HarperCollins Silmarillions

Stu, the only one I've seen recently has been this -

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2-X-1st-Editions-The-Silmarillion-amp-The-Legend-of-Sigurd-amp-Gudrun-By-TOLKIEN-/222484621171?hash=item33cd1de773%3Ag%3A8xsAAOSwN6JY-3Bo&nma=true&si=v%252BKeNHK29cGQ9KAxHl6N2TylN6Q%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

I was tempted but the missing piece on the cover would have bugged me and I would have had to keep looking for another. I occasionally search on Abebooks but no joy there either.

Halla wrote:
Stu, the only one I've seen recently has been this -

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2-X-1st-Editions-The-Silmarillion-amp-The-Legend-of-Sigurd-amp-Gudrun-By-TOLKIEN-/222484621171?hash=item33cd1de773%3Ag%3A8xsAAOSwN6JY-3Bo&nma=true&si=v%252BKeNHK29cGQ9KAxHl6N2TylN6Q%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

I was tempted but the missing piece on the cover would have bugged me and I would have had to keep looking for another. I occasionally search on Abebooks but no joy there either.

Yes, I saw that one. I don't have the A&U/HC hybrid edition (so I was very tempted to buy that copy), but like you, the missing piece of jacket would have irked me.

Just surprises me that none of the three variants seem to show up with any degree of regularity.

What are the three variants?

BH

I was thinking the following -

*1972/1992 Hybrid (http://tolkienbooks.net/php/details.php?reference=62160)
*1992 Edition (http://tolkienbooks.net/php/details.php?reference=62250)
*1995 Edition (http://tolkienbooks.net/php/details.php?reference=62300)

edit: Trotter put in links for tolkienbooks.net

but

from tolkienbooks.net

"Two similar impressions issued?

The 3rd and 4th Impressions may be reprints of the 1992 Edition - the edition year may have been changed in error."

Any evidence that the 1995 editions exist, or was it a publication error that changed 1992 to 1995?

Aye, I have all of those. Was just checking...

The 3rd impression is basically the same as the 1st & 2nd impressions (line number to denote impression) except the date reads "1995". It looks like a typo, hence Neil's entry on tolkienbooks; stating the "1995 edition 3rd impression" is in reality the 3rd impression of the 1992 edition.

I don't have the 4th impression, but the copyright page (if I recall correctly) looks the same.

BH

Stu wrote:

Yes, I saw that one. I don't have the A&U/HC hybrid edition (so I was very tempted to buy that copy), but like you, the missing piece of jacket would have irked me.

Just surprises me that none of the three variants seem to show up with any degree of regularity.

I bit.

Yes, the jacket damage is annoying but, as you say, these so rarely turn up on eBay that I thought I'd be waiting a very long time for a perfect copy.

Going back to the "1995" typo: The reason for the error perhaps being introduced is that the copyright page incorporated the estate copyright blurb after the 2nd impression. Other than this, the copyright pages are identical. Maybe when they made this change the 1992/1995 error occurred.

My first impression seems to be signed by John Howe...

BH

Turambar wrote:

Stu wrote:

Yes, I saw that one. I don't have the A&U/HC hybrid edition (so I was very tempted to buy that copy), but like you, the missing piece of jacket would have irked me.

Just surprises me that none of the three variants seem to show up with any degree of regularity.

I bit.

Yes, the jacket damage is annoying but, as you say, these so rarely turn up on eBay that I thought I'd be waiting a very long time for a perfect copy.

Yeah. If I hadn't already had one of the other variants, I'd have certainly put in a bid. I've seen them now and then, just mostly in hindsight on the sold searches, rather than before hand when I could actually bid.