ViciousWhips
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When I was 10 years old, my parents bought me the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings books for Christmas. We were rather poor when I was young and my parents worked desperately hard to make sure we had a great Christmas. Always interested in stories and an avid reader, my parents thought these the perfect gift for me. This is the actual book. I've read it many, many times... As you can probably tell by it's condition.
I will always consider this the best Christmas present they have ever given me because it started a life long passion in fantasy books.
I wanted to make sure my copy would last for a great number of years to come... So I decided to rebind it in fine leather. It was about 1.5 hours of work, but here is the completed piece. I'm rather proud of it to be honest.
If you aren't familiar with the symbol, that was the design used by J.R.R. Tolkien to represent his initials.
The older cover and the new volume side by side.
sirbenedictjbreen
Alsenoth
Holy crap. Someone else. Same cover. Same edition. Same Christmas present story. I read it every December to keep up the memory. Awesome!
TheSevenDeadlySins
We shall cut the text in two!
COLONELOBVlOUS
Pssst... @ViciousWhips: The symbol is called a monogram
haroldleedoes
decturwho
Don't know your parents, but they seem like good people, and I'd bet you are too.
ViciousWhips
Thank you :D
HumanDoodle
Amazing work !
TeeDub121
I first read the hobbit as a kid in about three days. I couldn't put it down.
Whatanoddjob
What's the symbol mean?
COLONELOBVlOUS
its a j, 2 r's and a t combined.. its a monogram.
apearthenbananas
I think the symbol actually contains his full name.
vaginaface
This post is better than the movies were
sirbenedictjbreen
bilbo
I think I'm might be relevant here :) all time favorite book right there. Lost count of how many times I've read it
MrArthurRadley
As someone who re-reads LOTR almost annually, I appreciate this greatly.
SassyGumsquatch
I usually end up giving my copies to friends and buying new ones every year or so. Otherwise mine would be destroyed by now
ZachPutland
But why
MrArthurRadley
Why re-read?
ZachPutland
Yeah but Tolkien specifically
MrArthurRadley
Grew up reading LOTR. It's sort of like hanging out w a childhood friend.
timetochangemyusername
There are dozens of us! Just had two pages of maps fall out of mine :(
CirB
As another, I'd love to do this to mine. My copy of the Hobbit is currently coverless and my copy of the LotR isn't faring much better.
MrArthurRadley
Big ?: do you dog ear the pages you like or no?
CirB
Not anymore. Used to, when I was younger :P
MrArthurRadley
Don't tell anyone but I still do. After all these years? Always.
NickyJon
I WAS EXPECTING A HARDWARE PROJECT but I am ok with the results thank you
hiwelcometoimgurhowmayiwasteyourtime
Bruh, are you an architect/student? That cutting mat looks familiar. Also Tolkien for life
TicklesYourElmo
Reading it on my kindle at work right now
eddyfinnso
Show us how you did it!
HandoB4Javert
"Magic"
starscape678
SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT
ViciousWhips
I have just enough leather to do one or two books if I cut carefully, so I will make a how-to over the next couple days and post that. :D
pennywisesnightmare
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NowuseamoredifferentS
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everythingismadeofmincedmeat
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sassynpretentious
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masterwes2
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neckxey
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sirgalahadthebrave
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RedHeadedCoyote
!
dwtmtrkx
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Chirishnique
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[deleted]
[deleted]
OrThatsWhatTheySayAnyway
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neckxey
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neckxey
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CirB
This! My copies of the Hobbit and LotR are currently pretty much coverless. Would love to do this to them!
CATSandDRAGONS
*chanting* Show us! Show us!
built4speed
Seconded. We need a how-to, OP!
alexicanz
No shit! I wanna do this with my HP books
Squidsaucelolol
Keep on Tolkien homie.
Bobwithglasses
Holy shit, I have a copy that looks almost exactly the same as that.
NegentropyX
I was given copy of "The Hobbit" 46 yrs ago. Read it five or six times and subsequently read LOTR seven times. Still got "The Hobbit"...
NZSheeps
Get a copy of Lord of the Rings: The Final Journey and bind that too. https://youtu.be/skMj9vCD2ko
PffftNext
While i think LotR is a much better novel, the memories of getting The Hobbit read to me as a child are some of the best in my life
Dsmizz
My Dad bought me The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when I was 8. I've read them all at least once a year in the twelve
Dsmizz
years since then. As a fellow Tolkien Geek I just want to say this is some beautiful work. Awesome job!!!
ViciousWhips
Thank you! :D
thejeffman
So many up votes if I could
abbynorml1979
This is awesome, I may need to look into this for a few of my favorite books. I'm glad you explained the symbol, I wasn't aware of that!
aFamousActor
Bagulosis
So look, a few things. I am going to steal this gif, but I am also upvoting you. And lastly, your response was the right response.
aFamousActor
Aww, come 'ere
perseco
Gandalf's reaction to: "Right after the Sam/Frodo suckfest, right before the credits roll, Sam fucking flat out bricks in Frodo's mouth."
peanutofthenight
What
perseco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GorLBm35ZkE
peanutofthenight
bless you, sweet prince for that clip
Bearricane
I love the leather! But that paper's gonna acidifying like a sumabitch. Mass market paperbacks aren't great for lasting rebinds.
ViciousWhips
Thank you! And yeah, I realize the paper won't hold up for a long time, but taking a paperback book and making it a hard cover will help...
ViciousWhips
Prevent physical damage to the pages. I used acid free, archival, bookbinders glue to help as well.
KintsugiHeart
Oh, it's a JRRT... I was like "why is the red dragon symbol on it?"
kevlarburrito
One of my favorite childhood memories is the time my father would read me the hobbit at bed time. The room was always cool, not cold...1/2
kevlarburrito
2/2 and the blankets just warm enough that I'd stay awake until the nights chapter over. I remember closing my eyes and picturing the story