Completing my Tolkien Library

[Perhael]

OK, so last week I began the cutting down of a tree in my sister-in-law's backyard. It's one of those 'Cousin It' trees. I forget the real name, but they go up a dozen feet and then cascade down in very slender branches, all densely grouped together, much like Cousin It of the Addams Family. This one needed to go because it was damaging her deck's pergola. She paid me with an Amazon Gift Card worth a few hundred USD. So, I did the only rational thing I could do with such a windfall.... I logged into Amazon and, along with some extra money budgeted for such things, purchased every single book Tolkien wrote, edited or otherwise edited by his son, Christopher. I already 'only had' The Hobbit, LOTR, Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, Beren & Lúthien, Children of Húrin, Fall of Gondolin, Tales from the Perilous Realm and the Letters of JRR Tolkien. Now.... the entire History of Middle Earth (12-volume paperback plus the Index, a/k/a 'Vol 13'); also The Monsters and the Critics: And Other Essays. Oh, 'every single book' means just that, I didn't restrict myself to just the Legendarium. The Fall of Arthur, Kullervo, Beowolf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, Finn and Hengest (Old English and English Edition), and The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, I also found 'Tree and Leaf,' in new condition. Although I have two of the stories in it, it does contain two others that aren't elsewhere (AFAIK.)

The only things missing are the books "Pictures by Tolkien;" a volume edited by Christopher of several dozen paintings of his. It currently isn't available in any current edition, existing copies run in the hundreds; and "Mr. Bliss" and the "Father Christmas Letters." The latter are available but since they are 'children stories,' I passed. Although that may be corrected sometime later, given that the Hobbit is also a 'children's story' as well as a couple tales in the Perilous Realm volume I already had. But, the order was getting expensive even with the gift card and I went for the books "I needed."

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Good for you!

[Jude]

I couldn't find anything called exactly "Pictures by Tokien", but there's this:

The Art of the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the publication of The Lord of the Rings, a sumptuous full-colour art book containing the complete collection of almost 200 sketches, drawings, paintings and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien.

It's not edited by Christopher Tokien, though.

[Alatar]

I have "Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien" Jude. Its a large format cloth covered Hardback, about the size of a Vinyl Album

[Voronwë the Faithful]

There is also the upcoming edition of LOTR illustrated with Tolkien's own art. Even for a non-collector like me who doesn't usually get more than one version of the sam book, that is probably a must-have. (Of course I said that about the new illustrated edition of UT as well.)

[Jude]

At what stage will you finally stop calling yourself a non-collector?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Everything's relative, I guess. Compared to the people that I know that have dozens of editions of LOTR and TH, etc., probably never. Compared the other 99.99999% of the population, right now.

[Inanna]

At what stage will you finally stop calling yourself a non-collector?

ROFL!

Sorry, I did actually laugh out loud when reading that.

[Perhael]

I couldn't find anything called exactly "Pictures by Tokien", .

I went back to Amazon and looked up what I saw there. This one: https://www.amazon.com/Pictures-J-R-R-T ... 0395606489 Very expensive. Perhaps a lot of these pictures will be in the upcoming illustrated LOTR volume due out this Autumn?

[Alatar]

I remember ordering in my copy in an actual book store if you can believe it!

[Jude]

I remember ordering in my copy in an actual book store if you can believe it!

Until about a year ago, that's what I always did!

Do you remember what you paid for it?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I couldn't find anything called exactly "Pictures by Tokien", .

I went back to Amazon and looked up what I saw there. This one: https://www.amazon.com/Pictures-J-R-R-T ... 0395606489 Very expensive. Perhaps a lot of these pictures will be in the upcoming illustrated LOTR volume due out this Autumn?

I think only a few of the pictures in that book will be in the upcoming illustrated LOTR. You can see from the following list of the Contents that only 10 or 11 or the 48 pictures are from LOTR.

http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Pictures ... R._Tolkien

[Perhael]

I think only a few of the pictures in that book will be in the upcoming illustrated LOTR. You can see from the following list of the Contents that only 10 or 11 or the 48 pictures are from LOTR.

http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Pictures ... R._Tolkien

You're probably right. Hopefully the success of the upcoming book may prompt a reissue of the "Pictures...” book.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

You know that there are also three books of Tolkien's art edited by Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond, J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator, The Art of The Hobbit and The Art of the Lord of the Rings, yes?

[Perhael]

Yes, but at the moment I can't really justify spending much more money. This was a windfall and couldn't really be spent anywhere else; i.e. if she paid me cash/cheque for the tree job, then that would probably have been deposited and put towards 'normal' spending, or just saved. We don't buy anything from Amazon that we can't get locally. I do have in my Amazon 'Saved for later“ list Alan Lee's “Sketchbook of the LOTR” and the same thing for the Hobbit films. The ones you mentioned I'll look them up and see about adding them to that list (which has a higher priority than my Amazon 'Wish List.'

[Perhael]

...and those books are now in that 'Save for Later' List!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[Alatar]

I remember ordering in my copy in an actual book store if you can believe it!

Until about a year ago, that's what I always did!

Do you remember what you paid for it?

About €40 maybe 30 years ago? It wasn’t cheap

[Perhael]

Twenty of the books arrived yesterday! The ones from Amazon; the two from the Book Depository ('Lay of Beleriand' and 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight') are expected sometime this week or next. They were shipped last Wednesday the 14th.

I'm a happy little Hobbit, though I do need to be visiting thrift stores (a/k/a charity shops) for a new bookshelf. So far, I have managed to find places for them all on existing bookshelves. My shelving must be made from TARDIS material. They seem to house more books than outward appearances would indicate. (Not much of a Doctor Who fan, the only time I was ever really into that was way back when Tom Baker was the Doctor.)

Now I am off to plant seeds under my grow-lights.

[Inanna]

TWENTY! Wow. Enjoy them.