earth, 2000 Hardcover/1st

143821307891

Seller: aparkers

(478)

Ended Dec 6, 2020

This item ended more than 90 days ago

Urulókë wrote:

I’ve only seen blue cloth boards for this book - what’s with the white boards here?

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Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on the History of Middle Earth, 2000 Hardcover/1st

143821307891

Seller: aparkers

(478)

Ended Dec 6, 2020

This item ended more than 90 days ago

Could this be the answer? Surprised how long I had to ponder this one until this jumped out.