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.
Oh, I can handle heavy. Isn't a tome supposed to be heavy?
I'll have my income tax return about the 2nd week of Feb. I'll keep you guys posted!
It's weird, when ever I open up a map of Middle Earth, I feel like it's a real place.
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......
A couple of years ago, I saw a beautiful copy of the Lord of the Rings at a local bookstore. It had a blue leatherette hard cover and gold gilt edges. I'm not sure if it was the Professor's birth centenary edition but it cost around $150. I can't remember if it had Alan Lee illustrations or not. I just remember drooling over it and hating myself for just having purchased an Absolute Edition of Watchmen by Alan Moore with a couple of other books. When I came back to the bookstore next payday, it wasn't there anymore. Haven't seen it since.
A couple of years ago, I saw a beautiful copy of the Lord of the Rings at a local bookstore. It had a blue leatherette hard cover and gold gilt edges. I'm not sure if it was the Professor's birth centenary edition but it cost around $150. I can't remember if it had Alan Lee illustrations or not. I just remember drooling over it and hating myself for just having purchased an Absolute Edition of Watchmen by Alan Moore with a couple of other books. When I came back to the bookstore next payday, it wasn't there anymore. Haven't seen it since.
That's heartbreaking!
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 might get one if ever I win at the lottery (but I don't enter so...:P)
Wow. Just...........Wow. One of those sets was $12,000. My wife would kill me if I even mentioned the possibility..........
Tax time is coming so I will be getting my nice set, I'll have to settle for a hundred bucks or so......
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 only have LOTR. I didn't know they made a similar version of The Hobbit and Poems and Stories.
If only I were a hobbit, I'd sneak in over your house and...erm...*look* at your beautiful copy. I promise to wash my grubby hands before touching it. :3
I only have LOTR. I didn't know they made a similar version of The Hobbit and Poems and Stories.
OMG. That's........beautiful!
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......
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 just ordered this edition and the One Ring on a necklace to wear around. The wife thinks I'm nuts. I have a feeling that all of us Tolkienites are.
I've never had a nice version of the books, it's always been cheap, beat up paperback copies with a tiny map. Got a really nice hardcover version of the Hobbit too!
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 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.
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.
I love the runic letters on the cover!
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......
In the late '80s my girlfriend got me a red leather hardbound edition. I loved it, and still it for sale (I see it periodically on the shelf).
edit: ah, found it - http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Col.../dp/0395193958
(Some time in the '90s I found a matching green leather edition of the Hobbit. They sit proudly together in my library.)
(And, yes, I married her.)
Last edited by Chyll_Elite; Mar 13 2012 at 01:00 PM.
Hi Doctor,
I have been reading my HM Hardcover LOTR (The Red Book) for 25 years, still in excellent condition, very well worth the investment, and looks great too. Jelly babies, yum.
Hi Doctor,
I have been reading my HM Hardcover LOTR (The Red Book) for 25 years, still in excellent condition, very well worth the investment, and looks great too. Jelly babies, yum.
Be well
Dramino
And don't forget the long scarf!
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......
In the late '80s my girlfriend got me a red leather hardbound edition. I loved it, and still it for sale (I see it periodically on the shelf).
edit: ah, found it - http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Col.../dp/0395193958
(Some time in the '90s I found a matching green leather edition of the Hobbit. They sit proudly together in my library.)
(And, yes, I married her.)
Wife bought that one for me for Christmas as well, as I'd wanted it since before we got married but we never had the money.
Several years before that, I was given this edition http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0395...kd#reader-link by....well, not a stranger, but less than an aquaintance too. She saw me reading my paperback beat up edition of the Hobbit and asked me about it. After expounding on it and Middle earth in general, she realized my love for the professor's writings. She asked me to wait and, then ran her kids home and came back with that copy of the Hobbit and gave it to me. She said I obviously would appreciate it more than her family and it would get used much more in my home. It sits next to the red leather edition on my shelf and I make sure to read it every now and then to justify the offering. ( I have 5 editions of the Hobbit on my shelf now, including that old beat up paperback given to me 30 years ago by my parents)
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......
don't understand why the site would post such old and bad reviews of this beloved book?
The way I took it was that they chose those two reviews for curiosity sake, it's proof that not every one of Tolkien's contemporaries was a fan, and not all of them got it right either. I wonder if those two gentlemen regretted those words in years to come?
Good luck with your quest m8.. I have that same set as you have atm..lol.. Tatterred an dog eared lotro book's. also what i'd love is mid. pricey range. But i sorta came up with an atl. plan. basically break thing's up , awesome affordable reader set. Wall map's. and mainly illustrated book sort's. ...
naybe this site will help u decide or other wise help ya in ur quest an maybe some other's.
lordotrings.com
Good bit of lotro item's there, many price range's.
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Originally Posted by Michikoh
A couple of years ago, I saw a beautiful copy of the Lord of the Rings at a local bookstore. It had a blue leatherette hard cover and gold gilt edges. I'm not sure if it was the Professor's birth centenary edition but it cost around $150. I can't remember if it had Alan Lee illustrations or not. I just remember drooling over it and hating myself for just having purchased an Absolute Edition of Watchmen by Alan Moore with a couple of other books. When I came back to the bookstore next payday, it wasn't there anymore. Haven't seen it since.
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!"
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Re: Nice Edition of the LOTR Books
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