Middle-earth Journeys

Yes, yes, yes, yes !

So... that's a yes then.

I've read them too! Will probably have to re-read them to discuss anything intelligently though. That's the menopause for you!

I read them quite some time ago as well and loved them. Would be pleased to re-read and then discuss!

At least they are quick to read and although I only read them last autumn I confess that I will have to read them again too .

A propos of nothing: for some time I've been thinking of getting a new 3-volume hardback set of LOTR to replace my beloved 1971 paperback which is falling to bits. Jonick was clearing out his father's house & found - yes - an unwanted 3-volume hardback set of LOTR! it looks as though his Dad (who is now in a home) must have read the first volume but not the others, as the pages of TT & RotK were slightly stuck together in a printers' ink sort of way. The set dates from 1973 and was published by George Allen & Unwin, it has the fold-out maps and the dust jackets and everything! I'm not usually a fan of second-hand books but I'm so pleased to have these!

Isn't life strange?

Great find M. Although I find it easier to read my pbs...I do love having the hard volumes too.

Lucky find, marbretherese! Are the illustrations Tolkien's, too?

One of our members at WRoR wrote a wonderful poem about all the different editions of LOTR one must have--your first set (nearly disintegrated by now), the lovely hardback ones for the bookshelves, a cheap copy for underlining and marginal notes, paperback for in-bed reading (since the hardback volumes could crack your sternum), etc. I'll try to get a copy to bring here.

Merry wrote:Lucky find, marbretherese! Are the illustrations Tolkien's, too?

No, unfortunately there are no illustrations, but I think the design on the dust jacket may be George Allen & Unwin's version of a Tolkien drawing (probably one he disapproved of . . . I must look that up! ). However, they are better quality than modern hardcovers (I think the binding on CoH is flimsy by comparison). For some reason I'm really pleased that it's a GA & U version. HarperCollins are doing a great job of keeping the flame alive, but I've become very fond of the Unwins through reading the Letters and Boigraphy!

I'd love to see that poem if you can find it, Merry. I must admit I dislike writing marginal notes in novels and tend to slip bits of paper in instead. Which promptly drop out and leave me scrabbling through the pages!

Incidentally, young friend of mine has built up a wonderful collection of Tolkienalia including may different versions of the books - all cheap & cheerful stuff he's found in second hand bookshops or on eBay. LOTR in Dutch & Japanese, a first edition of Mr Bliss, all sorts of stuff! (we won't mention the life-size cardboard cut-out of Gandalf . . . ).

And I won't mention my life-sized Aragorns (yes plural), either.....

And I won't mention my small Aragorn with real leather coat and poseable limbs, Librislove .

How amazing you found those hardbacks, mabreterese . Life is very strange sometimes! I bet you can track more information on them on Beren's Tolkien Library site .

I know what you mean about George Allen and Unwin. We have a lot to thank them - and particularly Rayner - for!

TOLKIEN LETTER EXPLAINING ORIGIN OF LORD OF THE RINGS OFFERED IN R&R ENTERPRISES’ AUGUST AUCTION (25.07.07)

read more here

I wonder how much it went for in the end? Imagine owning something like that!

It sounds like a wonderful letter, one in which JRRT shows as much interest in the letter-writer as he does in his own work. His delight in her name is charming!

Merry wrote: His delight in her name is charming!

Just imagine having a name that someone like Tolkien would like to include in his work! She must have been thrilled . . . brilliant!

Here is the poem by earwen of Writers of Rohan that I wrote about above. Writers of Rohan had a creative writing thread, and many of our members did some wonderful work, some of it Tolkien-inspired. earwen's Tolkien stuff is quite good, as you can see:

So Many Books, So Little Time

My books and me are bestest friends.
I hope our friendship never ends.
For in their pages lie the dreams
more real than my reality seems.

How did this friendship come to be
that lives between my books and me?
How did I come to choose the tomes
in which my dreams have made their homes?

One big book is best, some said,
(unless you wish to read in bed)
for that is how the Prof intended
his great work to be presented.

Lots of illustrations please
by all the famous Howes and Lees,
or none if you prefer to guess
the cut of Lady Arwen's dress.

Paperbacks will never last!
You'll be buying new ones fast.
Hardcovers will last the longest
(and your arms will be the strongest!)

If you all your silver spend,
you'll be happiest in the end,
Until, of course, you chance to see
the collector's edition DVD!

So I took a trip to Borders
armed with all your well-meant orders,
went straight to the Tolkien section
to make my final selection:

1-vol hardcover Alan Lee,
the way the story's meant to be;
3-vol hardcover set to share
for when the family's gathered there;

Single volume paperback
to keep close in my backpack;
and 3-vol softcover (with argonath)
for when I'm reading in the bath!

Now some may think I overdid it-
and that one copy is sufficient,
but I say, in an angry mutter,
"I'm proud to be a Tolkien nutter!"