erestor writes: I’ve had this problem with other books in the past. my tip – go to your local bookbinder (I’m sure there is one somewhere) and ask him to remove it. they have the tools and the solvents necessary. it doesn’t cost a fortune, either, and especially in this case, it’s well worth the effort.

———-

Shelby writes: Hi, I read your paragraph and thought about it, I’ve not had a real good look at the books myself, but mabye if you take a pocket knife and cut close the inside of the book, it might not hurt the book or map its self. Good Luck!

———-

Tom writes: Concerning FredOs question about the maps in the 50th Anniversary LOTR, the following is a copy of the e-mail I just sent to Fred. He’s a well known local Pittsburgh Ringer!

Fred,

Hi! Just saw your question over at TORn about getting at the maps.

I have opened both maps by gently lifting/separating the pages away from those little drops of glue. The glue is like a heavy duty rubber cement rather than a more permanent type.

As far as trying to remove the maps from the book itself, I really don’t think that they were meant to come out, just by the way they’re attached (one leaf appears to go into the binding ).

Hope this helps!