The late Stu wrote:

zorg_2099 wrote:

The late Stu wrote:

Werner_Molders wrote:

The books do not have drawings. They do have decorative chapter openers (some of which are repeated on multiple chapters), as per the normal deluxe edition of this set. The pages and paper are identical, with the exception of the limitation/signature. I can't comment on the paper the limitation/signature is printed on as I opted to stay well away from this edition. I do have the standard deluxe that it is essentially identical to, though. The quality of that edition is OK, assuming you get it heavily discounted (UK buyers can get it at half price from HarperCollins, essentially all the time).

Thanks for the response. I'm curious if the illustrations are printed on matte or glossy paper.

The entire page blocks are printed on the same kind of paper using the same kind of printer. Illustration quality is mediocre, as with all recent HarperCollins Tolkien offerings that use this process.

The last Alan Lee LotR that used different paper for plates and text was the three volume from 1992, which IMHO remains the best edition (also a larger format).

Obviously there is the Folio LE with tipped-in illustrations, but other than that there are no recent offerings. The 2002 used glossy paper for everything.

By the 1992 set do you mean the set that comes in a blue box with white dust jacket spines and silver foil behind the runes on the front? (I think ISBN 0261102958). Thanks

Yep, those are the ones. Identical (bar the logo and colophon) versions from both HarperCollins and Houghton Mifflin. Note that these are much cheaper to acquire without the blue slipcase.