The Lord of the Rings (3 Book Box set): Boxed Set

Product Information

The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy trilogy written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. It may come as a surprise to you, as it did to me, that we are being gifted an edition of the Lord of the Rings trilogy that contains J.

In 2001, Peter Jackson’s film adaptation helped to introduce the epic to an even wider audience, and Alan Lee was the natural choice for a lead concept artist winning him the 2004 Academy Award for Art Direction. From their leather-bound edges to their cloth sides blocked in silver to the treasures they hold within, these books are nothing short of art pieces. Feast your eyes on the seventy pages of watercolor illustrations that really bring Tolkien’s world to life. Strictly limited to 1,000 sets, the limitation page has been tipped in by hand and numbered and signed by Alan Lee. Published in 2014 and clocking in at a hand-sized six inches, it’s a nice little edition leatherette-bound in the warm colors of Rivendell in the fall.

As much a celebration of Lee’s art as it is of Tolkien’s legacy, Folio’s The Lord of the Rings is the ultimate edition for any collector. These leather-bound beauties boast gilded pages, satin ribbon page markers, and frontispiece art by Michael Hague, and would look right at home in the libraries of Gondor. To recap, we have shiny new Lord of the Rings books filled with art by one of the most influential The Lord of the Rings artist ever, including brand new, never-before-seen pieces. This mini paperback set is just the right size to fit in a bag and carry LOTR with you for a reread, and also includes The Hobbit.

Lee’s original illustrations have been reproduced to the artist’s exacting standards, in a scale and quality never seen before, and have been augmented by several entirely new images, including enchanting endpapers depicting the One Ring long before it came into Frodo’s possession, three frontispieces, two revised versions of existing illustrations, a new image titled ‘The Grey Havens’ and an exclusive giclée print. It contains 67 black and white illustrations courtesy of Ingahild Grathmer and Eric Fraser, and printed map endpapers. This is an absolute treat for LOTR and Tolkien fans, and in honor of such a cool collectible arriving soon, I thought I’d highlight other pretty rad Lord of the Rings special edition sets that are available. We’ve gotten a taste of Tolkien’s artwork before, as other editions contain the map of Middle Earth he created, as well as his renderings of the Doors of Durin and Balin’s Tomb in The Fellowship of the Ring, and other LOTR-adjacent publications have contained more of Tolkien’s illustrations, but never compiled into the trilogy itself. This edition has it all: Not only do you get the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but it also comes with The Hobbit and The Silmarillion to complete your collection.This set also includes a fold-out map of Middle Earth, and would look absolutely gorgeous on any bookshelf. But this limited-edition set of magnificently illustrated LOTRbooks feels like it could give even The One Ring a run for its money.

The Lord of the Ringsmovies have really set the tone for how many of us think about Tolkien’s work these days. Not only does it contain many incredible illustrations, but it comes with a lot of other perks as well. HarperCollins released this Diamond Anniversary edition in 2014, and it features Tolkien’s gorgeous dust-jacket designs that he crafted in the 1950s, but were never used.

She is a former English major, and has never met a semicolon she didn’t accidentally abuse in some fashion. Melissa is the author of TWICE IN A LIFETIME from Alcove Press and represented by Laura Cameron at Transatlantic Agency. The Folio Society has only released 1,000 numbered copies of this new limited-edition The Lord of the Rings book set.