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The Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary, One Vol. Edition Paperback – October 12, 2005
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Immerse yourself in Middle-earth with J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic masterpieces behind the films...
This special 50th anniversary edition includes three volumes of The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King), along with an extensive new index—a must-own tome for old and new Tolkien readers alike.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.
From Sauron's fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.
When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.
The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), beloved throughout the world as the creator of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, a fellow of Pembroke College, and a fellow of Merton College until his retirement in 1959. His chief interest was the linguistic aspects of the early English written tradition, but while he studied classic works of the past, he was creating a set of his own.
- Print length1178 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMariner Books
- Publication dateOctober 12, 2005
- Reading age14 years and up
- Dimensions5.75 x 1.75 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-100618640150
- ISBN-13978-0618640157
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The Lord of the Rings | The Fellowship of the Ring [TV Tie-In] | The Return of the King [TV Tie-In] | The Two Towers [TV Tie-In] | The Fellowship of the Ring | The Two Towers | |
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Review
"A unique, wholly realized other world, evoked from deep in the well of Time, massively detailed, absorbingly entertaining, profound in meaning." The New York Times —
About the Author
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over sixty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Lord of the Rings
By J. R. R. TolkienHoughton Mifflin Company
Copyright © 2005 J. R. R. TolkienAll right reserved.
ISBN: 9780618640157
Excerpt
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
BOOK ONE
Chapter 1
A Long-Expected Party
When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be
celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special
magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.
Bilbo was very rich and very peculiar, and had been the
wonder of the Shire for sixty years, ever since his remarkable
disappearance and unexpected return. The riches he had brought back
from his travels had now become a local legend, and it was popularly
believed, whatever the old folk might say, that the Hill at Bag End
was full of tunnels stuffed with treasure. And if that was not enough
for fame, there was also his prolonged vigour to marvel at. Time wore
on, but it seemed to have little effect on Mr. Baggins. At ninety he
was much the same as at fifty. At ninety-nine they began to call him
well-preserved; but unchanged would have been nearer the mark. There
were some that shook their heads and thought this was too much of a
good thing; it seemed unfair that anyone should possess (apparently)
perpetual youth as well as (reputedly) inexhaustible wealth.
"It will have to be paid for," they said. "It isn"t natural,
and trouble will come of it!"
But so far trouble had not come; and as Mr. Baggins was
generous with his money, most people were willing to forgive him his
oddities and his good fortune. He remained on visiting terms with his
relatives (except, of course, the Sackville-Bagginses), and he had
many devoted admirers among the hobbits of poor and unimportant
families. But he had no close friends, until some of his younger
cousins began to grow up.
The eldest of these, and Bilbo"s favourite, was young Frodo
Baggins. When Bilbo was ninety-nine he adopted Frodo as his heir, and
brought him to live at Bag End; and the hopes of the Sackville-
Bagginses were finally dashed. Bilbo and Frodo happened to have the
same birthday, September 22nd. "You had better come and live here,
Frodo my lad," said Bilbo one day; "and then we can celebrate our
birthday-parties comfortably together." At that time Frodo was still
in his tweens, as the hobbits called the irresponsible twenties
between childhood and coming of age at thirty-three.
Twelve more years passed. Each year the Bagginses had given
very lively combined birthday-parties at Bag End; but now it was
understood that something quite exceptional was being planned for
that autumn. Bilbo was going to be eleventy-one, 111, a rather
curious number, and a very respectable age for a hobbit (the Old Took
himself had only reached 130); and Frodo was going to be thirty-
three, 33, an important number: the date of his "coming of age".
Tongues began to wag in Hobbiton and Bywater; and rumour of
the coming event travelled all over the Shire. The history and
character of Mr. Bilbo Baggins became once again the chief topic of
conversation; and the older folk suddenly found their reminiscences
in welcome demand.
No one had a more attentive audience than old Ham Gamgee,
commonly known as the Gaffer. He held forth at The Ivy Bush, a small
inn on the Bywater road; and he spoke with some authority, for he had
tended the garden at Bag End for forty years, and had helped old
Holman in the same job before that. Now that he was himself growing
old and stiff in the joints, the job was mainly carried on by his
youngest son, Sam Gamgee. Both father and son were on very friendly
terms with Bilbo and Frodo. They lived on the Hill itself, in Number
3 Bagshot Row just below Bag End.
"A very nice well-spoken gentlehobbit is Mr. Bilbo, as I"ve
always said," the Gaffer declared. With perfect truth: for Bilbo was
very polite to him, calling him "Master Hamfast", and consulting him
constantly upon the growing of vegetables — in the matter of "roots",
especially potatoes, the Gaffer was recognized as the leading
authority by all in the neighbourhood (including himself).
