World Famous Comics: The Lord of the Rings (50th Anniversary Edition)
The Lord of the Rings (50th Anniversary Edition)
By: J.R.R. Tolkien Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Average Rating: Binding: Leather Bound Label: Houghton Mifflin Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 1184 Publication Date: October 21, 2004 Release Date: October 21, 2004
Product Description: The Fellowship of the Ring, part one of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic masterpiece, first reached these shores on October 21, 1954, arriving, as C. S. Lewis proclaimed, "like lightning from a clear sky." Fifty years and nearly one hundred million American readers later comes a beautiful new one-volume collector's edition befitting the stature of this crown jewel of our list. With a text fully corrected under the supervision of Christopher Tolkien to meet the author's exacting wishes, two large-format fold-out maps, a ribbon placemarker, gilded page edges, a color insert depicting Tolkien's own paintings of the Book of Mazarbul and exceptionally elegant and sturdy overall packaging housed within an attractive slipcase, this edition is the finest we've ever produced.
Wonderful I bought this for my Dad as his Father's Day gift. Needless to say he loved it!
It's not leather, but still a beautiful book. This book is not leather. If you read the product description at Houghton Mifflin's website, http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/catalog/titledetail.cfm?titleNumber=689507, nowhere does it claim to be leatherbound. That being said this is still the most beautiful comprehensive edition of the Lord of the Rings I have laid eyes on. I would advise not trying to pull the maps apart the first time, I used a pocket knife to seperate the pages, as you will certainly tear them. I've submited a correction about the leather binding to Amazon, hopefully they will correct this. I would hate for anything to detract from this work of art.
Absolutely gorgeous... I've been wanting an English version of the LotR for years.. and this one surpasses anything I wanted! It's a beautyfull piece of work and after reading it for a zillion times in Dutch, it's STILL an awesome read.
It IS leather-bound I am not going to review the story (which obviously gets 5 stars) as it is undeniably the best work of fantasy literature of the 20th century. Instead, I'm reviewing this particular edition (50th anniversary). First off, I feel obligated to correct a mistake of certain other reviewers. This edition IS bound in leather as advertised. The reviewer(s) were probably confused because the binding is very thin (very handsome) black leather, as opposed to the thick, bulky binding one usually thinks of. That established, this is the finest edition of this work I've ever seen published. The aforementioned binding is beautiful, with two-tone foil engraving, with a matching box. The paper is edged in real gold, and it comes with two very large fold-out maps, as well as an attached silk ribbon bookmark and a three page color insert. The book is handsomely printed in red and black. Most important to me, the publishers, along with Tolkien's son Christopher, have gone through the text exhaustively correcting all the errors that have crept into the work via it's many reprintings. There are also two new forwards. In summation, if you've been a fan for years, and want a book that can take pride of place on your bookshelf, this is the edition for you. If you are looking for an edition to give to your kid or some such, buy the paperback.
Quality Misrepresented If I hadn't been led to believe by Amazon that this edition was "leather bound" I might have been satisfied with this volume, but I loathe deception. My son collects leather-bound books and sueded-paper is not leather. I even talked to a representative who said he would send the leather-bound edition and sent me the exact same product.