# The 50th Anniversary Edition of LOTR



## Barliman Butterbur (Nov 21, 2004)

My copy of the 50th Anniversary Edition of _The Lord of the Rings_ arrived from Amazon today. It is sumptuous.

I used to work in the printing/book trade. I set type on a Linotype; I ran Miehle horizontal and vertical presses; I used a huge electric paper cutter; I knew my way around a print shop and loved it. Perhaps I should have stayed there, but — I ended up travelling down other roads.

Bookbinders and discerning readers know the palpable pleasure of a well-crafted book. It has a heft, a feel, a look, _a smell_ that gives such great pleasure! This book has all of that. It comes in a black heavy cardboard slip cover. The book's hardback cover is a velvety black. By that I mean that the material actually _feels_ like velvet. The lettering and the designs are stamped in using gold and copper size which glitters against the black velvet. All three of the exposed edges of the pages are gilded, so that the book looks almost like a gold brick inside of rich black book covers. One can tell that the bookbinders lavished great time and attention upon each unit. The book has a great _finish_ to it.

The papers are wonderful. The inside flyleafs are heavy red stock (probably an allusion to _The Red Book of Westmarch._) Inside the front and back of the book are very large foldout maps: one of Middle-earth and another of Rohan. Between pages 320 and 321 are, on heavy-bond slick stock three color photographs of pages from the Book of Marzabul, done by Tolkien himself. They are the pages Gandalf described when reading from it just before their ambush by orcs in the Hall of Records.

The text pages are of heavy bond, of a creamy texture and color, wonderful to page over and thumb. There is a maroon ribbon bookmark.The typeface is especially graceful and easy to read. And no niggardly 10 point — the body of the text is in 12 point, with plenty of 14 and 18 point titles, subtitles, and so forth! It is a joy to hold and to read. Here and there is the judicial use of red ink where something is to be specially emphasized.

One peculiarity of mine is my strong aversion to Alan Lee's watercolors, which, thankfully (for me) are absent. This book is all Tolkien and _only_Tolkien. If the reader has built up a personal inner vision of Middle-earth, there is nothing to jar that vision. Indeed, one has the feeling that with this book in his hands, he is holding THE _authoritative *definitive*_ copy of _The Lord of the Rings_ at last!

There is a section preceding the forward and the prologue about the incredible time and effort that was taken to (finally!) implement dozens upon dozens of errors that have crept in over the years — some that not even Tolkien ever became aware of — and to make a myriad of corrections both major and minor, covering everything from vocabulary through punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and whether a word be in italics or bold or "normal," all the way through continuity of style and layout. There were errors that crept through into all the editions of LOTR, some stemming clear back to 1954 and not caught and corrected until this very edition. 

In this section we find that Houghton Mifflin will release a book in 2005 covering in great detail the _adventure_ that was involved in tracking down all the errors and dealing with them.

Anyway, I look forward to reading LOTR once again, this time with a book that feels as if it had come directly from the hands of Professor Tolkien!

Barley


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## Maeglin (Nov 21, 2004)

That sounds incredible! Now I wish I hadn't went out and gotten the heavy red collector's edition 3.5 years ago. I really love the collector's edition and it's great to have, but the 50th anniversary sounds even better. Hmmm....seems like a waste to have 2 copies of the same book, especially when they are both very expensive. How much is the 50th anniversary edition? If it isn't too ridiculous, then perhaps it isn't all that unreasonable to own 2 copies of the best book ever written.....


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## Barliman Butterbur (Nov 21, 2004)

Maeglin said:


> ...seems like a waste to have 2 copies of the same book...



At the moment, I have four...

The Anniversary Book street prices for $100, but Amazon's selling it for $60. Believe me, this book's so well made, that if treated with respect, you'll never need buy another!

What do you like best about the "Red Book" edition?