"But what about this Frodo that lives with him?" asked Old
Noakes of Bywater. "Baggins is his name, but he"s more than half a
Brandybuck, they say. It beats me why any Baggins of Hobbiton should
go looking for a wife away there in Buckland, where folks are so
queer."
"And no wonder they"re queer," put in Daddy Twofoot (the
Gaffer"s next-door neighbour), "if they live on the wrong side of the
Brandywine River, and right agin the Old Forest. That"s a dark bad
place, if half the tales be true."
"You"re right, Dad!" said the Gaffer. "Not that the
Brandybucks of Buckland live in the Old Forest; but they"re a queer
breed, seemingly. They fool about with boats on that big river — and
that isn"t natural. Small wonder that trouble came of it, I say. But
be that as it may, Mr. Frodo is as nice a young hobbit as you could
wish to meet. Very much like Mr. Bilbo, and in more than looks. After
all his father was a Baggins. A decent respectable hobbit was Mr.
Drogo Baggins; there was never much to tell of him, till he was
drownded."
"Drownded?" said several voices. They had heard this and
other darker rumours before, of course; but hobbits have a passion
for family history, and they were ready to hear it again.
"Well, so they say," said the Gaffer. "You see: Mr. Drogo, he
married poor Miss Primula Brandybuck. She was our Mr. Bilbo"s first
cousin on the mother"s side (her mother being the youngest of the Old
Took"s daughters); and Mr. Drogo was his second cousin. So Mr. Frodo
is his first and second cousin, once removed either way, as the
saying is, if you follow me. And Mr. Drogo was staying at Brandy Hall
with his father-in-law, old Master Gorbadoc, as he often did after
his marriage (him being partial to his vittles, and old Gorbadoc
keeping a mighty generous table); and he went out boating on the
Brandywine River; and he and his wife were drownded, and poor Mr.
Frodo only a child and all."
"I"ve heard they went on the water after dinner in the
moonlight," said Old Noakes; "and it was Drogo"s weight as sunk the
boat."
"And I heard she pushed him in, and he pulled her in after
him," said Sandyman, the Hobbiton miller.
"You shouldn"t listen to all you hear, Sandyman," said the
Gaffer, who did not much like the miller. "There isn"t no call to go
talking of pushing and pulling. Boats are quite tricky enough for
those that sit still without looking further for the cause of
trouble. Anyway: there was this Mr. Frodo left an orphan and
stranded, as you might say, among those queer Bucklanders, being
brought up anyhow in Brandy Hall. A regular warren, by all accounts.
Old Master Gorbadoc never had fewer than a couple of hundred
relations in the place. Mr. Bilbo never did a kinder deed than when
he brought the lad back to live among decent folk.
"But I reckon it was a nasty shock for those Sackville-
Bagginses. They thought they were going to get Bag End, that time
when he went off and was thought to be dead. And then he comes back
and orders them off; and he goes on living and living, and never
looking a day older, bless him! And suddenly he produces an heir, and
has all the papers made out proper. The Sackville-Bagginses won"t
never see the inside of Bag End now, or it is to be hoped not."
"There"s a tidy bit of money tucked away up there, I hear
tell," said a stranger, a visitor on business from Michel Delving in
the Westfarthing. "All the top of your hill is full of tunnels packed
with chests of gold and silver, and jools, by what I"ve heard."
"Then you"ve heard more than I can speak to," answered the
Gaffer. I know nothing about jools. Mr. Bilbo is free with his money,
and there seems no lack of it; but I know of no tunnel-making. I saw
Mr. Bilbo when he came back, a matter of sixty years ago, when I was
a lad. I"d not long come prentice to old Holman (him being my dad"s
cousin), but he had me up at Bag End helping him to keep folks from
trampling and trapessing all over the garden while the sale was on.
