Not sure about the story of where this book came from. Assuming that the story of the original owner is true and there is some provenance to support it, it is more likely I think that this is one of the copies bound in paper covers in July 1937. Tolkien went to London to visit the PUBLISHER in July, not the PRINTER. I think it is quite possible that they would have given him a couple of the paper-bound copies during the visit.

My eyes keep getting drawn back. It looks like something from Hellraiser.

Stu wrote:

My eyes keep getting drawn back. It looks like something from Hellraiser.

Clive Barker never created anything so vulgar Stu

Huh…. Seriously now??

OK… Maybe for that price it’s like a fine bottle of wine that our tastebuds have not yet been trained to appreciate…

I'm close to unravelling the whole history. I must thanks you to point out some good directions. Also must thank John D. Ratelif for his invaluable aid. What I can say that this is a very interesting copy and that the dealer description was very close to reality... more info will follow.

Beren wrote:

I'm close to unravelling the whole history. I must thanks you to point out some good directions. Also must thank John D. Ratelif for his invaluable aid. What I can say that this is a very interesting copy and that the dealer description was very close to reality... more info will follow.

Be interested in the story. Hopefully it will be rebound more tastefully at some point (as it is definitely in my top 3 worst professional bindings)!

I think we should have a TCG award for worst binding on a Tolkien book, this book sets a very high bar.

Trotter wrote:

I think we should have a TCG award for worst binding on a Tolkien book, this book sets a very high bar.

Indeed, when I said "top three", I was allowing two unallocated places for the fact that their *might* be two worse ones out there somewhere in the universe, assuming the universe is infinite.