Which illustrated Lord of the Rings?
December 13, 2021 7:29 AM Subscribe
I recently finished reading the Hobbit to my 7.5 year old. At some point, I'd like to read her the LotR trilogy in an illustrated edition. Can recommend which to read?
The Hobbit was the Jemima Catlin edition, which I, admittedly, did not like. I think we both enjoyed the design and typesetting, with illustrations nestled in the text, but I think we both would enjoy something more sumptuously illustrated than the Catlin.
There seem to be a number of different editions available, but it's hard to preview the illustrations online. To be fair, though, I think with my young bedtime reader, more illustrations would be preferable to, e.g., a single ornate illustration per chapter.
Lastly, I have a slight preference for a multi-volume edition, particularly if we ever travel with the book.
Does this unicorn exist? Thanks!
The Hobbit was the Jemima Catlin edition, which I, admittedly, did not like. I think we both enjoyed the design and typesetting, with illustrations nestled in the text, but I think we both would enjoy something more sumptuously illustrated than the Catlin.
There seem to be a number of different editions available, but it's hard to preview the illustrations online. To be fair, though, I think with my young bedtime reader, more illustrations would be preferable to, e.g., a single ornate illustration per chapter.
Lastly, I have a slight preference for a multi-volume edition, particularly if we ever travel with the book.
Does this unicorn exist? Thanks!
Alan Lee is an illustrator who has done a lot of Tolkien work. I had a copy of the 30th anniversary version of LotR that he illustrated and there were certain shots in the film trilogy that I recognised from that book.
It appears that there is now a subsequent (2017) version available from the Tolkien website here, although I'm sure you could find a less expensive version somewhere.
The wonderful Victor Ambrus produced some great pics of elves and others in the past (example) but I can't tell if he ever did anything more in-depth and specifically LotR -related. He produced several illustrations for the Tolkien Bestiary, from which (if memory serves) the Twitter pics are taken.
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 10:35 AM on December 13, 2021
It appears that there is now a subsequent (2017) version available from the Tolkien website here, although I'm sure you could find a less expensive version somewhere.
The wonderful Victor Ambrus produced some great pics of elves and others in the past (example) but I can't tell if he ever did anything more in-depth and specifically LotR -related. He produced several illustrations for the Tolkien Bestiary, from which (if memory serves) the Twitter pics are taken.
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 10:35 AM on December 13, 2021
I have never found an edition that was both beautifully illustrated and truly comfortable to read - for the latter, I like a binding that opens easily, line lengths not too long, non glary paper, volumes not too heavy, etc.
So I suggest looking for an edition of the text that is durable and designed for reading, and separately for volumes of the most beautiful illustrations.
posted by clew at 6:50 PM on December 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
So I suggest looking for an edition of the text that is durable and designed for reading, and separately for volumes of the most beautiful illustrations.
posted by clew at 6:50 PM on December 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
This is the edition I have, and it's a thing of beauty.
The Alan Lee illustrations are the classic and, I think, the best. He worked on the films and it shows, they look like the books come to life.
The illustrations are full page plates, not scattered through the text, but iirc they are spaced out throughout the book.
...On looking at that again, I see it does include The Hobbit. The edition I have didn't, and you might find that earlier edition second hand somewhere? At a quick look it seems difficult to find an illustrated edition that doesn't include it.
(clew is right about ease of reading, though - illustrated editions of LOTR are just so unavoidably huge that they're always a bit unwieldy.)
posted by BlueNorther at 8:58 AM on December 14, 2021
The Alan Lee illustrations are the classic and, I think, the best. He worked on the films and it shows, they look like the books come to life.
The illustrations are full page plates, not scattered through the text, but iirc they are spaced out throughout the book.
...On looking at that again, I see it does include The Hobbit. The edition I have didn't, and you might find that earlier edition second hand somewhere? At a quick look it seems difficult to find an illustrated edition that doesn't include it.
(clew is right about ease of reading, though - illustrated editions of LOTR are just so unavoidably huge that they're always a bit unwieldy.)
posted by BlueNorther at 8:58 AM on December 14, 2021
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posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:30 AM on December 13, 2021