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Tips for Collecting
Tips for Collecting
One of the most important skills that must be mastered when moving into collection beyond personal visits to physical bookstores, is learning to use Google Translate. While it's always possible to make fun of early GT, when used properly it's an indispensable tool for international business. The chat with a Bengali speaker in Bangladesh to the right is a classic example. The key to writing English text that is easily translated into another language? It's simple. That's it--make the sentences simple and don't use idioms or informal, colloquial expressions. If you want to check the process, then translate the translation back into English. It should be very close to what you wrote. If it isn't then try again and simplify the sentences that seemed to be in error.
One of the most important skills that must be mastered when moving into collection beyond personal visits to physical bookstores, is learning to use Google Translate. While it's always possible to make fun of early GT, when used properly it's an indispensable tool for international business. The chat with a Bengali speaker in Bangladesh to the right is a classic example. The key to writing English text that is easily translated into another language? It's simple. That's it--make the sentences simple and don't use idioms or informal, colloquial expressions. If you want to check the process, then translate the translation back into English. It should be very close to what you wrote. If it isn't then try again and simplify the sentences that seemed to be in error.
Here are two of the most productive ways to find international booksellers who have LOTR in their catalogs.
Here are two of the most productive ways to find international booksellers who have LOTR in their catalogs.
•Search by ISBN number if you know it. Mixed in with random phone numbers that happen to match an ISBN number are websites for booksellers that have the translation you're looking for.
•Search by ISBN number if you know it. Mixed in with random phone numbers that happen to match an ISBN number are websites for booksellers that have the translation you're looking for.
•Search by the translation's title in the script of the title, such as "Władca Pierścieni" or "स्वामी मुद्रिकांचा". (You can find many native names at the Wikipedia artcle here or on the pages of this website). If you're really bold and know the difference between alphabets, abjads, abugidas/alphasyllabaries, syllabaries, and logographic systems, then you can type your own search names at Lexilogos. (Since I have a PhD in Linguistics I tend to use Lexilogos as a point of pride.) Otherwise, copy and paste from Wikipedia or here.
•Search by the translation's title in the script of the title, such as "Władca Pierścieni" or "स्वामी मुद्रिकांचा". (You can find many native names at the Wikipedia artcle here or on the pages of this website). If you're really bold and know the difference between alphabets, abjads, abugidas/alphasyllabaries, syllabaries, and logographic systems, then you can type your own search names at Lexilogos. (Since I have a PhD in Linguistics I tend to use Lexilogos as a point of pride.) Otherwise, copy and paste from Wikipedia or here.
Once you've found a potential on-line source, find the search box (almost always marked with that little magnifying glass) and type "Tolkien" there. A liberal use of Google Translate can usually take you from there.
Once you've found a potential on-line source, find the search box (almost always marked with that little magnifying glass) and type "Tolkien" there. A liberal use of Google Translate can usually take you from there.
If you're interested in collecting The Hobbit, there is an excellent English language site at The Hobbithunter in the Netherlands. Another excellent Hobbit site in Spanish is De Imladris a Oxford. An exceptional site for LOTR, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion in Italian is Tolkieniano Collection. (Please don't hesitate to point me to similar sites that you know of.)
If you're interested in collecting The Hobbit, there is an excellent English language site at The Hobbithunter in the Netherlands. Another excellent Hobbit site in Spanish is De Imladris a Oxford. An exceptional site for LOTR, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion in Italian is Tolkieniano Collection. (Please don't hesitate to point me to similar sites that you know of.)
If You Live in the United States
If You Live in the United States
Until 2025, there were few restrictions on buying and shipping books from Europe and many other parts of the world. Some companies, especially second-hand sites like Shoppee, restricted their sales to a specific country, but you could often get around the restrictions by writing to the seller directly. But it was also often possible to buy the same books on other sites without restrictions, and when it wasn't then arrangements could sometimes be made with book dealers who regularly imported and sold books from that country. (I had such an arrangement with Hanbooks in Los Angeles, for example, to get books out of South Korea.) For Europe, however, I don't remember facing any such restrictions because of the Eurozone.
Until 2025, there were few restrictions on buying and shipping books from Europe and many other parts of the world. Some companies, especially second-hand sites like Shoppee, restricted their sales to a specific country, but you could often get around the restrictions by writing to the seller directly. But it was also often possible to buy the same books on other sites without restrictions, and when it wasn't then arrangements could sometimes be made with book dealers who regularly imported and sold books from that country. (I had such an arrangement with Hanbooks in Los Angeles, for example, to get books out of South Korea.) For Europe, however, I don't remember facing any such restrictions because of the Eurozone.
