that is hefty for an ex-library copy....new collector in a hurry or someone who likes books with lots of history?

huan68 wrote:

A bit pricey for the condition and it being an ex library too. It seems people buy at any price nowadays.

People always wince because people retain price memory better; we're wired this way

"In my day a nickel would buy a weeks grocery and the only toy I had was a stick."

So when you look back over decades of price memory and pull your perspective out of the moment you can see on a linear timeline how predictable that it was.

Scarcity + growing interest = price explosions and the world of nickels and sticks becomes a memory too.

huan68 wrote:

A bit pricey for the condition and it being an ex library too. It seems people buy at any price nowadays.

That said, there are likely always some buyers out there who place a lot less weight on condition than the average collector (that man on the Clapham Omnibus with an armful of Tolkien firsts).

If you don't care so much about condition (within reason, let's say) or library stamps, then you might well pay the same amount as that average collector would, for the same book in better condition, but be just as happy.

(And no, I wasn't the buyer)

Worth pointing out that the hardback was produced and primarily sold to libraries, so most copies will have some indication of being from a library.

This copy however seems to have gone overboard on the library stamps, most copies are better than this one.

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The Two Towers 1st Edition/ 2nd Impression (Lord of the Rings)     1955

334720364060

Seller: blackbeckbooks

(402)

Ended Feb 6, 2023

This item ended more than 90 days ago

In case anyone might be looking at this, it would be worth asking the seller for a photo of the title page - if the year 1955 is not shown underneath the publisher name, it is the 3rd impression (thus the copyright page is in error).

From the transparency on picture 6 in the listing, it looks like the 1955 might be missing, but it's not conclusive.