Tolkien 📔Book Covers

[Elthir]

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

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

 

[Olorgando]

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]

Wow! Who is the illustrator?

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

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

 

[Firinne Gile]

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:
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The Hobbit:
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LOTR:
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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".

Thanks a lot. It has become my favorite illustrator of Tolkien's work. Here's the website for anyone who wants to see all of Denis Gordeev's illustrations.

Book Graphics

book-graphics.blogspot.com

 

[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]

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

 

[Halasían]

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...