1982 Collector's Edition: Numbering Detail—Stet

 

In late 2023, not wanting to bore the internet—or the Tolkien book-collecting community (after all, who else is reading this?)—with my first blogpost, The Silmarillion — Collector's Edition (1982), I stated somewhat loftily (in an end NOTE) that the numbering detail given for the 1982 Collector's Edition was ‘redacted from a slightly longer piece of work (unpublished)’. It may have been more accurate to have said ‘condensed’.

 

For convenience, the original (condensed) paragraph:

 

GA&U appear to have initially bound up only 170 copies; assigned numbers 1–70 and 101–200. Most of the plates signed by Christopher Tolkien (70 of them) were bound into numbers 1–70 in the first instance; these are full-page signed limitation plates, as originally intended. More copies were then bound up beyond the initial 170 total; assigned numbers 201–299. The final 30 signed copies were created by ‘converting’ copies originally intended as unsigned copies. This conversion appears to have been random; various copies with assigned numbers between 150 and 299 became signed copies 71–100. And because the method chosen to create the final 30 signed copies was conversion these copies display cut-down limitation plates, not full-page plates. These cut-down plates are seen affixed to the recto f.f.e.p., but other placement variations may exist. 

 

It was condensed, I think, for reasons of focus—I seemed to be quite exercised about the leather binding when writing about this previously—and length; or, perhaps, perceived notions of reader reception. This longer piece of work (below) adds more detail; it does not contradict anything stated above. It goes without saying, that all of this post should be read in the context of the original. It should also be restated, that all of this material is based upon comments made by Wayne G. Hammond in 2008 (and in private correspondence).

 

 

Despite there being little or no printing overheads in 1982, the time and cost of full hand-bound leather binding would not have been insignificant. Perhaps with this in mind, GA&U only appear to have initially bound up 170 copies (numbers 1–70 and 101–200); with the number assigned to each indicating signed or unsigned status. It seems likely that 70 of the plates signed by Christopher Tolkien were bound into numbers 1–70 in the first instance, as full-page signed limitation plates, as originally intended; the remaining 30 signed plates being kept aside in reserve. 

 

Two states of the book plate were printed. The signed plate has a space between the text and the Tolkien monogram to allow for Christopher Tolkien's signature; the unsigned plate has, in comparison, the monogram vertically centre-justified. The calligraphic numbering—handwritten on each limitation plate—was executed by an unknown hand; confirmed in an unpublished letter from Rayner Unwin to Christopher Tolkien. A modified version of the limitation plate was also used on the outside of shipping containers. These, too, stated the limitation number; handwritten, but this time in a simpler, perfunctory, non-calligraphic manner. 

 

As further orders—or perceived demand for the book—came in, more copies were bound up beyond the initial 170 total; these were assigned numbers 201–299. At this point requests for signed copies presumably exhausted the supply of 70 already bound, and further copies would be needed. These would be created by ‘converting’ copies originally intended—by virtue of their numbering—as unsigned copies. 

 

It is worth noting that all of the books at this point, aside from signed copies numbered 1–70, were in all likelihood fully bound, but un-plated; copies that could be made into either signed or unsigned copies by the pasting in of the appropriate cut-down plate, irrespective of the original intended status and number assigned. And these copies would be plundered to fulfil the demand for the planned 100 signed copies that were now clearly required.

 

This conversion—effectively the re-numbering of around 30 unsigned copies—appears to have been entirely random; various copies with assigned numbers between 150 and 299 became signed copies 71–100. Why this conversion was necessary—and why the remaining 30 signed copies could not simply be bound up with full-page signed plates, as intended, using the plentiful supply of sheets still available—is not clear. It can only be speculated that the overall number of copies already bound up at this point (~270) was perhaps a misjudgement of interest, and orders less—or slower to come in—than anticipated. In any event, because the method chosen to create the final 30 signed copies was conversion—and not the binding up of new copies—these copies display cut-down limitation plates, not full-page plates. These have only been seen affixed to the recto f.f.e.p., but other plate placement variations may 

 

The number range chosen for conversion (150–299) perhaps indicates around 50 unsigned copies (numbers 101–149) had already been sold, or reserved, at this time. All unsigned copies this writer has seen display cut-down limitation plates; evidence that all copies outside of the first 70 were fully bound books awaiting plates, with orders determining what plate (signed or unsigned) was required for a particular copy. For unsigned copies it is not clear if this method of plate incorporation was the original intention.

 

Still on the subject of the 1982 Collector's Edition—but unrelated to numbering detail—I also stated that it was possible to say with some certainty that ‘three distinct variants of this Clowes issue exist’. I wrote a bit more about my use of ‘issue’ to describe the 1982 Collector's Edition; again, excised from original post. I should probably have left this paragraph in.

 

That this ‘collector's edition’ constitutes a new and distinct edition is questionable; from a bibliographical perspective this variant more readily falls under the definition of separate issue. The printed matter is identical—being made from the same printed sheets—to that published in 1977; the only addition being the limitation plate(s). The copyright page remains unaltered with no mention of separate publication or 1982 release. The leather binding constitutes a later binding state. In essence the 1982 Collector's Edition is a 1977 Clowes impression bound and repackaged at a later date.

 

Images of 1982 Collector's Edition numbers and limitation plates can be found on the Plate Image Archive page; more information on ‘edition’ and ‘issue’ can also be found in the post Bibliographical Terminology: Excerpt from an Imagined Catalogue. Links to both below. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Wayne G. Hammond material used with permission.

 

Also on SILMARILLION MINUTIAE

❆ The Silmarillion — Collector's Edition (1982)

❆ Plate Image Archive 

❆ Bibliographical Terminology: Excerpt from an Imagined Catalogue