Tolkien 📔Book Covers

[Starbrow]

I love the illustrations. Who are they by?

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Not to be coy, but I want to let Alice tell us about that. I hope that, now that I've posted some, she can be persuaded to come on here and fill us all in.

How about it, Alice dear? Won't you share more of your library with us, please?

 

[Olorgando]

In the meantime, The Silmarillion:
View attachment 7055View attachment 7057
PS, on "too much": given the amount of babbling I do here, ...

Awesome stuff, better that a lot that has received much more attention.
But the extreme discrepancy between the sizes of Huan and Carcharoth in these two pictures is seriously over the deep end.
I mean, Carcharoth was only able to wound Huan mortally by having been given poisenous fangs by Morgoth, while Huan took out Carcharoth by sheer superior fighting ability … and that maw would seem to me not only to have led to Beren's hand with the Silmaril getting bitten off, but Beren to the waist … or knees … or ankles … this is Tyrannosaurus rex territory!

PS: Babbling you do here? I obviously do not know the "Replies" totals you (and Conversation partners) have racked up in you PMs with other TTF members. Granted, as per sheer word count, I am the major offender in our Conversations … until one considers the ol' saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" … 😁

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

To paraphrase an old Jello ad, "There's always room for Hwasa!".

As for your other comments, the usual answer must suffice: "artistic license".

 

[Ealdwyn]

Awesome stuff, better that a lot that has received much more attention.
But the extreme discrepancy between the sizes of Huan and Carcharoth in these two pictures is seriously over the deep end.
I mean, Carcharoth was only able to wound Huan mortally by having been given poisenous fangs by Morgoth, while Huan took out Carcharoth by sheer superior fighting ability … and that maw would seem to me not only to have led to Beren's hand with the Silmaril getting bitten off, but Beren to the waist … or knees … or ankles … this is Tyrannosaurus rex territory!

Oh pfft! Just look at the pretty pictures already! 😜
(the Carcharoth one is my favourite)

 

[Olorgando]

Granted, as per sheer word count, I am the major offender in our Conversations … until one considers the ol' saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" …

To paraphrase an old Jello ad, "There's always room for Hwasa!".

Which brings me to the topic of YouTube videos (a delayed reaction, granted).
How many (still) pictures is a (song) video worth? To even the score with pure text blabbing (as is my wont outside the music thread) I'd probably wear out three keyboards, or something like that … 🥴

 

[Olorgando]

Oh pfft! Just look at the pretty pictures already! 😜
(the Carcharoth one is my favourite)

Are you so fortunate as to not be stricken by "morning breath"?
And carnivores without opposable thumbs are not able to brush their teeth ...
Even assuming Carcharoth was only yawning in that above picture, the fumes one must assume to have escaped would probably melt a medium-sized glacier - not necessarily a problem for Lúthien, certainly not for that Silmaril … but how could Beren have stayed on his feet in such a poison-gas attack?

 

[grendel]

Now there's a serious Hobbit collector!
A Tolkien bookshop that serves beer? A worthy dream!

That settles it! Short cuts make delays, but beer makes longer ones. At all costs we must keep Squint-eyes Southerner away from the Tolkien bookshop!

 

[Olorgando]

Now there's a serious Hobbit collector!
A Tolkien bookshop that serves beer? A worthy dream!

That settles it! Short cuts make delays, but beer makes longer ones. At all costs we must keep Squint-eyes Southerner away from the Tolkien bookshop!

I'm of two minds about grendel's injunction.
Facilities serving beer and other beverages of varying "torque" - aka bars - have been hit hard by the lockdown, more so than restaurants, which were allowed to do take-away business, at least. So I would have sympathy for a "support your local bar" initiative. 🙂
But then my selfish side raises its ugly head and whispers to me "keeping Squint-eyed Southerner away from the locality leaves more for yourself, stupid!" 😏
But then again: I would have to test the beer available there to find out if it agrees with my taste; I've become pretty much a Pilsner-type-only fan (and yes, we Germans can be awful snobs about beer 🧐 ). 🤔

 

[Barliman]

I said I've read some of it! Have you read yours? Hmm? 🧐

Of course not LOL

 

[Tulukastaz]

I've gone through the nine pages here, and I didn't find anyone post the newest Finnish LR Book Cover...
Taru Sormusten Herrasta - (strict translate would be - Tale of the Lord of the Rings or more strict The tale of the Rings Lord)
compare: Sormusten Herra (strict translate would be - Lord of the Rings)

 

[rollinstoned]

(Not my pic) i think this Hobbit version is so cute. I love the illustrations too.

Also sorry if it was already shared.....

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

I don't think so. Do you know the publisher and/or date?

 

[rollinstoned]

I don't think so. Do you know the publisher and/or date?

2013 - Hardback, 2017 - Paperback, Harper Collins. From the official Tolkien Bookshop page:

"The first new illustrated edition of The Hobbit for more than 15 years contains 150 brand new colour illustrations. Artist Jemima Catlin’s charming and lively interpretation brings Tolkien’s beloved characters to life in a way that will entice and entertain a new generation of readers.

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable and quiet life. His contentment is disturbed one day when the wizard, Gandalf, and the dwarves arrive to take him away on an adventure.

Smaug certainly looked fast asleep, when Bilbo peeped once more from the entrance. He was just about to step out on to the floor when he caught a sudden thin ray of red from under the drooping lid of Smaug’s left eye. He was only pretending to sleep! He was watching the tunnel entrance!

Whisked from his comfortable hobbit-hole by Gandalf the wizard and a band of dwarves. Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon…"

• ISBN-10: 0007497903
• ISBN-13: 978-0007497904

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Hey, thanks.

150 illustrations?! Gotta get a copy!

 

[Halasían]

These were the covers of the paperbacks I borrowed from my neighbor in 1975 and was my first read of Fellowship & Two Towers. Because my neighbor stalled in his reading of Return of the King I ended up checking out the hardback from the local library so my first reading of Return of the King was from 1957 printing. I had read it through once by the time my neighbor loaned me his paperback.

I later found a well-used set of these early 1970's vintage paperbacks at a garage sale in 1976 and my re-reads began. When I got married the first time my wife had an almost new set of these same paperbacks as she only read the story once. When we divorced, I managed to leave my old worn out set with her and took the clean set which I still have!

I also picked up this Return of the King at a yard sale and used it extensively as an appendices study.

I had a heap of post-it tags sticking out of it. Still have it but it's at my brother's house.

 

[Olorgando]

In English terms (not British!) my copier / printer / scanner and I still seem not to have been introduced to each other "properly". After some flailing about (including creating a photo file of 99.7 MEGA-bytes) I think I have nevertheless managed to produce something useful that does not give mazzly fits. I'll split it into a post per book.

"Fellowship" 2002 hardcover illustrated by Alan Lee, front and back.

 

[Olorgando]

Same for "TTT"

 

[Olorgando]

Same for "RoTK"

 

[Olorgando]

As a "bonus", I'll add my Hardcover of Robert Foster's "Complete Guide to Middle-earth, illustrated by Ted Nasmith.