My biggest weakness is Tolkien book collecting, which is my personal
hobbyhorse. I've spent way too much money and time on acquiring different
editions and impressions to throw anything away, but those are not copies for
reading as such (and I keep the really valuable ones in acid-free boxes and
have mylar covers on all the dust jackets--yes I am hardcore).
Now for copies that I actually touch, I do have my old Ballantine set that was
my reading copy for years (mid 70s, not too valuable, but they were my first
set). Now I have a Quality Paperback Book Club edition of the LOTR with
Tolkien's original dust wrapper designs that I use for daily
consultation. The old Ballantines I keep for sentimental reasons, even
though they do have pages coming out and are very worn. I might embalm
them someday and bury them in a pyramid with a shaft pointing to the star of
Earendil--or maybe just keep em in the comic book plastic bags they currently
reside
in!
Most people have made this mistake of thinking Middle-earth is a particular
kind of Earth or is another planet of the science fiction sort but it's just
an old fashioned word for this world we live in, . . . at a different stage of imagination. --Tolkien's Last Radio Interview
