# Tolkien Book Covers



## Turgon

I was leafing through my copy of 'The Book of Lost Tales II' earlier and was really struck by its cover - It's a picture by Roger Garland of the Fall of Gondolin and shows the Walls of Gondolin being attacked by Tolkien's earlier 'mechanical' dragons and a swarm of orcs coming out of the Dragons' bellies... it's really evocative... Just wondering what everybody else favourite book covers are... or even better, what your favourite Tolkien picture is... my Favourite book cover is the cover of my paperback Silmarillion, showing the Swan Ships of Alqualonde, also by Roger Garland, its beautiful...
As for Tolkien's art, well I'm a big fan of his pictures, there used to be a book in print in England called 'Pictures By JRRT' (think it was published by Unwin) I used to spend ages in the Bookshop looking at it... unfortunately I've not seen it for sale for about ten years now... and the picture books that have replaced it are just not of the same standard, which is sad...
But I love JRRT's picture of Smaug on his bed of gold ('cause he look so cute) and I loved the Heraldic designs he did for the different Houses in the Silmarillion...
Anyone else!?


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## Talierin

I love the heraldic emblems. They're on the box of my old lotr set. I've drawn some like them, though not as good. You can see them on my website.

Hmm, while we're at it, who's your favorite Tolkien artist besides the man himself? I really love Anke Eiszmann's art. It can be found here and here


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## Turgon

Big thanks for those links Talierin, fantastic... a real eye-opener... only spent about ten minutes or so looking at them, but I've book-marked them for a later viewing... I really loved the Luthien pictures (especially the ones with her face turned away) and the picture of Faramir... oh... and the 'Finrod reminded of his Oath'
I always feel that my favourite Tolkien pictures are the one that agree most with my own idea's of how things should look, so I'm more into individual pictures as opposed to specific artists... one of my favourite Tolkien pictures of all time is the 'City of Tirion' in 'A Tolkien Bestiary' by Linda Garland, I've got a copy of it on my wall... I did it in Oils myself and I'm really proud of it


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## Talierin

Yeah, same for me. I really don't like a lot of the big Tolkien artists like Howe, Nasmith, H. Brothers, Lee, etc, because most of the time their art doesn't fit what I imagined. That's why I really love Anke's work--even though it is a little strange--nearly all of it fits what I imagined, especially her latest pencil sketch of Faramir. Also, she does Sil art, which most artists don't do. That one pic of Luthien dancing always makes me get tears in my eyes cause it's so like what I imagined.

I'd love to see your painting! Can you get it scanned?

Heh, I once saw this really nasty pic of Luthien dancing, she was in a bright red bikini....


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## Turgon

Can't scan my Tirion painting, because it's too big... I tried scanning a few of my other paintings to put into the 'Guild of Artists' but nothing's come out well enough to do them justice. My friend's scanner is the only one I've got access to and it pretty poor...
Luthien in a bright red bikini? Nooooo!!! Surely she'd look better in a blue one...


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## Hirila

Try this link.

Wonderful pictures of many artists.

http://www.lycos.de/inc/link/treffer.html?URL=http://user.baden-online.de/~ckraemer/index2.htm


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Barbara Remington has died:








Barbara Remington, Illustrator of Tolkien Book Covers, Dies at 90 (Published 2020)


Her work for the 1965 paperback editions of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” achieved mass-cult status. But she hadn’t read the books when she got the job.




www.google.com




Those covers were on my first copies.


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## CirdanLinweilin

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Has died:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Barbara Remington, Illustrator of Tolkien Book Covers, Dies at 90 (Published 2020)
> 
> 
> Her work for the 1965 paperback editions of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” achieved mass-cult status. But she hadn’t read the books when she got the job.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.google.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Those covers were on my first copies.


Requiescat in Pace.




CL


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## Elthir

More sad news.

I know Tolkien fumed about parts of her illustration used for the covers, but _The Lord of the Rings_ was eye catching I think, and I liked the idea of the three books under "one cover", so to speak. As my first edition as well, I feel a certain nostalgia for the illustration too.

Rest in peace.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

I used to have the mural, but foolishly gave it to a girlfriend long ago.


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## Erestor Arcamen

One thing I haven't seen discussed in a while are the various editions of Tolkien's books and their covers. I know there are countless versions out there but I'd love to see your favorites. I'm in the U.S. so I'm sure some of our international users have their own editions that they find special and that a lot of us may not have seen before. Some of the international versions I have seen are gorgeous! I'd love to see what you've got and I'm sure other members would too.

The first time I read Lord of the Rings, I borrowed the books from the library so these covers are definitely special to me. I love the simplicity of them.







This is the current hardback edition that I own but if I could find the older ones from above, I'd buy them for sure.






I'll dig up my copy of The Hobbit and share it too but I'd love to see covers from your country or that are special to you!

🥮


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## Elthir

I bought my first edition _The Lord of the Rings_ in Winchester, years ago (okay, technically my wife bought it for me) -- with the Tolkien covers from EA's library (above). My favorite one volume edition (purchased last century by me) is this red gem!


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## Rivendell_librarian

This shows the Folio society standard editions:


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## Elthir

I like this _Fellowship of The Ring_ cover (the other covers by this artist are nice as well, but this one is my favorite of the three).


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## Elthir

And these of course! More Tolkien!


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## Erestor Arcamen

I have Fellowship in that edition, though it's definitely seen better days. I really like their artwork too.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Who's the artist on your second one, Elthir? I haven't seen that one.


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## Starbrow

My first set OF LOTR was the same paperbacks as on Elthir's post. This is the hard cover version I got a couple of years later. The paper dust jackets disintegrated with frequent rereadings.


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## TrackerOrc

Erestor Arcamen said:


> One thing I haven't seen discussed in a while are the various editions of Tolkien's books and their covers. I know there are countless versions out there but I'd love to see your favorites. I'm in the U.S. so I'm sure some of our international users have their own editions that they find special and that a lot of us may not have seen before. Some of the international versions I have seen are gorgeous! I'd love to see what you've got and I'm sure other members would too.
> 
> The first time I read Lord of the Rings, I borrowed the books from the library so these covers are definitely special to me. I love the simplicity of them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is the current hardback edition that I own but if I could find the older ones from above, I'd buy them for sure.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'll dig up my copy of The Hobbit and share it too but I'd love to see covers from your country or that are special to you!
> 
> 🥮


The three volumes were the first ones I owned many years ago, and coincidentally, I now have the 50th Anniversary edition too.

I also have a one-volume edition, with illustrations by Alan Lee, with (if I remember correctly) the front cover showing Gollum, Frodo and Sam at the Black Gate.

I don't know if it's just me, but I always throw away the slip-covers on any hardback books I own.


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## Elthir

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Who's the artist on your second one, Elthir? I haven't seen that one.




The artist is Jian Guo S-eS . . . but now I'm not so sure these were published as book covers. I found this on the web, dated 2015:



> One of the benefits of buying tangible books over the digital editions is some of the artistry that goes into designing the book covers. One fine example of this are the possible new Chinese variants of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. These amazing covers were designed by artist Jian Guo and are part of a competition held by the publisher WenJing Publishing. The company has been soliciting entries for the past year for the upcoming re-release of the Chinese version of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.



I thought the illustrations had won the competition, but maybe not? And I'm posting this one below 'cause if this is "Khamûl"
(as some refer to one of the Ringwraiths) he looks lost.



Artist: John Jude Palencar


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## Alice

Well, I think you will never guess which Tolkien book it is. It is Soviet edition and this dragon is amazing. One of my favourites


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## Erestor Arcamen

Alice Alice said:


> Well, I think you will never guess which Tolkien book it is. It is Soviet edition and this dragon is amazing. One of my favourites
> View attachment 6828



Ooh I've never seen that before but absolutely love that dragon 😃!

While on the subject, have you ever seen this movie? I just found out about it recently and was curious.


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## Alice

Erestor Arcamen said:


> Ooh I've never seen that before but absolutely love that dragon 😃!
> 
> While on the subject, have you ever seen this movie? I just found out about it recently and was curious.



I used to think that this dragon is Smaug.

Yes, I've seen it. And in this movie there is a joke about Bilbo eating Gollum, instead of the opposite


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## Erestor Arcamen

That sounds really interesting! I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the information 😊!


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## Alice

Oh, and that is my favourite Tolkien's book cover of all time. Very rare edition


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## Erestor Arcamen

Alice Alice said:


> Oh, and that is my favourite Tolkien's book cover of all time. Very rare edition
> View attachment 6829



That's lovely! Is that Lord of the Rings?


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## Alice

Erestor Arcamen said:


> That's lovely! Is that Lord of the Rings?



Actually, it is "Tree and Leaf".
But I have a big collection of LOTRs and Hobbits too


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## Erestor Arcamen

Alice Alice said:


> Actually, it is "Tree and Leaf".
> But I have a big collection of LOTRs and Hobbits too



Ah I can see that now from the artwork. I'd love to see your LOTR and Hobbit collections too if you want to share 😊.


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## Alice

Well, maybe I should upload all of my Tolkien collection as it's quite big.
The higher shelf is in Russian, the lower is in English (mostly)


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## Erestor Arcamen

That's a lovely collection. My "collection" is nothing compared to that. I love the artwork on the cover of your book there too, it's very nice!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Yes, very lovely! 😍

Wait -- are we talking about the books? Oh, those are nice, too.


PS: Ithilethiel isn't here, so I'll supply her normal instructions to me:
"Slap yourself!"

Punishment administered, Ithy. 😫


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## Alice

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Yes, very lovely.
> 
> Wait -- are we talking about the books? Oh, those are nice, too.
> 
> 
> PS: Ithilethiel isn't here, so I'll supply her normal instructions to me:
> "Slap yourself!"
> 
> Punishment administered, Ithy. 😫



I've decided maybe I can upload all of my collection, then the most interesting covers below (I think spines of the books can be considered a part of cover art)


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## Alice

This is the best Tolkien's biography I've read (I have a few). Unfortunately, it seems it was never translated into English


And this is "The Hobbit" for children (it's children version of children's book). And Elrond is a girl here


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## Elthir

Interesting covers Alice Alice!

I'll add some Pauline Baynes while I'm here.








I have this early boxed edition too. The covers (above) have an illustration taken from the map.


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## Alice

Wow, I have "Smith of Wooton Major" with Baynes' illustrations and they're nice, so medieval


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## Erestor Arcamen

Alice Alice said:


> This is the best Tolkien's biography I've read (I have a few). Unfortunately, it seems it was never translated into English
> View attachment 6836
> 
> And this is "The Hobbit" for children (it's children version of children's book). And Elrond is a girl here
> View attachment 6837



I love the artwork and covers! Who is the author of the Tolkien biography?


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## Alice

Erestor Arcamen said:


> I love the artwork and covers! Who is the author of the Tolkien biography?


 
Геннадий Прашкевич и Сергей Соловьев (Gennadiy Prashkevitch and Sergei Solov'ev). But I doubt it have ever been translated


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## Alice

One more Soviet LOTR. I have found it not so long ago, it was very cheap, though almost 30 years old


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## Alice

And nadmozg version too


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## Erestor Arcamen

I can't speak or read Russian but I'd almost want to collect those just for the artwork, it's gorgeous! Thank you for sharing .


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## Alice

Erestor Arcamen said:


> I can't speak or read Russian but I'd almost want to collect those just for the artwork, it's gorgeous! Thank you for sharing .



Oh, I'm happy that you like it! I still have something that I haven't shared yet. Well, some modern books have the same covers as English editions, but older ones have their own


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Alice, please attach that "Elrond as a girl" pic you showed me to your post on the children's Hobbit book. It's hilarious.


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## Alice

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Alice, please attach that "Elrond as a girl" pic you showed me to your post on the children's Hobbit book. It's hilarious.


Ok, I'll edit it now


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## Alice

Maybe you didn't know that, but Elrond actually was a girl. In opinion of the illustrator, of course


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## Erestor Arcamen

Alice Alice said:


> Maybe you didn't know that, but Elrond actually was a girl. In opinion of the illustrator, of course
> 
> View attachment 6840



Is this the children's version of The Hobbit? I see that Bilbo looks like a 5 year old 

🥥


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

That's what the hobbits all look like to me in Hildebrandt illustrations, TBH. Children, I mean.

Their Tolkien stuff was always too Disneyfied for my taste, anyway.


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## Elthir

Here's Howe! 

I have an English one volume paperback with this Gandalf illustration.
It has added value in my head -- read bits of it at "The Bird and Baby"
and more bits at the Lamb & Flag.


