Not sure about the story of where this book came from. Assuming that the story of the original owner is true and there is some provenance to support it, it is more likely I think that this is one of the copies bound in paper covers in July 1937. Tolkien went to London to visit the PUBLISHER in July, not the PRINTER. I think it is quite possible that they would have given him a couple of the paper-bound copies during the visit.

My eyes keep getting drawn back. It looks like something from Hellraiser.

Stu wrote:

My eyes keep getting drawn back. It looks like something from Hellraiser.

Clive Barker never created anything so vulgar Stu

Huh…. Seriously now??

OK… Maybe for that price it’s like a fine bottle of wine that our tastebuds have not yet been trained to appreciate…

I'm close to unravelling the whole history. I must thanks you to point out some good directions. Also must thank John D. Ratelif for his invaluable aid. What I can say that this is a very interesting copy and that the dealer description was very close to reality... more info will follow.

Beren wrote:

I'm close to unravelling the whole history. I must thanks you to point out some good directions. Also must thank John D. Ratelif for his invaluable aid. What I can say that this is a very interesting copy and that the dealer description was very close to reality... more info will follow.

Be interested in the story. Hopefully it will be rebound more tastefully at some point (as it is definitely in my top 3 worst professional bindings)!

I think we should have a TCG award for worst binding on a Tolkien book, this book sets a very high bar.

Trotter wrote:

I think we should have a TCG award for worst binding on a Tolkien book, this book sets a very high bar.

Indeed, when I said "top three", I was allowing two unallocated places for the fact that their *might* be two worse ones out there somewhere in the universe, assuming the universe is infinite.

Sorry to bring up this thread from 2021…

We had this rather “unusual” binding of a Hobbit…and that was fun. But then there was this story of the sheets used that was also interesting:

“This is one of two untrimmed pre-publication sets of sheets that were collected by Tolkien himself from the printers and are printed on slightly different paper stock from the eventual trade edition. It was given by Tolkien to his friend Russell Meiggs for his opinion. After receiving the sheets and reading the final version as it would be published, Meiggs wrote to Tolkien with his thoughts on the book, and Tolkien forwarded Meiggs’s letter to the publishers, noting: “The most valuable is the document I enclose, in case it may interest you: a letter from R. Meiggs (at present editing the Oxford Magazine). He has no reason for sparing my feelings, and is usually a plain speaker. Of course, he has no connexions with reviewing coteries, and is virtually a mere member of the avuncular public.” The first edition was published on September 21, 1937, and the first impression of 1,500 copies was sold out by December.“

Going back and forth trying to determine the facts, Beren posted:

Beren wrote:

I'm close to unravelling the whole history. I must thanks you to point out some good directions. Also must thank John D. Ratelif for his invaluable aid. What I can say that this is a very interesting copy and that the dealer description was very close to reality... more info will follow.

So, did we ever get the whole story on this? I don’t know if I missed the conclusions or ?

I’m
Sure they could have made it even more ugly…but I swear I don’t know how.