The original price was £100, while £250 was for the 1992 Deluxe Illustrated Edition of LoTR limited to 250 copies (another set that I'd like to own...)
I agree with Khamul, £750 is too much.

Cumbrian Dwarf, there is a copy of the 1987 super deluxe hobbit for sale at The Tolkien Bookshelf through ABE books for.... a smidge under £1100. A nice 25th present maybe??!

And Glorfindel your LoTR deluxe illustrated 1992 is at JRRT books, Ireland through ABE books too. Only £1009 for that ! Must start buying a lottery ticket....

The GBP 595 copy was me, and was a "what the hell" purchase as it was my 40th birthday (and my mum was stumping up just shy of half :))

That was for a flawless copy, mind. They don't seem to turn up very often and when they do GBP 500+ seems to be the going rate.

Very nice book, but I couldn't remotely justify the price by any logical means. Now and then, I just buy something because I want to (despite knowing it is daft). This would be one of those purchases.

Stu

Edit: I personally believe that global economic conditions will push the value of non-essential items like this steadily down over time. If you care about future value (and I don't), then IMHO you should not buy - Tolkien stuff in general is in a bubble. I won't even touch signed JRRT stuff because the prices are so daft and are effectively being manipulated by a small number of dealers that control the bulk of the stock.

Hi Folks

I bought my copy brand new in 2002 from an independent bookstore on the Isle of Wight. It was priced at £100 but I haggled the retailer down to £80. I've been tracking the price of this book for the last couple of years and prices have ranged from £500-£1,000. As to what it is worth - as much as people are willing to pay for it, and with most copies now in private collections the price will continue to creep up. It is a beautiful book and I have no desire to sell it. Nevertheless expect the price to go through the roof if a tv series ever gets put together or (and please excuse me for being morbid) when Christopher Tolkien inevitably passes away...

I have a copy. I was lucky enough to be in the right place (Oxford) at the right time (1998). It now resides in my safe deposit box in New Jersey.

-1TC