The Fireside

  This fall, a 90 th Anniversary Edition of The Hobbit will be published. It will be the first edition to have illustrations by Tove Jansson – accompanied by the text in English. The anniversary portion of the book reads: “Landmark new 90th anniversary edition featuring a wealth of charming illustrations from Tove Jansson, creator of the Moomins, published in English for the first time.” However, that’s this fall. Next fall is the actual 90 th Anniversary, as The Hobbit was published in September of 1937. So….what edition will come out next fall?? I have a speculation on that: I believe, knowing the publishers’ lately, that it’ll be the same book…but in a deluxe tier. So, expect it to come out next year in a slipcased edition, with a ribbon-marker, possibly a frontispiece (in colour, perhaps?) and one or two other things. But I expect the book to be the same – just ‘presented’ differently.  The edition coming this fall will have one cover design. It’s poss...

  The 'theme' of 2027 Tolkien Calendar  has been revealed!  There are a few milestones that year (90th Anniversary of The Hobbit , 20th Anniversary of The Children of Hurin - the first of three published Great Tales - and the 50th Anniversary of The Silmarillion ) and the calendar's theme will be The Hobbit's  90th Anniversary!  The ISBN for the HarperCollins version is  9780008805234 , and the description follows: "The official Tolkien calendar, this year containing 13 stunning illustrations and paintings inspired by The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved work of fantasy. The official Tolkien calendar has become an established publishing event, eagerly anticipated by Tolkien fans the world over. Previous Tolkien calendars have become much sought after collector’s items, and this year’s will doubtless be an essential purchase for Middle-earth fans everywhere. Featuring 13 full-colour paintings of scenes inspired by the story, some of which are unique to this ...

  Coming this November is a deluxe edition of The Hobbit, illustrated by Alan Lee. This edition will match the 70th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of The Lord of the Rings . It's great that this edition will exist, as it'll mean that the recent edition of LotR  won't be "alone." Perhaps in the near future a Ted Nasmith illustrated deluxe edition of The Silmarillion  - in this style , that is - will exist....?   The ISBN for this (for the HarperCollins edition) is  9780008779900  . Note that it will also be available in the States from William Morrow.  Deluxe slipcased hardback edition of The Hobbit, illustrated throughout by acclaimed Tolkien artist, Alan Lee. Features exclusive new paintings and black & white designs appearing for the very first time, together with a removable art card and two foldout maps. Whisked away from his comfortable, unambitious life in his hobbit-hole in Bag End by Gandalf the wizard and a band of dwarves, Bilbo Ba...

  With the publication of The Silmarillion  in this format, this completes HarperCollins' series of collector's editions.  In terms of their construction and features, these editions don't really offer anything that other hardbacks don't - beyond the attractive cover and exterior design. While it's not my business to tell others' what 'place' or 'purpose' a particular edition has on their shelves; it's my belief that these editions are targeted towards those that want something nicer than a paperback, but not paying usual hardback prices. Perfect as reading copies, and make great gifts to give, without breaking the bank.    The info for these editions is: ~ The Hobbit:  9780007487301 ~ The Fellowship of the Ring:   9780008567125 ~ The Two Towers:   9780008567132 ~ The Return of the King:   9780008567149 ~ The Silmarillion :  9780008669140 Sadly, there is no boxed set - though one can always get a custom-made one. I wanted to showcase the...

 I have been holding off on this post until the slipcased edition had been revealed (cover art, description, ISBN). Some may go 'but wait! aren't most editions of The Hobbit already illustrated by Tolkien??' Indeed, many do feature some of the artwork he created for the book. Some of the artwork he created. This new edition greatly expands on the included imagery, as well printing the text in two colours, as well as a ribbon-marker (likely white for the standard edition, and green for the slipcased edition.) Following the 'illustrated by the author' series that began with The Lord of the Rings and continued with The Silmarillion , now The Hobbit will be among them, in terms of design and style. You'll see in this post. As is my usual custom, I'll provide the cover art, ISBN and description below for both the standard edition and the slipcased one. ISBN: ‎  9780008627782 For the first time ever, a special enhanced edit...

  The above image was created by Astral_Taurus on reddit on the tolkienbooks reddit, so first: many thanks for your work, and posting that. This is essentially how I would see an edition of The Hobbit to fit in with the new 'illustrated by the author' series by HarperCollins. This began last year with The Lord of the Rings , and continued this year with The Silmarillion . So, next year would be The Hobbit ....? Going by how the other two titles looked, here's how I envision The Hobbit appearing, and having: - the colour of the foil on the spine, the cover, and page-edging would be bronze, or copper. - the 'main' colour of the book would be a nice, dark, emerald (much like in the photo above). This would also used for the coloured ink inside the book, as well as the ribbon-marker. - the same booklet about The Hobbit that came with the Facsimile Gift Set a few years ago (though perhaps with a different cover image to best suit this release.) - large posters of Thro...

  In February 2023 (at the time of this writing) The History of The Hobbit will be (finally) be getting a slipcased edition. The ISBN is ‎ 9780008601409 . As of now, there is no product image, or a 'proper' description (the one that is there is for the hardback edition). It can be assumed, that, based on the price point as well as the nature of the work, that it will in the 'traditional' style of slipcased editions which began in 2004, and that The Fall of Numenor will belong to. I mention The Fall of Numenor , as it will be the newest title that'll be offered in that particular format. Meaning, it won't be the illustrated wrap-around style, or the 'illustrated by the author' style (which, in turn, is a variation of the 'traditional' style.) Together, The History of Middle-earth 12-book series (13, if you count the compilation Index book), The History of The Hobbit and The N...