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Fellowship: Question #2 - current favorite in your collection

5 Nov, 2018
2018-11-5 6:16:10 PM UTC

Continuing the November discussions, here is another question for everyone.

What item (book or otherwise) is your current favorite in your collection? That one thing that gives you warm fuzzy feelings when you happen to see it or it pops into your mind. Maybe it took forever to track down, or it was your first, or you got just an amazing unexpected price for it, or it was a gift and you associate it with the giver, or...

For this particular question I am looking for a specific item, not just a title of a book that you love the contents of.
5 Nov, 2018
2018-11-5 6:19:38 PM UTC
For me, my current favorite is the collector's edition of The Maker of Middle-earth. The memories of the weekend spent in Oxford, meeting all of the authors who contributed to the book and Priscilla, the lovely art that comes with this particular edition, it all wraps into a lovely set of memories that I will treasure forever and associate with this particular edition.

I often have to visit it by proxy by looking through the paperback edition of the same title, as I keep the collector's edition all boxed up and safely tucked away.
5 Nov, 2018
2018-11-5 6:57:21 PM UTC
As far as “otherwise,” it would have to be my War of the Ring Collector’s Edition set.

If it had to be a book, well, that’s interesting, I’ve never thought about it but really my single favorite physical item would have to be The Lays of Beleriand (Houghton Mifflin blue-jacketed hardcover). It’s not the book I have read the most, though it’s up there; but there is something so beautiful and quite essential to a Tolkienist there, which (unlike the prose ‘Great Tales’) has not been and is not likely to be repackaged in any substantial way any time soon.
5 Nov, 2018
2018-11-5 7:10:20 PM UTC
My current favourite is the serialisation of The Hobbit in Princess magazine. It took me about 15 years to track down all 15 parts.
5 Nov, 2018
2018-11-5 8:13:02 PM UTC
The other day I unpacked the commemorative plaque that I still had packaged up from when I moved house. It was given to Stanley Unwin by all the GA&U staff on his 80th. I just looked at it & thought how did I even get hold of this?

Still one of my favourite items & certainly my favourite non-book item.

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5 Nov, 2018
2018-11-5 8:23:46 PM UTC
Current favourite would have to be a Hobbit 1966 Unwin Paperback (3rd Edition, 16th Impression) - First unwin paperback printing.

I was convinced that this printing (16th) did not exist as after 8-9 years of searching I had not come across a single one (despite opening probably 100's of ebay auctions for this unwin edition and checking images of copyright pages etc).

I even posted on this forum in 2011 to ask if anyone had ever seen one

https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... ost_id=7926#forumpost7926

Garm replied that he had one but even then I was not totally convinced that it could exist as I could not understand why I could not find one after 8-9 years and no photo was posted of the copyright page.

It was 3 years later in 2014 (when the thread was resurrected) that Findegil finally posted an image of the copyright page and I became a believer (just about).

So the search went on and finally, earlier this year 2018, after 15 years of looking - I finally found a copy on ebay (and in really nice condition also).
5 Nov, 2018
2018-11-5 8:30:22 PM UTC
Wow guys, these are absolutely beautiful items, great work in finding them!

My favourite item is a book from Tolkien's personal library with his signature which I have acquired this year from Forum Auctions. I also want to thank Tolkieniano for sharing his opinion on the authenticity of the book, I am very happy that it will be included in his new book: Tolkien's Library: An Annotated Checklist, can't wait to read it.

Some more details for your convenience ;

Tolkien (J.R.R.).- Bloomfield (Mark) and Leonard Newmark. A Linguistic Introduction to the History of English, first edition, J.R.R. Tolkien's copy with his ownership inscription in pencil dated 4/64 to endpaper, bookplate of Desmond Morris, New York, 1963.

J.R.R. Tolkien's copy of a book on the history of the English language, a subject of deep academic interest to the author that heavily influenced his Middle Earth novels.

Provenance: When Tolkien died in 1973 Desmond Morris was surprised to discover that his collection of books had been sent to Thornton's bookshop in Broad Street, Oxford, for sale. He was shown them arranged on the floor in a back room at Thorntons and, although Tolkien's specialist subjects were outside Morris's range of interests, he noticed that Tolkien had written his name in pencil in each of the volumes and he decided to acquire one as a memento of the great author.

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5 Nov, 2018
2018-11-5 10:39:51 PM UTC
Now thats cool. How did you get hold of it?
5 Nov, 2018
2018-11-5 11:18:34 PM UTC

Khamûl wrote:
The other day I unpacked the commemorative plaque that I still had packaged up from when I moved house. It was given to Stanley Unwin by all the GA&U staff on his 80th. I just looked at it & thought how did I even get hold of this?

Still one of my favourite items & certainly my favourite non-book item.

That's really cool! I love truly unique items like this. Glad it made it into the hands of someone who appreciates it, too.
6 Nov, 2018
2018-11-6 5:14:15 AM UTC
That is brilliant Khamûl!

Remy I've also opened hundreds, many hundreds, of eBay listings in search of that 16th. I have one but it's inscribed and I'd like a better. I'm consistently amazed at how rare they are, there must be a story there.

Not terribly rare, but I love my 1922 1st/1st of A Middle English Vocabulary. The content is more or less lost on me but owning Tolkien's very first publication proper is kind of thrilling (and the fact that even his first book was delayed is just fantastic).
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