Das Silmarillion: Three Editions from the 1980s

I recently acquired a few (more) early European copies of The Silmarillion; in this instance, German editions. There seems to be a reasonable variety of European editions, particularly in the early post-publication (1977) years, up until around the 1990s. Later editions—from this side of the millennium—seem to take on far greater uniformity of appearance; many post-1998 copies, for example, exhibit jacket/cover designs based on Ted Nasmith's art. Which is fine, I like Ted's work; but it all feels a bit homogeneous. Having said this, some of the greater variety is likely perception only; a symptom, no doubt, of the fixed aestheticof the UK hardback through the 1980s, which—aside from book club editions and paperbacks—remained essentially unchanged in presentation until the John Howe jacketed copies of the first HARPERCOLLINS years.

 

Always slightly tricky to acquire specific ‘foreign’ editions—if one is particular in regard to first impression status, first appearance, etc—when you only have rudimentary non-English language skills. German bookbinding is very well thought of, from a traditional (English) craft bookbinding perspective; and I'd always hoped that some remnant of the old craft might have seeped down into modern German trade publishing. A rather misplaced hope. Although, German visual design remains interesting; perhaps because it's simply less familiar (to me).

 

I have four German editions of The Silmarillion sitting on my shelves. I can't read German. Here are three 1980s editions:

[Left:] Das Silmarillion. Hobbit Press/Klett-Cotta, 1978, 1st German Ed.

[Middle:] Das Silmarillion. Hobbit Press/Klett-Cotta, 1986, 6th Ed.

[Right:] Das Silmarillion. Hobbit Press/Klett-Cotta, 1987 Special Ed.

The word auflage translates as ‘edition’, but would appear to be closer—with this publisher, at this time—to the English publisher's use of the term impression. While the latter two copies are the first appearance of these jackets—I've avoided ‘thus’, but there seems to be a growing trend to overuse this term—they're still, as far as I'm aware, simply later impressions (reprints) of the original 1978 first edition. It might also be born in mind that publishers—British, American, or wherever—have not always been the best custodians of book terminology. Inconsistent use has led to some of these bibliographical terms being confused, at best; at worst, bordering on meaningless. The 1987 sonderausgabe (special edition) was to mark the publisher's tenth anniversary. I'll leave analysis of the illustrations to those more qualified. 

It's worth noting, that all three books—including the first edition, which surprised me somewhat, unless I'm mistaken—are perfect-bound case-bindings; there is not a piece of thread or folded signature in sight. And unusually for a perfect-bound binding, the 1987 copy—and the 1986 copy, to a lesser extent—has a noticeably rounded spine. (Perfect-bound books are normally—intentionally—square backed.) This gives the book the look and shape of a proper, traditional hardback binding. However, it's only a pretence; these books are structurally in the same category as any standard paperback, and will experience the same long-term issues with repeated reading and handling. 

The three books have nice shelf appeal though.