And in the middle of it all Mr. Bilbo comes up the Hill with a pony
and some mighty big bags and a couple of chests. I don"t doubt they
were mostly full of treasure he had picked up in foreign parts, where
there be mountains of gold, they say; but there wasn"t enough to fill
tunnels. But my lad Sam will know more about that. He"s in and out of
Bag End. Crazy about stories of the old days he is, and he listens to
all Mr. Bilbo"s tales. Mr. Bilbo has learned him his letters —
meaning no harm, mark you, and I hope no harm will come of it.
"Elves and Dragons! I says to him. "Cabbages and potatoes are
better for me and you. Don"t go getting mixed up in the business of
your betters, or you"ll land in trouble too big for you," I says to
him. And I might say it to others," he added with a look at the
stranger and the miller.
But the Gaffer did not convince his audience. The legend of
Bilbo"s wealth was now too firmly fixed in the minds of the younger
generation of hobbits.
"Ah, but he has likely enough been adding to what he brought
at first," argued the miller, voicing common opinion. "He"s often
away from home. And look at the outlandish folk that visit him:
dwarves coming at night, and that old wandering conjuror, Gandalf,
and all. You can say what you like, Gaffer, but Bag End"s a queer
place, and its folk are queerer."
"And you can say what you like, about what you know no more
of than you do of boating, Mr. Sandyman," retorted the Gaffer,
disliking the miller even more than usual. "If that"s being queer,
then we could do with a bit more queerness in these parts. There"s
some not far away that wouldn"t offer a pint of beer to a friend, if
they lived in a hole with golden walls. But they do things proper at
Bag End. Our Sam says that everyone"s going to be invited to the
party, and there"s going to be presents, mark you, presents for all —
this very month as is."
That very month was September, and as fine as you could ask.
A day or two later a rumour (probably started by the knowledgeable
Sam) was spread about that there were going to be fireworks —
fireworks, what is more, such as had not been seen in the Shire for
nigh on a century, not indeed since the Old Took died.
Days passed and The Day drew nearer. An odd-looking waggon
laden with odd-looking packages rolled into Hobbiton one evening and
toiled up the Hill to Bag End. The startled hobbits peered out of
lamplit doors to gape at it. It was driven by outlandish folk,
singing strange songs: dwarves with long beards and deep hoods. A few
of them remained at Bag End. At the end of the second week in
September a cart came in through Bywater from the direction of the
Brandywine Bridge in broad daylight. An old man was driving it all
alone. He wore a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, and a
silver scarf. He had a long white beard and bushy eyebrows that stuck
out beyond the brim of his hat. Small hobbit-children ran after the
cart all through Hobbiton and right up the hill. It had a cargo of
fireworks, as they rightly guessed. At Bilbo"s front door the old man
began to unload: there were great bundles of fireworks of all sorts
and shapes, each labelled with a large red G and the elf-rune, .
That was Gandalf"s mark, of course, and the old man was
Gandalf the Wizard, whose fame in the Shire was due mainly to his
skill with fires, smokes, and lights. His real business was far more
difficult and dangerous, but the Shire-folk knew nothing about it. To
them he was just one of the "attractions" at the Party. Hence the
excitement of the hobbit-children. "G for Grand!" they shouted, and
the old man smiled. They knew him by sight, though he only appeared
in Hobbiton occasionally and never stopped long; but neither they nor
any but the oldest of their elders had seen one of his firework
displays — they now belonged to the legendary past.
When the old man, helped by Bilbo and some dwarves, had
finished unloading. Bilbo gave a few pennies away; but not a single
squib or cracker was forthcoming, to the disappointment of the
onlookers.
"Run away now!" said Gandalf. "You will get plenty when the
time comes." Then he disappeared inside with Bilbo, and the door was
shut. The young hobbits stared at the door in vain for a while, and
then made off, feeling that the day of the party would never come.
Inside Bag End, Bilbo and Gandalf were sitting at the open
window of a small room looking out west on to the garden. The late
afternoon was bright and peaceful. The flowers glowed red and golden:
snap-dragons and sun-flowers, and nasturtiums trailing all over the
turf walls and peeping in at the round windows.
"How bright your garden looks!" said Gandalf.
"Yes," said Bilbo. "I am very fond indeed of it, and of all
the dear old Shire; but I think I need a holiday."
"You mean to go on with your plan then?"
"I do. I made up my mind months ago, and I haven"t changed
it."
"Very well. It is no good saying any more. Stick to your
plan — your whole plan, mind — and I hope it will turn out for the
best, for you, and for all of us."
