Letters From Father Christmas: Deluxe Edition Details Revealed
Earlier today, details from the forthcoming deluxe edition of Letters From Father Christmas have been revealed.
Here's the info:
ISBN: 9780008327729
"This beautiful, deluxe slipcased edition of Tolkien’s famous illustrated letters from Father Christmas to his children includes for the first time every letter, picture and envelope that he sent them, reproduced in glorious colour. The perfect Christmas gift for Tolkien lovers of all ages.
This classic festive book of Tolkien’s amazing Father Christmas letters written to his children between the 1920s and the 1940s has been reworked into a sumptuous, new deluxe edition. It contains brand new high-quality digital reproductions of his wonderful letters and pictures, including a number them that have never been printed before, a revised introduction by Baillie Tolkien, and a special full-colour, foldout frontispiece.
‘My dear children, I am more shaky than usual this year. The North
Polar Bear’s fault. It was the biggest bang in the world, and the most
monstrous firework there has ever been. It turned the North Pole black!’
Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J. R. R. Tolkien’s children. Inside would be a letter in strange spidery handwriting and a beautiful coloured drawing or some sketches. The letters were from Father Christmas.
They told wonderful tales of life at the North Pole:
• How all the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place.
• How the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas’s house into the dining-room
• How he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back garden
• How there were wars with the troublesome horde of goblins who lived in the caves beneath the house!
Sometimes the Polar Bear would scrawl a note, and sometimes Ilbereth the Elf would write in his elegant flowing script, adding yet more life and humour to the stories. From the first note to Tolkien’s eldest son in 1920 to the final poignant letter to his daughter in 1943, this book collects all the remarkable letters and pictures in one enchanting edition. No reader, young or old, can fail to be charmed by the inventiveness of Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas."
Looks lie pretty nice. I like how it's a "Christmas-ized" version of the deluxe edition format. For instance: the icicles, the silver and white lettering, the silver ribbon-marker, etc. Also given the style of the slipcase, it looks like it'll fit, height-wise, with the other titles (The Facsimile Hobbit (book from 2016, and the gift set from 2017), The Lord of the Rings 60th anniversary illustrated edition, and the deluxe edition of Jemima Catlin's Hobbit don't go with the rest of the deluxes, in terms of height.
It is highly unlikely that I'll get this edition, though: the paperback (my edition says 2015 on the copyright page, but the release date on some retailers says 2009...) edition will do me just fine :) Though I'd love to get the audio CD narrated by Jacobi.
This looks to be the finalized or definitive edition, as it'll have everything related to Tolkien writing as father Christmas that he ever made, as well as it'll combine all prior releases into one set. I do not believe that the art will be removable though - could be wrong.
I'm also curious which image will be used as the foldout frontispiece they mention: "...and a special full-colour, foldout frontispiece." I think it’ll be two images side by side: “Dressed for the Snow and the Cold” with ‘my house’ (sometimes as one image, but two “panels"). If those are next to each other, than those as the frontispiece could easily be foldout. Or, perhaps, the wider version of "The North Pole" :
Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J. R. R. Tolkien’s children. Inside would be a letter in strange spidery handwriting and a beautiful coloured drawing or some sketches. The letters were from Father Christmas.
They told wonderful tales of life at the North Pole:
• How all the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place.
• How the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas’s house into the dining-room
• How he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back garden
• How there were wars with the troublesome horde of goblins who lived in the caves beneath the house!
Sometimes the Polar Bear would scrawl a note, and sometimes Ilbereth the Elf would write in his elegant flowing script, adding yet more life and humour to the stories. From the first note to Tolkien’s eldest son in 1920 to the final poignant letter to his daughter in 1943, this book collects all the remarkable letters and pictures in one enchanting edition. No reader, young or old, can fail to be charmed by the inventiveness of Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas."
Looks lie pretty nice. I like how it's a "Christmas-ized" version of the deluxe edition format. For instance: the icicles, the silver and white lettering, the silver ribbon-marker, etc. Also given the style of the slipcase, it looks like it'll fit, height-wise, with the other titles (The Facsimile Hobbit (book from 2016, and the gift set from 2017), The Lord of the Rings 60th anniversary illustrated edition, and the deluxe edition of Jemima Catlin's Hobbit don't go with the rest of the deluxes, in terms of height.
It is highly unlikely that I'll get this edition, though: the paperback (my edition says 2015 on the copyright page, but the release date on some retailers says 2009...) edition will do me just fine :) Though I'd love to get the audio CD narrated by Jacobi.
This looks to be the finalized or definitive edition, as it'll have everything related to Tolkien writing as father Christmas that he ever made, as well as it'll combine all prior releases into one set. I do not believe that the art will be removable though - could be wrong.
I'm also curious which image will be used as the foldout frontispiece they mention: "...and a special full-colour, foldout frontispiece." I think it’ll be two images side by side: “Dressed for the Snow and the Cold” with ‘my house’ (sometimes as one image, but two “panels"). If those are next to each other, than those as the frontispiece could easily be foldout. Or, perhaps, the wider version of "The North Pole" :
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