Does anyone have—and would be willing to post some pictures of—a complete set of the 1990s HoMe U.K. paperbacks with the John Howe art on the covers? Beginning in the 2000s they have sold editions with black bars on the covers, but the previous editions were much nicer—glossy, the art filled the cover, and Tolkien’s name was in gold foil.

I am thinking of collecting them. I have the complete set of Houghton Mifflin hardcovers, but, I really like the Howe covers, and, I think they might be great for loaners. They give an impression of greater accessibility than the staid hardcovers (let alone the omnibus editions!). And I imagine they would be easy to replace.

Does anyone have a sense of how easy it is to collect these? One problem about buying online is that they have the same ISBNs as the later, ‘black bars’ editions. Still, if I avoid sellers using stock images, it shouldn’t be too difficult, right?