"I hope so. Anyway I mean to enjoy myself on Thursday, and
have my little joke."
"Who will laugh, I wonder?" said Gandalf, shaking his head.
"We shall see," said Bilbo.
The next day more carts rolled up the Hill, and still more
carts. There might have been some grumbling about "dealing locally",
but that very week orders began to pour out of Bag End for every kind
of provision, commodity, or luxury that could be obtained in Hobbiton
or Bywater or anywhere in the neighbourhood. People became
enthusiastic; and they began to tick off the days on the calendar;
and they watched eagerly for the postman, hoping for invitations.<
Continues...
Excerpted from The Lord of the Ringsby J. R. R. Tolkien Copyright © 2005 by J. R. R. Tolkien. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- Publisher : Mariner Books; 50th Anniversary ed. edition (October 12, 2005)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 1178 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0618640150
- ISBN-13 : 978-0618640157
- Reading age : 14 years and up
- Item Weight : 2.62 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.75 x 1.75 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #36,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #367 in TV, Movie & Game Tie-In Fiction
- #1,295 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #2,877 in Epic Fantasy (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
J.R.R. Tolkien was born on 3rd January 1892. After serving in the First World War, he became best known for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, selling 150 million copies in more than 40 languages worldwide. Awarded the CBE and an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Oxford University, he died in 1973 at the age of 81.
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My one complaint to this beautiful copy of the book is that it does not contain illustrations. Look elsewhere if you want an illustrated copy, though my complaint with that is this book is prettier than the illustrated ones I've seen (barring the very expensive ones).
I'm first going to go through address each aspect of The Lord of the Rings, critiquing each of them as I go.
The story is can both be described as very complex, or very simple. On this alone, I would give the book five stars. The entire story is summed up in one sentence: How Frodo Baggins rid Middle-earth of the Ring of Power. Then again, there is far more depth to it than that. There are literally hundreds of subplots, both implied and obvious. There are subplots involving main characters like Aragorn and Gandalf, and others including stories that go only mentioned briefly, like that of the balrog, or Treebeard, dwarves, and elves. Stories are alluded to and told that only hint at the depth of the world, Middle-earth, that Tolkien has created. The plot proceeds following a few storylines, the ultimate goal being to destroy the Ring of Power in Mount Doom. Along the way we meet a myriad of other characters, from half-main characters, like Eomer, to ones that are only touched on, like a few orcs. The story here is just so big, that it can't even be contained in the pages that J.R.R. Tolkien has used to write it.
The interesting fact is that despite the complexity of the story, Tolkien presents it in such a way that all of the different aspects of the story flow together fluidly. So much so that it seems like the story is relatively simple. And that only continues to prove that Tolkien really knows how to write a good story.
That brings me to my second point. The characters. Because there are so many stories involved in this one big story, and so many characters involved, you'd think that there wouldn't be much time for characterization, but it's just the opposite. Tolkien takes the time to develop each and every character involved, and the hinted stories and subplots only go to enhance this. With all of the back stories, we get to know more about the characters, and what they do later on in the book causes them to stay true to who they are, based on what they've already done. Suffice to say, Tolkien is a master of characterization.
Moving onto Tolkien's writing style. It is absolutely flawless. His descriptions are masterful, and he doesn't fall into any of the usual faults that many authors fall into. Tolkien doesn't stop the action to use descriptions; he uses the action to channel the descriptions. His writing flows extremely well, and he moves the story steadily along while keeping consistent pacing, which is a very important aspect of any story. I really like how Tolkien allows the story to enhance his writing style. The grand landscapes, the epic battles. He captures the very essence of Middle-earth.
That's not to say he only writes on a grand scale. His writing is nearly perfect down to the simple scenes that involve interaction between characters. I especially like the relationship between Sam and Frodo. Tolkien goes from long passages of beautiful descriptions, to quick sentences of action. He is just as adept at writing lengthy scenes where little action occurs as he is at bringing dramatic battle scenes to life.
That brings me to how Tolkien handles dialogue. There are many passages where Tolkien uses long passages in dialogue to convey information while using only simple dialogue tags to portray the action. Some may say that the long passages are boring and detract from the story, but I say it only goes to enhance the story and create even better character development. Each character has his or her own voice, and each talk differently. This added with the action taking place in the short sentences between dialogue allows the scene to flow easily with the action never stopping while we still get to know whatever information needs to be conveyed.