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## Alice

Erestor Arcamen said:


> Is this the children's version of The Hobbit? I see that Bilbo looks like a 5 year old
> 
> 🥥



Yes, it is. You haven't seen Gandalf from here, he is so cute, like a real fairy tale wizard


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

I'd send you a PM, Elthir, but as you are above such mere mortal things as likes (or hates -- is there a "hate" reaction here?) I guess that's out of the question. (Sniff 😥)


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

That's right -- expose me as the liar I am.

I suppose next you'll let me PM you. 

Call me Sorrowman. 😰


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## Elthir

Sorry, I meant to hit "reply" 

And as for a female Elrond: Eleronde vanimelda, elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo!


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Oh, that explains it!

OK, then. Everything back to norbal.


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## Rivendell_librarian

Alice Alice

In your post #29 is that John R.R. Tolkien as the author? 

Interesting since most English versions go with J.R.R. Tolkien


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## Alice

Rivendell_librarian said:


> Alice Alice
> 
> In your post #29 is that John R.R. Tolkien as the author?
> 
> Interesting since most English versions go with J.R.R. Tolkien



Yes, it is so. Джон. Р. Р. Толкин he would be


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

I don't think he would have liked being called "Peepee Tolkien" though. *


* Yeah yeah I know! I'm joking.

Jeez. They can't all be gems.


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## Alice

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I don't think he would have liked being called "Peepee Tolkien" though. *
> 
> 
> * Yeah yeah I know! I'm joking.
> 
> Jeez. They can't all be gems.



He is not called so 😟 He is "Er er" Tolkien.
Russian Р is er


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Dats wot ah ment.


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## Elthir

Hmm. I don't recall seeing this idea before. Then again, maybe I just forgot.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Folio Society, if I'm not mistaken.


Edit: I am.


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## Elthir

Kinda like the simplicity of this Silmarillion cover. This is by Miquel Roig, done simple to re-cover his own book . . . so not really in line with the thread, but . . .


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Elthir said:


> not really in line with the thread, but . . .


I imagine it's special to _him._


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

The first paperbacks ever published:


That's Ace regular Jack Gaughan.

All else aside, Tolkien preferred these illustrations over the Ballantines, of which he could make neither head nor tail.


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## Starbrow

Is that supposed to be a Nazgul on Pegasus on the cover of The Two Towers


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## Erestor Arcamen

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> The first paperbacks ever published:
> 
> View attachment 6851View attachment 6852View attachment 6853
> That's Ace regular Jack Gaughan.
> 
> All else aside, Tolkien preferred these illustrations over the Ballantines, of which he could make neither head nor tail.



That Nazgul (obviously Khamul the Easterling) looks like a cowboy riding a bucking bronco.

🍔


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## Elthir

I partially blame Ace Books for Tolkien's revised foreword. Cough. Anyway, that might be what I call "artistic brevity", merging a Nazgul's steed with a Ringwraith's horsey?

And despite having several, perfectly beautiful first edition Silmarillions, I want this one too. I didn't know this second book existed till today (Beren And Luthien)










Lee covers below. Not sure the second one was actually printed for the public.




 



I was fortunate enough to (be allowed to) purchase an edition (the English version) signed by Christopher Tolkien and Alan Lee. And I sent out my crebain very early to find a signed copy before the prices shot up. I'm old but sill quick!

🐾


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Yeah, there are "collector's editions" of most of them.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that!"


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## Elthir

I seem to remember a rumor (gasp!) that Christopher Tolkien preferred not to have a monster (in this case Glaurung) on the cover, and so the dragon version cover of COH (pictured above) wasn't ultimately used?

I might have dreamed that though. And speaking of nap time . . .


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

That is a pretty cool illustration though.


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## Elthir

Agreed.


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## Olorgando

Alice Alice said:


> And nadmozg version too
> 
> View attachment 6839


I have seen *that* picture of Bilbo somewhere in my books … 🤔


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## Olorgando

Alice Alice said:


> This is the best Tolkien's biography I've read (I have a few). Unfortunately, it seems it was never translated into English
> View attachment 6836


Same picture as on Verlyn Flieger's "A Question of Time …" from 1997 - at least my paperback version of it.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Olorgando said:


> I have seen *that* picture of Bilbo somewhere in my books … 🤔


Hildebrandts.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Elthir said:


> Agreed.


I wonder if the rejected -- if that is the case -- cover for CoH would have sold more copies, because dragon-lovers.


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## Elthir

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I wonder if the rejected -- if that is the case -- cover for CoH would have sold more copies, because dragon-lovers.




Hmm. Good question. This "dragon cover" painting isn't even in my edition of COH!

I wonder it it's in the English special, "boxed" (is that the right word? Slipcase?) edition?


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

I can't recall seeing it before either.


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## Olorgando

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Hildebrandts.


Having a sneaking suspicion … the artists - Brothers Hildebrandt - who did artwork for Daniel Grotta's "Architect of Middle-earth"!
Originally (Grotta's book) fron 1976/78, reprinted (I wonder why?) in 1992.
The Hildebrandt copyright is from 1991, so perhaps the artwork was made-to-order for the 1992 re-issue.
Some of it pathetically Disney or even worse.
Probably from the 1993 or 1994 vacation by own car to Ireland (three weeks in Eire, four weeks total) where I grabbed *everything* that had JRRT printed on the cover, prowling bookstores in Dublin, Cork and Galway like Grendel in Heorot, to my wife's despair …


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## Alice

Oh and that's the only official Russian edition of Unfinished Tales. Still many Tolkien's works are not published


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## Olorgando

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I don't think he would have liked being called "Peepee Tolkien" though. *
> * Yeah yeah I know! I'm joking.
> Jeez. They can't all be gems.


mazzly, we need that "rolleyes" in the like selection.
Gotta do it this way: 🙄🙄🙄


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## Elthir

The Hildebrandt brothers did have Disney aspirations [from their website]: "For years the brothers dreamed of becoming Disney animators. While they did not work for Disney, they became animators and documentary filmmakers, winning the Golden Eagle award for Project Hope."

Anyway, I kind of like this one of Galadriel at least -- from one of their early Tolkien calendars. Sometimes the figure "feels" like a sculpture somehow . . . and no doubt I have some "youthful attachment" when I see their art.


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## Olorgando

Let's see if this works:


OK, kind of large … next one

and the third


These are the covers of my Unwin Paperbacks / George Allen & Unwin paperbacks from 1984, 1983 and 1983 respectively.
TTT has over 100 loose sheets in it by now, which is why I bought the hardcovers illustrated by Alan Lee in 2002.


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## Deleted member 12094

I just "stumbled" on this tread - very nice contributions by all of you (particularly you, Alice) and an excellent idea from Erestor Arcamen to start this! 

I'll add my 5 cents here if I may.

Herewith the Dutch LotR paperback edition (easily 50+ years old) that introduced me for the first time to Tolkien's writings.


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## Rivendell_librarian

Elthir said:


> Hmm. I don't recall seeing this idea before. Then again, maybe I just forgot.


Who produced this edition?


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## Rivendell_librarian

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Folio Society, if I'm not mistaken.
> 
> 
> Edit: I am.
> View attachment 6850


That looks like a Folio limited edition which came out as I recall after I'd bought their standard edition. I was tempted but decided I quite liked what I had already as it used the same artwork and you were paying for the nice goatskin binding (what about the goat(s)!)


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## Olorgando

Merroe said:


> I just "stumbled" on this tread - very nice contributions by all of you (particularly you, Alice) and an excellent idea from Erestor Arcamen to start this!
> I'll add my 5 cents here if I may.
> Herewith the Dutch LotR paperback edition (easily 50+ years old) that introduced me for the first time to Tolkien's writings.


Overall title "IN DE BAN VAN DE RING", very interesting.
That would seem to translate into German as "Im Banne des Ringers", more literally (but not quite proper German) "In dem Bann(e) von dem Ring". (The German overall title ist "Der Herr der Ringe", so literally LoTR.)
If I've translated correctly, the Dutch title would be "Under the Spell of The Ring"?


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## Deleted member 12094

Olorgando said:


> Under the Spell of The Ring



Yes, that is correct, Olorgando.

Its name has always been this way in Dutch/Flemish - don't ask me why.

Paraphrasing this title, in the Flemish press I could read, at the occasion of the announcement of Christopher's death, that a.o. he had always lived "under the spell of his father" (_"In de Ban van zijn Vader"_) ... !


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Rivendell_librarian said:


> Who produced this edition?


Juniper Books.









The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Sets


Celebrate the release of The Rings of Power on Amazon with this fantastic 3-book set and dust jackets featuring an original Juniper Books illustration inspired by the Eye of Sauron.




www.juniperbooks.com





They have at least one other set that I saw.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Rivendell_librarian said:


> That looks like a Folio limited edition which came out as I recall after I'd bought their standard edition. I was tempted but decided I quite liked what I had already as it used the same artwork and you were paying for the nice goatskin binding (what about the goat(s)!)


You are correct, it's the limited edition. I didn't buy either, though I did get a copy of Hobbit. The problem for me was they didn't use the corrected edition (not that I agree with everything done there, either).


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## Olorgando

Merroe said:


> Its name has always been this way in Dutch/Flemish - don't ask me why.


If I remember my biographical books correctly, the Dutch/Flemish and the Swedish translations were the very first. And two that raised JRRT's hackles the most, too. Bits about "naturalizing" these supremely English books to The Netherland and Sweden, to which JRRT took quite strenuous objection. It was what caused him to create his "_Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings_" in 1967, one of the beneficiaries of which was the first (of two, the latter translation being from the 1990s with issues of its own) German translators, Margaret Carroux and Ebba-Margareta von Freymann (poems). Case in point, the Elves are called "Elben" in German, much closer to the term "Alb" found in many Germanic languages and very much meaning the Nordic concept of Elves. What raises *my* hackles is when the private TV channel that has the TV rights for Germany refers to Arwen as "Feenkönigin"! First, she is not a queen of the *Elves*, and that blasted term "Fee" is derived from French and very much in deepest Tinkerbell (or Shakespeare) territory!!!!!


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## Alice

Well, Squint-Eyed Southerner made me do this. Here is small video with sound, where I show each cover of my first LOTR set (I speak with an accent)


__
http://instagr.am/p/CAc9PMpHb9e/


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

That's right: I'm sending you on an adventure.

Call me Gandalf.


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## Erestor Arcamen

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> That's right: I'm sending you on an adventure.
> 
> Call me Gandalf.


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## Deleted member 12094

Alice Alice said:


> Here is small video with sound



I liked the owl, too !


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## Alice

Merroe said:


> I liked the owl, too !


Oh, thanks. I have a small collection of owls


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## Olorgando

I'll give my three JRRT bookshelves a try (I wonder when I start getting flamed by mazzly). This excludes the three German LoTR volumes, just couldn't fit them in here.


Did this with my ancient digital camera - remember those strange thingies? did nothing but take pictures?


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## Olorgando

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> That's right: I'm sending you on an adventure.
> 
> Call me Gandalf.


Right.
Ol' geezer sends one Hobbit to have conversations with a huge dragon, the other to mess around the inside of a volcano ...

Maybe I need to change my avatar …


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

"Ol' Ian" looks geezerish enough.

But there's always Google Image Search. . .


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## CirdanLinweilin

Olorgando said:


> Ol' geezer sends one Hobbit to have conversations with a huge dragon, the other to mess around the inside of a volcano ...


Put it that way, no wonder people thought him a "disturber" and quite cracked. Can I say, "Delegation for Hobbits Endangered by Wizards, in Law." Hey, Ellessar, get on that.

XD

CL


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## Olorgando

CirdanLinweilin said:


> Put it that way, no wonder people thought him a "disturber" and quite cracked. Can I say, "Delegation for Hobbits Endangered by Wizards, in Law." Hey, Ellessar, get on that.
> XD
> CL


Gave it some more thought.
Now for TH, it's Gandalf's fault entirely. Even harangues those sensible Dwarves to do something they clearly see as daft.

But in LoTR? Not Gandalf's fault alone.

Item: at the Council of Elrond, there are plenty of other people who should be sensible, besides the council chairman, Glorfindel, Aragorn ...
What do they do? Add *three more* Hobbits to the Fellowship. Though then again, Elrond had doubts about Merry and especially Pippin, so it's mostly Gandalf's fault again. Nine Nazgûl, pitted against them one who can deal with some of them, two doubtfuls in Aragorn and Legolas, one highly unlikely in Gimli - and to fill up to nine, four Hobbits?!?

