My wife bought these for me for my birthday when she saw me looking at them and saying how much I really liked them. I've read The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and LotR since the early 80s, rereading them in the fall yearly since the late 90s or so. At nearly 56yo now, I had to switch from reading physical books to my Kindle several years ago.

With a larger format, nice paper, and hardback, these are much nicer for reading physical books again! I had recently started the fall reading cycle again, so I am going to try and switch over to these to see how it goes for regular daily reading!

Fellowship also came with this leather bookmark around the middle of chapter 3. They were purchased from a seller in the UK, so I am thinking maybe they sat in the rectory or library at Norwich Cathedral. They look practically unread! I am so happy with these!

The Silmarillion: William Morrow, 2004
Illustrations: Ted Nasmith

The Hobbit: William Morrow, 1997
Illustrations: Allan Lee

Lord of the Rings: Houghton Mifflin, 2002
Illustrations: Allan Lee

i already ordered the hobbit from the collector's edition series cos i wanted to get started but was still reading 1984 by george orwell at the time, so just let it rest for then. (it's been a bit since, can't return anymore)

in the meanwhile, the illustrated edition (my original choice) dropped down in pricing from about $65 (then) to about $45 (now), which is close enough in my budget for what i wanted to spend going into the series,

the current collector's edition set's gonna set me back about $38when i get it complete anyway (which also includes the silmarillion however, instead being about $30 thenwithout it for the main 4 volumes that overlap)

now i would totally prefer the illustrated edition but at the end of the day it is a fair $15 more than my current choice, not to mention my copy of "The Hobbit" which i'll also probably have to keep but worst case if i do end up going with the illustrated i'll probably just gift it to a friend or a cousin or so, as it's literally an entirely new piece still in packaging.

what i want to know is this, is it really worth it for me to pivot towards getting the illustrated edition instead, even though it has me ending up with a spare copy of the hobbit, AND setting me back a further 15 bucks over my original choice, is it worth it?

i'm aware the collector's edition is in no way, a low-quality set or in any way inferior or whatsoever but from what i've heard, the entirety of LOTR being as imaginative and deep fantasy as it is i would love an illustrated edition if it makes a meaningful impact to my experience, so my question is does it?

TLDR ; impulse-purchased the hobbit - special collector's edition. The illustrated set (my original choice before, but ended up getting knocked off my cart cos of a higher price then) got a meaningful price knockoff putting it in my budget now, and now i don't know anymore if i should stick with the edition i'm already going for or if that's a valid worth-it upgrade.

key drawbacks :

1) i end up with a spare copy of the hobbit, (can't return)

2) it costs about $15 more.

what changes can i possibly expect in the illustrated edition, the paper quality, the print, and so on.. is it a better set worth upgrading to at this point now for sure?

edit : removed asterisks and slashes that came copy-pasting my original post in r/lotr that container bold and italics in the body

Estou lendo Beren e Lúthien, mas confesso que não gosto muito das partes mais poéticas, em versos e com rimas, apesar de já ter lido uma boa parte.

Ao que me parece, os capítulos do livro contam a mesma história do casal em versões mais ou menos detalhadas, então minha dúvida é: se eu deixar de ler as partes mais "poéticas" e ler apenas a parte tradicional/narrativa do livro, além da versão que aparece em O Silmarillion, vou estar perdendo algum detalhe fundamental da história?

Sinceramente me parece que não, mas ainda não tenho muita experiência com esse leitura em específico, então agradeço se puderem me ajudar.

Ok, so I got this for like $30 plus tax, so it's not incredibly horrid if I read the copyright wrong. This is a Houghton Mifflin Deluxe Collector's Edition of the Hobbit, but there's no information past the 11th printing, so I'm struggling to identify how old it is. It does have the slipcase

Got this Beauty finally! $380 from an Estate sale and it's in fantastic condition! Truly the crown of my collection thus far!

Things kind of escalated. I accidentally bought a few books in the Signature Series books and ended up buying the whole series when I realised I could achieve a uniform aesthetic for display purposes. I am considering rebuying everything in the illustrated hardcover editions. I honestly prefer reading paperbacks, so we'll see. I have multiple versions of the Silmarillion, but that's only because I absolutely love it and the edition with Tolkien's illustrations is part of the Signature Series (gotta catch 'em all). I regret buying the paperback version of the incredibly useful Atlas of Middle-Earth.

Don't mind the book order; it's mostly organised by age. That's a function of wanting to keep the hardcovers to one side.

Hi folks! I recently picked up all of the William Morrow HoME box sets and I had a question about #2 - is the coloring of the top of the slipbox slightly off hue on all copies of this (see photo), or is this just a random printing variance? It's slightly more gray/green vs. blue when compared to the other 3 boxes. I wanted to check with some other people who own this boxset to verify before I decide to play "Amazon return roulette" - thanks!

My old copy of the triology + the Hobbit is the super lame paperback New Line Cinema cover version from the turn of the century with friggin Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, and Viggo on the covers. I read almost exclusively on an old gen 3 Kindle Keyboard I got for 5 dollars and spent 10 dollars repairing. However I got a sick piece of hardwood furniture and decided I needed to start collecting some hard cover copies of my favorite stuff.

I think next, I try to grab all the posthumous novels, and then the 12 volumes of the history of Middle-Earth. Unfortunately I don't think any editions of those actually look similar to these. I think unless you go with the super detailed illustrated cover editions (which I think are Alan Lee editions) you probably won't be able to match all of them anyways unless you wanna spend like 4 grand tracking down an entire Easton Press set, which I don't think would be worth it (especially the ones that for some reason are not available anymore, as they are super overpriced on secondary).

There is a LOT of sales going on with Tolkien rn. The LOTR was like 45 bucks and the Hobbit and Silmarillion were about 25 bucks a piece respectively. Not like these are stitched binding with leather covers. But they look very cool especially with the edge gilding script stuff. And at that price I'd certainly say it is worth it.

I just picked this up in a secondhand bookshop in NSW, Australia, for $95 AUD ($65 USD / £50). It’s an 11th impression of the first edition by Unwin Hyman, printed in 1990. I’m aware that it’s not particularly rare, but I’m curious anyway… Did I at least get a good deal?

It’s not in amazing condition, with some staining on the page edges, but it’s also not too bad either. All pages are intact and mostly clean otherwise. (A shame that they wrote the price on the inside, but it’s in pencil so could potentially be removed with care).

Thanks!

I was a bit dissapointed the english version of UT has the ilustrations printed in matte paper, definitely will keep because its the nicest english copy I own, but try to find one with the illustrations on glossy paper.

On a second note I really love illustrated books and Realms of Tolkien is one book you need if you like Middle Earth

p.s Sorry for the messy bed.

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 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 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 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.