Thanks for uploading the pictures. The book looks nice enough. The plastic case looks absolutely rubbish - I once had a mobile phone that came in throw-away packaging with an almost identical finish (to be fair, I still have the packaging - not the phone - in a kitchen cupboard with a load of loose recipes stuffed in it, so it was good packaging). I hate to be a complainer (yeah, right!), but it really is not a material to use for things you want to last. Cheap plastics rarely stand up well. It is not 'if the folded bits crack', it is 'when'. Do not read at low temperatures, I guess...
Stu wrote:
Thanks for uploading the pictures. The book looks nice enough. The plastic case looks absolutely rubbish - I once had a mobile phone that came in throw-away packaging with an almost identical finish (to be fair, I still have the packaging - not the phone - in a kitchen cupboard with a load of loose recipes stuffed in it, so it was good packaging). I hate to be a complainer (yeah, right!), but it really is not a material to use for things you want to last. Cheap plastics rarely stand up well. It is not if the folded bits crack, it is when. Do not read at low temperatures, I guess...
I agree with you, the problem with the plastic slipcase, is that it is very difficult to put the book into the case, and the more times you try this, the more likely it is that the flimsy plastic case will break.
I will also not look at this book a lot, to avoid breaking the flimsy plastic case
Trotter wrote:
I will also not look at this book a lot, to avoid breaking the flimsy plastic case
Which defeats the purpose beyond 'collecting for completeness'....
HarperCollins needs to get a decent focus group together to talk about their Tolkien offerings. Obviously, what the "hardcore" collector wants differs from what Joe Average might want, but maybe not by all that much. Most people have a similar eye for what they traditionally think of as quality (robust materials, cloth (not paper), leather, gilt, etc). I don't think *anyone* looks at plastic and considers it to be a quality material, because we all know it often decays quickly and as such, is impermanent. And really, you would think the buyers of a large hardback book would be interested in quality. If not, they would surely just get an e-Book or a paperback and save themselves some money?
I genuinely don't think HarperCollins quite gets it. They are fighting the battle to keep print publishing relevant, so the physical book needs to be pretty damn spiffy (whilst not costing the earth) to be worth someone's money. Especially when there are quite possibly already more copies of the book on the planet than English-speaking people.
They almost get it, sometimes. "The Art of The Hobbit" was the last book that I thought they really did a really nice job on. Everything else has been mediocre at best (not necessarily in design or content, but in terms of sub-par implementation). The Deluxe editions are OK (and I'm glad they were produced), but compare the later volumes to the first printings of the first two volumes and there is no comparison.
I guess, like every other product, it is a race to the bottom, and this is just the world we live in.
My copy has just arrived. The rear pastedown map is torn. Not Amazon's fault I'm sure. I set up a replacement only 2 minutes after opening the box. Hopefully the second one will be OK, but I will be checking very carefully...
25 Jun, 2014
(edited)
2014-6-25 7:56:32 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-25 8:10:49 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-25 8:11:46 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-25 8:36:06 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-25 9:03:28 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-25 9:04:48 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-25 8:11:46 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-25 8:36:06 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-25 9:03:28 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-25 9:04:48 PM UTC
2014-6-25 7:56:32 PM UTC
Just got the three volume 60th Lord of the Rings and Reader's Companion in a slipcase.
The Lord of The Rings single volume editions are all 6th printings, and the Reader's Companion is now a 1st printing with a copyright date of 2014.
I will try and put up some additional photos of the books later, but this picture shows the 50th box set, 60th box set and the 60th one volume edition.
If anybody else has a copy yet, does your dust-jacket on the Two Towers, appear to be the correct size and fit well on the book?
The second picture shows the problem, my dust jacket is way too big for the book, which results in bending on the dust jacket, which you can see at the top left of the dust jacket in the picture.
The Lord of The Rings single volume editions are all 6th printings, and the Reader's Companion is now a 1st printing with a copyright date of 2014.
I will try and put up some additional photos of the books later, but this picture shows the 50th box set, 60th box set and the 60th one volume edition.
If anybody else has a copy yet, does your dust-jacket on the Two Towers, appear to be the correct size and fit well on the book?
The second picture shows the problem, my dust jacket is way too big for the book, which results in bending on the dust jacket, which you can see at the top left of the dust jacket in the picture.
