The Fireside

I discovered, and began a Tolkien fan, in 2001-2002. Because of that, I'm a little bit new to the game. That also means, in the years since, I've witnessed a few major events in the Tolkien area. Or, major publications if you will: deluxe editions and calendars celebrating a new book, or a new version of one. Here they are, since when I became a fan: 2005: The Lord of the Rings  50th Anniversary. The book was corrected and reset, the new text has now become the new standard. The initial publications consisted of hardbacks, deluxe editions and calendars, among other items. 2007: The Children of Hurin . In a story that has been told before, in such place as The Silmarillion  and Unfinished Tales , The Tale of The Children  got its own stand-alone release in 2007. Initial publications consisted of hardbacks, deluxe editions, and calendars for 2008. 2009: The Silmarillion  illustrated by Ted Nasmith: calendar. It was high-time that Ted Nasmith's artwork from The Silmar...

Well, this is it - what could very well be the final Tolkien, and Middle-earth book (not counting anniversary or illustrated editions of existing material). The announcement of the title surprised myself, as well as quite a few others. It seems that everyone involved with the book was keeping it under tight wraps. The very existence of it, I mean. So, let's delve into the newest...and possibly final book. The dustjacket features illustrations on the front and back, much like for The Children of Hurin . The texture is a matte / paper-y feel to it. Removing the dustjacket, the book itself is black with the writing embossed. Opening the book yields no frontispieces, anything on the reverse side of the boards, and no maps. Nothing folds out. Aside from the text itself on 'normal' paper, the colour plates are printed on glossy or plastisized photo-type paper. And that's it! I was honestly expecting the same fold-out map at the back of Beleriand and the Lands to the North, ...

One subject I wished to blog about, was upcoming Tolkien publications this year. I could have covered it in my books post, but I thought I should give it its own spot. There are a few interesting items on the horizon, as well as events. 2017 marks the 40 th anniversary of The Silmarillion . Presently, there isn’t a new edition planned (or a republication of an older, etc), however that could happen in 2027 for its 50 th . I’m not too sure what else they can add, to be honest. I can see both The Hobbit and The Silmarillion getting an edition similar to the 60 th anniversary illustrated edition of The Lord of the Rings . What I’d like to see in a future Silmarillion edition would be the sheet about the heraldry and devices that was included in a Tolkien calendar from the ‘70s, and it was also included in the white collector’s box that came out in ’99. Most likely the biggest Tolkien publication this year is Beren and Luthien . At this point, because I haven’t seen the table of...

Well, since the holidays are coming up quite quickly, I thought it’d be interesting to do a few posts on gift suggestions or ideas; either for yourself or for gifting. This week, I’m going to focus on the illustrated hardbacks of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings (as three volumes) and The Silmarillion . There may be a other 'gift posts' under the Tolkien Tuesday banner. These were published by both Harper Collins and Houghton Mifflin. They are ‘mirrored’ in all ways except publisher name, like of the other Tolkien books both publishers print. However, it seems that the ones by Houghton Mifflin are still being printed, easier to find, and less pricey than the exact same ones by Harper Collins. The two best places to get these are Amazon.com , or bookdepository.com. Barnes and Noble should also carry them, and there's always other online booksellers. A box set of all these does not exist. Imagine, though, the cost and weight if it would? Each book is pretty he...

   One of the things that got me into books, not reading, but books, was seeing all the various editions and formats of (essentially) the same text. When I first got into Tolkien, it was late 2001. At that time, bookstores were that: bookstores. Nothing more, nothing less. Sure, sometimes at the cash line up they may have some gooodies here and there but back in those days it was all books. No home section. No American girl, nothing. And so, after getting The Lord of the Rings in Christmas 2001 (this edition: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/usedphotosna/43903642_614.jpg ) I went to see what else by Tolkien there was. And, I was baffled that they carried 5 or 6 different types of The Lord of the Rings : paperback, hardback, one book, three books, seven books...). So it is because of that, that I'm "designing" some food-for-thought for Harper Collins for future editions of Tolkien's works. The following is meant to be the 'next wave' of delu...

Before I begin, please note that I am in no way saying anything negative about the people mentioned in this post. It is just an opinion, and speculation on my part. As of late, I have noticed that Christopher Tolkien is editing less Tolkien material, and that Veryln Flieger has been editing more. Is it entirely possible that Christopher Tolkien is either stepping away, reducing his duties or handing the reigns to someone else? Any, or all three, are possible. However, please note that this post is purely guesswork and opinion.  Christopher Tolkien has been editing Tolkien material since the 1970s (and assisting his father beforehand, as well) with projects such as The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales , and The History of Middle-earth. He edited other Tolkien books here and there, but continued to do so from 2007 - 2014, with publications such as The Children of Hurin, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, The Fall of Arthur and Beowulf . This year he turns 92. You may have notice...

This week, I'm going to delve into some works that have both inspired Tolkien, and that he considered among his favorite stories. Since there's going to be a few titles to mention, I'll jump straight into them now.This is, of course, a sampling of his inspiration / favourites, but I like to think that he would have loved to own these exact copies as well. I also do my best to explain how each of the books is relevant to Tolkien. He was a Professor he greatly enjoyed old age stories, myth and (epic) poems, in various languages, or variations of English. Anything that's left blank is because beyond what I've just said, I'm unable to accurately elaborate on.   The Sagas of Icelanders In Iceland, the age of the Vikings is also known as the Saga Age. A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the world’s great literary treasures – as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of ...

This weeks post will be about the very nice, and slightly pricier than a hardback, the Tolkien deluxe editions by Harper Collins. These feature the definitive text (as do my editions when I went through them week by week, as well as the paperbacks I shared last week) as well as some great quality extras, so you'll never have to buy these tales again, and they will last at least a lifetime.  I'll start with original publication dates.... THE HOBBIT This deluxe slipcased edition of The Hobbit, printed and bound using superior materials including a silk ribbon marker, features the definitive text, plus Tolkien's paintings and drawings in full colour, and a special fold-out version of Thror's Map. Bilbo Baggins enjoys a quiet and contented life, with no desire to travel far from the comforts of home; then one day the wizard Gandalf and a band of dwarves arrive unexpectedly and enlist his services - as a burglar - on a dangerous expedition to raid the treas...

So, some of the editions of my primary Tolkien books I own that I've shown you can be a bit pricey, hard to get, etc. Or, maybe you're not the biggest Tolkien fan. Or, you dislike hardbacks. Or maybe you're thinking of getting some into Tolkien. This time, I'm going to recommend some great all-around editions of Tolkien's books to you . Content wise, design wise etc...these are the paperback 'mirror' equal to my hardbacks. And, to the deluxe editions, as well. I may not have mentioned this till now, but I see the Tolkien books on a scale, from 'lowest to highest', in terms of price, quality and other factors: ~ paperback ~ hardback ~ deluxe So this week I'm going to examine the 'definitive' paperback editions. Next week will be the same, but with the deluxe editions. Below, find the cover artwork, the book's title, and the ISBN: which is what you should REALLY be using to look them up to buy them (tolkien.co.uk, amazon.co...