After seeing that they were releasing a box set of The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Editions (by Alan Lee) I just knew I had to get my hands on it! It was luckily released the day before payday so I instantly bought it and waited by the door for a week for it to be delivered. I’ve always loved LOTR artwork and have previously bought artwork books just to look at it with wonder in my eyes – and so this was a great purchase so I can see the artwork as I’m reading.
If you’d like to see some of my first impressions, I did film me opening and talking through what I thought of The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Editions. But if you’re more of a reader than a watcher I’ve also summed up my thoughts a week after recieving them too.
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The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Box
First up I wanted to talk about the actual box of the box of The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Edition. I don’t know about you but in recent years most of my box sets are these flimsy little things. But not for Lord of the Rings. The box is this thick sturdy cardboard material which houses each of the books neatly (but not too tightly). I got the set delivered and it was filled with packing paper to protect the box, but to be honest, I feel like I wouldn’t worry about much damage unless it was a sharp object.
On top of the box being usable, it is also beautiful. Each side uses one of the illustrations from different books in the set. So one from The Hobbit, one from Fellowship and the final one I believe is in Two Towers.
On one side is an image of the trolls that Bilbo comes across in The Hobbit, but portrayed as in The Fellowship when Sam and Frodo come across their statues.
On the other side is when Frodo, Sam and Gollum are near Shelob’s Lair. I initially assumed this was the Black Gate but it’s actually of Cirith Ungol’s pass into Mordor.
Then on the back there’s a beautiful image of the Shire and Bag End that’s also on The Hobbit.
The Hobbit
Next up we have The Hobbit and this is a big version of the Hobbit. I already have two editions, one of which is hardback and this edition instantly looks thicker. I believe it’s due to the cover, although the illustrations have added in a few pages.
The front is the same image of the Shire that is on the box. It shows Bilbo before he went away on his adventure, and whilst there’s so many other pieces of artwork in the book – I’m so happy they picked this one for the front. I just think that The Shire and those rounded Hobbit doors are so synonymous with these books despite us not being in The Shire that long. It just gives off a sense of nostalgia for me which meant I had to start re-reading almost immediately.
The back is this gorgeous illustration of Smaug which reminds me so much of my childhood edition of the book. Again, for me The Hobbit is filled with nostalgia. But I adore the more muted and matte tones of the illustration which makes it look less like a children’s book.
The book contains the map that Thorin has for the mountain’s hidden doorway in the front, and then a map of Mirkwood in the back. It also comes in this rich green hardback which just reminds you of the Shire too. Overall, I think buying The Hobbit illustrated edition on it’s own would be a good purchase.
The Fellowship of the Ring
The first of The Lord of the Rings illustrated editions is The Fellowship of the Ring. This is a hefty book which I’d never realised before. It’s thicker than The Two Towers and a similar size to The Return of the King but without appendices. If you struggle reading hardbacks because of the weight, this might be an issue. Other than that though… I do love this edition.
The front is of Rivendell which is instantly recognisable from the river. I like that this illustration doesn’t make Rivendell look like somewhere magical like some do. It’s not a place that wants to advertise that it’s full of elves and is supposed to be hidden within the valley.
The back is the trolls that are on the box and shows the Hobbits using it as a place to rest. The fact that both the back and front of the book show times where the Hobbits are happy still and aren’t in too much danger really helps cement the book as the start of the advenure. Especially when comparing it to the Two Towers which is very dark as the middle of it.
Each of the Lord of the Rings Books come in a rich red hardback and includes the Middle-Earth of the third age map which is in most editions.
The Two Towers
Next up is The Two Towers which like I said is extremely dark despite being the smallest of the books. The front is of Sam running after Frodo and away from Shelob. There’s next to no colour on these covers except a green hue around Shelob and a red light in the tower of Cirith Ungol. This defintely mirrors the eye of Sauron, but he is not present.
On the back is Isengard and shows I think Wormtongue at the base of the stairs. This again has no colour, it’s all greys and steely – showing the mass production of Isengard. But also mirroring the dark feeling of the contents of The Two Towers.
I realised that the page numbers in these books are not starting at the beginning of each book. The actually continue from Fellowship to Two Towers, so eventually at the end of The Return of the King we’ll be in the thousands.
The Return of the King
Last but not least in The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Editions we have The Return of the King. The front shows a very busy image of the battle which includes a lot of the Rohirrim, but I can’t pick out any of our main characters.
Then the back is actually all about the end of the book and shows the boat that sails away with people who helped fight in the battle. I like this in comparison to the front of The Hobbit as it’s almost a close to the start from the Shire.
As with most editions, The Return of the King has a lot of appendices to read through at the back which does bulk up the book.
Overall The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Editions are absolutely beautiful editions and I can’t wait to read them and to jump into Middle-Earth again.
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View Comments (3)
Oo, the artwork on the covers reminds me of the editions of Harry Potter books we have. I love that tis set includes The Hobbit and comes with illustrations. As a Tolkien fan, this is a set I would love to own. :)
I have those editions too! I was expecting them to be pretty simiarl too 😅
The illustration on the box really is Frodo, Sam and Golum and the Black Gate. The chapter that contains it is "The Black Gate is Closed".