Which lord of the rings version?

I'm interested in buying the FS version of lord of the rings. I could buy the one currently in the shop but I also have a second-hand offer of the 90s versions with the bone coloured covers (the reprint of the 70s one) for a similar price.

Visually I find the current ones to be very appealing but is there a reason to consider the 90s print? Better paper, bindings, cover etc.?

What you don’t want to do is buy the HarperCollins Deluxe Edition of the one volume Lord of the Rings. It’s heavy and uncomfortable to read all three books. My OCD persuaded me to buy it so that I could compete the deluxe edition collection.

So I prefer the colourful Folio version of the recent publications. Can’t comment on the 1970s one

>2 ironjaw: heh I can imagine. I'm mostly just trying to choose between the two FS editions I mentioned.

>1 snottlebocket: several informative threads exist which should have all the info you are looking for. To begin with:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/339022

https://www.librarything.com/topic/193664

I would also recommend searching the forum for various related keywords. This is a question that comes up regularly.

It would be good to know whether the issue of severely pixellated printing affecting particularly the Folio Silmarillion -

https://www.librarything.com/topic/1756#7087213 -

has been addressed, or at least to seek confirmation from an owner of the current LOTR that its pages don't resemble the above. I'm another who's very happy with the current Folio presentation, but I bought my volumes some twenty years ago, long before the advent of Folio books printed in China.

If you like the green edition, I would seek out an older printing in a second-hand shop or on eBay--they're widely available. I was not happy with the text quality of the current printing.

>1 snottlebocket: I don't know about better paper etc, but, very personally, the 'elephant hide' edition is for me a no-brainer. But then I vastly prefer the rather more understated approach FS used to take. Anyway, it's one of my 'core' FS books that, unlike a fair chunk of my collection, is going nowhere in the foreseeable future.

>5 terebinth: Enough people must have complained. My Silmarillion and Hobbit are from last year or maybe the year before, and they do not have the pixellation problem. My LoTR doesn't either, but I'm not sure what printing that was--pre-2018, I can say that much.

>8 Watry: Enough people must have complained.
or... not everyone got a defective copy. Mine was fine.

Don't limit your perspective on a forum that has barely over 2k members. Even my copy of BOTNS is ok. I got an issue with unfinished gilding cover of "American Gods", but even then it's minor and you don't see anyone talking about that.

Has anyone availed themself of the HarperCollins Deluxe LOTR and/or The Hobbit illustrated by Alan Lee? These appear to be somewhat equivalent to SE versions of Folio's LEs: reportedly sewn bindings, good quality paper, all the same illustrations as the Folio LEs etc. Or are they? If they approach FS quality I'm tempted, since it's unlikely there will be new versions of the longstanding Folio editions. The latter - more quaint than thrilling - did grace my bookshelves for many a year, but I ended up getting rid.

>10 Elysium72:

Image reproduction is poor as with all current HarperCollins Tolkien. The plates are printed on the same sheets/printers as the text. The spines are vinyl NOT leather as they originally advertised (and even printed on the paper info insert). They are fine if you don’t pay too much. Printed by Graphicom, currently.

Illustrations the same as the Folio LE, plus an extra new one on each volume. The chapter opener illustrations are modified from the FS LE.

They can be bought at half price directly from HarperCollins in the UK. They have a 50% discount code at least a couple of times a month. The code OLDFRIEND usually works, though.

>10 Elysium72: I bought their deluxe version of The Silmarillion with the JRR Tolkien illustrations and think it is as well made as the older FS version, although I only have tLOTR version of that. I know everyone loves Lee's illustrations, and they are good for the most part, but for The Silmarillion the Tolkien watercolors just seemed to fit best; more mythical or ethereal maybe.

>11 stubedoo: >12 Cardboard_killer: Thanks for your input, both of you. In the end the only way to see what they were like was to buy one, so I started with a Hobbit. I find the quality to be acceptable - sewn binding, decent paper etc. No doubt a Folio SE version would be better, but this is not a bad alternative. The Alan Lee illustrations are profuse, although as you say the repro could be a lot better. Overall, I like it a lot more than Folio's edition.