I have been collecting for some time, much but not all of it Tolkien’s works, and I have to admit I am very impressed with the knowledge of this group.

Judging by the only picture provided by the auctioneer, the book comes in the original box and as such, wouldn’t it be somewhat safe to assume that the content inside the box is in fine condition? I find it highly unlikely that whoever that consigned the book to the auctioneer kept the book displayed while keeping the box safe for more than forty years.

As someone said, spine matters the most since most were prone to fading, but looking at the cover, the leather still looks succulent and “moist!”

The_Antiquarian wrote:

Judging by the only picture provided by the auctioneer, the book comes in the original box and as such, wouldn’t it be somewhat safe to assume that the content inside the box is in fine condition? I find it highly unlikely that whoever that consigned the book to the auctioneer kept the book displayed while keeping the box safe for more than forty years.

As someone said, spine matters the most since most were prone to fading, but looking at the cover, the leather still looks succulent and “moist!”

Not necessarily. I have 30 year old packaging for things that have been out of the packaging the entire time. I have 2007 and 2009 CoH and S&H packaging retained for the books on the shelf. I'd imagine I will have the books and packaging - separated - until I die. Never assume.

They did send me photos of the spine the day before the auction, I post them here.

Nice looking copy. I also noticed (unless I'm mistaken) that one of the other lots (of Tolkien) had loads of duplicate BoLTs paperbacks. It crossed my mind that all these lots came from someone that maybe worked for GA&U. And, again thinking out loud, that the 1982 probably hadn't been out it's box. But that's just guesswork, as the auction never disclosed anything & the condition simply wasn't stated. Would never spend nearly £2k on if & maybe's.

Max wrote:

They did send me photos of the spine the day before the auction, I post them here.

That looks like a flawless copy! Wow!

Khamûl wrote:

Nice looking copy. I also noticed (unless I'm mistaken) that one of the other lots (of Tolkien) had loads of duplicate BoLTs paperbacks. It crossed my mind that all these lots came from someone that maybe worked for GA&U. And, again thinking out loud, that the 1982 probably hadn't been out it's box. But that's just guesswork, as the auction never disclosed anything & the condition simply wasn't stated. Would never spend nearly £2k on if & maybe's.

Agreed. If I had been interested, I'd have been asking for the extra photos, like Max did.