Item: the eight remaining of the Fellowship show up in Lórien, having just lost their by far most powerful member. So what to Galadriel and Celeborn do? Give them some marginally useful stuff (ok, the margins often just making a difference) … and send them onwards again!

Item: Faramir finds two Hobbits, who want to continue on their quest accompanied by a murderous cannibal degenerate near-wraith of their kind … and he sends them onwards, too.

Plenty of people with some serious optimism overload! 🧐😉


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Now I'm sorry I brought it up. 

Back to books. Since we're now putting our collections on display, here's mine:



Some duplicates, especially with the paperbacks -- I can't resist a nice pristine old copy, when I see one.

Though I haven't been able to assemble a set of first-printing Ballantines yet.


----------



## Olorgando

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Now I'm sorry I brought it up.


I was satirizing the "sensible" view at that point in time in M-e, 3018/19 TA.
Isildur muffed the ultimate sensible thig to do 3019 years earlier.
There were plenty of times in the intervening ,millennia when being sensible in certain situations would have been a better idea.
Like King Eärnur of Gondor not accepting that second challenge by the Witch-King and riding to Minas Morgul. Plenty of others.
By 3018/19 being sensible was hopeless. That was one of the very rare occasions in any kind of History for desparate measures.
But one point JRRT drove home relentlessly (if not quite openly as a narrator) was that giving up was not an option.
Pointed out by most if not all authors who wrote about his works.

Of which authors it seems you (and possibly Alice) also have collected several volumes.
I mean, non-JRRT-nerds, looking at Alice's JRRT library, then mine, then yours (and probably that of quite a few other members here) ...
How sensible do *we* probably seem to these people, who would probably consider *themselves* sensible?

To which I would simply answer 😛😛😛😛😛

P.S. to mazzly: I think we could also use a nose-thumbing thingy in the smilies collection ....


----------



## Barliman

Elthir said:


> I bought my first edition _The Lord of the Rings_ in Winchester, years ago (okay, technically my wife bought it for me) -- with the Tolkien covers from EA's library (above). My favorite one volume edition (purchased last century by me) is this red gem!
> 
> View attachment 6820


I gave a copy of that one to my g/f in 1972.
Funnily enough, when the movies came out I was complaining about The Fellowship of The Ring on (I assume) another forum and I got an email from her saying she knew it was me when she read it, even though we hadn't talked since 1973.



Alice Alice said:


> Well, I think you will never guess which Tolkien book it is. It is Soviet edition and this dragon is amazing. One of my favourites
> View attachment 6830


LOL, I love that!
I want one!! 
Not that I can read Russian 



Alice Alice said:


> Well, maybe I should upload all of my Tolkien collection as it's quite big.
> The higher shelf is in Russian, the lower is in English (mostly)
> View attachment 6833
> And below is photo of myself with my first LOTR edition (it is so dear to me)
> View attachment 6835


Very nice!
I'll post a photo of my first LoTR (without me in it of course. Unlike yours, I'd detract from it.



Alice Alice said:


> And nadmozg version too
> 
> View attachment 6839


Hmm, I have that artwork, i can't remember if it's a book cover, in a book or a poster.



Alice Alice said:


> Maybe you didn't know that, but Elrond actually was a girl. In opinion of the illustrator, of course
> 
> View attachment 6840


LOL And Gandalf apparently escaped from Disney World.


----------



## Alice

Barliman said:


> LOL And Gandalf apparently escaped from Disney World.



Yes, he is cute there. And Bilbo is like a child


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Barliman said:


> Very nice!
> I'll post a photo of my first LoTR (without me in it of course. Unlike yours, I'd detract from it.


Fully agree. You won't see me on here either. If anyone wonders, check my avatar, and add add ugly factor.


----------



## Alice

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Fully agree. You won't see me on here either. If anyone wonders, check my avatar, and add add ugly factor.



It's your right, though I don't believe in your ugliness


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Believe me, you don't wanna know. Ask Barliman.


----------



## Elthir

WOW. Some bookshelf-bending collections here! Awesome. 

I don't own a cell phone, so I can't add a snap of my collection, but clearly I need to catch up to some of you folks! I do have a couple of gems that I want to mention however . . . I know, but hey, if I can't mention them here in a Tolkien forum -- I mean, just about everyone else I know can barely stay awake if I dare mention my Tolkien collection. 

😴 

Okay. I have two books from Tolkien's personal library (many thanks to my Crebain again). 
_Not_ Middle-earth related, but . . .

A) One is signed in Tolkien's "calligraphic hand" . . . so I feel I own a bit of JRRT's art! 

And it's hidden on my bookshelf better than Luthien in Doriath! Not sure why. Does the average thief steal books written in German -- about the German language? I'm going to say yes, just to make me feel sane.

B) _Ormulum_: a pamphlet style "book" initialed by J.R.R.T. and inscribed to someone. For years I couldn't make out the name of this other person, until Hammond and Scull published their huge, two volume Tolkien guides -- and one single reference to this person was all I needed.

Thanks H&S!

C) _The Children of Hurin_ signed by Christopher Tolkien and Alan Lee. It does not include that awesome Alan Lee illustration of Glaurung outside Nargothrond, however. Why? And why am I whining about what it _doesn't_ have!

D) _The Rhinegold And The Valkyrie_ signed by Arthur Rackham. Hmm. How did that make this list!

Anyway, Feanor teaches me that I shouldn't love too much the work of my hands -- in these cases, not my hands, but . . . 

. . . in any case, "too much" is so subjective


----------



## Barliman

Here are 3 no one has posted, though not rare.


The first one I read.




And some book plates I have.


I'll post some more after I clear the shelves in front of them from all the toy Land Rovers so i can get to them.


----------



## Alice

Oh I've got the first one in russian, though my edition is far more shiny


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Hey -- I got me summa dem bookplates!
Wherja get yers?


----------



## Barliman

Alice Alice said:


> Well, Squint-Eyed Southerner made me do this. Here is small video with sound, where I show each cover of my first LOTR set (I speak with an accent)


He does that. He made come watch it. LOL
He's a wise owl 

Love the book covers! Thanks for showing them.

edited because of Guiness


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I maed you see the maid.


----------



## Alice

Barliman said:


> He does that. He maed me come watch it. LOL
> He's a wise owl
> 
> Love the book covers! Thanks for showing them.



Yes, but he is wiser than owl. He is wise like Gandalf


----------



## Barliman

Alice Alice said:


> Oh I've got the first one in russian, though my edition is far more shiny


Do you mean the Hobbit? Mine is quite shiny, but didn't come through in the photo.
If you mean the first one I read, yeah, mine has been through many reads and many moves.


----------



## Alice

Barliman said:


> Do you mean the Hobbit? Mine is quite shiny, but didn't come through in the photo.
> If you mean the first one I read, yeah, mine has been through many reads and many moves.



No, I mean my Hobbit edition with same cover, but in Russian


----------



## Elthir

Barliman said:


> ( . . . ) And some book plates I have.



LOL Barliman. I have that Tolkien caricature on a mug in which I keep a pine cone from Tolkien's beloved pine (this tree is sadly gone now).

🐾


----------



## Barliman

Elthir said:


> LOL Barliman. I have that Tolkien caricature on a mug in which I keep a pine cone from Tolkien's beloved pine (this tree is sadly gone now).
> 
> 🐾


Nice.
They were keeping the place pretty clean when I was there, no pine cones lying about.
Though customs would have probably seized it when I came home. Actually I may have posted a photo of me under the tree somewhere here.


----------



## Elthir

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Fully agree. You won't see me on here either. If anyone wonders, check my avatar . . .




I used to model parachutes.





Granted, no one asked me to.

And I never said this was me. 

See my avatar -- add parachute 🐾


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

The Cat in the Sack.

After closer inspection:

The Cat in the Tats.


----------



## CirdanLinweilin

Olorgando said:


> Gave it some more thought.
> Now for TH, it's Gandalf's fault entirely. Even harangues those sensible Dwarves to do something they clearly see as daft.
> 
> But in LoTR? Not Gandalf's fault alone.
> 
> Item: at the Council of Elrond, there are plenty of other people who should be sensible, besides the council chairman, Glorfindel, Aragorn ...
> What do they do? Add *three more* Hobbits to the Fellowship. Though then again, Elrond had doubts about Merry and especially Pippin, so it's mostly Gandalf's fault again. Nine Nazgûl, pitted against them one who can deal with some of them, two doubtfuls in Aragorn and Legolas, one highly unlikely in Gimli - and to fill up to nine, four Hobbits?!?
> 
> Item: the eight remaining of the Fellowship show up in Lórien, having just lost their by far most powerful member. So what to Galadriel and Celeborn do? Give them some marginally useful stuff (ok, the margins often just making a difference) … and send them onwards again!
> 
> Item: Faramir finds two Hobbits, who want to continue on their quest accompanied by a murderous cannibal degenerate near-wraith of their kind … and he sends them onwards, too.
> 
> Plenty of people with some serious optimism overload! 🧐😉


Well, this case has taken quite the turn!

CL


----------



## Elthir

Barliman said:


> edited because of Guiness



😄

Also, after my theft, my wife and I had several "cone chats" with respect to customs. I argued that the tree "gave" it to me and I couldn't disappoint it. That didn't work. So I hid the precious thing in a bag, within a bag, within a bag, within yet another bag. . . 

. . . until "bag end"  

And ultimately the customs folk merely nodded at us, checked nothing, and didn't ask us a single question about Tolkien, or anything else.


----------



## Olorgando

CirdanLinweilin said:


> Well, this case has taken quite the turn!
> CL


So thought S-eS, too; my response:









Tolkien Book Covers


I just "stumbled" on this tread - very nice contributions by all of you (particularly you, Alice) and an excellent idea from Erestor Arcamen to start this! :) I'll add my 5 cents here if I may. Herewith the Dutch LotR paperback edition (easily 50+ years old) that introduced me for the first...




www.thetolkienforum.com





Satire at the keyboard has its drawbacks, as I see over and over again.
May be like reading a movie or whatever script without seeing what, say, Jim Carrey does with his rather expressive face while performing this text, delivering his lines - world of difference. 😶 vs. 🤪


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Well now, that wasn't _totally _satire.

Except on me!


----------



## Olorgando

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Well now, that wasn't _totally _satire.
> 
> Except on me!


Erm … would it help if you tried to imagine John Cleese in his most deadpan (hardly anyone could / can do deadpan like John Cleese) Monty Python mode reading my "more thought" text?


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Oops -- I err.
Sorry, mein Hair!


----------



## Olorgando

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Oops -- I err.
> Sorry, mein Hair!
> View attachment 6903


Very close, Cleese! 😀
But I'm sure he can deaden that pan even more … 🍳 I'm thinking to near-robotic (1950's sci-fi robots at that 👾 )


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner




----------



## Olorgando

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> View attachment 6905


Better: smooth forehead, no more visible wrinkles; worse: that insipid smile! Deadpan does not smile (at least the one I' trying to visualize). Something more like an inscrutable butler face, maybe like Jeeves from P.G. Wodehouse's stories ...


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

That was me saying "Nuh-uh!".


----------



## Elthir

Tolkien based.


----------



## Elthir

Nice special edition Hobbit (Harper Collins)


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Not particularly good pics of the American First Editions:

I own a copy of only the first volume. Not, I hasten to add, a first _printing, _but still I suppose it holds pride of place in my small collection.

Nothing like the stuff wot Elthir got, tho!


----------



## Elthir

Nice S-eS! I'll add that my first edition LOTR (pictured in EA's original post) is also not a first printing.

Cats modeling parachutes only make so many jools


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I know nothing about _jools._


----------



## Elthir

I'm sorry, jewels as in money. Or did you mean something else?


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I mean as in the Gaffer.


----------



## Elthir

Oh, I get it now. I need another nap to sharpen my senses.





Also, I've always liked this dragon by JRRT. And it really stands out in this version.


----------



## Alice

Tolkien's dragon looks good there too


----------



## Elthir

Agreed Alice Alice! And since I can't help myself . . . more dragon!


----------



## Ithilethiel

TrackerOrc said:


> The three volumes were the first ones I owned many years ago, and coincidentally, I now have the 50th Anniversary edition too.
> 
> I also have a one-volume edition, with illustrations by Alan Lee, with (if I remember correctly) the front cover showing Gollum, Frodo and Sam at the Black Gate.
> 
> I don't know if it's just me, but I always throw away the slip-covers on any hardback books I own.



