THE LORD OF THE RINGS 70th Anniversary: Boxed Set Speculation

 

I'll begin by saying that for the 50th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings, there was the boxed set which presented the novel in three parts, with the accompanying Companion.

10 years later, there was a 60th anniversary boxed set which was aesthetically VERY close to the 50th one.


2024 will be the 70th anniversary. So, can we expect ANOTHER 3-part boxed set with the Companion to be issued? I think 'yes', and this is how I think it would happen.

This October, there will be a Tolkien-illustrated single-volume edition coming out (as a standard hardback, a collector's edition, and even as an eBook!). I believe that the 70th anniversary boxed set - which would come out about 3 years later, in 2024 - will take that edition, and all of its features (Tolkien's illustrations, red ink, ribbon-marker (if the Oct 2021 edition features one, that is!), the red sprayed page edging, etc) and divide it into 3. The dustjackets would feature the same artwork that was used for the 50th and 60th sets (and say 'illustrated by the author' under the titles, and possibly have his signature as the author credit); and the Companion would very likely closely resemble the 60th anniversary version. Perhaps the Companion could also have coloured ink, like the 3 Lord of the Rings books would, for consistency across the set? (and ribbon-marker, etc). The box would also have the iconic 'Ring and Eye' artwork stamped onto it; much like the previous 50th anniversary and 60th anniversary sets; though maybe slightly revised. The maps could also be tucked into the box somehow (from my understanding, the maps in the Oct 2021 edition will be 'detached' right off the bat, like how they were for illustrated collector's editions of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, going by the Mariner Books description of their edition), so I can see the box being slightly larger to accommodate the maps being tucked in alongside the 4 books.

Here are some product images of the Oct. 2021 single-volume edition, to give you an idea of what the 70th anniversary boxed set could include. The post ends after these next few photos, not with them, so keep scrolling! 
















So what do you think? This thought randomly came to me, and I wanted to share it.

[PS: while I know that '75th' is typically more of a celebration (outside of Tolkien) than 70th, HarperCollins did more to celebrate The Hobbit's 70th anniversary than its 75th, so I'm going by that]