In 2025, however, Donald Trump unilaterally imposed large tariffs on the world which disrupted international trade to and from the United States. At the same time he eliminated the de minimis tariff-free exemption for small parcels (less than $800 in value) and made them subject to the same tariffs as larger shipments. The postal services of most countries with heavy postal traffic to the US responded to the new Customs and import requirements by halting shipment of all parcels to the US. Most of the second-hand outlets and many new-product dealers responded by eliminating all sales to customers from the US. Businesses that I had formerly made easy purchases from were closed to my business. Whole countries became off-limits to on-line shopping and international shipping for US customers. The goods that we were still able to buy overseas became much more expensive because we were forced to rely on DHL, FedEx, UPS, and other private shipping companies rather than the national postal services. When I bought Kazakh A, I had to pay more than five times what I paid for the books themselves to have them shipped to the US on DHL (the only shipper working out of Kazakhstan).
In 2025, however, Donald Trump unilaterally imposed large tariffs on the world which disrupted international trade to and from the United States. At the same time he eliminated the de minimis tariff-free exemption for small parcels (less than $800 in value) and made them subject to the same tariffs as larger shipments. The postal services of most countries with heavy postal traffic to the US responded to the new Customs and import requirements by halting shipment of all parcels to the US. Most of the second-hand outlets and many new-product dealers responded by eliminating all sales to customers from the US. Businesses that I had formerly made easy purchases from were closed to my business. Whole countries became off-limits to on-line shopping and international shipping for US customers. The goods that we were still able to buy overseas became much more expensive because we were forced to rely on DHL, FedEx, UPS, and other private shipping companies rather than the national postal services. When I bought Kazakh A, I had to pay more than five times what I paid for the books themselves to have them shipped to the US on DHL (the only shipper working out of Kazakhstan).
Today, the postal services are generally opening up to parcels going to the US, but every parcel is being delayed in Customs (for days or even weeks) before moving from the port of entry to their final destination. Private shipping companies can do the Customs clearance in advance so the speed with which they can get parcels from seller to buyer is much faster, sometimes weeks faster, but it does cost more and isn't covered by "free shipping". However, even though the postal services are generally open again for shipping to the US, many of the most promising book sources are still closed to business with US customers. Sites where I have made purchases in the past are now closed to me, such as Todocoleccion in Spain and Bokbörsen in Sweden. I have seen sites that I cannot even register for, where every country in the world is an option on the drop down menu except for the US.
Today, the postal services are generally opening up to parcels going to the US, but every parcel is being delayed in Customs (for days or even weeks) before moving from the port of entry to their final destination. Private shipping companies can do the Customs clearance in advance so the speed with which they can get parcels from seller to buyer is much faster, sometimes weeks faster, but it does cost more and isn't covered by "free shipping". However, even though the postal services are generally open again for shipping to the US, many of the most promising book sources are still closed to business with US customers. Sites where I have made purchases in the past are now closed to me, such as Todocoleccion in Spain and Bokbörsen in Sweden. I have seen sites that I cannot even register for, where every country in the world is an option on the drop down menu except for the US.
So what can be done? One of the cheapest ways is, of course, to ask overseas friends or family to buy the books and then ship them to us. But our friends or family members don't always live in the country where we want to do business and if we do a lot of overseas purchasing (like I do) we don't want to be a burden and impose on a friendship or family relationship. The best option is to find a proxy buyer and pay them a commission to buy and ship our purchases. I have found my proxies at r/internationalshopper on Reddit. I have made good relationships with proxies from Brazil, Spain, Greece, Sweden, and Indonesia. You can find reviews of their services on the site so the chances of a bad experience can be reduced by checking them out. It's not always possible to find a proxy for every country, but by making some contacts with booksellers that you've worked with on multiple purchases, they can sometimes help a good customer and use their contacts in the region to make the sale happen.
