I just had a look at all my books (ut, sil, bolt1, bolt2, hob, fr, tt, rotk and atlas) and they all have the incorrect fourth rune on the second line. It will be interesting if they fix this if/when they reprint the ones that aren't in the "set of 5". I hope so as it will define a first and second state of those books, which adds a bit of interest, if nothing else.

I have just combed eBay, and found images of both states for most of the books, so clearly they fixed it at some point. I emailed my contact at Easton Press to find out more information on when the change was made.

Oh, and just to close out the other "error" - I was imagining things with the fourth line - with better images, it is clear that the rune matches Tolkien's map drawing. Red herring!

Good detective work, Jeremy. I do like the fact that this site is frequented by people that are quite happy to put the effort into solving life's (un)important little questions :)

I suspect that the UT/BoLT1/BoLT2/Atlas/Guide to Middle-Earth probably only exist with the defective rune as these haven't been reprinted as yet (and the Guide won't be reprinted). If they do reprint (and they probably will, I suspect), hopefully it will be with the correction.

The nice thing about these books is that they are pretty cheap. Other than the Atlas which I had to pay a little more for, I only paid an average of about $50 a book, and I got them in two batches, so the postage was not as bad as buying individual books (which probably wouldn't be worth it outside of the US).

Nice detective work, indeed. I don't look in for two days and this thread has exploded into life. Having nothing to add, and only having EP's The Silmarillion (why would I buy anything else! ) --all I will say is: their Silmarillion appears to have all the textual errors from the first impression present; presumably because they used this text (photographically) for their edition. Think they might want to update that too...

BH

Just a quick update - the Easton Press Hobbit rune error was fixed in late 2008, and the trilogy was fixed in 2009. Answer still pending on when the Silmarillion was fixed.

One side note that I am still working on - can you guys with EP Hobbits help out?

Copies have been seen with the endpapers in silk (as mentioned in Hammond A3l, p. 48) and paper with "Pegasus design". Can we confirm copies with both states? I will try to find out which came first and when the change was made, but for stuff this old EP doesn't always have reliable records.

I am not doubting Wayne and Douglas, but the Easton Press Hobbit gets so little coverage in the Bibliography (seven lines of text, no full entry) that it seems possible that without being aware, they had a later state book.

Also, has anyone seen copies with additional printing information (date or otherwise) to mark a reprint? I never have, but I haven't handled all that many copies. According to EP they don't do this but I have an eBay seller saying they have seen it. Without a confirmed copy with additional info, obviously I will take EPs word...

Hi Stu,

Just noticed that you don't have the Easton Press Tales From the Perilous Realm in your list - did you miss this one when it came out in 2009?

I think the cover is very uninspired, frankly. Too plain for my taste, looks slapped together.

The Easton Silmarillion had the rune fixed on the cover in the Summer 2008 print run.

Copies have been seen with the endpapers in silk (as mentioned in Hammond A3l, p. 48) and paper with "Pegasus design". Can we confirm copies with both states? I will try to find out which came first and when the change was made, but for stuff this old EP doesn't always have reliable records.

Both of our copies (see below) have watered silk endsheets.

I am not doubting Wayne and Douglas, but the Easton Press Hobbit gets so little coverage in the Bibliography (seven lines of text, no full entry) that it seems possible that without being aware, they had a later state book.

My scheme in the Bibliography called for full descriptions of discrete British and American trade editions. "Most subsidiary and reprint editions in English are noted only, except reset book club and collector's editions, which are fully described in separate entries" (p. x). Since the Easton Press Hobbit was, in the first instance, a reprint of the Houghton Mifflin Collector's Edition, albeit with a special binding and added plate, it received only a paragraph in the appropriate place. (But clearly, I'm going to have to expand my descriptions in the second edition.)

In the meantime, I published the following addendum in Tolkien Collector 13 (May 1996, after Christina - more particularly, her books! - moved to America and I was able to put my Easton Press Hobbit next to hers):

"The copy of the Easton Press Hobbit I acquired in December 1984 measures (sheet size) 22.5 x 16.9 cm., and the central portion of the text on the copyright page (p. [iv]) reads 'REPRINTED WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER | HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY.' The copy acquired by Christina a few years later measures only 21.5 x 13.7 cm., and the central portion of the text on p. [iv] reads 'PUBLISHED BY THE EASTON PRESS | WITH THE PERMISSION OF | HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY.' The sheets of the latter copy, a later impression, have been reduced in size at the expense of the margins and of the Hague frontispiece, all cropped. The cover stamping has been photographically reduced to fit the smaller format. The Hobbit probably was made smaller to make a uniform four-volume set with the Easton Press Lord of the Rings (see Bibliography, p. 141), which from the beginning was roughly the size of the standard Houghton Mifflin trade hardcover it reprints. The earlier Easton Press Hobbit matched in size the Houghton Mifflin 'Collector's edition', A3l."

Wayne

Hi Jeremy,
I don't have any of the recent EP editions (S&G, TftPR, CoH) because they weren't available outside of the US new. The only times I have seen them on eBay they have been expensive, and given they might reprint at any time, it makes no sense to spend a lot of money.

If they do reprint, I will definitely be taking you up on your kind offer to be an intermediary!

On the subject of the end papers, all my books definitely have the silk.

Stu