Tolkien writes with a certain depth that I haven't seen in many other authors. Very few people can capture the essence of a story like he could. Tolkien had a gift, and he utilized it well. He wrote from his heart, and when authors write from their true feelings, it comes out more real than someone who, say, writes simply for money. The book as a whole is simply an almost flawless example of how books should be written. Not only does Lord of the Rings have just a good story and characters, Tolkien created numerous biblical parallels. This makes a work of fiction really come alive and feel much more relevant.
Lord of the Rings is the type of book that can be read numerous times. Whoever has not read Lord of the Rings should begin right now. It's worth the time put into it. I see no way for this to disappoint, if you are someone who knows a good story when you see one.
There's a reason this is a classic and has gained worldwide fame and approval.
1) The 1991 single-volume Alan Lee-illustrated edition is the "centenary" edition, commemorating Tolkien's 100th birthday (cf. "centenarian") . The "centennial" edition won't be published until 2054, which will be the 100th anniversary of the original publication of Lord of the Rings. This is a very well designed and well printed/bound edition, built to last and beatufil. Its only fault is the absence of fold-out maps (it has the black and white maps printed in sections, often seen in paperback editions).
2) The reason for the broken type in the 1974 red leatherette "Collector's Edition" (and the occurrences of this number on the order of 1 or 2 characters on every 50th page or so) is more likely that the source text from which the negatives/plates were made and this edition printed was itself flawed and originally was some form of letterpress metal type, probably Monotype [a more 'modern' version of the old LinoType system], though depending on the date of that setting [up to mid-'60s, or even later] it may have been hand-composed. All metal type gets re-used, and becomes worn and some of it cracked/chipped over time. There were many books reprinted in this way through the early '80s (and a few publishers, such as Lindsay Books, of long out-of-print, mostly public-domain or 'gray rights' titles, still do this).
The problem is unlikely to have been caused by faults in photo-typesetting strips or process-camera negs in 1973 or so (when this LOTR Collector's Edition was first printed) since that process was a fully mature, climax technology by then, and quality control was simply outstanding (this was due to that extinct beast, the unionized master-printer, especially at Houghton Mifflin, a publisher with a very large academic textbook list, and an industry reputation for quality production; just look at any ten trade hardbacks circa 1973 and earlier, and compare any element of quality to any ten current titles and it's clear the the technology and practice of printing and book binding peaked long ago, and nothing of newer technology, especially computer technology has served the interest of producing better made books, quite the opposite. 2007 tech only makes it faster and cheaper, nothing else.
Remember also that it was the Allen & Unwin type-compositors who introduced virtually all the spelling and diction errors in both the 1st and 2nd editions, some of which have only finally been fixed in the 2004-05 50th Anniversary edition; and these were errors mostly such as 'dwarves' being "corrected" to 'dwarfs', 'elven' to 'elfin', and many others, primarily linguistic, along those lines; these would have been proper corrections with any author other than Tolkien, of course.)
As for the notion that photo-reproduction is at all like printing a Word document on a laser printer, then scanning it back into a computer as a JPEG or GIF image file, and finally printing it again, that is a facile and plainly inaccurate comparison. In short, unless one starts with a bitmap or similar low quality computer 'font', prints on low-brightness (<70) recycled paper via a cheap ink-jet printer, scans using a 75-by-75 dpi setting via low-end scanning hardware and software, and repeats printing as above, the result will certainly be nothing so poor as Jeff Sun describes in his review. Photo-reproduction via PC and peripherals or via process-camera, strips, and offset printing, can easily and does commonly achieve excellent results, provided the equipment is of first quality and the operator is skilled.
If anyone is obsessed enough to try this (as I clearly am), one fairly reliable way to tell whether a book is printed (at some stage) from some form of metal type is to use at least a 20x loupe and examine the vertical straight edges (particularly of upper N's, T's, L's, and E's) for irregularity. Metal type degrades in miniscule degrees after the first few hundred impressions, and will show this by cracking/splitting/chipping/warbling/bending and otherwise appearing NOT straight, sharp, and crisp (especially machine-set monotype/linotype which was all lead/tin, since it was melted down repeatedly; hand-set type has antimony and sometimes manganese in it, which makes it much harder to start and also casts more sharply; parts of letters break off but usually don't deform). It's a challenge to tell these apart, since photo-reproduction of letterpress can be hard to distinguish from original letterpress printing, if the latter is done by a highly skilled compositor and press operator. Some letterpress books show the impression of the type on the page, like a light embossing, from the force of the type striking the stock. Really good printing avoids this. So, if you have a book without this feature that does show feathering, breaks, waviness, etc. it may be either letterpress or photo-repro of LP, but if these traits are present it is almost certain metal type was used at some point in the life of the typesetting.