So what can be done? One of the cheapest ways is, of course, to ask overseas friends or family to buy the books and then ship them to us. But our friends or family members don't always live in the country where we want to do business and if we do a lot of overseas purchasing (like I do) we don't want to be a burden and impose on a friendship or family relationship. The best option is to find a proxy buyer and pay them a commission to buy and ship our purchases. I have found my proxies at r/internationalshopper on Reddit. I have made good relationships with proxies from Brazil, Spain, Greece, Sweden, and Indonesia. You can find reviews of their services on the site so the chances of a bad experience can be reduced by checking them out. It's not always possible to find a proxy for every country, but by making some contacts with booksellers that you've worked with on multiple purchases, they can sometimes help a good customer and use their contacts in the region to make the sale happen.
My best advice in all these situations is something that you probably already know: Don't act like an "American". You should already know what that means. If not, ask one of your international friends.
My best advice in all these situations is something that you probably already know: Don't act like an "American". You should already know what that means. If not, ask one of your international friends.
Never Ignore Serendipity
Never Ignore Serendipity
The principle of serendipity is simple: You must be looking for something to find something.
The principle of serendipity is simple: You must be looking for something to find something.
Until my retirement in 2025, I taught the course "History of the English Language" at my university. One day I was doing a general google search for books on the various Germanic languages that might be useful for my course. Right near the front of my search for "Frisian language", the Frisian translation of FR popped up for sale at the Tolkien Shop. It was the first of many orders I've placed with the Tolkien Shop in Leiden over the years that I've been collecting.
Until my retirement in 2025, I taught the course "History of the English Language" at my university. One day I was doing a general google search for books on the various Germanic languages that might be useful for my course. Right near the front of my search for "Frisian language", the Frisian translation of FR popped up for sale at the Tolkien Shop. It was the first of many orders I've placed with the Tolkien Shop in Leiden over the years that I've been collecting.
One of the two most popular pages on my website from the very beginning has been Icelandic. When I later posted the Sinhala page, it supplanted the Icelandic page in first place. These two are almost always in the top five search terms for clicks through to this site. In early October 2023, I was running through some of my links to bookstores not looking for anything in particular, just monitoring anything that caught my eye. Suddenly, there was Sinhala B, a new edition of FR and a new translation of TT. I didn't even leave the site before I had sent my money and placed an order. On the very same day, less than an hour after completing my transaction in Sri Lanka, I was updating my watchlist on ebay when the AI suggestions at the bottom of the page presented me with Icelandic B, an edition that I had not seen before for sale. I ordered it even faster than I had ordered the volumes from Sri Lanka (mainly because ebay is in English and I have to use Google Translate for Sinhala). On one day I doubled my holdings in the two most-searched-for translations. They arrived on Friday and Monday surrounding a single weekend a little over a week later (Sri Lanka beat Iceland).
One of the two most popular pages on my website from the very beginning has been Icelandic. When I later posted the Sinhala page, it supplanted the Icelandic page in first place. These two are almost always in the top five search terms for clicks through to this site. In early October 2023, I was running through some of my links to bookstores not looking for anything in particular, just monitoring anything that caught my eye. Suddenly, there was Sinhala B, a new edition of FR and a new translation of TT. I didn't even leave the site before I had sent my money and placed an order. On the very same day, less than an hour after completing my transaction in Sri Lanka, I was updating my watchlist on ebay when the AI suggestions at the bottom of the page presented me with Icelandic B, an edition that I had not seen before for sale. I ordered it even faster than I had ordered the volumes from Sri Lanka (mainly because ebay is in English and I have to use Google Translate for Sinhala). On one day I doubled my holdings in the two most-searched-for translations. They arrived on Friday and Monday surrounding a single weekend a little over a week later (Sri Lanka beat Iceland).
I taught at a university in Utah and on my personal introduction webpage for every class I mentioned my Tolkien translation collection (with a link to this site, of course). I even mentioned the translations that were missing at the time. Utah is, of course, the home of the LDS (Mormon) church and many of my students had served LDS missions in countries around the world. A couple of years ago, one of my students mentioned that she had served her mission in Georgia and one of her friends there could get me a Georgian translation if I was interested. Thus Georgian A came into my life.
I taught at a university in Utah and on my personal introduction webpage for every class I mentioned my Tolkien translation collection (with a link to this site, of course). I even mentioned the translations that were missing at the time. Utah is, of course, the home of the LDS (Mormon) church and many of my students had served LDS missions in countries around the world. A couple of years ago, one of my students mentioned that she had served her mission in Georgia and one of her friends there could get me a Georgian translation if I was interested. Thus Georgian A came into my life.
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