Stu wrote:

Also, don't put that UT on your bookshelf unless the room has no outside light. The blue text on the spine will be white in a year, if you do!

No, I won't! Took me years to find one with blue letters and without faded spine.

I was thinking about a reproduction of your dustjacket. Yours is fantastic. Perhaps you can send me a high-res scan and I have it reproduced for all who are interested. As a cover over the original dj.

Really nice Unfinished Tales dj. Mine has faded to a green/grey and it’s quite difficult to get a blue one. I read somewhere that the fading may not solely be due to sun exposure. Some chemical in the ink, perhaps?

I think also that it’s not sun fading. If you look on the inner blurb you see the same transformation even if not exposed to sunlight.

I don't know much about printing, but wouldn't sun fading be more.....messy?

The edition with the white instead of blue, it looks like it was printed that way, is what I mean.

insurrbution wrote:

I don't know much about printing, but wouldn't sun fading be more.....messy?

The edition with the white instead of blue, it looks like it was printed that way, is what I mean.

Certainly wasn't printed that way. All the 1st Edition Unfinished Tales originally had the blue ink on the dust wrapper when printed.

They were all blue when printed.

The blue ink is extremely prone to fading. The UV in sunlight definitely causes it to fade but absolutely, other environmental factors can cause it as well.

Urulókë wrote:

They were all blue when printed.

The blue ink is extremely prone to fading. The UV in sunlight definitely causes it to fade but absolutely, other environmental factors can cause it as well.

We do y'all think if for example, you have your books on a shelf and they're not getting any direct sunlight but say some light on a daily basis from a window where the blinds are shut or sunlight reflecting off another surface and not direct. Would the jackets sustain damage then, albeit less?

In general, UV wavelengths reflect off lighter surfaces pretty well (even white paint reflects 20% of UV wavelengths). So indirect sunlight is much less damaging than direct, but it is still present in sunlit rooms.

For many books, this won't be an issue in general, but in the Tolkien world the UT blue, the 1st UK Silmarillion red, the Remembrancer yellow, and others will be affected even by indirect sunlight. If you have a really nice copy, keep it covered (in a clamshell case, in a drawer, etc.) to preserve the ink colours.

It should be noted that Brodart archival dust jacket protectors offer "some" UV protection (I am trying to find some mention of how much). Windows can have UV protective films put on them. Glass doors on book-cases can provide additional UV protection (either naturally from the glass or with an additional film added). Wooden doors on bookshelves of course are excellent UV blockers ?.

If you are using shelving with doors, don't close off airflow (the doors should allow natural airflow) to prevent moisture buildup. Here is a good article by Wayne and Christina on caring for your book collection that is a good read.

Mr. Underhill wrote:

insurrbution wrote:

I don't know much about printing, but wouldn't sun fading be more.....messy?

The edition with the white instead of blue, it looks like it was printed that way, is what I mean.

Certainly wasn't printed that way. All the 1st Edition Unfinished Tales originally had the blue ink on the dust wrapper when printed.

I understand that - I just mean, if one has never seen a non-faded UT or Silmarillion, they wouldn't know that it is faded, ya know? I meant that I thought that fading would be more messy or splotchy, not as even as it is

I have found that sun (light), ink chemistry, heat and humidity all play a role in fading. Plus time. Not sure if one took snapshots of the fading over time you would see unevenness or not. I suppose given enough time, ink would fade to the point where any unevenness would go away.