What's currently on sale is printed in China and is of mediocre quality compared to the superb first prints made in Italy - so you'd have to go on the expensive second-hand market to get a copy that's worthy of your money. However, same issue as with the standard version. Your best bet would be to buy them separate unless you have a lot of money and patience.įor the purpose of collecting, The Deluxe Slipcased versions look best on the shelve and there are 8 other matching deluxe books by Tolkien.

I think the 4-book set 50th Anniversary Edition would be of the same quality as my UK-printed Hobbit - thus recommended, but will cost you way too much if you get them as a set (if you can even find it). In contrast, I own the matching Hobbit printed in the UK with gold foil letters/monogram on the dust jacket and it is truly superb. I do not recommend you spend money on this. Out of the standard versions, the current 4-book set on .uk is printed in China and the quality is disappointing. Note: My copy was printed in Belgium, though maybe current copies are being print in China or Hong Kong. I would think they are the ones with the best value for non-collectors (inexpensive, decent paper, big illustrations) and make for really nice reading copies.

If you just want books to read, I would recommend the Alan Lee illustrated version of which exist a matching illustrated Hobbit and Silmarillion. I've started collecting just recently and maybe I'm repeating some info from earlier comments, but here's my 2 cents: If you are really after the books primarily to read, they cost next to nothing second-hand in a variety of bindings. I personally prefer 3 volume above one volume, in terms of usability. If I had to pick a set, I'd be looking for a used 50th Anniversary 3 volume (rather than the 60th). I personally believe that despite the minor improvements to the text, more recent editions are manifestly worse than some of the slightly earlier editions. My copy seems quite well put together, other than the plastic slipcase which is a bit rubbish. The one volume illustrated is - unsurprisingly - also Chinese printed, but in that case has always been so as it a fairly recently updated version. I've heard mention of odd odours and grubby jackets on the current prints. The 4 book set you show is now also printed in China (early impressions were also printed in Italy) and is not as good as earlier prints. The HarperCollins one volume deluxe is now printed in China (early impressions were printed in Italy) and is not as good as the early prints (which were quite nice). It really depends on what you want it for to read?, to look nice on the shelf?

Lord of the rings editions