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Dunno? .. I thought Tolkien did some other doodles himself at some point but I could be wrong for these earliest editions.

A few, such as the ones I mentioned. I have an old (60s) copy of The Hobbit with Tolkien's illustration of the death of Smaug on the cover. He was a competent but not professional level artist. Like you I'm not sure that these were included in the earliest editions.
 
Why? looks tatty, and you've no idea what the quality is like inside the boards.

Even so, I thought first eds of LOTR would go for something in the tens of thousands. Some books, even in poor condition, go for a lot.
 
Even so, I thought first eds of LOTR would go for something in the tens of thousands. Some books, even in poor condition, go for a lot.

hmm, there's always this idea that 1st editions of books make a lot of money - A lot of the time they don't.

Still, there's plenty of people around with money to burn.
 
hmm, there's always this idea that 1st editions of books make a lot of money - A lot of the time they don't.

Still, there's plenty of people around with money to burn.

First eds of one of the most popular books of all time? I suppose unlike older texts there are probably more of them knocking about, which might reduce the price somewhat.
 
First eds of one of the most popular books of all time? I suppose unlike older texts there are probably more of them knocking about, which might reduce the price somewhat.

If you've got Frodo's meeting with the Ringwraiths smeared with crayon or Gandalf's meeting with the Balrog ripped out then what's the point?
 
If you've got Frodo's meeting with the Ringwraiths smeared with crayon or Gandalf's meeting with the Balrog ripped out then what's the point?

Yes, I agree, it does depend on what's inside and they do look tatty. I have no idea how much books go for and I just made an observation to Swifty that it sounded like a bargain to me, I've explained my reasoning, which I admitted is inexpert. I don't know what the condition is like inside and I presume you don't either?
 
Yes, I agree, it does depend on what's inside and they do look tatty. I have no idea how much books go for and I just made an observation to Swifty that it sounded like a bargain to me, I've explained my reasoning, which I admitted is inexpert. I don't know what the condition is like inside and I presume you don't either?

and that's why I wouldn't spend two and half grand on them.

Also if they were any good they'd be listed with certain buyers and in catalogues and up for auction.
 
If you've got Frodo's meeting with the Ringwraiths smeared with crayon or Gandalf's meeting with the Balrog ripped out then what's the point?

Don’t be so grumpy! They’d still be worth far more - both in financial and emotional terms - than six vacant inches on a bookshelf.

In a similar vein, a bookshop not far from me had a first edition of Pride and Prejudice for sale. l had to ask:

£40,000

maximus otter
 
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I have already bought them and they are perfect and full of diamonds and the actual One Ring.
I've just laughed so hard at that Ogdred, a bit of piss nearly came out .. and if you want to send them to me, I can crayon on a few cocks on Gandalf to increase the value for you (3 pubes per ball obviously).
 
I've just laughed so hard at that Ogdred, a bit of piss nearly came out .. and if you want to send them to me, I can crayon on a few cocks on Gandalf to increase the value for you (3 pubes per ball obviously).

Sorry Swifty, Tolkien himself was wayyyy ahead of you, he's signed them and drawn an orc with four cocks jizzing all over Samwise.
 
Tolkien: Not quite the romantic warrior professor but certainly all three of the preceding in part. Tolkien had a tough early life, falling into impecunity, his mother had to move with J.R.R. (Harry Gilby as the young Tolkien) and his brother from a rural idyll to the satanic mills and factories of Birmingham, an early model for Mordor no doubt. Then getting excessively MisLit, his mother (Laura Donnelly) dies and he is fostered by an elderly rich lady and along with his brother gets scholarships to an exclusive school. His family's benefactor, always working behind the scenes, is Father Morgan (Colm Meaney), benevelovent but steely in his determination when Tolkien's romance with Edith threatens his chances of getting an Oxford scholarship. Morgan may have been the inspiration for Gandalf.