Barley


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## Maeglin (Nov 21, 2004)

The big fold-out map is really my favorite part of it, along with the material used to make the pages, it's very high quality, durable material. But from your description, the anniversary edition sounds even better. And at only 60 dollars on Amazon I think I may have to get it, as its cheaper than what I paid for my red collector's edition.


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## Dantheman (Nov 21, 2004)

I'm looking at getting the 50th anniversary edition and the matching Hobbit deluxe edition, however i've come across two different variations.

I understand that the US has a blue book for the 50th anniversary edition (from what i've seen on Amazon.com), yet on my local (Aus) Harper-Collins website it seems that we are getting a slightly different red version. In addition, I haven't found the matching Hobbit on US sites, only Australian sites and the Canadian Amazon.

You can have a look at what i've found for the 50th and matching editions that have yet to be released for us:

http://www.harpercollins.com.au/title.cfm?ISBN=0007182368&Author=0000024

http://www.harpercollins.com.au/title.cfm?ISBN=000711835X&Author=0000024

Any opinion on these editions? What would the difference be besides the colour? Before I spend a fair amount of money i'd like to know i'm making the right decision...  

Thanks in advance.


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## Barliman Butterbur (Nov 22, 2004)

Dantheman said:


> I'm looking at getting the 50th anniversary edition and the matching Hobbit deluxe edition, however i've come across two different variations.
> 
> I understand that the US has a blue book for the 50th anniversary edition (from what i've seen on Amazon.com), yet on my local (Aus) Harper-Collins website it seems that we are getting a slightly different red version. In addition, I haven't found the matching Hobbit on US sites, only Australian sites and the Canadian Amazon.



That's very interesting, and a bit puzzling! I bought mine from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/104-2903996-0363915) and it came in "midnight black," which I surely like much more than any of the other colors. Maybe this link can be of use to you.

Barley


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## Astaldo (Nov 23, 2004)

I think there is a problem with the link Barley. It is a link to Amazon but it says something for a bug and it doesn't show the book (which I will definetely buy it for Christmas.)


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## Barliman Butterbur (Nov 23, 2004)

Astaldo said:


> I think there is a problem with the link Barley. It is a link to Amazon but it says something for a bug and it doesn't show the book (which I will definetely buy it for Christmas.)



Woops! I'll try to get you a better link. If I can, I'll put it in this post as an edit.

EDIT: Try this one: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0618517650/104-2903996-0363915?v=glance

Barley


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## Barliman Butterbur (Dec 17, 2004)

*The Perfect Book Stand for the Perfect Book*

As you can imagine, my 50th Anniversary Edition of LOTR is a bit hefty. I love to read from it, but it can get a bit cumbersome. So I decided to buy a really nice bookstand for it.

I googled around and came up with an online store called *Levenger: Tools for Serious Readers* at https://www.levenger.com/ . (After you get there, take this path: BOOKSTANDS & TOOLS>BOOKSTAND & HOLDERS>WINDOWPANE BOOKSTAND>MORE PHOTOS & INFO.) 

In short: I bought the Windowpane Bookstand in Dark Cherry, which is $28.00 plus $8.95 shipping.

If you go to the site, I believe you'll enjoy examining the pictures of this bookstand — I also think you'll agree: it's the perfect bookstand for the perfect book! 

(I have no stock in this company)

Barley


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## Tar-Elenion (Dec 17, 2004)

Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull are working on a volume of annotations to go along with the 50th Aniversery ed.
http://www.bcn.net/~whammond/writing.html


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## Niirewen (Dec 17, 2004)

The 50th Anniversary Edition sounds lovely! Unfortunately, I won't be able to get it anytime soon because I'm getting the Red Version for Chirstmas, but I'll probably get my hands on it eventually. And thank you for that remarkable description, Barley!


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## Barliman Butterbur (Dec 18, 2004)

Niirewen said:


> ...thank you for that remarkable description, Barley!



You're welcome! :::blushes furiously:::

Barley


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