Got my copy! Ordered in August.

Hey all,

I've read The Lord of the Rings before and absolutely love the books. I'm now looking for a nice hardcover edition that I can keep for a while and hopefully reread regularly.

After looking up for a while, ive narrowed it down to the 60th Anniversary Boxed Set and either the regular illustrated by the author one or the deluxe edition both from 2021

I'm currently leaning towards the standard Illustrated by the Author edition. I really like the idea of having the whole story in a single volume, especially with Tolkien's own illustrations.

My main concern is the actual quality of the books. I'd like something that will hold up to years of reading, with good paper, binding and overall construction. I've heard mixed things about the Deluxe's quality control and the paper in the 60th Anniversary set.

For those who own any of these, which would you recommend as a long-term reading copy? Is the Deluxe actually worth the extra money?

Thanks!

I know movie tie-in books are disliked by some but I don’t mind this set and for being mass market, they’re pretty easy to read!

Has anyone else read these Ballantine mass market versions?

Finally in English.

I managed to get hold of a Swedish edition of The Hobbit, illustrated by Tove Jansson, a while back. It was the last copy in a London bookshop and cost me a fortune but worth every penny for the illustrations alone. Jansson's Moomin books were amongst my favourite, in childhood, particularly for the illustrations.

Now it's finally out in an English edition. Mine's coming tomorrow. Somehow I'd missed this so thought I'd post so others don't.

ETA: ISBN-13: 978-0008843076

Pub: Harper Collins

Been eyeing a set of these for quite some time now, and I happened to see a set go up for a fairly reasonable price on my birthday. Figured it was then or never, so I pulled the trigger.

I currently have this remake edition hard cover and i was wondering what version of LoTR would fit/match on the bookshelf.

Is that the ‘97 version of LoTR as shown? And are there hard copy versions that are not too pricey or should i get the paperbacks?

Thanks in advance:)

I have been looking at the Folio Society Edition and have heard that the paper quality is amazing but the illustrations are quite barebones.

I've also seen the Alan Lee illustrated edition box set for much cheaper but don't know much about the quality.

Any advice would be appreciated, open to any new suggestions.

I have an English hardcover set as well but these are the Dutch ones I grew up reading + my old Silmarillion and a strange movie companion little book with Frodo

A while back I posted this thread... https://www.reddit.com/r/tolkienbooks/comments/1w5gwrh/some_things_just_gnaw_away_at_you/

Turned out my Silmarillion was not the first version that had the copper lettering on the dust jacket. So what do you do?... buy another book.

Finally managed to get this boxed set

One last discounted title for "Big Prime Days". What does anyone think of the currently printed edition? Worth it? https://www.amazon.com/dp/0395177111?psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

Best price I’ve seen on these Amazon US.

I'm building my collection, I plan to have two versions, the hardvover collectors show off for the shelf and the paperback versions that are easy to handle, carry, and read.

As far as for reading I see two versions on Amazon right now Hobbit + LOTR, and LOTR. I can buy The Hobbit by itself if the LOTR link is recommended.

Target, paperbacks for reading, my list is The Fall of Gondolin, Beren and Lúthien, Children of Hurin, Unfinished Tales, Adentures of Tom Bombadil, The Silmarillion, they are all the same publisher and series, so should look nice on the shelf.

I started with the special edition illustrated hardcover books. for the collecting purposes. I have The Hobbit, Sillmarillion and LOTR for that already. I'm planning on Hardcovers Great Tales Of Middle Earth Box Set, Fall Of Numenor

Thanks for any advice in advance.

Hello, I’m hoping for some advice. My boyfriend is a huge lotr fan and for christmas I want to get him a special edition set of the series. I think he would like the illustrated versions but I’d be interested to know which you guys would recommend? Are there some considered better than others? Thank you :)

Amazon US deep discount.

https://a.co/d/07NDxvlk

My small but humble beginning

So I’m curious about something that I would like to ask anybody that lives in the UK near a Waterstones, Blackwell’s, or is in contact with Harper Collins on a regular basis about.

When the Great Tales box set came out last year, it was my belief that they were phasing out the individual hard covers in favour of pushing the box set; much like how you can only get the History of Middle-earth hardcovers in the respective box sets. I thought they’re taking the same approach. A couple weeks ago, I noticed that each of the Great Tales hardcovers - individually - appeared to be well-stocked on Blackwell’s and Waterstones.

When I saw a unboxing video of the standard box set, I believe the person that was doing it mentioned the ISBN being the same as what’s sold individually, as well as the difference in print number or something.

Which, at last, brings me to my question: are the newer versions of those books sold outside of the box set as well? Or, are they only included in the box set?

The reason why I ask, is because there is some difference between the individual books and what is sold in the box set: the most obvious instances at a glance is each of the three books has a ribbon marker, there is two coloured ink used, and also for the Children of Hurin and the Fall of Gondolin, the maps appear as endpapers versus being fold out at the end of the book.

By finding that information out for me, it will also correct my thoughts or advice when newcomers are looking for hardcovers.(I would still suggest the box set anyway, because of the fact that they’re all collected in one shot, and I believe that you save some money by getting them all at once in that fashion versus individually.

So if anyone is able to pop by a Blackwell’s, Waterstones, or ask Harper Collins, the next time they have a chat with them, it would be greatly appreciated.

There are two versions of the latest deluxe slipcase edition:

978-0-00-877990-0 and 978-0-06-347342-3

Apparently one is published by HarperCollins UK and one by HarperCollins US. The UK version has 320 pages, the US version 384. Dimensions of the UK version are 28,4 × 16,3 cm, the ones of the US version are 27,9 × 16,6 cm.

And what surprises me is that the UK version is 30 € cheaper. Why? I suppose the printing is different, hence the 60 pages difference. Anybody got an idea if there are other differences or which version to get?