I was thinking about when I first read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It was 1975 and I just turned 14; my first year in high school. I was staying with my Grandmother for a few days and had asked her to pick up the books when she went shopping while I was in school. I remember sitting in her bedroom pulling the books carefully from a paperbag. I sat on her bed marveling at the covers. It was the mid 70's Ballentine editions with Tolkien's own art, not the mid 60's editions posted above. Reading those books was a unique experience. So much so, I can vividly recall many moments of where I was and what time it was while reading them. It was as if I was straddling two worlds for the couple of weeks I spent devouring those four books.
In 1978 I bought a t-shirt with the the painting from the Ballentine '65 edition on it. I remember wearing it one day at work at my Father's Marina. It had just rained at the end of the day. When I walked outside to start closing up I was greeted with a sky that was identical to the that in the picture on my shirt. It's strange how these seemingly insignificant memories can linger so steadfastly for a lifetime.
Left are the covers of the pirated Ace edition from 1965. I've long wanted to see these and just found them this morning on the The Hobbit Movie website under the 'Collecting' link. 9 years ago I inherited my Grandmother's bedroom set which had originally belonged to my Great-grandmother. I cherish the ornately carved pieces not just because of how beautiful they are and not just because Nana loved the set so much but also because for me the set is symbolic of my discovery of Middle Earth one fall evening in 1975.
The Hobbit Movie site:
http://derhobbit-film.de/indexengl.shtml
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