Ideas For Future Deluxe Editions
This is what I would love to see from future deluxe editions, published by Harper Collins.
*updated Jan 21, 2015*
Harper Collins produces such great deluxe editions of Tolkien's work, I can't really ask for more.
Except, I have a few ideas which I do hope will see the light of day, and that they won't ignore because I brought them up.
*ahem* here we go.
Of course, all are printed on high-quality acid neutral paper.
The Hobbit
-
all of Tolkien's (completed) artwork (in full color, if available.
Otherwise, black and white) as facsimiles on glossy paper.
-
Thror's Map as a fold out sheet
- Map of Wilderland as back
endpaper / boards [Mirkwood as the front endpaper / board]
- silk
ribbon-marker (emerald)
- book
and matching slip-case foil-stamped embossed with Tolkien's design of
Smaug, and 'JRRT' on the back
- updated, reset and definitive text
[if needed since previous deluxe]
- full-colour facsimile
frontispiece of The Hill: Hobbiton by J.R.R. Tolkien on glossy paper
The
Lord of the Rings
- 3
volumes (rather than a single volume) (The Fellowship of the Ring,
The Two Towers and The Return of the King) housed in
a single slipcase which is foil-stamped embossed with Tolkien's
Ring-and-Eye motif.
- The
Fellowship of the Ring: foil-stamped embossed with Tolkien's
'Ring-and-Eye' motif (matches the slipcase) and 'JRRT' on the
back
-The Two Towers: foil-stamped embossed with the
Nazgul Fell Beast, and the words which translate into “In the Land
of Mordor where the Shadows lie” [as seen on the spine of the The
Two Towers 50th anniversary hardback edition],
with 'JRRT' on the back
-The Return of the King:
foil-stamped embossed with the Throne of Gondor, Crown of Elessar,
and tree motif [as seen on the spine of the dustjacket for The
Return of the King 50th anniversary hardback
edition] with 'JRRT' on the back. Essentially take the images from
the spines of 50th anniversary hardback dustjackets, and
foil-stamp them on the respective books.
- updated, reset and
definitive text, appendices and indexes [if needed since 50th
anniversary deluxe]
- included for the first time within the
text: Bilbo's Last Song poem (in The Return of the King)
-
red-and-black fold-out maps: A Part of the Shire, The West of
Middle-earth at the End of the Third Age, & Gondor, Rohan and
Mordor
- silk ribbon-marker in each volume (gold, scarlet, emerald
respectively)
- leaves from the Book of Mazarbul from the
50th.
- Doors of Durin by J.R.R. Tolkien as a
facsimile on glassy paper
The Silmarillion
-
updated, reset and definitive text, appendices and indexes [if needed
since current deluxe edition]
- book and slip-case foil-stamped
embossed with Tolkien's device of Luthien with 'JRRT' on the back.
- Halls
of Manwe illustration by J.R.R. Tolkien facsimile frontispiece
included on glossy paper. The reverse side could feature Fingolfin's
device.
- red-and-black fold-out maps of
Beleriand (and the Lands to the North), and Noldor and Sindar
-
silk ribbon-marker (sapphire)
Unfinished
Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth
- book
and slip-case foil stamped embossed with Tolkien's Numenorean helmet
design
- updated, reset and definitive text, appendices and
indexes [if needed since current deluxe edition] with 'JRRT' on the
back
- Glorund Sets Forth to Seek Turin illustration by J.R.R.
Tolkien facsimile frontispiece included on glossy paper. The same
sheet but reverse could feature Gil-galad's device.
-
red-and-black fold-out maps of The West of Middle-earth at the
End of the Third Age, and Numenor
- silk ribbon-marker (brown)
The
Children of Hurin
*content-wise,
essentially the current deluxe edition.
- book and
slip-case foil-stamped embossed with Alan Lee's Helm of Hador motif
-
updated, reset and definitive text, appendices and indexes [if needed
since current deluxe edition] with 'JRRT' on the back
- includes a
red-and-black fold-out map of Beleriand (and the Lands to the
North)
- sapphire silk ribbon-marker
- facsimile
frontispiece illustration by Alan Lee
Non-Middle-earth
Deluxe Editions:
(Tales
From the Perlious Realm, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, The Fall of
Arthur, and Beowulf)
I cannot think of anything I
would wish to see that Harper Collins has not done already with these
titles.
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