The new Tolkien Bookshelf webstore

David Miller, proprietor of The Tolkien Bookshelf has been selling Tolkien books and related materials for more than a decade, through personal contacts, eBay, ABEBooks, and now through his own website located at http://www.tolkienbookshelf.com.

His website is looking very nice, with well laid out categories and plenty of wonderful looking items featured on the homepage. I asked David for some background information to share, for those of you who have not dealt with him before.

I first read the Hobbit, when I 'borrowed' my older sister's copy, back in the late 60's. She was working on a dramatic presentation for a drama class, and I was intrigued by the story. After she reconfiscated her copy, she told me I should try the Lord of the Rings, and gave me an old bedraggled Ballantine paperback set. So I was hooked!!! Later on, I bought a nice set of the 2nd US Edition, and kept those for many years, rereading them probably once a year all the way thru college.

When the Silmarillion came out in '77, of course I had to pickup a copy of that, and that rekindled a bit of interest. It wasn't until the late 90's though, with eBay and other internet sources that I really became involved again. That I can blame on the 'one' book that I didn't buy when I had the opportunity. The story goes, some of my family was out on a holiday drive, and stopped by a few antique stores. There I ran across an old copy of the Return of the King, a 1st US Edition in dustjacket. It was a later printing, which I told myself probably wasn't worth much, so I passed on buying it. $2.00 was too much, I guess, as I didn't purchase it. When I got home, I decided to go online and see if I could find a full set, to replace my old worn out one. Much to my surprise, the prices were seriously expensive for even a copy like the one I passed up. So of course I raced back at the first opportunity to check on it, and much to my regrets, it was gone. So I then started collecting the singles and strays and making up sets. Once I got started and had a nice set for myself, I had a large number leftover that I started selling on eBay.

Then the hype started with the rumors of someone making a movie of the Trilogy. This of course forced me to try to pickup a nice set of the UK 1st Edition, and resell some of the leftover's again. The next area that I got involved with was custom fine bindings. There were the really bad looking copies, that the covers were falling off of, or had some other problems, that I just couldn't do much with, but came along with others I had purchased. A friend told me about a bookbinder he used, and I decided to try that on an old Hobbit. Loving the feel and smell of those new bindings, really got me hooked. Now I try to keep a few of those around at my store as well as a few unbound copies so a collector can have a set made up to their own personal preferences. Now my collecting has evolved to the point where I have my own website, and along with learning about how to make it work right, I've tried to branch out a bit, and offer a wider selection of Tolkien related items. So that's the story of how I started collecting and selling Tolkien books.

Of course, collecting and selling Tolkien books means you run across some interesting items. When asked what was a particularly memorable one, David said

I really can't name any particular one, unless it was the 1987 Super Deluxe Hobbit Limitation Number 2, signed by Christopher Tolkien. I always thought it was pretty cool that CT received copy #1, and I had the next one. But I've had some super nice sets of the Lord of the Rings 1st UK 1st Impressions, as well as a few 1st US 1st Impression sets that were virtually Fine/Fine condition. Then there have been a few of the 1st & 2nd Impression Hobbits (and a signed copy or two) that were special as well. Perhaps my favorite is one of his handwritten letters Letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to Ingrid Pridgeon • August 1968 (#736) that I sold a few years ago. I had my binder make up a special leather and marbled paper folder to house the letter and envelope and it turned out so nice, I really hated to let it go. That one I'll attach a couple of photo's for you. It was really nice, and his handwriting is always such a treat to read. That may have been my all time favorite.

I think David sums everything up quite well:

Probably the thing I like the most, is the people I've met in collecting and selling. Many have become good friends, and I always enjoy helping them find just the right book, for them. Always very nice when someone is pleased with their purchase.