I don't toss dustcovers but I do always take them off the book while reading it. If you don't the hardcover slips and slides all over the place. I put the dustcover back on after finishing, if I can find it


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Elthir said:


> Nice S-eS! I'll add that my first edition LOTR (pictured in EA's original post) is also not a first printing.
> 
> Cats modeling parachutes only make so many jools


You made me curious, so I looked mine up. Fifteenth printing. Purchased as part of a Second edition boxed set, where it for some reason had replaced the S. E. Fellowship, thus:


Not that I was complaining! 


BTW, I think I owe a belated apology; I should have used quotation marks:

"I know nothing about _jools_".

Now I'd better restore the books to their proper shelf, before MiniSmaug takes a bite.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I've seen some of the fellow's stuff. Yes, he's good. And yes, you lucked out on that one.

Good for you for sticking to your guns. You wouldn't want to end up like this guy.


----------



## CirdanLinweilin

Speaking of cover art, and pretty off-topic: (SORRY! XD)


But I think the art I shared online, once fully done up, will be the art for my Fantasy.





(always on the lookout for artists!)

CL


----------



## Elthir

I'd like to try and draw an Ent someday. Unfortunately I work only slightly faster than an Ent (or I used to, at least).

Computers provide speed to some artists nowadays though. For example, an old school Barry Smith drew every link in the mail here, of course. . .





. . . while recently I watched an artist click on "chainmail" and wherever the "brush" went, instant mail, available for shadow or whatever!


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Well, in the "old days", there was always Zipatone.


----------



## Elthir

Ah. Forgot about Zipatone!

I don't recall using it myself, although I did employ a different thingy -- type that had to be rubbed onto paper.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Letraset?


----------



## Elthir

That's it S-eS! Yep.

Plus, earlier I posted a Tolkienian dragon, forgetting that I could have posted it like this . . .


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Now that is funny. I have the book, but the earlier pic didn’t even resister. Shows how much I've been reading it.  

(Have read some, though).


----------



## Deleted member 12094

If you like cover pages, then here is the gold mine, at least for The Hobbit: 715 cover pages in 82 languages! Yes Alice, also in Russian - but only 72 of them… 

you will find them here, along with all editorial references.

It’s fascinating!


----------



## Alice

Merroe said:


> If you like cover pages, then here is the gold mine, at least for The Hobbit: 715 cover pages in 82 languages! Yes Alice, also in Russian - but only 72 of them…
> 
> you will find them here, along with all editorial references.
> 
> It’s fascinating!



Wow! Even I didn't know that there are 72 Hobbit covers in Russian and some Ukrainian too. It means that more then 10% of these covers are in Russian 😱


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Now _there's _a serious Hobbit collector!  
A Tolkien bookshop that serves beer? A worthy dream!


----------



## Barliman

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Now that is funny. I have the book, but the earlier pic didn’t even resister. Shows how much I've been reading it.


Ok, no more books as gifts for you. 😂


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I said I've read _some _of it! Have you read yours? Hmm? 🧐


----------



## Olorgando

Alice Alice said:


> Tolkien's dragon looks good there too
> 
> View attachment 6927


Exactly the same cover as on my hardcover "Hobbit" (where top and bottom cut off a bit, but it's slightly wider). 😀


----------



## Alice

Olorgando said:


> Exactly the same cover as on my hardcover "Hobbit" (where top and bottom cut off a bit, but it's slightly wider). 😀



It's "Monsters and the critics" 
Nice that they used this illustration for cover art


----------



## Ealdwyn

This is only special for sentimental reasons, as it's the version I first read. One unwieldy volume, ridiculously thin paper, and no proper maps.



This is the set I own. I bought these about 30 years ago and I remember being thrilled to finally have the big pull-out maps. 😍


----------



## Elthir

I like those Ealdwyn!

But hey, they left out Beleg Strongbow on that _Two Towers_ cover (at least on the front) 

🐾


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Alice has more Russian Tolkien books she could show us, but hesitates to do so, very modestly -- if mistakenly, IMHO -- believing there's already "too much of me" on this thread. So I'm carrying out my threat to post a few illustrations from one of the Russian artists -- but only the black-and-white; I'll leave the color paintings and covers to her. Maybe, if we all close our eyes, and wish _really hard, _we can get her to do it.

In the meantime, The Silmarillion:


The Hobbit:





LOTR:

Interesting takes, IMO.


PS, on "too much": given the amount of babbling I do here, I feel like responding in my Vincent Price voice -- with suitable curl of the lip:
_"You don't even know the meaning of the words". _


----------



## CirdanLinweilin

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Alice has more Russian Tolkien books she could show us, but hesitates to do so, very modestly believing there's already "too much of me" on this thread. So I'm carrying out my threat to post a few illustrations from one of the Russian artists -- but only the black-and-white; I'll leave the color paintings and covers to her. Maybe, if we all close our eyes, and wish _really hard, _we can get her to do it.
> 
> Meanwhile, The Silmarillion:
> View attachment 7055View attachment 7056View attachment 7057View attachment 7058
> 
> The Hobbit:
> View attachment 7059
> 
> LOTR:
> View attachment 7060View attachment 7061View attachment 7062View attachment 7063
> Interesting takes, IMO.
> 
> 
> PS, on "too much": given the amount of babbling I do here, I feel like responding in my Vincent Price voice -- with suitable curl of the lip:
> _"You don't even know the meaning of the words". _






These are amazing!!



And More Alice!



CL


----------



## Erestor Arcamen

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Alice has more Russian Tolkien books she could show us, but hesitates to do so, very modestly -- if mistakenly, IMHO -- believing there's already "too much of me" on this thread. So I'm carrying out my threat to post a few illustrations from one of the Russian artists -- but only the black-and-white; I'll leave the color paintings and covers to her. Maybe, if we all close our eyes, and wish _really hard, _we can get her to do it.
> 
> In the meantime, The Silmarillion:
> View attachment 7055View attachment 7056View attachment 7057View attachment 7058
> 
> The Hobbit:
> View attachment 7064
> View attachment 7059
> 
> 
> 
> LOTR:
> View attachment 7060View attachment 7061View attachment 7062View attachment 7063
> Interesting takes, IMO.
> 
> 
> PS, on "too much": given the amount of babbling I do here, I feel like responding in my Vincent Price voice -- with suitable curl of the lip:
> _"You don't even know the meaning of the words". _



Is that first one from LOTR the Paths of the Dead?


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I assume so.


----------



## Starbrow

I love the illustrations. Who are they by?


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Not to be coy, but I want to let Alice tell us about that. I hope that, now that I've posted some, she can be persuaded to come on here and fill us all in.

How about it, Alice dear? Won't you share more of your library with us, please?


----------



## Olorgando

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> In the meantime, The Silmarillion:
> View attachment 7055View attachment 7057
> PS, on "too much": given the amount of babbling I do here, ...


Awesome stuff, better that a lot that has received much more attention.
But the extreme discrepancy between the sizes of Huan and Carcharoth in these two pictures is seriously over the deep end.
I mean, Carcharoth was only able to wound Huan mortally by having been given poisenous fangs by Morgoth, while Huan took out Carcharoth by sheer superior fighting ability … and that maw would seem to me not only to have led to Beren's *hand* with the Silmaril getting bitten off, but Beren to the waist … or knees … or ankles … this is Tyrannosaurus rex territory!

PS: Babbling you do *here*? I obviously do not know the "Replies" totals you (and Conversation partners) have racked up in you PMs with other TTF members. Granted, as per sheer word count, I am the major offender in our Conversations … until one considers the ol' saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" …  😁


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

To paraphrase an old Jello ad, "There's _always _room for Hwasa!".

As for your other comments, the usual answer must suffice: "artistic license".


----------



## Ealdwyn

Olorgando said:


> Awesome stuff, better that a lot that has received much more attention.
> But the extreme discrepancy between the sizes of Huan and Carcharoth in these two pictures is seriously over the deep end.
> I mean, Carcharoth was only able to wound Huan mortally by having been given poisenous fangs by Morgoth, while Huan took out Carcharoth by sheer superior fighting ability … and that maw would seem to me not only to have led to Beren's *hand* with the Silmaril getting bitten off, but Beren to the waist … or knees … or ankles … this is Tyrannosaurus rex territory!



Oh pfft! Just look at the pretty pictures already! 😜
(the Carcharoth one is my favourite)


----------



## Olorgando

Olorgando said:


> Granted, as per sheer word count, I am the major offender in our Conversations … until one considers the ol' saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" …





Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> To paraphrase an old Jello ad, "There's _always _room for Hwasa!".


Which brings me to the topic of YouTube videos (a delayed reaction, granted).
How many (still) pictures is a (song) video worth? To even the score with pure text blabbing (as is my wont outside the music thread) I'd probably wear out three keyboards, or something like that … 🥴


----------



## Olorgando

Ealdwyn said:


> Oh pfft! Just look at the pretty pictures already! 😜
> (the Carcharoth one is my favourite)


Are you so fortunate as to not be stricken by "morning breath"? 
And carnivores without opposable thumbs are not able to brush their teeth ...
Even assuming Carcharoth was only yawning in that above picture, the fumes one must assume to have escaped would probably melt a medium-sized glacier - not necessarily a problem for Lúthien, certainly not for that Silmaril … but how could Beren have stayed on his feet in such a poison-gas attack?


----------



## grendel

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Now _there's _a serious Hobbit collector!
> A Tolkien bookshop that serves beer? A worthy dream!


That settles it! Short cuts make delays, but beer makes longer ones. At all costs we must keep Squint-eyes Southerner away from the Tolkien bookshop!


----------



## Olorgando

grendel said:


> Squint-eyed Southerner said:
> 
> 
> 
> Now _there's _a serious Hobbit collector!
> A Tolkien bookshop that serves beer? A worthy dream!
> 
> 
> 
> That settles it! Short cuts make delays, but beer makes longer ones. At all costs we must keep Squint-eyes Southerner away from the Tolkien bookshop!
Click to expand...

I'm of two minds about grendel's injunction.
Facilities serving beer and other beverages of varying "torque" - aka bars - have been hit hard by the lockdown, more so than restaurants, which were allowed to do take-away business, at least. So I would have sympathy for a "support your local bar" initiative. 🙂
But then my selfish side raises its ugly head and whispers to me "keeping Squint-eyed Southerner away from the locality leaves more for *yourself*, stupid!" 😏
But then *again*: I would have to test the beer available there to find out if it agrees with my taste; I've become pretty much a Pilsner-type-only fan (and yes, we Germans can be awful snobs about beer 🧐 ). 🤔


----------



## Barliman

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I said I've read _some _of it! Have you read yours? Hmm? 🧐


Of course not LOL


----------



## Tulukastaz

I've gone through the nine pages here, and I didn't find anyone post the newest Finnish LR Book Cover...
Taru Sormusten Herrasta - (strict translate would be - Tale of the Lord of the Rings or more strict The tale of the Rings Lord)
compare: Sormusten Herra (strict translate would be - Lord of the Rings)


----------



## rollinstoned

(Not my pic) i think this Hobbit version is so cute. I love the illustrations too. 

Also sorry if it was already shared.....


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I don't think so. Do you know the publisher and/or date?


----------



## rollinstoned

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I don't think so. Do you know the publisher and/or date?


2013 - Hardback, 2017 - Paperback, Harper Collins. _From the official Tolkien Bookshop page:

"_The first new illustrated edition of The Hobbit for more than 15 years contains 150 brand new colour illustrations. Artist Jemima Catlin’s charming and lively interpretation brings Tolkien’s beloved characters to life in a way that will entice and entertain a new generation of readers.

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable and quiet life. His contentment is disturbed one day when the wizard, Gandalf, and the dwarves arrive to take him away on an adventure.

Smaug certainly looked fast asleep, when Bilbo peeped once more from the entrance. He was just about to step out on to the floor when he caught a sudden thin ray of red from under the drooping lid of Smaug’s left eye. He was only pretending to sleep! He was watching the tunnel entrance!

Whisked from his comfortable hobbit-hole by Gandalf the wizard and a band of dwarves. Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon…"


*ISBN-10:* 0007497903
*ISBN-13:* 978-0007497904


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Hey, thanks.

150 illustrations?! Gotta get a copy!


----------



## Halasían

Elthir said:


>



These were the covers of the paperbacks I borrowed from my neighbor in 1975 and was my first read of Fellowship & Two Towers. Because my neighbor stalled in his reading of Return of the King I ended up checking out the hardback from the local library so my first reading of Return of the King was from 1957 printing. I had read it through once by the time my neighbor loaned me his paperback.

