Anyone else have the 1980 "Poems and Stories"?

[HareBrain]

Here's an Abebooks listing of the edition I mean, with the box and the fancy cover.

Item no longer available

The item you are looking for is no longer available. <br/>

www.abebooks.co.uk

I bought mine in the late 80s from a bookshop that had about ten of them in a pile, and they were priced to sell. Now I can't find one for sale for under £200. I think it's the only book I've ever bought that has significantly appreciated in value**. But I've no idea how common/rare it is in ownership.

**The other contender might have been my 1967 Lord of the Rings, if I hadn't spilt soup on it.

 

[farntfar]

Yes. I have one of those, HB.
Mine was a birthday present, so slightly not pristine, because it has a happy birthday message written on the box.

Is it really worth that now, then? I shall have to warn my prospective heirs.

As for your other book, I should think it really depends on the soup. A broth made from the bones of Tom's uncle Tim, for example, could be a positive boon.

 

[HareBrain]

Is it really worth that now, then?

Well, that's what they're being offered at (£200x2, and £350). Nothing to say anyone will pay that, of course. But there don't seem to be many about -- none on Amazon at all, for instance.

As for your other book, I should think it really depends on the soup.

Mushroom, so somewhat hobbit-related!

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

I don't have it, but I'm very curious as to what was included in it. I have a 1997 collection of short works that were originally published in Tolkien's lifetime. Called "Tales from the Perilous Realm," it comprises "Smith of Wootton Major," "Farmer Giles of Ham," "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" and "Leaf by Niggle." But I know there are a few more Tolkien rarities out there I've never set eyes on.

The boxed hardback in the image looks remarkably like one of my mother's two copies of "The Lord of the RIngs." It's her "keeping" copy, and is printed on scarily fine and thin paper. Her "reading" copy is a coverless paperback that's yellow with age, broken in half, and lives in the airing cupboard.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

the key to book collecting and making money - buying when the Book is readily available, storing correctly, and selling when it’s no longer in print. Knowing which to buy is a bit of a lottery though. in this case, the prices seem fair.


i find Amazon expensive for the market, Abe books bottom line a Good guide - but their top line wildly optimistic - and eBay great if you can find any sold recently as you’ll actually get what the price is.

 

[HareBrain]

I'm very curious as to what was included in it. I have a 1997 collection of short works that were originally published in Tolkien's lifetime. Called "Tales from the Perilous Realm," it comprises "Smith of Wootton Major," "Farmer Giles of Ham," "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" and "Leaf by Niggle."

It includes those, plus "On Fairy Stories" and "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son".

The boxed hardback in the image looks remarkably like one of my mother's two copies of "The Lord of the RIngs." It's her "keeping" copy, and is printed on scarily fine and thin paper

Yes, I've seen a copy of that. India paper I think it's called. Beautiful, but very impractical for reading (not least because the print shows through).

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

It includes those, plus "On Fairy Stories" and "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son".


Yes, I've seen a copy of that. India paper I think it's called. Beautiful, but very impractical for reading (not least because the print shows through).

Thank you! Think I've read "On Fairy Stories" online somewhere, but I'd never even heard of "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son".

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

the key to book collecting and making money - buying when the Book is readily available, storing correctly, and selling when it’s no longer in print. Knowing which to buy is a bit of a lottery though. in this case, the prices seem fair.


i find Amazon expensive for the market, Abe books bottom line a Good guide - but their top line wildly optimistic - and eBay great if you can find any sold recently as you’ll actually get what the price is.

Amazon Marketplace is infuriating in that regard. I think the sellers are all using the same algorithm to set prices by observing each other, with resulting wildly unrealistic swings in price. A recently out-of-print book of no particular rarity value may be sold for £00.7 by all sellers, or for upwards of £150 by all sellers.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Amazon Marketplace is infuriating in that regard. I think the sellers are all using the same algorithm to set prices by observing each other, with resulting wildly unrealistic swings in price. A recently out-of-print book of no particular rarity value may be sold for £00.7 by all sellers, or for upwards of £150 by all sellers.

as far as I know - I don’t sell there but know others who do - A suggest optimum pricing and will advise if a price seems too low or high. Abebooks are often a fraction of the price

 

[Extollager]

Relationship of abebooks.com to Amazon here:

AbeBooks - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

In at least a couple of places, I have saved money by going to the seller's own site and ordering there, thus avoiding Amazon's commission. For example, seller Graham Holroyd, a good source for old sf paperbacks, has this site:

Books Are Everything!