Next month I'll have a little bit of cash and was thinking of buying a really nice set of the LOTR and Hobbit books. Right now I just have some beat up, dog eared paper backs I bought some time ago but I would like a really nice set for home use with the maps, nice cover, good quality pages, the works.
I tried googling but it's like looking for a needle in a hay stack. I never realized that there so many version!
If anyone has some experience or reccomendations I'd be thankful.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out & proclaiming "WOW, what a ride!"
Civ II rules after all these years......
There is a beautiful boxed hardcover set illustrated by Alan Lee that I've been ogling for some time. Amazon offers the set for $63.00. I also swear I remember seeing an over-sized, leather-bound set - also illustrated by Alan Lee - for sale about the time the first LotR movie appeared in theaters. It was in a Walden Books store and sold for about $150. I've not been able to locate that edition again. Perhaps I imagined it... my fondness for the halflings' leaf has addled my wits.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out & proclaiming "WOW, what a ride!"
Civ II rules after all these years......
The hardback editions illustrated by Alan Lee are very nice. I was fortunate to have my copy of The Hobbit signed by Lee when he was at a booksigning in San Francisco a few years ago.
I don't own a copy of the the 50th Anniversary edition of The Lord of the Rings, but it looks very nice. I do own a similarly bound edition of The Hobbit.
Mine is the 50th Anniversary edition, and it's wonderful. The text was reworked with a fine-toothed comb with the help of Christopher Tolkien to try to weed out all the inconsistencies that crept in over the decades. It "feels" right -- like something that's old, treasured, passed down from a vanished age. The back is choc-a-bloc with appendices. There are two huge & impressive fold-out maps. It's light on illustration, but has a couple of the Professor's drawings in it.
The downside is, of course, it's heavy! But for a tome that kind of sets the mood of the story, it's hard to beat.
I don't own a copy of the the 50th Anniversary edition of The Lord of the Rings, but it looks very nice. I do own a similarly bound edition of The Hobbit.
I've been thinking of buying the original english version for a while now (I only own a copy in my native language) and the 50th Anniversary Edition looks incredible. I'm very, very tempted! Thanks for posting that link!
I don't own a copy of the the 50th Anniversary edition of The Lord of the Rings, but it looks very nice. I do own a similarly bound edition of The Hobbit.
I was searching for an english version quite a while now but found only those ugly paperbacks like my German edition.
I came, I saw, I ordered
Just incredible and well worth it.
Last edited by Ashima; Feb 27 2012 at 08:12 AM.
"Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes" - Frodo, The Lord of the Rings Die Trinkfeste Thekenmannschaft auf Maiar sucht noch Verstärkung
I love the history of the cover on the Hobbit version. When I opened it up the first thing I did was to check and see if the red lettering was on Thorin's map like it's supposed to, and I was not disappointed. I never knew that the road to the Lonely Mountain was designed to be on the spine of the book.
The 50th Anniversary LOTR version was worth every penny.
I'm such a LOTR and Hobbit freak it's not even funny.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out & proclaiming "WOW, what a ride!"
Civ II rules after all these years......
I love the history of the cover on the Hobbit version. When I opened it up the first thing I did was to check and see if the red lettering was on Thorin's map like it's supposed to, and I was not disappointed. I never knew that the road to the Lonely Mountain was designed to be on the spine of the book.
The 50th Anniversary LOTR version was worth every penny.
I'm such a LOTR and Hobbit freak it's not even funny.
Color me green with jealosy...I know what I'm asking for Christmas this year!
I love the history of the cover on the Hobbit version. When I opened it up the first thing I did was to check and see if the red lettering was on Thorin's map like it's supposed to, and I was not disappointed. I never knew that the road to the Lonely Mountain was designed to be on the spine of the book.
The 50th Anniversary LOTR version was worth every penny.
I'm such a LOTR and Hobbit freak it's not even funny.
I have that one also, at least looks the same from the outside, enjoy
"You can't fight the Enemy with his own Ring without turning into an Enemy" - J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter # 81
I have the Easton Press editions - the 3 volumes of LotR, plus The Hobbit and Silmarillion. They're bound in green leather with gilt edges. The Hobbit has Tolkein's original illustrations, but the others are un-illustrated except for the frontispieces of the LotR set. The LotR books also have separate (i.e., not bound in) fold-out maps. EP also did an edition of Fonstad's Atlas of Middle-earth; I have that too but I don't know if it's still offered.
This one-volume gilt-edge boxed one is my current favourite, though I have pretty early editions of the 3-volume set in hardbound that I use to see what got changed in the Appendices... like Aragorn's age, i think. They took a lot of care with the typography, it has a built-in ribbon bookmark, and it includes a genealogy not in my other volumes -- I think it's the Boffin line.
I have my 4 book paper back box set that have lasted me for 10 years. I also found a nice red canvas hardcover of the Fellowship of the ring and Return of the king in the bargain area of Barnes and Noble, no copy of Two Towers yet though.
I have my 4 book paper back box set that have lasted me for 10 years. I also found a nice red canvas hardcover of the Fellowship of the ring and Return of the king in the bargain area of Barnes and Noble, no copy of Two Towers yet though.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, totally worn out & proclaiming "WOW, what a ride!"
Civ II rules after all these years......
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Originally Posted by oldbadgerbrock
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