Two caveats to even to this: feathering alone does not definitely mean deformed metal type. Feathering,, or little veins and stream-like projects away from the character is often caused by excessive inking and watery ink, and also by cheap papers that are unsized (meaning a starch like substance is added during the paper's manufacture to prevent feathering and bleedthrough; newsprint is unsized and you can see how feathering works buy lightly touching a fountain pen to a piece of it for a minute or so). The other caveat is that some computer fonts, especially some high end ones for MAC typesetting systems, have been photographically captured/reproduced from books printed mostly before 1800, and their designers often deliberately retain some of the source type's imperfections (which are due mostly to the more primitive metallurgy of that era) to achieve a particular design effect. You might be surprised how much theory and psychology underlies type-design and typography; there is a lot. Need a dissertation topic?
This has become, I see now, a rant, and a really long one. First as a reader, then as a writer, then as apprentice in a letterpress print shop and bindery, I've always held the book as art-object or craft-work in very nearly as high esteem as the words contained within. I do think these issues are worth some ink, and I expect (or hope) that those interested in fine editions such as this so-called "Collector's " (Ugh! I so hate that term, it's like "deluxe" or "premier" and is mildly patronizing to the reader/buyer) edition of LOTR might also find at least some of the above ramble of interest and use. I do regard this red leatherette slipcased edition (ISBN 0-39-519395-8) as my favorite. It was this edition in which I first read LOTR, and though the Centenary hardcover and the HC 50th Anniversary editions (slipcased US and UK, different designs, both excellent) are on the whole and in most particulars better printed and bound, this edition is a nostalgia item for me. I also very much like the red binding, evocative as it is of the "Red Book of Westmarch," the foil-stamping on the spine, of the White Tree of Gondor, (which must be by either Pauline Baynes or by Tolkien himself) is a delight, and the two color printing, in spite of the ocassional bad character and slightly inconsistent inking, makes me feel like I'm reading an incunabulum. All of these speak across from the old world, though perhaps very long after the Third Age had concluded. I recommend it, highly and without reservation, even to a casual collector, especially now since it has recently gone out of print(ca. 2003-2005, around the time the slipcased, black bonded-leather, US 50th Anniversary edition [ISBN 0-618-51765-0] was published), and is very unlikely to be reissued. It (the Red) listed for $75, and Amazon last sold new copies for $47.50 last January. Now however, fine, used copies are nearing the original list price for the new, and new copies are nearing $100, and very hard to find. Buy one now, as soon as you find one available fine or better.
Top reviews from other countries
Reviewed in Canada on August 27, 2022
In parole povere ho comprato il cofanetto cd in offerta clamorosa a 2.99 euro. Non l'avrei mai preso a prezzo pieno... Probabilmente non l'avrei preso neanche a 10 euro perché non penso proprio di tirare fuori il mio vecchio lettore cd per ascoltarmi 50 ore e passa in inglese. Ma a tre euro mi sembrava proprio da fessi non prenderlo. Grazie al gruppo che mi ha "telegrammato" questa offerta (tant'è che dopo un quarto d'ora era tornato al prezzo base)...!
Beh che dire è stato bellissimo, sono quelle cose che ti fanno amare Amazon
Reviewed in Italy on December 30, 2021
In parole povere ho comprato il cofanetto cd in offerta clamorosa a 2.99 euro. Non l'avrei mai preso a prezzo pieno... Probabilmente non l'avrei preso neanche a 10 euro perché non penso proprio di tirare fuori il mio vecchio lettore cd per ascoltarmi 50 ore e passa in inglese. Ma a tre euro mi sembrava proprio da fessi non prenderlo. Grazie al gruppo che mi ha "telegrammato" questa offerta (tant'è che dopo un quarto d'ora era tornato al prezzo base)...!
Beh che dire è stato bellissimo, sono quelle cose che ti fanno amare Amazon