rosshm16 wrote:

To be clear, I have not read this book or handled it for more than a minute or two, it came like that new. The video is the second time I've ever removed it from the slipcase. If the spine loosened up a little after a reading, I'm sure I'd need a hydraulic press to get it back in the case.

Lake Town Geezer wrote:

I think this book was the last of that deluxe series and likely the death knell.

The deluxe Maldon was released slightly later (April 2023 vs. March 2023). Last year was the first year since 2015 that there wasn't at least one release in this series. I would guess it's done now as well, with seemingly no plans for a deluxe edition of Bovadium. There's that rumored single-volume illustrated Book of Lost Tales which I assume will be or will have a deluxe edition, we will see what that looks like I guess.

Good call about the deluxe Maldon - I have it and it is much better, I mistakingly thought this was before the History of the Hobbit.

I would buy a deluxe Letters if HC ever produced one - maybe one day. Just hope they listen to the punters and up the quality. My favourite recent deluxes were the illustrated Sil/UT/Complete Guide with the Ted Nasmith illustrated slip cases. An illustrated deluxe Book of Lost tales in that format would be jaw-dropping for me. I am very partial to Ted's art though - so biased.

Lake Town Geezer wrote:

My favourite recent deluxes were the illustrated Sil/UT/Complete Guide with the Ted Nasmith illustrated slip cases. An illustrated deluxe Book of Lost tales in that format would be jaw-dropping for me. I am very partial to Ted's art though - so biased.

Those ones are great for sure, some of my favorite Tolkien books. I love the full cloth bindings. Wish they'd do more in that series! My Complete Guide copy has a fuzzy font (looks like a shadow on close inspection) on the highlighted text here and there, but otherwise no quality issues with any of those three books.

“There's that rumored single-volume illustrated Book of Lost Tales which I assume will be or will have a deluxe edition, we will see what that looks like I guess.”

I have never heard of this.

Eye_of_the_Black_Tower wrote:

“There's that rumored single-volume illustrated Book of Lost Tales which I assume will be or will have a deluxe edition, we will see what that looks like I guess.”

I have never heard of this.

It is a rumour.

I follow this site and Reddit, and this is the first I’m hearing of it, that’s all 🤗

From March 26

rosshm16 wrote:

I think it's the rumored illustrated single-volume Book of Lost Tales:

- There was just a deluxe Hobbit last year, and there will surely be a deluxe Hobbit in 2027. Maybe there is enough demand for three deluxe editions of the same book in four years, but I'd be surprised.

- "One edition to rule them all" = single-volume edition of BoLT

- "Something entirely unexpected" = new thing that hasn't been done before (single-volume illustrated BoLT)

Eye_of_the_Black_Tower wrote:

And here I am still flabbergasted at the ‘deluxe’ Complete History of Middle-earth ‘stunt’ they pulled with ISBN 9780008259846 !

If you examine it against it other titles in that style, you’ll see there’s some design elements (slipcase and the letters on the books themselves) that do not match.

This one for me has the opposite problem of my History of the Hobbit copy, slipcase is super-loose.

I don't mind the spines of the deluxe HoME just saying "Tolkien" instead of "J.R.R. Tolkien" like the rest of that series since Christopher was so central in their creation. It does mess up the consistency of their look on the shelf though.

Oh it’s not just that: it’s the title placement/arrangement, the slipcase not being ‘curved’….

A while ago a user here (I to k ‘AstralTaurus….?’) did a fan-made mockup on how the set SHOULD have looked to match with the others (this was back a few years)

Trotter wrote:

Having had the boxed set for about a week, my findings are that I really like it, I think the art work is excellent and this is a great set to have on your shelves.

I agree. Despite how my spines do stick out ever so slightly from the boxes, (I've recently had half a mind to stop using the boxes all together anyway, because as a real complaint, it is simply too hard to remove the books from them), I for one, being late to the collecting of these illustrated editions, am very thrilled to at long last have a hardback of Beowulf and Sigurd and Gudrún. As well as The Green Knight.

Plus. They smell so good.

I received my boxset today. I do notice the slight protrusion of the dustjackets and a bit of the spine binding past the edge of the box, but in comparing this box to the 4 HoMe boxes, this does not appear out of the ordinary. Of the 4 HoMe boxsets I have, 3 of the 4 have similar minor protrusions outside the box, with only set #2 (HoMe vols. 3-5) being flush with the edge of the box. I don't really consider the small protrusion on mine to be a defect.

The box is a bit tight, but not to the excessive degree that HoMe boxset #1 was. I am a bit worried that if I read these volumes and they expand that I could have trouble easily fitting them back into the box though. I've quickly flipped through the pages in all 4 books and don't see any printing issues inside (i.e. blurry font, ink splotches, etc.). Both Arthur and Sigurd volumes have a color photo of a manuscript page at the beginning, but not on the actual endpaper, so I'm not sure why they couldn't have done that with Gawain to retain matching green endpapers. Nevertheless, it doesn't really bother me.

Overall very pleased with this set and thankful they decided to put these volumes together in a box. Also very thankful that the trend from HoMe boxsets #3 and #4 continued and that the box arrived inside of its own pre-packaged box (in addition to the distributor's shipping box) to minimize shipping damage from the distributor. Although I know these were tributes to Christopher, I very much hope we will see additional boxsets in matching style with books from other editors included (e.g. Kullervo, Aotrou/Itroun, Maldon, Exodus).