sauromatian wrote:

Here's a link to where the various editions are to be found in libraries. You can contact a local library, & ask for an inter-library loan.
http://www.worldcat.org/title/dunnottar ... /316547176
It looks like there are two old editions in Canada, plus one in Scotland.

Thank you Sauro, very,very much appreciated!

misterspock wrote:you make the call:


** expired/removed eBay auction **


the Q&A section is good reading...

Anyone who knows how to use the word "exsanguinating" can't be all bad.



This auction has had over 400 additional views since I first looked at it five minutes ago.     Guess this one has gone viral.

Good job, David.  The kids look like they had fun...or at least wore colorful gear.  Working with kids is a high calling.

But, as a gamer, aren't you supposed to be anti-social and reclusive?

I am totally looking forward to TROLL HUNTER.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLEo7H9tqSM

Peter Dinklage just won the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor for Game of Thrones.  Very cool.  

I wonder where Fantasy Literature Other Than Other-Than-Tolkien is headed. Namely Tolkien. Interest in this author's works tends to be cyclical, with it disappearing into the underground of fandom for years (the MERP era), then periodically becoming an enormous pop-culture icon ('60s-'70s, Peter Jackson's LoTR).

Yes there are new Hobbit movies being made which I'm sure will be splendid, but I'm actually a little more interested in the fluctuations of the book trade. A decade ago, the movies prompted a flood of new printings. It seemed like bookstores were half-filled with the stuff, there must have been a hundred new editions of the same half-dozen titles.

Surely that does not bode well for the prospects of new printings in the future. For one, those piles of books on the shelves 10 years ago were in bookstores which have now closed. That which remains, the local Half-Price Books superstore, stocks not only piles of used Tolkien books but also piles of unsold/new copies.

So there is still a substantial back-stock, discouraging the industry from making more. There's a decreasing demand for books on paper. The upcoming movies will lead to a bump in Tolkien publishing, but only for a little while. The remaining copies will be available on the shelf for consumers, but without active commercial promotion. Ultimately I wonder if the modern boom will lead to a subsequent bust.

clangador wrote:I can't say I really care that much about the printing cycles of Tolkien's books.

It's been a long while since I've bought a copy & probably never will again. I guess the point is: as fantasy literature goes, so goes our hobby.

sauromatian wrote:I wonder where Fantasy Literature Other Than Other-Than-Tolkien is headed. Namely Tolkien. Interest in this author's works tends to be cyclical, with it disappearing into the underground of fandom for years (the MERP era), then periodically becoming an enormous pop-culture icon ('60s-'70s, Peter Jackson's LoTR).

True, popular interest in Tolkien has waxed and waned cyclically over the decades. There has always been a core of diehards, though <raises hand> whose dedication remains more or less constant.

Yes there are new Hobbit movies being made which I'm sure will be splendid,

What in the world makes you think that ?

... but I'm actually a little more interested in the fluctuations of the book trade. A decade ago, the movies prompted a flood of new printings. It seemed like bookstores were half-filled with the stuff, there must have been a hundred new editions of the same half-dozen titles. Surely that does not bode well for the prospects of new printings in the future.

While clearly there was an explosion in variety of printings of Tolkien's work (esp. Middle-earth-related titles) just before and after the films, and I'm sure they played some role, HarperCollins and Houghton-Mifflin have been pretty good about steadily issuing or licensing out special, updated, and/or commemorative editions of the Middle-earth books since the height of the initial boom in the '70s. Examples include the "collector's" editions of the Hobbit and LotR, the 50th anniversary Hobbit, 70th anniversary Hobbit, various deluxe editions, 50th ann. LotR, etc. To see the sheer variety and constancy of these publications over time, check out a website such as "tolkienlibrary.com". True collectors (like you guys) could spend a lifetime, and a whole lot of money, just scratching the surface. And most of it isn't since the movies.

For one, those piles of books on the shelves 10 years ago were in bookstores which have now closed. That which remains, the local Half-Price Books superstore, stocks not only piles of used Tolkien books but also piles of unsold/new copies.

So there is still a substantial back-stock, discouraging the industry from making more. There's a decreasing demand for books on paper. The upcoming movies will lead to a bump in Tolkien publishing, but only for a little while. The remaining copies will be available on the shelf for consumers, but without active commercial promotion. Ultimately I wonder if the modern boom will lead to a subsequent bust.

For paperbacks you're surely right. These will be so readily available for years to come that very few new paperback copies need ever be printed. For hardcovers, not so much. And I think there's an inherent link-up between Luddites (who won't read on a computer screen) and Tolkien's work...

Two cents, and all that.

MetamorphosisSigma wrote:True, popular interest in Tolkien has waxed and waned cyclically over the decades.

The bigger they come, the harder they fall. That is, the more over-exposed it is now, the more sick of it people will be for years to come, discouraging the next generation from reading it. However there's still much to be done in terms of organizing all the History of Middle Earth stuff.

MetamorphosisSigma wrote: Just realized that it's September 22nd! Happy Birthday Frodo/Bilbo!

Approximately the fall equinox? Makes sense, as the story of each begins when they hit middle age. That's about how old I am now, I'll have to keep a look out for wizards in pointy hats.