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Which edition of the Lord of the Rings book trilogy to get?

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manzoman96

Member
I'm looking to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy for the first time. I went to look on Amazon and there are a couple different versions to choose from. There's the 50th anniversary one volume edition and the box set of The Hobbit+the trilogy.

The one volume edition would be the cheaper route to go, but I'm not sure if having all three books in one edition would be too clunky to hold. I'm also not sure about the print quality of the editions themselves. Most of the reviews on Amazon are about the story itself.

I would like to have my own copy of The Hobbit, but I've read it already so I can pick up a copy at a later time. Anyone have any insight on the different editions?
 
V

Veitsev

Member
Get this one. Further detail elaborated here. Has art by Alan Lee. He and John Howe ended up being the lead concept artists on the LOTR films and are largely responsible for the overall look of the film trilogy and the LOTR universe as we know it. I personally think one volume editions are too unwieldy. Go for a trilogy set at the least.
 
DiscoJer

DiscoJer

Member
I'm partial to the ones with the Darrell K Sweet covers.

No real reason, other than I would always buy books with his covers, since as a kid, I did judge books by their covers. And rarely did he do a cover for a bad book.
 
B

braves01

Banned
Veitsev said:
Get this one. Further detail elaborated here. Has art by Alan Lee. He and John Howe ended up being the lead concept artists on the LOTR films and are largely responsible for the overall look of the film trilogy and the LOTR universe as we know it. I personally think one volume editions are too unwieldy. Go for a trilogy set at the least.
Click to expand...

I'll vouch for this one. I don't actually have it myself, but I have a copy of the Hobbit illustrated by Alan Lee and it's fantastic. I've seen the LOTR one in stores and it seems just as quality.
 
dukeoflegs

dukeoflegs

Member
Veitsev said:
Get this one. Further detail elaborated here. Has art by Alan Lee. He and John Howe ended up being the lead concept artists on the LOTR films and are largely responsible for the overall look of the film trilogy and the LOTR universe as we know it. I personally think one volume editions are too unwieldy. Go for a trilogy set at the least.
Click to expand...

Wow this is free for me on kindle? Guess I know what I will be reading now.
 
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ViciousDS

Banned
i got the really nice 50th anniversary one.....its my bible basically.....its so beautiful.

51kkLyDkAgL.jpg
 
K

kess

Member
I always liked the early 70s editions with Tolkien's own art on them, the Two Towers (which excerpts a much larger picture) in particular.

LOTR_book_covers.jpg


His art for the original edition, back in the 50s, is of interest to readers because of his depiction of Minas Ithil

tolkien-towers.jpg
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
kess said:
I always liked the early 70s editions with Tolkien's own art on them, the Two Towers (which excerpts a much larger picture) in particular.

LOTR_book_covers.jpg
Click to expand...

Those were the copies my elementary school library had!

I got these for my 9th birthday. (didn't actually finish Fellowship until I was like, 12 or 13, though)

lotr36.jpg


I think the version I have in the house now is this one, though:

lotr_volume.gif
 
P

PhoncipleBone

Banned
This is another nice, relatively cheap option to get the story.

As for what editions we have at home, this is the only image I can find for the paperback of Fellowship we have. I need to double check the other two.

Book%20Tolkien%20Hobbit%20LOTR%20Set%20Ballantine%20Paperbacks%20Herring%20Art.jpg


And we have this on the shelf too:

$_35.JPG


I do want to pick up the pocket editions I linked to earlier. They look so awesome in person.

deluxe-pocket-boxed-set2.jpg
Click to expand...

EDIT: KevinCow beat me to the pic, but not the link. The pocket versions really are cool in person.

Or, as I call them, the Hobbit sized versions.
 
K

kess

Member
This site has a overview of all the major editions. The 1992 and 1999 editions with Alan Lee's art are really nice, but I'm less fond of the ones that explicitly use the movie images.
 
E

Edmond Dantès

Dantès the White
The Folio editions are worth considering and have unique illustrations that break the monotony of Alan Lee, John Howe et al.

http://www.foliosociety.com/book/LTR/lord-of-the-rings

lGN3lob.jpg


yJQGMCr.jpg


The scholar's choice is the first editions free from Tolkien's subsequent revisions for the second editions onwards. Quite steep in price though, but facsimile first editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are on the horizon.
 
M

manzoman96

Member
Thanks for all the advice guys! I enjoyed seeing all the different editions of the books. I'm probably just gonna go with the one volume edition on amazon since it's the most bang for my buck and I'm on a college budget :p. I might check Barnes and Noble to see if they have any better offerings but this looks to be a good deal.
 
Rest

Rest

All these years later I still chuckle at what a fucking moron that guy is.
manzoman96 said:
Thanks for all the advice guys! I enjoyed seeing all the different editions of the books. I'm probably just gonna go with the one volume edition on amazon since it's the most bang for my buck and I'm on a college budget :p. I might check Barnes and Noble to see if they have any better offerings but this looks to be a good deal.
Click to expand...

Barnes and Noble did have a hard felt cover edition with the three books in one volume for around $30. I was thinking of getting that, since I didn't want to pay $50 for the four book set that's been linked in this thread. I'm not sure they'll have it any more, I haven't seen it in a couple months. Also, being bound in felt the cover can be creased if it's crushed.
 
Dunedain_Ranger

Dunedain_Ranger

Member
kess said:
I always liked the early 70s editions with Tolkien's own art on them, the Two Towers (which excerpts a much larger picture) in particular.

LOTR_book_covers.jpg


His art for the original edition, back in the 50s, is of interest to readers because of his depiction of Minas Ithil

tolkien-towers.jpg
Click to expand...
I have these sitting in my office along with the 1977 silmarilliion hardback and 1987 golden 50th hobbit addition
 
V

Veritigo_X

Member
Edmond Dantès;172585838 said:
The Folio editions are worth considering and have unique illustrations that break the monotony of Alan Lee, John Howe et al.

http://www.foliosociety.com/book/LTR/lord-of-the-rings

lGN3lob.jpg


yJQGMCr.jpg


The scholar's choice is the first editions free from Tolkien's subsequent revisions for the second editions onwards. Quite steep in price though, but facsimile first editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are on the horizon.
Click to expand...

That website is dangerous... After 10 minutes of browsing I have 5 books in my cart. I'll definitely be going back for more in the future. Thanks for the link (I think?).
 
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