I later found a well-used set of these early 1970's vintage paperbacks at a garage sale in 1976 and my re-reads began. When I got married the first time my wife had an almost new set of these same paperbacks as she only read the story once. When we divorced, I managed to leave my old worn out set with her and took the clean set which I still have!

I also picked up this Return of the King at a yard sale and used it extensively as an appendices study. 





I had a heap of post-it tags sticking out of it. Still have it but it's at my brother's house.


----------



## Olorgando

In English terms (not British!) my copier / printer / scanner and I still seem not to have been introduced to each other "properly". After some flailing about (including creating a photo file of 99.7 MEGA-bytes) I think I have nevertheless managed to produce something useful that does not give mazzly fits. I'll split it into a post per book.

"Fellowship" 2002 hardcover illustrated by Alan Lee, front and back.


----------



## Olorgando

Same for "TTT"


----------



## Olorgando

Same for "RoTK"


----------



## Olorgando

As a "bonus", I'll add my Hardcover of Robert Foster's "Complete Guide to Middle-earth, illustrated by Ted Nasmith.


----------



## Olorgando

Seems at least two of you are easy to please ...
Egging me on to do more of the same ... whatever, it's your fault.

Children of Húrin 2007, illustrated by Alan Lee as are the next two, front and back of hard covers


----------



## Olorgando

Beren & Lúthien



Huan is a HUGE pooch ...


----------



## Olorgando

Fall of Gondolin


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Searching through old threads reminded me of a post I made a year ago about cover art for an upcoming Swedish edition. These are now out:


----------



## CirdanLinweilin

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Searching through old threads reminded me of a post I made a year ago about cover art for an upcoming Swedish edition. These are now out:
> View attachment 7681View attachment 7682View attachment 7683View attachment 7684


These are pretty cool!


CL


----------



## Elthir

Nice art for the Swedish Editions!

My only "criticism" is the seeming relative emphasis on the bad guys -- even considering we are only working with three LOTR covers! I admit.

I imagine* Huan* a bit larger than in Alan Lee's depiction. On the other hand, Luthien was probably as light as a Linden leaf on his powerful back.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Elthir said:


> My only "criticism" is the seeming relative emphasis on the bad guys


Yes, well, they're a rather dour people, I understand.


----------



## Elthir

Actually, I'm already a fan of this artist! I thought I recognized the style. He did a nice book about the Norse Gods.






Here's his Silmarillion cover . . . erm, after his Thor.



Thor
JOHAN EGERKRANS











Balder
JOHAN EGERKRANS



🐾


----------



## Olorgando

A slight change of pace.
one of JRRT's non-Middle-earth books, another children's story, and in origin several years older then "The Hobbit".
Both illustrations are by JRRT himself.


----------



## Aldarion

I bought these:





Specifically because Tolkien was one who designed the cover. Plus, it _is_ both simple and effective.


----------



## Midhiel

Olorgando said:


> In English terms (not British!) my copier / printer / scanner and I still seem not to have been introduced to each other "properly". After some flailing about (including creating a photo file of 99.7 MEGA-bytes) I think I have nevertheless managed to produce something useful that does not give mazzly fits. I'll split it into a post per book.
> 
> "Fellowship" 2002 hardcover illustrated by Alan Lee, front and back.
> 
> View attachment 7601
> View attachment 7602


We have many of the same editions! I also have the Alan Lee hardbacks, and the same copies of B&L and Gondolin.

I have a newer clothbound copy of The Hobbit which is really wonderful:



I just discovered that there are matching editions of LOTR, so now I am in need of those... Unfortunately, I no longer work in a bookstore, and without the employee discount I can no longer justify buying so many fancy copies of books I already own 😆


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Alice is busy with her university studies, so I'll try to fill in, for now, with some more illustrations for the Russian editions, by the artist Denis Gordeyev (or "Gordeev")whose work I posted on page 8. First, The Silmarillion, and The Children of Hurin -- I confess I'm not certain which pics go with which books -- sorry.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner




----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Next, The Hobbit (I'm afraid I couldn't locate a pic of the cover):


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

And finally, LOTR:


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

That's a fair sampling. You can find many more online. I believe there were 30 for The Hobbit alone.


----------



## Ealdwyn

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> View attachment 8125View attachment 8126View attachment 8127View attachment 8128View attachment 8129View attachment 8130
> View attachment 8134
> View attachment 8131View attachment 8132
> 
> That's a fair sampling. You can find many more online. I believe there were 30 for The Hobbit alone.


I love these, althought I'm slightly disturbed by the Ents 😬


----------



## rollinstoned

Not sure if i mentioned these before, but what does everyone think of these? it is the new for 2020 paperback box set design.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I take it this is a UK edition?


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I finally located the cover for Gordeyev's Hobbit.


It's a 2016 edition.

While I'm at it, I'll add a few more of his I found.


Here's a question: If the US or UK publishers secured the rights to these illustrations, and published them in English-language editions, do you think they'd sell enough copies to make it worthwhile? Admittedly, it would probably be an expensive project.


----------



## Halasían

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I take it this is a UK edition?


Looks like a blob.

Here are my beloved paperbacks that I aquired from my 1st wife...


----------



## Starbrow

Halasian, those are the same as my original copy of the books that I fell in love with.


----------



## Halasían

Starbrow said:


> Halasian, those are the same as my original copy of the books that I fell in love with.


These are special to me as I managed to swap my raggety one-offs I collected for this once-read set. Don't think my ex ever noticed and likely lost the ones she had in one of her many moves. I knew in 1983 she would never ever read them again and I was right.


----------



## Olorgando

Here are the covers of three of my recent purchases (the cover of John Rateliff's "The History of The Hobbit" is very muted).

First, John Garth's "Tolkien and the Great War", with a ©2019 cover picture perhaps for this paperback reissue edition:


----------



## Olorgando

Then, the Index to HoMe, with a picture by John Howe entitled "The Grey Havens":


----------



## Olorgando

And last a study of (possible) JRRT sources, a collection of essays edited by Jason Fisher, cover picture by Ted Nasmith:


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

How is that last one? I haven't seen it.


----------



## Olorgando

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> How is that last one? I haven't seen it.


Definitely interesting.
It has a total of eleven essays by twelve authors (one is a collaboration by two authors), including one by Fisher himself (besides his preface). Besides Tom Shippey and John D. Rateliff, I had not read anything by any of the other authors, and had only heard respectively read _about_ Thomas Honegger, one of Germany's JRRT experts and a professor of medieval studies at the university in the city of Jena in Thuringia.
Fisher's preface and the first three essays take up the point about JRRT's stated disapproval of exactly what the book covers and defends source criticism (Shippey taking a philological tack, as might be expected). It kind of boils down to JRRT's also well-known "cordial dislike" of allegory - if done improperly. Both allegory and source criticism can be done properly, and Fisher's own essay shows how, but also warns against pitfalls that all too many take.
Then there are four essays about historical sources: Mesopotamia and the Bible, astronomy in classical legends, Goths and Langobards and Byzantium, Rohirrim as Anglo-Saxons (yes, if you add Goths to the mixture).
Then three writers, William Caxton (a 15th-cetury author / compiler), H. Rider Haggard, and John Buchan, the latter two acknowledged by JRRT himself as excellent modern writers.
The last essay studies what biographical matters may have found their way into JRRT's writing.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Thanks. I'll be on the lookout for it.


----------



## Akhôrahil

Elthir said:


> Here's Howe!
> 
> I have an English one volume paperback with this Gandalf illustration.
> It has added value in my head -- read bits of it at "The Bird and Baby"
> and more bits at the Lamb & Flag.


I used to work in Turkey for a couple of weeks and to spend some vacations there, but I only know a few words in turkish. As far as I recall people answered the phone bay saying something like "Efendim". I guess Efendi means lord or sir.


----------



## Licky Linguist

My old, battered version of LotR, three volumes in one  
The outer cover was cellotaped about twenty times, but it's perfectly clear and unfaded inside, no pages missing. 
1178 pages in total 🤭
The pages are a bit yellowish, and fragile, but that gives the perfect old-book feel when you're reading it. 
Along with the lingering smell of old paper...



Alice Alice said:


> Well, maybe I should upload all of my Tolkien collection as it's quite big.
> The higher shelf is in Russian, the lower is in English (mostly)
> View attachment 6833
> And below is photo of myself with my first LOTR edition (it is so dear to me)
> View attachment 6835


That's so, so special!! I wish I had a bookshelf with a collection like that, but I read books on Kindle 🤪



Tulukastaz said:


> I've gone through the nine pages here, and I didn't find anyone post the newest Finnish LR Book Cover...
> Taru Sormusten Herrasta - (strict translate would be - Tale of the Lord of the Rings or more strict The tale of the Rings Lord)
> compare: Sormusten Herra (strict translate would be - Lord of the Rings)
> 
> View attachment 7090


You sure that's a book? That looks like the real forging of the One Ring, burning through your table, to me 😬



Alice Alice said:


> This is the best Tolkien's biography I've read (I have a few). Unfortunately, it seems it was never translated into English
> View attachment 6836
> 
> And this is "The Hobbit" for children (it's children version of children's book). And Elrond is a girl here
> View attachment 6837


Off-topic, but why am I still seeing Russian as a styled Yiddish-English hybrid after poring over the alphabet for two months?!


----------



## Starbrow

> Anyway... If you ever want to sell those 3, please PM me and we can discuss an exchange.


I appreciate the offer, but I'll NEVER sell them. I have the same affection for them that you do. They are dear, old friends who will stay with me.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

That edition was a big seller, so copies are floating around. I recommend keeping an eye on ebay, and other sites. A quick Google shows a number for sale at the moment.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I saw one for $49, though it may be gone now. The key is to keep checking.

And if you have the time and patience, junk stores, flea markets, and yard sales. That set I showed earlier -- with a 1st edition Fellowship -- was picked up at a flea market for one dollar.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

One guy's take on book covers:


----------



## Oromedur

Old Silmarillion





New Silmarillion











There is an edition of LOTR covers I would dearly love to see again but can’t find them anywhere. I bought them from Waterstone’s in the UK circa 1991/92.
Pretty sure Fellowship was mostly dark green, The Two Towers was mostly blue and ROTK was mostly red. But the artwork was respectable and the image I have of the front of ROTK is Gandalf and Pippin riding to Minas Tirith with the palantir somehow visible.


----------



## Aldarion

Here there be my proud collection. As you can see, I'm a fan of the original Tolkien covers - in fact, the reason why I bought paperback edition of Lord of the Rings instead of hardcover is because paperback used Tolkien's cover while hardcover had some generic artwork.


----------



## Oromedur

Finally, finally I have managed to find online the versions of the LOTR volumes I first read.

I have chills.





Oh and this





Can anyone identify the artist from the above editions?


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I'm not sure about the UT cover -- may be John Howe.

The LOTR covers are by Ted Naismith.

BTW, while checking online to make sure, I first clicked "Ted Naismith Plates" -- thinking of "plates" as those in books -- but these appeared:



So, I guess if you like his style enough, you can decorate your walls with it. 😊


----------



## Olorgando

Oromedur said:


> Can anyone identify the artist from the above editions?





Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I'm not sure about the UT cover -- may be John Howe.


Yes, that Black Rider is by John Howe, plate 15 (of 18) of the illustrations in my Houghton Mifflin Harcourt edition - and on the back of the dust jacket, too.



Oromedur said:


> Finally, finally I have managed to find online the versions of the LOTR volumes I first read.
> 
> I have chills.


I just noticed that the cover for RoTK (the red book) is the same as the cover of my hardcover edition of Robert Foster's "The Complete Guide to Middle-earth", which I posted here earlier, on page 9:









Tolkien Book Covers


As a "bonus", I'll add my Hardcover of Robert Foster's "Complete Guide to Middle-earth, illustrated by Ted Nasmith.




www.thetolkienforum.com


----------



## Oromedur

Yes I knew the John Howe one, the LOTR ones I just wasn’t sure as if they are Ted Naismith they just aren’t don’t seem to be very prominent in his catalogue these days.
I like Asfaloth and Frodo in the picture and the waves, but the Black Riders not so much.

the Two Towers image captures really well the hardship endured by Frodo and Sam IMO.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

There was a series of portfolios printed in England, some years ago. I don't know if Naismith featured in it, but Barliman gave me John Howe's set. Regrettably, he kept my favorite's, Alan Lee, for himself. We wants it!

I wonder if some Russian publisher did any prints of the Gordeyev illustrations; I certainly wouldn't mind having some of those.

