nazz

I recently got this three book Lord of the Rings book set and was wondering if anyone here could give me any info on it. It is in great shape. The spines don't appear broken and I'm not sure they've ever been read. If they had individual dust jackets I don't have those. They are Second Edition Third Printing 1965 Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. It says 0456 on the front of the case.

al_bundy

what does fleabay say?

nazz

When I looked the other day I didn't see any. Now there's one that just started with eleven bids on the first day. It doesn't show which printing and isn't numbered on the front. It does include dust jackets though. I guess I should watch that auction and see how it ends in a week.

djmont

Usually later printings of books are worth little, but this does appear to be a fairly rare book. But it looks like they were originally issued with dust jackets, and since yours don't have them, that would diminsh their value. Do they have fold-out maps in the rear?

I found several bookseller listings for what appears to be the same books -- with dust jackets, in Fine condition, which these don't appear to be -- for $150-$600. It's hard to tell without seeing pictures of the books for sale if they're the same ones, but I think they are.

From that number on the front, I suspect this might be the book club edition, which would diminish the value further -- but they do appear to still be worth something.

You might try taking them to an SF bookseller and see what they offer you. You might get as much as $50 for them, but I would expect it would probably be less.

nazz

Thanks. They do have the fold out maps. I was hoping that the numbered front was like a limited/numbered type of thing. If it's an indication of a book club that isn't good news. I paid $30 to an individual for it so it way be a wash.

al_bundy

if it's a unique isbn, google it and see what you find

Josh-da-man

The number does sort of look like a SFBC code, but this set doesn't seem like something they would've released in 1965. The book clubs have traditionally printed their own books (on the cheap, too) so they all have a uniform size and "feel." Of course I wasn't alive in 1965, let alone a member of the SFBC, but when I was a member of the club in the 90s I don't recall them doing many special editions of anything save for some kind of leather-bound Stranger in a Strange Land.

And, yeah, missing dust jackets absolutely kill the value for collectors. Unless the book is extremely desirable, a book without a dust jacket is pretty worthless to collectors.

I'm not really sure what kind of value various Tolkien editions have to collectors. Houghtlin-Mifflin has released so many collectors editions over the years, I suspect it would tend to kill the after-market value. (Mass-produced collectibles generally don't turn out to be all that collectible in the long term.)

nazz

I can't find an isbn number anywhere on it. It may have been located on the missing dust jacket.

Nick Danger

Mrs Danger has the same books in a later printing. She says:

"The books never had dust covers. They're not worth anything. She checked Ebay when the movies came out, and they were everywhere. They're good solid books, but won't keep you warm in your old age. Look for the Songbook, the Art of Tolkein, and the 6-foot poster."

These are not the original printings, which are worth something. Since they have a 1965 date, they must have been a new hardcover edition because the paperbacks had become huge bestsellers.

Nick Danger

The ISBN on our edition is on the Library of Congress page. From what I can figure out from the Wikipedia article, the ISBN didn't become a standard until 1970.

djmont

I found several listings for what appear to be the same books and they definitely had dust jackets. (They're quite colorful books; rather handsome.) Here's an example:



This particular set in the picture, in Near Fine condition, was listed for $165.

Apparently HMCO put out a revised 2nd edition of LOTR in 1967, due to some copyright controversy regarding the original US publication. So this would be a case where a 2nd edition would actually be desirable, although a later printing of the edition would be worth much less than a first.

As for the book club question... It wouldn't be the Science Fiction Book Club, which publishes the cheap reduced size versions, but rather the Book of the Month Club (or some off-shoot of it). BOMC publishes full-size versions of books that are nearly identical to the regular trade versions, with a few exceptions. (For example, the dust jacket doesn't have a price on it, and they usually have a 4- or 5-digit code printed on the back of the jacket, like the "0456" on this slipcover.)

You could check the back cover of the books for a blind stamp, which is an impression (like a dot or square) that the BOMC often put on their books. (They're usually in the lower corner, near the spine.)

Really, the only important question, unless you're trying to sell them, is: How much are they worth to you?

nazz

I just checked and do not see a blind stamp on the covers. It looks safe to say that they have no significant value, especially with the dust jackets missing. Since I didn't hit the jackpot with my $30 gamble, I'll just put them on the shelf since they do look pretty cool. Thanks to all for your help.

jetty

I have this set that I purchased at a book store years ago new. I am thinking I bought them in the early 80's and payed around $30 for them. Haven't seen them anywhere since. They are a very nice set. Oh, and they do have dust jackets.

resinrats

How much did the auction end at?

MasterCXtreme

It is a very cool-looking set, I have the same one... but that's about the extent of it.