The advertising copy (e.g. on Amazon.co.uk) says that the LotR of 60th anniversary this set contains "some additional text corrections" to the 50th anniversary text. Is this the case? Or is it in fact just a reprinting of the 50th anniversary text?
Carl
Carl
Hi Carl,
a previous post had a response from HarperCollins on this <https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... t_id=13612#forumpost13612>
but here is a summary of their response:
Please note that this response directly conflicts with what Wayne was told and mentioned here (emphasis added by me): <https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... t_id=13599#forumpost13599>
Can someone who has a copy in hand report on this?
a previous post had a response from HarperCollins on this <https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... t_id=13612#forumpost13612>
but here is a summary of their response:
The text has been corrected – I believe Wayne and Christina have listed the latest changes on the website. They are, as one would expect, pretty minor after the overhaul of ten years ago, and I don’t think any of them fall in The Two Towers. This text has also been used for the new single volume The Lord of the Rings illustrated edition by Alan Lee
Please note that this response directly conflicts with what Wayne was told and mentioned here (emphasis added by me): <https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... t_id=13599#forumpost13599>
The new (further corrected and augmented) hardback edition of our Reader's Companion will have a slightly different dust-jacket. As for The Lord of the Rings, our understanding is that the new three-volume edition will be a reprint of the existing text, not reset, and without further corrections (though this last remains to be seen). The new one-volume edition, however, will be reset and will include at least some of the corrections we've listed in our online addenda and corrigenda; this will have new pagination, with the index revised to suit. We have not had direct involvement with the reset edition except to comment on a further correction (which was approved by Christopher Tolkien), and to revise our 'Note on the Anniversary Edition'; and we've not been informed of any correction or emendation beyond this, which is not to say that there has been none, and as Urulöké remarks, resetting often produces new errors. We'll know better when we get copies.
Can someone who has a copy in hand report on this?
26 Jun, 2014
(edited)
2014-6-26 5:13:38 AM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-26 6:33:28 AM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-26 6:35:55 AM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-26 8:37:45 PM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-26 6:35:55 AM UTC
Edited by Trotter on 2014-6-26 8:37:45 PM UTC
2014-6-26 5:13:38 AM UTC
I checked the 50th Fellowship of the Ring from the box set, with the newly arrived 60th Fellowship of the Ring (6th printing) against the changes listed by Wayne and Christina (http://www.hammondandscull.com/addenda/rings.html).
The 6th printing incorporates all the changes on the pages, that I checked, i.e. the change below is in the new copy
"p. 50, Ring inscription: As noted in The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion, the inscription reproduced in 2004 printings of the 50th anniversary edition is incorrect, taken from earlier, rejected lettering by Tolkien."
However, I have just checked Wayne & Christina's Note on the text in the Fellowship of the Ring, and this seems to be different to the note in the one volume 60th anniversary edition.
6th impression Fellowship of the Ring
Note on the 50th Anniversary Edition and dated May 2004
60th Anniversary One volume edition
Note on the revised text and dated January 2014
I would have expected both books to have the January 2014 notes.
The 6th printing incorporates all the changes on the pages, that I checked, i.e. the change below is in the new copy
"p. 50, Ring inscription: As noted in The Lord of the Rings: A Reader’s Companion, the inscription reproduced in 2004 printings of the 50th anniversary edition is incorrect, taken from earlier, rejected lettering by Tolkien."
However, I have just checked Wayne & Christina's Note on the text in the Fellowship of the Ring, and this seems to be different to the note in the one volume 60th anniversary edition.
6th impression Fellowship of the Ring
Note on the 50th Anniversary Edition and dated May 2004
60th Anniversary One volume edition
Note on the revised text and dated January 2014
I would have expected both books to have the January 2014 notes.
Any idea at what impression the spine lettering changed from the gilt to the orange and white coloured printing that can be seen on the 6th impressions?
I think the foil was removed for this impression - see HarperCollins quote (my emphasis added):
https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... t_id=13612#forumpost13612
The Companion jacket has been redone in light grey with a red ring – we were never entirely happy with just how dark the original brown and purple jacket turned out – and the three individual books have had their ‘50th Anniversary edition’ strapline removed from the front and the copper foil has been replaced with tasteful colours which tone in with the artwork. It’s a subtle difference, but one that I hope will be regarded as an improvement.
https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... t_id=13612#forumpost13612