Description
This deluxe slipcased volume contains the definitive version of the text, featuring for the very first time full-colour facsimiles of pages from the Book of Mazarbul, illustrations by Tolkien that he intended for inclusion in the 'Bridge of Khazad-dum' chapter. Also appearing are previously unpublished family trees and two full-size fold-out maps. Since it was first published in 1954, The Lord of the Rings has been a book people have treasured. Steeped in unrivalled magic and otherworldliness, its sweeping fantasy and epic adventure has touched the hearts of young and old alike. Over 100 million copies of its many editions have been sold around the world, and occasional collectors' editions become prized and valuable items of publishing. This deluxe cased volume contains the complete text, fully corrected and reset, and features for the very first time the pages from the Book of Mazarbul, illustrations done by Tolkien and intended for inclusion in the famous 'Bridge of Khazad-dum' chapter. Also appearing are previously unpublished family trees and two, full-size fold-out maps. Sympathetically packaged to reflect the classic look of the original, this brand new volume will prove irresistible to collectors and new fans alike.
A Christian can almost be forgiven for not reading the Bible, but there's no salvation for a fantasy fan who hasn't read the gospel of the genre, J.R.R. Tolkien's definitive three-book epic, the Lord of the Rings (encompassing
The Fellowship of the Ring,
The Two Towers, and
The Return of the King), and its charming precursor,
The Hobbit. That many (if not most) fantasy works are in some way derivative of Tolkien is understood, but the influence of the Lord of the Rings is so universal that everybody from George Lucas to Led Zeppelin has appropriated it for one purpose or another. Not just revolutionary because it was groundbreaking, the Lord of the Rings is timeless because it's the product of a truly top-shelf mind. Tolkien was a distinguished linguist and Oxford scholar of dead languages, with strong ideas about the importance of myth and story and a deep appreciation of nature. His epic, 10 years in the making, recounts the Great War of the Ring and the closing of Middle-Earth's Third Age, a time when magic begins to fade from the world and men rise to dominance. Tolkien carefully details this transition with tremendous skill and love, creating in the Lord of the Rings a universal and all-embracing tale, a justly celebrated classic.
--Paul Hughes