At school Tolkien founds a Fellowship with other artistically minded students bur the Great War will wreak havoc on that brotherhood. The film cuts between Tolkien's earlier life and the trenches of the Somme. This is literally Hell, a real Mordor. The adult J.R.R .(Nicholas Hoult) is on a (perhaps allegorical) quest to the Front to find one of the Fellowship who is missing in action. He passes through mud holes full of bodies and fever stricken imagines that a german with a flamethrower is a dragon. The film suggests many inspirations for his books, Edith (Lily Collins) as an Elven Princess, his mother's reading tales of dragons when he was a boy, the War, his schooldays. A great influence on him was the philologist Professor Wright (Derek Jacobi) who won him over to the study of Old English and Gothic languages. Directed by Dome Karukoski from a screenplay by David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford, Tolkien is an engaging account of the earlier life of the scholar and author. 8/10
 
And that's when I decided I will not watch the movie, is their no mention of gandalf = odin?

I was being a tad tongue in cheek, the Saxon and Viking epics are mentioned. The film really is worth watching.
 
Tolkien: Not quite the romantic warrior professor but certainly all three of the preceding in part. Tolkien had a tough early life, falling into impecunity, his mother had to move with J.R.R. (Harry Gilby as the young Tolkien) and his brother from a rural idyll to the satanic mills and factories of Birmingham, an early model for Mordor no doubt. Then getting excessively MisLit, his mother (Laura Donnelly) dies and he is fostered by an elderly rich lady and along with his brother gets scholarships to an exclusive school. His family's benefactor, always working behind the scenes, is Father Morgan (Colm Meaney), benevelovent but steely in his determination when Tolkien's romance with Edith threatens his chances of getting an Oxford scholarship. Morgan may have been the inspiration for Gandalf.

At school Tolkien founds a Fellowship with other artistically minded students bur the Great War will wreak havoc on that brotherhood. The film cuts between Tolkien's earlier life and the trenches of the Somme. This is literally Hell, a real Mordor. The adult J.R.R .(Nicholas Hoult) is on a (perhaps allegorical) quest to the Front to find one of the Fellowship who is missing in action. He passes through mud holes full of bodies and fever stricken imagines that a german with a flamethrower is a dragon. The film suggests many inspirations for his books, Edith (Lily Collins) as an Elven Princess, his mother's reading tales of dragons when he was a boy, the War, his schooldays. A great influence on him was the philologist Professor Wright (Derek Jacobi) who won him over to the study of Old English and Gothic languages. Directed by Dome Karukoski from a screenplay by David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford, Tolkien is an engaging account of the earlier life of the scholar and author. 8/10

Does CS Lewis help him locate The One Ring to Rule Them All?
 
Amusing review of Tolkien by Mark Kermode:

According to him, it's basically Portentous Foreshadowing: The Movie. Maybe significantly, the Tolkien family hate it.
 
Maybe significantly, the Tolkien family hate it.

Maybe they didn't like it's portrayal of the family in reduced circumstances, depending on the kindness of strangers/ I have to admit I was a bit worried for a while as the film was taking an Angela's Ashes tack but the boys were swiftly rescued by the stuffy but kind old lady.
 
Maybe they didn't like it's portrayal of the family in reduced circumstances, depending on the kindness of strangers/ I have to admit I was a bit worried for a while as the film was taking an Angela's Ashes tack but the boys were swiftly rescued by the stuffy but kind old lady.

Apparently they haven't even seen it, they're just offended by its very existence.
 
This discussion features a comparative analysis of the works of Tolkein, particularly LOTR, and Jung's The Red Book. Becca Tarnas is an academic, but whadaya gunna do? A thoroughly enjoyable chat.

 
I've often wondered how in this section from "A Long Expected Party" got past the editors:

And there was
also one last surprise, in honour of Bilbo, and it startled the hobbits
exceedingly, as Gandalf intended. The lights went out. A great smoke went
up. It shaped itself like a mountain seen in the distance, and began to glow
at the summit. It spouted green and scarlet flames. Out flew a red -golden
dragon - not life-size, but terribly life-like: fire came from his jaws, his
eyes glared down; there was a roar, and he whizzed three times over the
heads of the crowd. They all ducked, and many fell flat on their faces. The
dragon passed like an express train, turned a somersault, and burst over
Bywater with a deafening explosion.

Middlearth doesn't have trains!
 
Wasn't there a delay of several hundreds of years between those things in our world as well?
 
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