Has the Biography started to be sent out by HC?

I had Letters on Saturday (which looks great) but no news on delivery for the Biography yet.

Has the Biography started to be sent out by HC?

I had Letters on Saturday (which looks great) but no news on delivery for the Biography yet.

I got both on Saturday.

The late Stu
Are you able to compare the paper quality to any of the earlier 1st prints of the deluxe titles? I'm wondering where it sits on the scale of really excellent (e.g. 1st print CoH) to barely-even-paper (1st print Maldon). Sounds like it isn't the latter (which is excellent news).....

It's in between quality wise. The paper quality is not nearly up to the standard of 1st print CoH,but it's significantly better than 1st print Maldon and History of the Hobbit,well it's thicker at the very least. Personally I still do not like the beige colour of the FSC mix paper,mostly because the paper looks 'old' and it's just been reborn!. Ivory white is fine yet this paper is too yellow for my tastes. By contrast,the standard Bovadium was ivory white and to my mind,very good quality tactile paper for a standard release (yet some found the opposite so variation coming into play?) but this was FSC mix paper too so the beige colour is not necessarily due to being FSC,but is the paper quality? While the shift to sustainable paper has been implemented, it has led to even more frequent variations in paper quality between different printings. I do applaud "forest-friendly" paper;it's hard for Tolkien enthusiasts to disagree with such,but I would like better paper quality for the 'deluxes' and am prepared to overlook the 'standard' (i.e cheaper) productions. I do think that such balance can be effectively achieved as with other quality deluxe book makers generally (yes,there are some glaring anomalies but HC's production standards and quality control has been highly variable in recent times,even bizarre at times).

But,if you are listening Harper Collins,I am so grateful that you have published these two deluxes and LONG may it continue regardless of paper quality.

OK thanks dlloyd.

Just to say my two deluxes arrived from Awesome books yesterday and I am very happy indeed. The quality of the books is much much better than the low point (for me) of the History of the Hobbit - that still refuses to let me take it out of the slip case. Glad HC have listened to their customers!

Both of mine now delivered and first impressions are excellent. There is a feel of quality and density to both.

And HC got the packaging spot-on.

Shockingly, my Deluxe Letters arrived intact from Awesomebooks (who I had sworn off -- but there weren't any other realistic choices for this title). Unlike the Biography from Kennys, was in the HC box inside the the Awesomebooks packaging. Of note, the inner buffer on one end of the HC box had - as expected- collapsed. I've seen this on basically every HC book with this type of box, so I think there is some packaging re-design required here. Needs an extra stiffener, really. The problem being that once that failure has occurred, the book is bouncing around, even though the outer packaging is tight.

That said, the book was fine, and like the Biography, seems to be of unexpectedly good quality after the prior couple of deluxe abominations in this range. Hopefully the next couple will follow suit. Unlike Olorin (a couple of comments above), I don't welcome new titles regardless of paper quality. I see no point in anything other than a trade edition or paperback if the paper quality isn't there.

The late Stu wrote:

Shockingly, my Deluxe Letters arrived intact from Awesomebooks (who I had sworn off -- but there weren't any other realistic choices for this title). Unlike the Biography from Kennys, was in the HC box inside the the Awesomebooks packaging. Of note, the inner buffer on one end of the HC box had - as expected- collapsed. I've seen this on basically every HC book with this type of box, so I think there is some packaging re-design required here. Needs an extra stiffener, really. The problem being that once that failure has occurred, the book is bouncing around, even though the outer packaging is tight.

That said, the book was fine, and like the Biography, seems to be of unexpectedly good quality after the prior couple of deluxe abominations in this range. Hopefully the next couple will follow suit. Unlike Olorin (a couple of comments above), I don't welcome new titles regardless of paper quality. I see no point in anything other than a trade edition or paperback if the paper quality isn't there.

Great to here it arrived safely in New Zealand. I am loving my copy - trying to read a letter every day.

Does anyone know whether the HarperCollins deluxe editions of The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition and J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography are still in their first printings if ordered directly from HarperCollins at the moment?

Many thanks in advance.