Friday, March 3, 2023

The Deluxe HISTORY OF THE HOBBIT is out


So, Wednesday came a ring at the doorbell that sent the cats scurrying, as usual. Checking the front porch revealed a stack of four boxes. Picking one up and finding it moderately heavy, I said half-jokingly they might at least in part be a shipment of honey, then added that some might be an order of bulk tea instead. Then Janice pointed to the Harper Collins labels on the side, and All Was Clear.

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I'd been waiting for the arrival of my author's copies for the new editions

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of THE HISTORY OF THE HOBBIT, both the one-volume hardcover with the Ted Nesmith cover and the deluxe slipcase edition. It's great to have this available again, in my preferred edition: the expanded one-volume edition with the fifth appendix and Addendum. They even included all the artwork with high-quality reproduction, with the frontispieces to both of the original volumes (Fimbulfambi's Map and both sides, front and back, of Bilbo's Contract).

Now that I've had a chance to look this over, it was definitely worth the wait; Harper Collins did a bang-up job.

The only problem (and it's a good kind of problem to have) is that I no longer know how many copies of THE HOBBIT I have.

--John R.


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5 comments:

  1. OnTheTrailMarch 4, 2023 at 3:28 AM

    Great news John. Congrats. May I ask, what is the fold-out poster of? And are there any other exclusives besides the poster?

    Many thanks.

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  2. John D. RateliffMarch 4, 2023 at 1:16 PM

    Dear OTT

    I know of no poster, fold-out or otherwise.

    This edition is pretty much the same as the 2011 one-volume hardcover; the only extra I'm aware of is the slipcase and cover design that goes with it (on the deluxe edition) vs. the now-standard one-volume with the new Neismith dustjacket.

    I can''t say how happy it makes me to have this readily available again, in both the UK and the US, in hardcover and in Kindle.

    --John R.

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  3. OnTheTrailMarch 4, 2023 at 4:11 PM

    Thanks John. One can never have enough of these volumes, which is why I am impatiently waiting for these new designs to arrive :-)

    Re. the poster. From Amazon UK the description reads:

    "Brand new deluxe edition of this definitive companion to The Hobbit, quarter-bound, stamped in gold foil with a unique design inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s own artwork, featuring a ribbon marker and exclusive foldout poster, and housed in a matching custom-built slipcase."

    With that I am assuming that your deluxe has no fold-out poster?

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  4. Doug KaneMarch 5, 2023 at 6:39 AM

    This post motivated me to finally order the one volume edition to replace my original (and very well-used) two volume edition.

    Yay!

    Doug

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  5. Charlie WarrenMarch 5, 2023 at 6:53 AM

    Is it possible to have too many copies of The Hobbit?!?!?

    ReplyDelete