Australia's "Biggest Hobbit Fan" celebrates his growing Tolkien collection

wellinghall wrote:
He's also got a YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter account"
- wellinghall

I think this is where most or possibly all members of this board are going wrong

I'm only aware of one real Australian Tolkien collector, Stu

There is a lot more showing off in this article.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/m ... -hole-20110601-1fgfu.html

'Peter Kenny does not want to wait for Christmas time next year, but he knows he'll just have to.

Like millions of fans worldwide, Kenny is counting down until December 2012 when The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of Peter Jackson's two Lord of the Rings prequels, will hit the big screen.

Yet Kenny probably feels the pain of delayed gratification more than most; he's the man many describe as Australia's biggest Hobbit fan thanks to his huge collection of Tolkien-related memorabilia, dedicated YouTube account, Facebook group and Twitter profile.

The super-fan, who also goes by his Hobbit pseudonym Fortinbras Proudfoot Esquire, has also travelled to Jackson's film sets and Tolkien fan events overseas, befriending researchers, actors, crew and “even a few Tolkien scholars”.

“They all comment on the collection,” he says.

“They say it's the most diverse if not the biggest collection in the world.”

Though he refuses to reveal the dollar value of a collection that spans books, movies and more, Kenny says it's “easily worth a small fortune.”

“And I'm adding to it all the time,” the proud collector says.

“Though I've become a lot more selective over the years I've been a fan.”

That's 35 years, total, Kenny says, and the evidence of his obsession is sprawled throughout his humble Brisbane Queenslander home.

Shelves bulge with a library of 360 books, cabinets groan with thousands of various items including swords, chess sets, trading cards, jewellery and wine goblets.

Kenny's walls are dotted with signed posters signed by Jackson's stars, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom and Liv Tyler.

But Kenny, who also goes by his Hobbit pseudonym Fortinbras Proudfoot Esquire, says his favourite item is not the biggest nor most expensive (that honour is reserved for the one metre square 'Hobbit hole' recently acquired from the UK, sum undisclosed).

Instead, his first edition from the second printing of The Hobbit, which went to press in December 1937 just months after the primary run.

“Unfortunately I don't have a first edition, first printing because it's a little out of my price range,” Kenny says, adding one he was recently sold for in excess of $20,000.

“But this one is still very special.

“What's interesting about this book is that chapter five in this edition is completely different to what appears in the second edition Tolkien rewrote to fit in with his Lord of the Rings series.”

However it was a soft cover edition passed on from a friend in 1976 that kicked off Kenny's love-affair with Hobbits, "the smallest of people”.

“I just felt it was a really wonderful story,” the former school teacher says.

“I'd read it with my classes every year for around 30 years – I think I almost know it off by heart.”

The themes of love, friendship, willpower and duty struck a chord with Kenny, who also remembers admiring the way Tolkien built the character of his famous “anti-hero” Bilbo from beginning to end.

“I think the message in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings is about how with faith, wisdom and determination, you can achieve anything.”

It is with that in mind that Kenny girds his loins for the long wait till The Hobbit films, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, are released in 2012 and 2013 respectively.'

“even a few Tolkien scholars”

I hope these are not Cliff Broadway and Rebekah Black

Now now Trotter, you'd be showing off too if you had a first edition of the 2nd printing! Did that come after the second edition of the first printing?

My internet connection is crawling so I didn't look at any of the pictures properly. All I noted was the book count: 360. Think he might want to get a few more of those book things. Tolkien was an academic & a writer. Although, he may have made a few swords & the like; I don't recall...

BH

Peter Kenny has a profile on the Tolkien Library site - I remember seeing this a few months back. His collection is definitely not to my taste, but horses for courses, I guess - he obviously gets a kick out of it.

Nothing like a bit of polystone landfill. :)

Stu

I, as well as some other members, have a profile on tolkienlibrary.com, but I don't have Twitter, Facebook and even a spot on Australian TV about my collection and I would never state some of the claims that Peter Kenny has, not below but to the press

He doesn't seem to make much of a distinction between the written works of Tolkien and the paraphernalia generated by jackson's films.

Yes, I notice this tendency on theoneringnet, too - folk who describe themselves as Tolkien fans, when they mean they're really fans of the movies. As Stu says, horses for courses.

But I'm interested in Kenny's hobbits as shown in the clip above - I too have a Foyles edition; and a 4th imp. I wonder whether his copies have original dust-wrappers, too?

Something which struck me from the article -

"But Kenny ... says his favourite item is not the biggest nor most expensive (that honour is reserved for the one metre square 'Hobbit hole' recently acquired from the UK, sum undisclosed).

Instead, his first edition from the second printing of The Hobbit, which went to press in December 1937 just months after the primary run."

Does this mean that he paid more for a model of Bag End than he did for a Dec. '37 Hobbit? Blimey...

Please don't rediscard all the Australian collectors, there aren't many of us, but still some that consider themsleves serious collectors

I dont know Peter Kenny, I'm sure that he is very proud of his collection. I watched the Collectors program a few weeks ago, and I was a little disappointed that the show concentrated on his movie related items not his books. The two editions of The Hobbit were nice though and I also wondered if the dustjackets were origianl.

I dont collect movie related items and the core of my collection is based on the books listed on Deagol's website. My collection is quite modest having aquired about two thirds of the books on Deagol's site, modest but still proud of what I have collected.

I wanted to collect so I could refer to the original sources and not being reliant on extracts or mis quotations in biographies and articles. I still don't think that this makes my collection more elite than someone collecting movie related items, just different. I must admit some of the statements in Peter Kenny's interview are pretty over the top, especially when you consider some of the collections held by some of the members of this website alone.

So, I am hoping that all Australian collectors aren't being tarred by the same brush, we are around. sometimes not all that vocal and actibe on the web, I haven't post much in the last few years, I have been kept up to date daily on this website, unfortnuately due to some eye surgury over the last year or so, I am a bit restricted (I hope this posting is readable without too many mistakes) but I'm still collecting slowly and hopefully in the future I might be able to get back to being more active on this site.

Dior

Heh - don't worry; we're not in the business of tarring folk around here. As a matter of fact, I've just been looking at Peter's profile on Beren's Tolkien Library site; and, as one might expect, there's a difference in tone between this account in Peter's own words, and the account as written by the newspaper reporter.


A couple of things took my attention; firstly, Peter moved away from movies memorabilia around 2007, and concentrated more on the books. Another is that he had the opportunity to show his collection in a month-long exhibition sponsored by the Queensland State Library. I'd very much like to have such an opportunity myself - I enjoy showing the collecition to froends, and it would be really good to be able to get it across to more people. But in the case of a public exhibition security would be a major concern. My ambition will have to remain a pipe-dream, I suppose.