I have not seen these two sold as a pair

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Lord-of ... ction&hash=item4ac0e931d5

Halla --why were you bidding on it? It doesn't say it's a 1st, & I don't see any evidence ("Questions and answers about this item" posted by seller) anyone asked. Were you anywhere near that £92 mark? I think you could get a copy far, far cheaper than this.

BH

Ha Ha!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-HOBBIT-ha ... Books&hash=item2c6c106439

The listing itself is hysterical:

Must be very rare--i can't find this edition anywhere: eBay, WorthPoint, etc. No where. The only other one that came close was selling for $999. Mine looks the same as that, and is in better condition, but he says his is illustrated by Tolkien. He could be mistaken. Anyway--mine is also hardback, but illustrated by the great Alan Lee. Both b/w and color ilustrations, and lots of 'em. Inside is in absolute MINT condition. Cover is darn near mint too--just two pin-point white specks, and a 1/4" by 1/16" smudge on the back. They'll probably wipe off, but i am not going to touch this thing. Found it in parent's attic. Pages nice and crisp. Just beautiful.

BH

Great photos to show off this very rare book, what a numpty (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=numpty)

From the pictures it appears to be missing the dust-jacket, but from the description it may be included, but even so one of the best entries to The Wonders of... for a long time

Have a look at this listing from ebay, one book seems to be a lot more expensive than items that you "can't find this edition anywhere: eBay, WorthPoint, etc. No where. The only other one that came close was selling for $999. Mine looks the same as that, and is in better condition". I can see two US copies in the listing both of which have dust-jackets.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat ... +alan+lee+hardback&_sop=3

Not a good listing if you want to know what you might be getting for £1000-£1450

"“Vol 1 VG The Book of Lost Tales - HarperCollins 1991Vol 2 VG The Book of Lost Tales Part II - HarperCollins 1991Vol 3 VG The Lays of Beleriand - HarperCollins 1991Vol 4 VG The Shaping of Middle Earth - HarperCollins 1991Vol 5 VG The Lost Road and Other Writings - HarperCollins 1991Vol 6 VG The Return of the Shadow - HarperCollins 1991Vol 7 VG The Treason of Isengard - HarperCollins 1991Vol 8 VG The War of the Ring - UnwinHyman 1991Vol 9 VG Sauron Defeated - HarperCollins 1992Vol 10 VG Morgoth's Ring - HarperCollins 1993Vol 11 VG/Inside front dust jacket price cut The War of the Jewels - HarperCollins - publisher date page missingVol 12 VG The Peoples of Middle Earth - HarperCollins 1996”"

Looks like two firsts War of the Jewels and Peoples of Middle-Earth

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tolkien-The ... ction&hash=item1e76db5e96

Khamul - If you know where I can get one far cheaper, please let me know. There is only one listed on Abebooks at the moment and as I said, I stopped bidding when the price passed that one. There was a cheap one listed a few months ago which sold within minutes of being listed. I tried to buy it but the seller had to email me to say that it had already sold and the impression I got was that I was not the only one who had unsuccessfully tried to buy it.

On another topic, am I the only one who is currently being redirected to blogs.fantasygifts.com when I try to get on the tolkienbooks.net site?

I don't really know; I just don't think you need to pay that much. And, as I said, how do you know it's a first? I bought my 1st imp. copy in 2006 (so long, long after publication) for £3.95 on eBay. John Howe signed it at the Edinburgh Book Festival a few years later. I have a 2nd & 3rd imp., but didn't pay much for them either. Keep an eye on "Interesting eBay Auctions" --one will be flagged up eventually.

For tolkienbooks.net issues: see other thread.

BH

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2013/ ... ster-swordsmiths-edition/

Orcrist is made with the same attention to detail that the swordsmiths of the lost realm of Gondolin would have required.

And only $10K a piece!

For those of you wanting to snap up a nice little paperback Silmarillion...

Voyager Classics - The Silmarillion,GOOD Book

Remember, it's only in "Good" condition...

BH