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Letters from Father Christmas Deluxe Special Edition

3 Oct, 2019 (edited)
2019-10-3 9:38:02 AM UTC

Letters from Father Christmas Hardcover – Special Edition, 17 Oct 2019

This beautiful, deluxe slipcased edition of Tolkien’s famous illustrated letters from Father Christmas to his children includes for the first time every letter, picture and envelope that he sent them, reproduced in glorious colour. The perfect Christmas gift for Tolkien lovers of all ages.

This classic festive book of Tolkien’s amazing Father Christmas letters written to his children between the 1920s and the 1940s has been reworked into a sumptuous, new deluxe edition. It contains brand new high-quality digital reproductions of his wonderful letters and pictures, including a number them that have never been printed before, a revised introduction by Baillie Tolkien, and a special full-colour, foldout frontispiece.

‘My dear children, I am more shaky than usual this year. The North Polar Bear’s fault. It was the biggest bang in the world, and the most monstrous firework there has ever been. It turned the North Pole black!’

Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J. R. R. Tolkien’s children. Inside would be a letter in strange spidery handwriting and a beautiful coloured drawing or some sketches. The letters were from Father Christmas.

They told wonderful tales of life at the North Pole:
• How all the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place.
• How the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas’s house into the dining-room
• How he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back garden
• How there were wars with the troublesome horde of goblins who lived in the caves beneath the house!

Sometimes the Polar Bear would scrawl a note, and sometimes Ilbereth the Elf would write in his elegant flowing script, adding yet more life and humour to the stories. From the first note to Tolkien’s eldest son in 1920 to the final poignant letter to his daughter in 1943, this book collects all the remarkable letters and pictures in one enchanting edition. No reader, young or old, can fail to be charmed by the inventiveness of Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas.


I really like the design of this book, could be my favourite UK deluxe so far

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Letters-Fathe ... bf32489e54&language=en_GB

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3 Oct, 2019
2019-10-3 10:16:13 AM UTC
I really like the design.

I hope the change in description from "for the first time every letter, picture and envelope that he sent them" to "including a number [of] them that have never been printed before" is not an ominous sign that they decided to exclude a number.

After we have all bought close to a dozen versions of these letters I would expect by now that a deluxe edition with new introduction and new content will include every "letter, picture and envelope" as first described.
3 Oct, 2019
2019-10-3 10:20:23 AM UTC
It still states this in the description, "This beautiful, deluxe slipcased edition of Tolkien’s famous illustrated letters from Father Christmas to his children includes for the first time every letter, picture and envelope that he sent them, reproduced in glorious colour."
3 Oct, 2019
2019-10-3 10:31:23 AM UTC
Ahhh duh. I saw that text and didn't read the rest yet. Including the very first paragraph. Cheers Trotter.
3 Oct, 2019
2019-10-3 1:20:14 PM UTC
Looks very smart. I didn't think I'd really care, but I like it.
3 Oct, 2019
2019-10-3 1:46:00 PM UTC
It looks breathtaking ? I hope the content will be as well.
3 Oct, 2019 (edited)
2019-10-3 1:54:20 PM UTC
For anyone who is interested in what extra content, transcriptions, editorial changes that hopefully have been resolved in this edition, then have a look at Christina Scull's great article about The 'Father Christmas' Letters, https://wayneandchristina.wordpress.co ... ther-christmas-letters-4/
3 Oct, 2019
2019-10-3 6:44:52 PM UTC
I agree that the design is appealing. I hope they haven't changed the color of the gilt on the spine though. Each title in the series so far has had gold. This looks silver/white in the pictures. Through all the inconsistencies in the series, at least this has been a constant. Perhaps I'm being too particular, but little design anomalies in a series like this are a major pet peeve...
3 Oct, 2019
2019-10-3 6:57:39 PM UTC
It seems silver gilt to me, matching the silk bookmark coloring. I like it, personally - I think the red and white theme works really well, and keeping the cover gilt as gold would not look as sharp for the book itself.

In this case, it feels to me like they made a good design decision for a purpose, rather than a change just for change's sake.
3 Oct, 2019
2019-10-3 7:41:21 PM UTC
I did not notice that difference on the spine gilt colouring. But in a way it looks Christmassy because of it. So I agree with Uruloke that this change I am fine with.

My biggest disappoint has got to be the HoME series in this format. Goodness you can’t even say it is part of this series because there are more differences than similarities ?
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