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12 Jun, 2018
2018-6-12 7:44:28 PM UTC
I visited Oxford today and was really impressed with the exhibition. The maps are wonderful. The watercolors even more stunning. But the Pauline Baynes posters, I have to admit, floored me.

In the end I found the regular hardcover of the Maker of Middle Earth to be a very nicely put together book and I could not see the value in the deluxe version, at all. I did walk away with something I have not seen discussed anywhere, and is not offered in the online shop. They are offering sets of 4 lithographs of key pieces of art in two different boxed sets. One for The Hobbit and one for Lord of the Rings. I found the LOTR picks rather odd and not attractive in comparison to the Hobbit, which I did take home. The price isn't great, 150 pounds, but these are hand numbered, limited to 250 and stamped/embossed lithographs on what appears to be high quality paper complete with ragged edges. The entire set comes in a nice box of similar design and production to the outer case of the deluxe Maker volume. I picked up set 21 today and if they are going in order suggests a sale of around 2 per day.
12 Jun, 2018
2018-6-12 8:34:39 PM UTC
Thanks for mentioning those Tapuvae! I have been meaning to but things have been crazy and I keep forgetting a bunch of things I want to do.

I ended up getting the LOTR set out of personal preference (could only afford one of the two sets of four). It will be a part of the unboxing video I seem to have committed myself to make, the package is sitting on my office floor next to me now.

I agree that the Hobbit selection was more colorful and iconic. For my personal feelings, I have (and have seen) those prints a lot of times in so many ways, while the LOTR artwork is much less strongly represented. I am heavily a LOTR collector rather than Hobbit personally, as well. The LOTR I am assuming will be selling slightly slower than the Hobbit lithos.

(I got #3 for the LOTR prints, which I found quite fitting).

If anyone happens to be there in the future, could you get a picture of the display wall that has all eight lithos? I confirmed with the staff that pictures in the shop are fine, but then never had a moment when there were no people in the shop to get the pics I wanted and my last visit never materialized.
13 Jun, 2018
2018-6-13 2:06:58 AM UTC
Well, my standard hardback arrived this morning (undamaged, amazingly). Looks like it is going to be a really good read (and very good value). Definitely glad I cancelled my pre-order for the Deluxe, though -- I would have been a bit disappointed, to be honest.
13 Jun, 2018
2018-6-13 7:07:54 AM UTC
Yes I meant to get a shot of the wall of eight. They had them nicely displayed. Considering there is no marketing for these I suspect all sales are people literally discovering them on the spot, and dropping the 150 pounds right there.

I do agree that I am more of a LOTR collector but the Hobbit prints were just so vibrant and their set of 4 perfectly represented the most striking pieces on display (in my opinion).

Sadly, they are so well packed that I am afraid I am one of those people that tends to leave things wrapped, though I bought them fully with the intent to frame them... Maybe one of my kids will undue the wrapping while I am not looking.

I could see these being added to the website eventually. The staff member told me they were not online because they were a limited edition. Well this fails to explain because the deluxe book is limited as well.
13 Jun, 2018
2018-6-13 10:37:55 PM UTC
I got around to making an unboxing video for all the stuff I got in Oxford. Enjoy! (As my first video like this, I know how bad it is.... sorry!)

14 Jun, 2018
2018-6-14 2:54:09 AM UTC
That’s some great stuff you got there, Jeremy. The Spring catalogue is quite nice. I had sent them a message asking after it a month or so back, but was directed to the Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth book. Oh well!
14 Jun, 2018
2018-6-14 3:26:20 AM UTC
I have asked them if they have any remaining (if not, I have a few spares). We'll get you one!
14 Jun, 2018 (edited)
2018-6-14 3:31:12 AM UTC
One small note I forgot to comment on yesterday. Tapuvae (Chris) said:

But the Pauline Baynes posters, I have to admit, floored me.

Perhaps just a slip, but those were not posters - those were the original two paintings! It was amazing to me as well to be able to get up so close and see them in such detail.
14 Jun, 2018
2018-6-14 5:29:36 AM UTC

Urulöké wrote:
I have asked them if they have any remaining (if not, I have a few spares). We'll get you one!

Aww thanks Jeremy. That’s very kind of you :)
15 Jun, 2018
2018-6-15 4:56:48 AM UTC
Oh yes, I knew they were original art, but I know them as posters since they were produced for sale that way. In my head I always imagined some cleanup happened between the original painting and produced poster. Perhaps too much digital world immersion for me. But no, these were beautiful in execution.
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