Maths today involved Stem and Leaf tables. The name reminded me completely of an old tome I have from my teenage years, Tree and Leaf.
Tree and Leaf is one of the lesser known tales from JRR Tolkien. Like Tom Bombadil and Farmer Giles of Ham it forms part of the wider Middle Earth mythos.
I think my paperback copy was published by Unwin. I imagine I got it at Sweetens bookshop in Preston in the late Seventies, along with the other stories I mentioned.
My copies of Lord of the Rings are battered things now. Three paperbacks I adored back then and read them ferociously wherever and whenever I could, even at my first job of paid work! I hid the book in the top drawer of my desk and pretending to scribble I had a sneaky read!
My Missus' late Grandma bought me a paperback copy of The Hobbit in 1980 for Christmas too and somewhere I've a biography by a chap called Humphries. The paperback Silmarillion too.
I still have some of the Athena Lord of the Rings posters, which are quite collectable now. Alas my beloved Athena woodblock picture of Gandalf has gone to Mordor as has my Bo Hanssen album inspired by the book.
With the school holidays looming I plan to re-read Tree and Leaf in the sunshine of the garden and like Bilbo at Rivendell relive those glory days of my youth and my absolute love of Tolkien back then.
Have you read Tree and Leaf readers?
I read Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion but was never a fan. At the time the book editions you mentioned were out, I remember seeing in WH Smiths some really fancy, leather bound editions with tissue thin pages and gold leaf embossed covers. They came in their own boxes and were, I suspect, very expensive.
ReplyDeleteYes, JRR's books have attracted many exclusive and folio editions. I once considered collecting the paperback versions, as they're the ones I grew up with. I adore everything about Lord of the Rings. Just my cup of Hobbit tea!
DeleteI too read 'The Hobbit' and was also not a fan, nor could I get into the 'Lord of the Rings' movies.
ReplyDeleteTolkien's stuff is just gobbledegook to me.
The 'Harry Potter' movies, however (I have not read the books), are excellent.
J. K. Rowling's more narrative fantasy world seems to make more sense somehow.
Pity Mish, I love the Tolkein world. Pottery came too late in my life for me to get excited. Lord of the Rings was part of my youth and became an enduring passion. I used to write songs in a band and many of them were inspired by Middle Earth's goings on. I've never read any Harry Potter books but I do keep my eye out for old copies of the Philosopher's Stone!
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