Though, like the Howe set, they'd have to remain in the portfolios, as all available wall space _chez moi _is occupied by bookshelves. 😞


----------



## Barliman

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> There was a series of portfolios printed in England, some years ago. I don't know if Naismith featured in it, but Barliman gave me John Howe's set. Regrettably, he kept my favorite's, Alan Lee, for himself. We wants it!


Mine Mine mine! Out out out! Mine mine! you hear me!?


----------



## Oromedur

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> There was a series of portfolios printed in England, some years ago. I don't know if Naismith featured in it, but Barliman gave me John Howe's set. Regrettably, he kept my favorite's, Alan Lee, for himself. We wants it!
> 
> I wonder if some Russian publisher did any prints of the Gordeyev illustrations; I certainly wouldn't mind having some of those.
> 
> Though, like the Howe set, they'd have to remain in the portfolios, as all available wall space _chez moi _is occupied by bookshelves. 😞


I’m going through planning just now for a double garage with home office above. Definitely planning on having so good Tolkien art on the walls.
Stuff like this:


[IMG alt="Beren and Luthien in the Court of Thingol and Melian
60 x 110 Oil on Linen 2015
the declaration of love for Luthien by Beren and Thingol's demand for a Silmaril, from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion
private collection"]https://0201.nccdn.net/4_2/000/000/...n-donato-1400-0164.jpg#RDAMDAID19463157[/IMG]


[IMG alt="The Taming of Sméagol
48 x 36 Oil on Panel 2011
collection of Bill Niemeyer"]https://0201.nccdn.net/4_2/000/000/056/7dc/tamingofsmeagol_final-0907.jpg#RDAMDAID19463150[/IMG]

Sorry, those attempted images were poor to say the least.

hopefully this one works.




upload picture


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Here are the previous ones:



You can upload pictures directly here. If you're having trouble with it, just ask.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

While going through some boxes today, I came across an edition of Return of the King not yet featured here. And then discovered a copy of The Two Towers from the same edition on my shelves. They're from Unwin Paprbacks, but the back covers say they're "the only authorized Canadian paperback editions". Odd, because many of the older Ballantine paperbacks list Canadian printings as well.




These images were online -- mine are even more beat up. They were available as a box set:

And apparently some variants:


I'm curious about these; does anyone know if they were unique to Canada? There's no printing history listed on the inside, other than the 50's first printing dates, and "Second edition George Allen & Unwin 1966. As the prices on my copies are $2.75, I doubt they're as early as that.


----------



## Barliman

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I'm curious about these; does anyone know if they were unique to Canada? There's no printing history listed on the inside, other than the 50's first printing dates, and "Second edition George Allen & Unwin 1966. As the prices on my copies are $2.75, I doubt they're as early as that.


Have you searched the ISBN numbers?





ISBN Search


Find books easily using ISBN, title, or author searches. Search using ISBN-10 or ISBN-13.




isbnsearch.org







Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> One guy's take on book covers:


My favorite comment on the video
'People who have watched only the movies be like, "Why is Shelob on the Two Towers cover?"'


----------



## Þráinn Þórhallsson

Here is an illustrated cover by Tove Jansson a writter and artist best known for her childrens book series the Moomins which most people who don't live in either Scandinavia or Japan are not familiar with
https://external-preview.redd.it/-s...bp&s=dd1b3c4cd31de09b396d74ed7b1ecce5c8432fed


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Worth showing!


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Barliman said:


> Have you searched the ISBN numbers?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ISBN Search
> 
> 
> Find books easily using ISBN, title, or author searches. Search using ISBN-10 or ISBN-13.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> isbnsearch.org


These came up:



Doesn't exactly pin them down. 😂


----------



## Starbrow

> While going through some boxes today, I came across an edition of Return of the King not yet featured here. And then discovered a copy of The Two Towers from the same edition on my shelves. They're from Unwin Paprbacks, but the back covers say they're "the only authorized Canadian paperback editions". Odd, because many of the older Ballantine paperbacks list Canadian printings as well.


S-eS, I think it's curious that pictures from The Hobbit are used for the covers on the LOTR books.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Curious indeed. I can only speculate about the reason; maybe they wanted covers by Tolkien, and those were the only ones available?


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Another Tove Jansson cover:


----------



## Radaghast

I first read the editions from the 80s with Darryl K. Sweet artwork. The covers and colors of each volume made a long lasting impression on me. I would think of FotR as 'the blue one', etc.
















I used to wonder who the guy in the purple cloak is. I guess Boromir?


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

It looks like the scene on Mount Mindolluin, so Aragorn.

Talk about spoilers! 😁


----------



## Radaghast

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> It looks like the scene on Mount Mindolluin, so Aragorn.
> 
> Talk about spoilers! 😁


Oh, whoops, should've specified. I meant on the FotR cover.

As far as spoilers, I guess they figured the title itself was a spoiler, so what the hey. I think Tolkien once complained about that to the publisher but went with RotK without much fuss. I myself would have picked 'The War of the Ring'.

Incidentally, Sweet did the cover art for the _Wheel of Time_ series. The difference in quality is kind of surprising.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Which is worse?


----------



## Radaghast

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Which is worse?


It's a matter of preference, I guess, but I like the art for the Tolkien books better.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Yeah, I couldn't figure out why he turned the trollocs in Wheel into guys in headdresses.

I was never a big fan, TBH.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Soooo. . .maybe after Boromir died, Aragorn said "Nice cloak -- no sense sending _that _over the falls!" 😂


----------



## Radaghast

Boromir looks rather short and slim there on the FotR cover. He's supposed to be a big, burly dude. The hobbits look kind of goofy too. The thing that impresses me most about the art is the backgrounds.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Yes, those are nice enough.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

More Juniper Books editions:


----------



## Erestor Arcamen

That black set is super slick looking 😍


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Yeah.
You can buy the dust jackets separately, to wrap your HM editions:









The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - Jackets Only Sets


Gorgeous, well-designed dust jackets by Juniper Books for your already-owned Lord of the Rings book set. Make your collection stand out with our green or neutral-inspired Eye of Sauron.




www.juniperbooks.com





Kind of a lot for three sheets of paper, IMO.


----------



## Radaghast

I prefer the single-volume edition. I have the 50th version of the book which I'm not sure is in print anymore. Wish I'd have taken better care of my copy :/ Not that I trashed it or anything. Also wish I could find a better picture.


----------



## Elthir

Already bought the first two examples here.

Plus, the artist Arthur Rackham with cats!























🐾


----------



## Erestor Arcamen

Thought these look really cool

"Take a look at Tove Jansson’s illustrations for a Swedish edition of The Hobbit. ‹ Literary Hub" https://lithub.com/take-a-look-at-tove-janssons-illustrations-for-a-swedish-edition-of-the-hobbit/


----------



## Radaghast

I like the illustrations but this is a pretty liberal interpretation of Gollum. Looks more like DC Comics' Swamp Thing 😂






Also, why is Bilbo in his pajamas?


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Geez. Makes you wonder how he managed to squeeze through those tunnels.😁


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I did a bit of superficial surfing and turned up this discussion, which goes some way toward explaining how the huge Gollum may have come about:

__
https://www.reddit.com/r/Finland/comments/1vco4m

Not that that's the only strange Gollum, by any means; I recall being bewildered by the way Pauline Baynes showed him, in the decorations for her 1970 map:

I tried to produce a closeup detail -- not very successfully:

It's not very clear, but Gollum has odd rings all over his body, making him look like a mummy -- or maybe a grub worm. 

I know Tolkien made some corrections on the map itself, before it was published, but I don't know if he saw the illustrations.

That said, she later did some different conceptions of him. And I like much of her other Tolkien work. I don't think these have appeared here yet:


----------



## Radaghast

Yeah, looks weird from what I can see. Also, like something is sticking from the top of his head, unless that's supposed to be his other arm. If so, it's at an odd angle.

I'm otherwise a big fan of Baynes' work. I'm surprised there aren't any better scans of that image.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Yes, it's his arm, and I agree, it's an odd pose.

There probably are better examples online somewhere -- I just couldn't find them.


----------



## Elthir

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I know Tolkien made some corrections on the map itself, before it was published, but I don't know if he saw the illustrations.



It's been stated that Tolkien generally disliked the Fellowship illustration above this map, and wrote 
his reactions to it. We've had some bits of these already, and I'm guessing we've got more, if not all of them, coming in *The Nature of Middle-Earth* (section "Descriptions of Characters") -- and would not be surprised to see commentary about the "bad guys" below the map.

The History of The Hobbit author claims Tolkien so disliked the top part that he [JRRT] had it removed before giving the map as a gift. If GNOME does indeed publish this, I'll be interested to see if this claim is confirmed.

🐾


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Elthir said:


> the Fellowship part of this map


You're talking about the illustrations at the top, I assume? I wonder what he thought of the "evil" characters at the bottom -- especially Gollum. 😁

BTW, the map itself is a somewhat "elongated" -- and therefore distorted -- version, which as I recall was necessary in order to fit the standard poster format.


----------



## Radaghast

Weird that she gave the Ringwraiths hats


----------



## Elthir

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> You're talking about the illustrations at the top, I assume?



Yep. You quoted a rejected version of my post above 

*My fault.* My first version was unclaritable . . . and I posted too fastly and edited too slowly.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

That's OK -- I try to be charitable. 😊


----------



## Elthir

I had the Pauline Baynes map on my wall once. It got ruined in an accident involving water and old pipes, but I have "always" wondered (since the womb?) . . . the colouring on the* bottom* of the Hobbit feet?

The leathery bottoms?


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Or the "feathery" bottoms?

Edit: Letter 228.


----------



## Elthir

Heathery?


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Dickory dock? 🤔


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Feathery duck?


OK, I'll stop now.


----------



## Elthir

And I will take my leave . . . for now at least.


----------



## Erestor Arcamen

Picked up an older copy of The Hobbit today from a vintage flea market


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Is that a "hardbacked" library version?


----------



## Erestor Arcamen

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Is that a "hardbacked" library version?


Yeah, 1970 $5 lol


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Now you need to find one with the lion. 😀


----------



## Erestor Arcamen

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Now you need to find one with the lion. 😀


This one?


J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit First... book


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Yep -- they removed it after complaints from the author. They kept the emus and the "Christmas tree" though. 😂


----------



## Erestor Arcamen

Going this German copy from Reddit that Mr. O might appreciate

__
https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/comments/qouz3l


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Why the "Little" Hobbit, I wonder? 🤔


----------



## Olorgando

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Why the "Little" Hobbit, I wonder? 🤔


Ask the publishers. The first translation of TH was from 1957 by Wolfgang Scherf - and the title at first translated into "Little Hobbit and the Big - or Great - Wizard"! It was then changed to "The Little Hobbit."
The new translation in 1997 by Wolfgang Krege had the translated original title "Der Hobbit".
Krege also translated "The Silmarillion" in 1978, Humphrey Carpenter's "Biography" in 1979 and "Letters" in 1991, TH as mentioned above, a somewhat controversial "The Lord of the Rings" in 2000 and Tom Shippey's "Author of the Century" in 2002.

These are the book covers of the German translations (book club licensed editions) that I bought for my wife many years ago.
RoTK, btw, is quite the shortest of the three books, as the only thing it has in the way of appendices is part (v) of Appendix A, "A part of the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen".


----------



## Endrasil

Erestor Arcamen said:


> One thing I haven't seen discussed in a while are the various editions of Tolkien's books and their covers. I know there are countless versions out there but I'd love to see your favorites. I'm in the U.S. so I'm sure some of our international users have their own editions that they find special and that a lot of us may not have seen before. Some of the international versions I have seen are gorgeous! I'd love to see what you've got and I'm sure other members would too.
> 
> The first time I read Lord of the Rings, I borrowed the books from the library so these covers are definitely special to me. I love the simplicity of them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is the current hardback edition that I own but if I could find the older ones from above, I'd buy them for sure.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'll dig up my copy of The Hobbit and share it too but I'd love to see covers from your country or that are special to you!
> 
> 🥮


I am sure someone already posted this cover, but my first copy of the Lord of the Rings was the 50th Anniversary Edition and I absolutely love it!


----------



## Þráinn Þórhallsson

Like how the German version actually spells out more of the Authors name then just the family one.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Not a book cover, but a little piece of ephemera I discovered stuck in one of my books: a flyer for the original publication of The Silmarillion.


----------



## ZehnWaters

Elthir said:


> And these of course! More Tolkien!


Those are the ones my parents both had.


----------



## Elthir

Are you saying I'm old?


