u/Jigglemcchigglef

Wait check out the condition on those 70s Ballentine books! I won the jackpot with those because they’re in incredible condition.

Those copies, I wrapped in cellophane to preserve them, so they’re not for reading and i’m working my way through the modern books that i use as reading copies that i’m able to handle as i wish without worrying too much about the condition.

I love those vintage books though, they’re so nostalgic to me since they happen to be the way i experienced the books for the very first time as a youngling. So when i was able to, I looked everywhere for these exact copies in good condition and thats from the proper year, around 1977. Plus that Silmarillion copy is a first edition Ballentine copy from ‘79, also in amazing condition because ofc.

Also fun fact all those covers are Tolkien’s original artwork for The Hobbit, LOTR and earlier works. The one for The Two Towers is of Fangorn forest and i think you can see an early draft of a hobbit or elf in the bottom left corner there! And the cover for The Return of the King is the base of Barad-dûr with mount doom looming in the background on the bottom left. I explain these because when i was younger i had no idea that what these drawings represented, believe it or not lol

(sorry glazing theses books just showing off lolz)

it’s a first edition copy from the early 70s i reckon. actually not sure somewhere around there

already posted this in another sub but i just wanna show off lols