Tolkieniano wrote:
In 1997 my girlfriend, now my wife, gave me the trilogy of The Lord of Rings and since then I have not stopped to collect everything that relates to the wonderful Middle-earth. In 21 years I have traveled extensively for work and leisure (United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Spain, German, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, Serbia, Greece, Croatia, Poland, etc.). and in every country I have bought something regarding Tolkien. I have over 800 editions of Tolkien's books published in many languages, and about a two thousand between objects, prints, LP, stamps, action figures etc..In the first years I collected different editions of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" (however I like to buy every single thing related to him and his works), but for several years I have bought only academic or signed books. I have books and letters that belonged and signed by: J.R.R. Tolkien, Edith Bratt, John, Michael H. Priscilla and Christopher, Michael G. Tolkien, J.B. Tolkien (Arthur's father), Arthur Tolkien, Mabel Tolkien (to be verified), Francis Xavier Morgan, C.L. Wrenn, Owen Barfield, Dorothy L. Sayers, George Sayer, Robert Havard, George S. Gordon, Lascelles Abercrombie, Anne Hudson, Vera Chapman, John Leyerle, G.E. Selby, Pauline Baynes, Robert Hardy, Helen T, McM Buckhurst, Naomi Mitchison, Stanley and Rayner Unwin and Adam Fox. These ones I remember. Since 2008 I have created the website http://tolkieniano.blogspot.com and I have also published several books on Tolkien in Italian and English.

Interesting that you mention George Sayer. My wife used to know him when she was a child, as he lived next door to them in Malvern (nice chap apparently). His house just got a plaque put on it that mentions him and his relationship to Tolkien, Lewis, etc. - my wife showed me a photo of the plaque last week.

I guess I started collecting around 1993, by the age of 14. I only did "serious" collecting around 2010-2014, before we had our first child. And even during this intensive period of collecting, I limited individual purchases to under €100, since my main hobby is music production/recording/performing (had a professional music studio for seven years). Thus, I have no fancy (older) 1st/1st editions or deluxe editions, although I have managed to acquire a few rarities and oddities by sheer luck or extensive search. Nowadays I merely try to buy new works containing formerly unpublished material or something random I come across (be it older or new editions) to which I take a liking. However, like Stu, I still much enjoy partaking in others' impressive collections and lucky finds!

Since ~ 1967 I’ve been collecting Tolkien. At first it was little things:more Tolkien, the Remington paperbacks in a box, her map, her posters, saving up for the hard backs, learning of The Tolkien Journal, of Issacs and Zimbardo’s book of essays, Carter’s book, Tolkien: A Look Behind The Lord of the Rings [not], the not helpful book by Ready, the still great book by Kocher, & the indecipherable one by R Evans. Oh happy day when I saw the Ballantine hardback of The Road Goes Ever On with the Remington triptych on the cover. Good times, pre-internet. Since then things have gotten out of hand.

Since my teens, in the 90s. I devoured all the Tolkien I could find, first the stuff my parents owned, next in libraries, and finally I started buying the books because I wanted to be able to cross-reference them and skip around from book to book at my leisure. Most of HoMe was (here in the US) only available in hardcover. I was able to collect all except I, II, and V. Luckily, they were reprinted when the movies came out, and I was able to complete my set.

Then I came across this quote from the Foreword of VI: “Page-references to The Fellowship of the Ring (abbreviated FR) are given to the three-volume hardback edition of The Lord of the Rings (LR) published by George Allen and Unwin (now Unwin Hyman) and Houghton Mifflin Company, this being the edition common to both England and America.” This struck me, and from then on I paid careful attention to which edition I owned. I wasn’t content with The Tolkien Reader because it just wasn’t the same as a “real” The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (etc.).

The first Tolkien books that I bought were in 1978, paperback Hobbit, movie-tie in Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. My mum worked at the local library and she bought home the UK hardback copies that the library had for me to read.

I was much more impressed with these copies than my paperbacks, particularly the fold-out maps and that started my buying hardback editions of Tolkien's books.

I like the idea, Urulöké! Interesting to read all these different stories
As opposed to most people on here, I got to know Tolkien and his works only "post-PJ", i.e. after seeing the movies. At about age 14, my grandparents (who then owned a newspaper shop) gave me a copy of The Two Towers (in Dutch), followed by The Return of the King a few months later. With my pocket money I eventually bought The Fellowship of the Ring and I could finally start reading. Awestruck, I started buying other works by JRRT (and several editions of these) over the next couple of years, mostly in Dutch. I discovered the Dutch Tolkien Society Unquendor and through them a huge online fan-based community. I also got to know eBay, which really started things off: I remember the first auctions I won were for a paperback copy of HoMe VI (The Return of the Shadow) and a first impression of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight[/i] (although in rather poor condition). When I went to university, I already owned a significant collection for my age. During my years as a student, however, things calmed down and I got rid of a significant part of my collection (mostly Dutch translations, but also some deluxe editions and a Linguaphone set) to fund other interests. These last years I narrowed down my range of collecting to early printings, hardbacks (preferably UK editions), academic works, uncommon book(let)s, ... In short, quantity has shifted to quality, although I - like Morgan rarely spend more than EUR 100 on one book.

I first read the Hobbit in the mid 1970's. Didnt really start collecting till the mid/late 1980's and 'spare' money was limited then so it was quite restricted. It was really the 1990's for me when I really caught the collecting bug. Starting buying multiple copies of the same book, albeit different impression - we have all been there am sure!

Then I soon realised it was getting out of hand so decided to stick to UK editions. Slowly added and swooped editions to find better and better copies- we have all been there as well. Must have had 100 Hobbits over the years and who knows how many LOTR copies. Its a MARE !

I also diversified and moved into illustrators as well, Baynes, Garland, Fraser and soon the walls were filling up as well!

Its the hunt and finding that rare /odd book for me - its a real bug for sure.

Finally collecting aside I have met some great people over the years and seen some stunning collections and missed some real bargains. Long may it continue.

My collecting started as a result of first reading and discovering Tolkien's fiction my senior year in college in 2003. I took a college class on Lewis & Tolkien my final semester, which was taught by Diana Glyer, author of The Company They Keep & Bandersnatch. Great class!

This class (and my research assistant position that followed soon after) generated a new love of book collecting and altered my scholarly trajectory for the next 15 years.

A review of Tolkien's book The Hobbit written by C.S. Lewis. Great find!

I first became acquainted with Tolkien as a youngster in the early 90's. I was the youngest of four children and our family had a Fisher-Price record player and a series of Disney-issued See-Hear-Read stories in which you listened to the story on the record and followed along with the book ("You know it is time to turn the page when you hear the chimes ring like this..."). One of my favorites was a short version of The Hobbit. I later found out that it was based on the Rankin/Bass production. When I first read the actual Hobbit, it was the gold HM 50th Anniversary edition - a gift from my grandfather to my older brothers. I always thought the book was very attractive (less so now). The first Tolkien book I purchased was actually the blue slipcased 50th Anniversary LoTR from HM. I was in college when it was released and it was probably the first "nice book" I ever bought. I didn't start collecting in earnest until probably around around ten years ago. In the beginning, it was pretty much just Tolkien, but now it's a wide variety of books.