----------



## Olorgando

Elthir said:


> Are you saying I'm old?


Well, even your puddy tat avatar has grown grey around the muzzle ... 😁


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Elthir said:


> Are you saying I'm old?


That's nothin', man -- my first were the original psychedelic covers. Faaar out! 🧟‍♂️


----------



## Elthir

Olorgando said:


> Well, even your puddy tat avatar has grown grey around the muzzle ... 😁



Me -- the day I pre-ordered 
my Silmarillion.


----------



## Olorgando

Elthir said:


> Me -- the day I pre-ordered
> my Silmarillion.


And now you've taken to wearing human clothes - *very* suspicious! 😁


----------



## Elthir

So suspicious! It was hot. Had my shirt off. 

Here's a record cover anyway . . . (_almost_ back on topic!)


----------



## Erestor Arcamen

Not sure if posted yet but these Swedish book covers are awesome:


__
https://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienbooks/comments/re8hrm


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I thought perhaps there might be some interest in seeing the title page drawings Jack Gaughan did for the Ace LOTR editions I posted earlier. I couldn't find good ones online, so my shaky phone pics will have to serve:



It's worth bearing in mind that these were pioneering images -- the only earlier ones to be published that I'm aware of were on the covers of the 1st edition hardbacks.


----------



## Yanus

I saw this book on neighborhood sale and could not resist. It is printed in Prague in 1991 (looks older). Had to restore covers and some wear and tear, but it was worth it.


----------



## HALETH✒🗡

Wow! Who is the illustrator?


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Fascinating! Can you tell us more about this?


----------



## Yanus

HALETH✒🗡 said:


> Wow! Who is the illustrator?


It is a reprint of 1978 edition illustrated byCzech artist Jiří Šalamoun.



Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Fascinating! Can you tell us more about this?


First edition was printed in Prague in 1978 in 8500 pieces. Another 35000 prints were issued in 1991 as second edition reprint. The book was considered to be child's book, hence the style. Interesting fact is that translator Frantisek Vrba was prosecuted by communist regime, so instead of him, his friend Lubomir Doruzka was stated as translator in first edition. This was fixed in second edition.
I found it by chance when browsing old books on neighborhood sale, an event where people can bring old stuff, toys, books etc. (something like yard sale, but bigger). The book had torn covers and some pages, but I managed to repair them by gluing covers to an old piece of paper that had similar tint. Would not want to waste such a gem 
Here are some more illustrations. I like how they look childish, like doodles even if made by renowned artist.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

A few rather odd French covers:


----------



## Radaghast

Why is Bilbo wearing Aquaman's costume in that last one? And why is he fighting a giant wereshrew? 😆


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I saw that one on a "Worst Book Covers" subreddit. 😄


----------



## CirdanLinweilin

Gotta love Bilbo giving a swooping Smaug a talking to.

CL


----------



## Erestor Arcamen

Sorry if it was posted in the last 15 pages, I'd love to have one of these copies of the Hobbit:


edit: found it for approximately $218 US: https://tolkienlibrary.com/tolkien-book-store/CLP0929.htm


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

There's an older edition our Russian members will know. Quirky, but I kind of like the style.


----------



## LadyGaladriel1980

I have this book cover:


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Someone copped a Second edition set:

__
https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/comments/t7egrn

I bring it up because it appears to be the same printing EA posted on the first page. The odd thing is I don't recall ever seeing those dust jackets, back in the day; the only ones I saw were these:

My question is, which are the earlier ones? Both are US editons, by the way. The UK Second Editions look like this:




The boards on the US edition are black.

In looking through these, I saw a note on one site saying that the second impression of this particular (UK) Second edition is "elusive" -- and I assume more sought after -- because Tolkien noticed that a number of textual emendations he'd made had not been incorporated, and so "demanded an immediate second impression". I have no idea what the situation was with the US edition.


----------



## ZehnWaters

Elthir said:


>


Ah, my cat. He certainly walks like a panther, at least.


----------



## Halasían

Halasían said:


> These were the covers of the paperbacks I borrowed from my neighbor in 1975 and was my first read of Fellowship & Two Towers. Because my neighbor stalled in his reading of Return of the King I ended up checking out the hardback from the local library so my first reading of Return of the King was from 1957 printing. I had read it through once by the time my neighbor loaned me his paperback.
> 
> I later found a well-used set of these early 1970's vintage paperbacks at a garage sale in 1976 and my re-reads began. When I got married the first time my wife had an almost new set of these same paperbacks as she only read the story once. When we divorced, I managed to leave my old worn out set with her and took the clean set which I still have!
> 
> I also picked up this Return of the King at a yard sale and used it extensively as an appendices study.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I had a heap of post-it tags sticking out of it. Still have it but it's at my brother's house.


I see I posted in this thread before. Here is a pic of those books I swapped on my 1st wife. They were in a 'read once' condition at the time but they were even then nicotine-stained from her mom's and her cigarette smoking. I have read them countless times over the last 44 years.



And of course my old falling apart copy I use for appendices reference...


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Boy, that last one brings back memories.


----------



## Alice

Wee Tolkien collection of Gollum.
There are books written by Tolkien, books about Tolkien and Tolkien related fanfiction. 
Around 30 books in English, the rest are in Russian


----------



## wrings

Here is an article about Tolkien books published in Bulgarian, with covers provided at the bottom: https://www.endorion.org/in-english/collectors-guide-bulgaria/?cn-reloaded=1


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Very interesting article and covers, wrings -- thanks!
I'll show a few here:





And welcome to TTF! If you'd like to introduce yourself "formally", and say something about your own special Tolkien interests, don't forget our New Members thread:








New Members


Meet and greet the newest TTF members. -- [ One thread per new member only! ] --




www.thetolkienforum.com


----------



## HALETH✒🗡

These book covers are very beautiful!
I understand what is written on the covers though I don't know Bulgarian. For me it sounds as an unusual form of Russian language. And for Bulgarians Russian may sound as an unusual form of Bulgarian language. Ha-ha.


----------



## wrings

These book covers are very beautiful!


HALETH✒🗡 said:


> I understand what is written on the covers though I don't know Bulgarian. For me it sounds as an unusual form of Russian language. And for Bulgarians Russian may sound as an unusual form of Bulgarian language. Ha-ha.


As Russian is much popular language and one that used to be thought in every school in the past, we are a bit more accustomated hearing or reading Russian. However there aren't declensions in Bulgarian anymore but definite articles like in English, which might be the funny part of the words at their ends. But I'm not certain whether that's out of the topic already.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

You'll find we frequently go off topic here! 😄


----------



## HALETH✒🗡

wrings said:


> These book covers are very beautiful!
> 
> As Russian is much popular language and one that used to be thought in every school in the past, we are a bit more accustomated hearing or reading Russian. However there aren't declensions in Bulgarian anymore but definite articles like in English, which might be the funny part of the words at their ends. But I'm not certain whether that's out of the topic already.


These are some Russian book covers with great illustrations by Denis Gordeev. I suppose that they have already been posted, but it's difficult to find them in the thread. Maybe the titles will be funny for you.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I did post the LOTR covers earlier, but the first two are new to me.


----------



## HALETH✒🗡

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I did post the LOTR covers earlier, but the first two are new to me.


The first one is "Magic Fairy Tales". The second one is "The Hobbit", obviously.


----------



## wrings

These are extremely realistic and detailed. As if brought out of Gondor king's halls


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

You'll find more on this page:
Post in thread 'Tolkien Book Covers' https://www.thetolkienforum.com/threads/tolkien-book-covers.28961/post-533758

And here:
Post in thread 'Tolkien Book Covers' https://www.thetolkienforum.com/threads/tolkien-book-covers.28961/post-537055


----------



## HALETH✒🗡

Today I visited a library and saw this book. It's "The Hobbit" and "The Silmarillion". What an unusual combination!


----------



## Olorgando

HALETH✒🗡 said:


> Today I visited a library and saw this book. It's "The Hobbit" and "The Silmarillion". What an unusual combination!
> View attachment 12453


Now that's strange! I've seen some pictures of Hobbits by Russian artists that show the legs entirely covered in fur instead of just the feet. Seems to be something like in one of the Bavarian dialects, where "feet ("Füsse" or "Füße", pronounced "Fiaß") is also used to mean the entire legs. This artist has Bilbo with *hairless* feet, which is definitely *not* canon.


----------



## Melkor

HALETH✒🗡 said:


> These book covers are very beautiful!
> I understand what is written on the covers though I don't know Bulgarian. For me it sounds as an unusual form of Russian language. And for Bulgarians Russian may sound as an unusual form of Bulgarian language. Ha-ha.


Something similar is when you compare Czech and Slovak. Slovak sounds as unusual form of Czech and Czech sound like unusual form of Slovak . Polish is also pretty similar, but not at that extent.


----------



## Melkor

HALETH✒🗡 said:


> Today I visited a library and saw this book. It's "The Hobbit" and "The Silmarillion". What an unusual combination!


Riddles in the Formenos

Fëanor: What has it got in its nasty little pocketses?


----------



## HALETH✒🗡

Melkor said:


> Something similar is when you compare Czech and Slovak. Slovak sounds as unusual form of Czech and Czech sound like unusual form of Slovak . Polish is also pretty similar, but not at that extent.


As I know, the phrase "This is our station" sounds pretty similar in Czech and Russian languages. 
In Slovak the word "Izba" means "a room", while in Russian the same word means "a wooden house". And in Slovak the word "pohanka" means "porridge", while in Russian an almost similar word means "a toadstool".


----------



## Melkor

HALETH✒🗡 said:


> As I know, the phrase "This is our station" sounds pretty similar in Czech and Russian languages.
> In Slovak the word "Izba" means "a room", while in Russian the same word means "a wooden house". And in Slovak the word "pohanka" means "porridge", while in Russian an almost similar word means "a toadstool".


Sklep in Polish means shop, while in Czech it means cellar . Sometimes is funny make these comparisions.

Pohanka a word for toadstool? That interesting . We called toadstool muchomůrka .


----------



## HALETH✒🗡

Melkor said:


> Sklep in Polish means shop, while in Czech it means cellar . Sometimes is funny make these comparisions.
> 
> Pohanka a word for toadstool? That interesting . We called toadstool muchomůrka .


In Russian "склеп" ("sklep") means "a crypt". 
One kind of poisonous mushrooms is called "мухомор" ("muchomor") in Russian.


----------



## Melkor

HALETH✒🗡 said:


> In Russian "склеп" ("sklep") means "a crypt".


That isn't that far away from cellar . Both are underground buildings . Just their purposes are different.


HALETH✒🗡 said:


> One kind of poisonous mushrooms is called "мухомор" ("muchomor") in Russian.


Yeah, that one is called muchomůrka červená in Czech (červená = red). Any mushroom from genus _Amanita _is called in Czech muchomůrka.


----------



## wrings

In Bulgarian "izba" is an underground cellar, often used for storing wine. Мухоморка (not myxomopka, but muchomorkka  ) has two types: red and white but is still the mushroom most often leading hobbit-like fellows who can't resist on mushrooms to a hospital, sometimes even worse. I don't know how those little hobbitses deal with that kind of mushrooms, but I believe they're more crafted in that matter...


----------



## Melkor

Those red ones are only mildly toxic. One mushroom cannot kill someone, just make him sick. They have some halucinogenic properties. I once heard that if you cook them for very long time, you destroy toxins. But I think that you also destroy those halucinogens. But I am not sure about this, I just heard it from someone.





However these are very toxic. They cause liver failure. They can be even white like this:


----------



## Barliman

I picked up this set at a local auction for $56. Amazingly perfect condition, still in shrink wrap.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Cloth boards, or no?


----------



## Olorgando

Barliman said:


> I picked up this set at a local auction for $56. Amazingly perfect condition, still in shrink wrap.View attachment 12524


As it's HarperCollins, it must be an edition from after 1990.
HarperCollins itself was formed by a merger in 1989. They then acquired Unwin Hyman in 1990. I can follow this "progress" in the imprints under which my first eleven HoMe paperback volumes were published: exactly after the half-way way-point, vol. 6 "The Return of the Shadow", it switches from Unwin Paperbacks of Unwin Hyman to Grafton, an imprint of HarperCollins, which then published vols. 7 and 8. This apparently because the hardcover editions had still been published earlier under Unwin Hyman. With paperback vol. 9 "Sauron Defeated" of 1993, HarperCollins finally appears as original publisher (the hardcover edition having appeared a year earlier).


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

This is a 2020 printing. I'd expect it to be the "corrected" edition, but I don't know, not having seen it myself.


