eBay: "J.R.R. Tolkien 1st LORD OF THE RINGS EXCLUSIVELY BOUND!"

Yes, the copyright page matches the 1st printing; down to the 'Cover illustration by Pauline Baynes', which leads me to ask: if these few were specially bound at the printers, why isn't there something to say so, on this page or elsewhere?

I think someone somewhere along the line is not being entirely accurate.
it looks to me like just another re-bound 1st paperback.

BTW - the phrase is 'half-bound'; not 'three quarter bound'.

I think they are referring to the letter which originally came with this book and they make some amazing claims on the back of it.




The letter states "black morocco and marbled boards as issued", except, as has already been pointed out, it is a privately rebound copy of the first UK paperback one volume edition and not as issued.

Thanks for pointing out the letter, Trotter. This was a late addition to the vendor's listing; I didn't see it yesterday.

If this was in 1969, I wonder why an ordinary paperback would have been re-bound? However, as I can see no date on the letter (more of a memo) I don't think we can take these exagerrated claims at face value. This one seems typical of this vendor -

"Any others of these that exist are being CHERISHED by Tolkien's closest family members!"

Must be nice to be CHERISHED (!)

I asked the seller to post images of the letter yesterday (or send me an image); clearly they've been pretty quick --& Trotter too!

I've also had a friendly email from [removed-BH] in regards to the seller's claims. I'll see what he says about the letter, which wasn't available to read yesterday when I emailed him. Anything pertinent will be posted here first.

It does just look like a rebound copy of the pb. Wayne might be able to comment on more recent 'special' bound copies of various editions. I'm pretty sure some 50th Aniversary editions of LotRs (standard or deluxe --I don't recall) were bound in full leather for a select few i.e. Wayne & Christina, Christopher, & perhaps various other folk involved in the publication. So there are 'special' editions out there; doubtful whether this is one though...

BH

We agree that this is almost certainly a one-off binding. There's no evidence, in the Tolkien-Allen & Unwin correspondence or anywhere else we've seen, of copies of the one-volume paperback being specially bound for members of the Tolkien family and friends. This seems to be an assumption by Mr. Giusti, blown up further by the present seller and compounding an error by whoever wrote "as issued" in the Current Company memo.

Would Allen & Unwin really have put a fancy binding on a cheap paperback? Would the publisher have instructed the binder unnecessarily to letter "Parts 1 2 & 3" on the spine? Would a special copy not have been signed by the author? Would Tolkien have wanted to present to family and friends a Lord of the Rings lacking the complete Appendices?

Of course there was already a specially bound (genuinely as issued) three-volume Lord of the Rings published in 1964, and the India paper edition, replacing the 1964 de luxe, came along in 1969 -- Tolkien inscribed an India paper copy to his cousin Dorothy Wood. The earliest special binding (for presentation) of a Tolkien work of which we're aware is the one in blue leather for The Silmarillion.

I'm pretty sure some 50th Aniversary editions of LotRs (standard or deluxe --I don't recall) were bound in full leather for a select few i.e. Wayne & Christina, Christopher, & perhaps various other folk involved in the publication.

Yes, there were some copies of the 2004 one-volume edition bound in red leather for presentation, and as its editors we have one.

We're on FlatSigned's e-mail advertising list, and the other day received a message offering for sale a set of The Lord of the Rings, first edition but later printings of the three volumes. These were described as "UK Urwin Allen Published". This will amuse only those who remember Irwin Allen's science-fiction TV series and disaster movies.

Wayne and Christina