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Letters from Father Christmas

9 Oct, 2023
2023-10-9 12:23:54 PM UTC

Got the new trade today from HarperCollins, was not packaged that well and the dust-wrapper was rubbed and damaged by the packing 😢

A nice book and, as you can see from the pictures, matches in size the latest illustrated Tolkien hardbacks.

Will spend some time trying to find out what changes are in the book, it does now include a translation of Tolkien's two-page manuscript notes at the start of the book.

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Letters from Father Christmas (U.K., HB)

HarperCollins (2023-10-12)


£20.00 HarperCollins (Hardback) - Availability: Click to check
$21.38 Blackwell's (hardback) - Availability: Usually dispatched within 7 days
$20.43 Amazon.com (Hardcover) - Availability: Now
£17.57 Amazon.co.uk (Hardcover) - Availability: Now
€17.99 Amazon.de (Gebundene Ausgabe) - Availability: Now
$20.15 AbeBooks - Availability: Click to check



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10_6523f0a5a2dbb.jpg 6000X4000 px
9 Oct, 2023
2023-10-9 12:58:15 PM UTC
Are my eyes deceiving me or is that Father Christmas a good 5mm shorter than the others in the series?
9 Oct, 2023
2023-10-9 1:07:55 PM UTC

onthetrail wrote:

Are my eyes deceiving me or is that Father Christmas a good 5mm shorter than the others in the series?

They are the same height, it is the plastic protectors that make them look different.
9 Oct, 2023
2023-10-9 1:08:59 PM UTC

Trotter wrote:

onthetrail wrote:

Are my eyes deceiving me or is that Father Christmas a good 5mm shorter than the others in the series?

They are the same height, it is the plastic protectors that make them look different.

Thnaks Trotter glad that is the case. Mine is currently doing a flyby of the North Pole, or at least it better be as it will probably turn up in a month!
9 Oct, 2023
2023-10-9 1:55:13 PM UTC
Ooh I heard about this on Reddit!

How similar is it, visually, to the shorter edition pictured on the inside? I know some of these nice new illustrated editions sometimes have ribbon marker, coloured inks - and some don’t.

And what would you say the overall quality is: as both a new edition of Letters From Father Christmas, and part of the new illustrated lineup?
9 Oct, 2023
2023-10-9 2:06:00 PM UTC

Scarlet_Sorcerer wrote:

Ooh I heard about this on Reddit!

How similar is it, visually, to the shorter edition pictured on the inside? I know some of these nice new illustrated editions sometimes have ribbon marker, coloured inks - and some don’t.

And what would you say the overall quality is: as both a new edition of Letters From Father Christmas, and part of the new illustrated lineup?

I'm impressed with it, it has all the manuscript images that have so far been published, does have a ribbon marker, and some more corrections to the transcripts. It also has images of letters on the endpapers.

If you are only getting one edition of this book, then I recommend the Centenary edition as it is a larger book and has larger illustrations, but this is a close run second, worth pointing out that the Deluxe edition is meant to be identical internally now to this new edition.
9 Oct, 2023
2023-10-9 2:16:39 PM UTC
Thanks for your response! That makes sense, as I believe this new one is meant to replace the older and shorter one
15 Oct, 2023
2023-10-15 8:28:46 AM UTC
I got mine from Amazon and it was also damaged and rubbed so sent it back. I bought a pristine one from a local bookstore at full rrp. The additional £3 was well worth supporting my local bookshop.
It's the first version I have owned and it's really lovely. The same quality as e.g. the Silmarillion version illustrated by Alan Lee.

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15 Oct, 2023
2023-10-15 9:24:37 AM UTC
I don't have my copy yet, it is in transit, but those jackets look very flimsy, too flimsy to not be wrapped.
15 Oct, 2023
2023-10-15 10:00:07 AM UTC
I really don't understand why HC didn't choose to cover the books with a light plastic film...
This is the solution that I suggested to the French publisher after the Silmarillion disaster (certain booksellers received boxes with 3/4 of the books damaged) and it is now applied to all the books in this collection in French.
Of course, this must add a few cents to the manufacturing cost of the book, but I guess it would be cheaper than paying for returns, in the end.
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