----------



## Barliman

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> This is a 2020 printing. I'd expect it to be the "corrected" edition, but I don't know, not having seen it myself.


From the copyright page
"...based on the reset published in 2014 which is revised version of the reset edition published in 2204."

The books are cloth, or an excellent imitation. The slip case look like cardboard to me.
No fold out maps.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Here's an examination video:


----------



## Halasían

I should post this here. These are the Unfinished Tales I have. This paperback I purchased off a book rack by a checkout counter of a grocery store sometime in the 80's. It was quite random and reawakened me to Middle Earth after letting it fade in the late 70’s.





It's with my collection of books I still have stashed at 'the house'
(my parent's house, now my little brother's house)

Here in Australia, I have Elora's paperback from 1998...





_______________________________________________________________________________


----------



## Persephone

These were the same as mine ... I lost all my Tolkien books during the move sadly


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Persephone said:


> I lost all my Tolkien books during the move sadly


Oh nooooo! 😭


----------



## Persephone

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Oh nooooo! 😭


true ... sadly ... gonna have to redo my collection soon


----------



## Þráinn Þórhallsson

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Very interesting article and covers, wrings -- thanks!
> I'll show a few here:
> View attachment 12346
> View attachment 12347
> View attachment 12348
> View attachment 12349
> 
> And welcome to TTF! If you'd like to introduce yourself "formally", and say something about your own special Tolkien interests, don't forget our New Members thread:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> New Members
> 
> 
> Meet and greet the newest TTF members. -- [ One thread per new member only! ] --
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.thetolkienforum.com



To which books do the first an second Russian book covers to?


----------



## HALETH✒🗡

Þráinn Þórhallsson said:


> To which books do the first an second Russian book covers to?


The book covers are Bulgarian. The first one is "The Lord of the Rings". The second one is "Roverandom".


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

You can see all the rest in the article wrings posted.


----------



## HALETH✒🗡

It's "The Hobbit" from the local library. 
The trolls or goblins are just like 🙈🙉.


----------



## Rivendell_librarian

Looks very much like Folio Society are going to announce a new edition of a Tolkien work - most likely LOTR


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Maybe they're finally going to use the newer "corrected" edition. If it turns out to be one of their occasional "Limited Editions", expect to shell out a month's salary.


----------



## cart

TrackerOrc said:


> The three volumes were the first ones I owned many years ago, and coincidentally, I now have the 50th Anniversary edition too.
> 
> I also have a one-volume edition, with illustrations by Alan Lee, with (if I remember correctly) the front cover showing Gollum, Frodo and Sam at the Black Gate.
> 
> I don't know if it's just me, but I always throw away the slip-covers on any hardback books I own.


lol i also tend to lose my slip covers.. i actually find them quite annoying so i take them off when im reading the books.. and then when im done with the book.. they are just gone.. 
they should really do something about that.


----------



## Erestor Arcamen

Sorry if these had been posted, The Hobbit from Ukraine. I like that Bilbo wears a shirt with his name on it 😂


----------



## HALETH✒🗡

Erestor Arcamen said:


> Sorry if these had been posted, The Hobbit from Ukraine. I like that Bilbo wears a shirt with his name on it 😂
> View attachment 13747View attachment 13748View attachment 13749


I should make a small correction. It's a Soviet edition produced by the Soviet and later Russian publishing house “Prosveshcheniye” (the meaning of the word “prosveshcheniye” in English is “enlightenment”). The publishing house was founded in Moscow in 1931. 
In addition, I'd like to share some interesting facts about the edition as I read an article about it several weeks ago. The book is intended for students of pedagogical universities specializing in foreign languages. The text is original, though there're only 17 chapters instead of 19. The preface presents a brief biography of Tolkien and an even shorter biography of Tolkien. Also in the foreword "The Hobbit" is compared with "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland".
I like Bilbo's shirt too, by the way.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

What are the two missing chapters?


----------



## Erestor Arcamen

HALETH✒🗡 said:


> I should make a small correction. It's a Soviet edition produced by the Soviet and later Russian publishing house “Prosveshcheniye” (the meaning of the word “prosveshcheniye” in English is “enlightenment”). The publishing house was founded in Moscow in 1931.
> In addition, I'd like to share some interesting facts about the edition as I read an article about it several weeks ago. The book is intended for students of pedagogical universities specializing in foreign languages. The text is original, though there're only 17 chapters instead of 19. The preface presents a brief biography of Tolkien and an even shorter biography of Tolkien. Also in the foreword "The Hobbit" is compared with "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland".
> I like Bilbo's shirt too, by the way.


Thanks for clarifying! I found it on Reddit so my information definitely isn't as reliable as you 😂. I appreciate the information and clarification!


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Now, how about this one?


----------



## HALETH✒🗡

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> What are the two missing chapters?


I don't know exactly but I read in the article that the two missing chapters are briefly included in the text. However, the adventure with the trolls is not in the book.


----------



## Radaghast

Erestor Arcamen said:


> Sorry if these had been posted, The Hobbit from Ukraine. I like that Bilbo wears a shirt with his name on it 😂
> View attachment 13747View attachment 13748View attachment 13749


What Bilbo might look like if he were in _The Yellow Submarine_.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner




----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

🎵 "He's a real Shire Man,
Wandering his Shire-land . . ." 🎶


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

Someone made a short video of the first Russian Hobbit I posted some pics from earlier:


----------



## NixoN

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Very interesting article and covers, wrings -- thanks!
> I'll show a few here:
> View attachment 12346
> View attachment 12347
> View attachment 12348
> View attachment 12349
> 
> And welcome to TTF! If you'd like to introduce yourself "formally", and say something about your own special Tolkien interests, don't forget our New Members thread:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> New Members
> 
> 
> Meet and greet the newest TTF members. -- [ One thread per new member only! ] --
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.thetolkienforum.com



Hey guys, I've been scrolling through this topic and while I must say I have been collecting the books for about 10 years now and can surely say I know quite a bit about the thousands of editions, there are still covers I had never seen before.

I will be making some pictures of my collection soon.

I collect everything that is not related to the movies, especially covers I like and I try to find rare books for decent prices. The joy for me is in the hunting.

The reason I'm quoting the post above is because of the last cover. The article linked says: "Nine years later (1988) Otechestvo publishing house published “Farmer Giles of Ham” with the original illustrations by Pauline Baynes and translations by Teodora Davidova. And while the first Bulgarian edition of “The Hobbit” can still be found at some second-hand bookshops, “Farmer Giles of Ham” is so rare that is virtually nowhere to be found." ....

I can tell you I know once place where to find it


----------



## NixoN

My collection of Tolkien books (and 4 Rothfuss books)







1st edition of Farmer Giles of Ham in Bulgarian.






Hobbit in Bulgarian






Full set of 1st edition LotR






Full set of 2nd edition LotR





4th edition





LotR and The Hobbit in Vietnamese






If you see a book in the 1st picture you want to see the front cover of, please ask


----------



## HALETH✒🗡

NixoN said:


> My collection of Tolkien books (and 4 Rothfuss books)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1st edition of Farmer Giles of Ham in Bulgarian.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hobbit in Bulgarian
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Full set of 1st edition LotR
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Full set of 2nd edition LotR
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 4th edition
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> LotR and The Hobbit in Vietnamese
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If you see a book in the 1st picture you want to see the front cover of, please ask


Your collection is great! 
I've found books not only in Bulgarian, English and Vietnamese but also in Russian and German in your pictures. Do you know all these languages? And where are you from (if it's not a secret)?


----------



## NixoN

HALETH✒🗡 said:


> Your collection is great!
> I've found books not only in Bulgarian, English and Vietnamese but also in Russian and German in your pictures. Do you know all these languages? And where are you from (if it's not a secret)?


Thanks ! 

I'm from Belgium.
Quickly glancing over my collection I think I have books in English, Dutch, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Bulgarian & Vietnamese.
I can only speak English, Dutch, French and German though and understand a little bit of Spanish. Sadly most of the times the books in rarer languages come with expensive shipping costs so I tend to only buy them if I am visiting said countries.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

I just saw this.


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

An interesting article about their creation:









Ace Lord of the Rings book covers


A quick but important update. Thanks to Hildifons Took for sending this information along to me - Niekas #16 (an issue I hadn't seen before now) co...




www.tolkienguide.com





There's more information in the comments section.


----------



## Erestor Arcamen

Found a bunch of old posts and added them to this thread!


----------



## Squint-eyed Southerner

So, they're "back there" somewhere?


----------



## 🍀Yavanna Kementári🍀

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> So, they're "back there" somewhere?


Mayhap so - many things are oft concealed within Arda, and e'en more so beyond it.


----------



## Elbereth Vala Varda

These are all truly beautiful book covers! I have a newer version of The Lord of the Rings that looks like this:


----------



## Ent

Elbereth Vala Varda said:


> I have a newer version of The Lord of the Rings that looks like this


I REALLY like the feel of this one you have on my bark, and the way it lays in the notch and twigs of my hands.
I highly recommend it.
Sits by my recliner always, and is my 'go to' for reading.
I've another (two different ones I'm afraid) in the Office, and have it digitally for research of course.


----------



## Erestor Arcamen

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> So, they're "back there" somewhere?


Yeah it adds them chronologically so they're at the beginning of the og Book Covers thread 😁

Edit: it's only the first 10 comments in this thread and then my fist Book Covers post is still on page 1

Post in thread 'Tolkien Book Covers' https://www.thetolkienforum.com/threads/tolkien-book-covers.28961/post-533288


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

A few Bombadils.


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## Elbereth Vala Varda

Hmm... Nice. Is this a good book? I haven't read yet as I am slowly inching myself through bit by bit into his deeper legendarium. Someone told me to start with _The Silmarillion_....


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

It's a collection of 16 poems, assembled by Tolkien in the 1960s, and given an introduction placing them with the Red Book papers, although several predate, or were originally unrelated to, the legendarium. The first two are about TB, but all are interesting. For example, you can read there "Errantry", which Tolkien adapted for Bilbo's song about Earendil at Rivendell.


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## Elbereth Vala Varda

I see.... I may have to check that out. Thanks.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Here's one of the shorter ones:


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## Elbereth Vala Varda

Hmm.. Very intriguing... Good poetry too.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Yes, I memorized that one, many decades ago, when it and the others were printed in the first Tolkien book I ever bought:

That edition brought several previously published short works together, including the important essay "On Fairy-Stories". You can read about the volume here:








The Tolkien Reader - Wikipedia







en.m.wikipedia.org





But all have been reprinted several times since, including in this hardcover I bought (many years later):


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## Elbereth Vala Varda

Nice books. I have also considered getting the 'Letters by Tolkien' book... What book do you recommend right after reading _The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, _and _The Silmarillion_?


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

I'm trying to stay on topic, so I'll just say "This one". 😃

But feel free to start a new thread for your question. 🙂


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## Elbereth Vala Varda

I see... Thanks.


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## Erestor Arcamen

I have The Tolkien Reader but if course can't find it. I think it's the boring Ballantine Books edition


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Well, I didn't find it boring! In fact, it led me to get _The Hobbit _and LOTR.


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## Erestor Arcamen

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> Well, I didn't find it boring! In fact, it led me to get _The Hobbit _and LOTR.


Del Ray, sorry


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## Erestor Arcamen

@Elbereth Fawnbow if you need a copy, Half Priced Books has them for $5





The Tolkien Reader


This product has no description




hpb.com


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

So, what was boring about it? 🤔


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## Erestor Arcamen

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> So, what was boring about it? 🤔


The cover, not the contents. I like this one, for example


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## Squint-eyed Southerner

Yeah, that's the one I posted up there.

Anyway, some more covers of various languages:


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## Elthir

And sometimes the "front" is on the "back"!


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## HALETH✒🗡




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## Olorgando

Here's the front cover of the dust jacket of Brian Sibley's "The Fall of Númenor" that finally arrived today:


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## Ent

We wonders, my precious...we wonders. Did the book come too? 😁 
(Sorry, couldn't help myself.)

Thanks for the pic.


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## Olorgando

Ent said:


> We wonders, my precious...we wonders. Did the book come too? 😁
> (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)



Umyes - inside the dust cover ... 
🤨


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## Ent

Olorgando said:


> inside the dust cover


An amusing, though appropriate, place for a book don't you think? 🙂


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## Deimos

Ent said:


> We wonders, my precious...we wonders. Did the book come too? 😁
> (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)
> 
> Oh, that is bad....very bad...🙄 (people have been shot for lesser offenses, you know....😱)


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