Thanks Stu. I see the difference. The AUS/NZ is sort of buckram looking; which, I'd imagine, will probably have more longevity in it than the UK paper-covered boards.

BH

On first glance the two books look identical, ISBNs are the same as are impressions, but they are clearly not the same

Stu, Do you think they have better paper, buckram is a better paper for me than regular paper as Khamûl states?

Trotter wrote:
On first glance the two books look identical, ISBNs are the same as are impressions, but they are clearly not the same

Stu, Do you think they have better paper, buckram is a better paper for me than regular paper as Khamûl states?

Yes, the AU edition is generally of a noticeably higher quality. The Buckram (or buckram-like) boards appear much more durable than the paper covered boards of the UK edition. The pages in the AU edition are also a bit whiter.

The opposite goes for S&G. The AU edition actually has slightly thinner paper-covered boards than the UK edition.

W H Smith tell me that my deluxe copy has been despatched.

- wellinghall

Our deluxe copy from W H Smith arrived today!

- wellinghall

Great news, Wellinghall!

The official description of the deluxe edition says that it features:

"the first edition text and [...] a facsimile page of Tolkien’s original manuscript"

I'm a bit confused as to what "first edition text" here is referring to -- is it simply that this is the first edition of the book?

Is the "facsimile page" not reproduced in the standard edition of The Fall of Arthur?

I'm still trying to decide which edition to buy ... oops, perhaps I shouldn't say so here on the Collector's Guide...I meant: both, of course, and why not two trade editions and have one as reading copy

I received my copy yesterday in the mail. I haven't ordered the deluxe edition yet.

I got my dispatch notifications for both copies from Book Depository yesterday. I bailed out from Amazon.co.uk, as even though I preordered when it was 10 pounds cheaper it was still going to work out about $17 more expensive to Australia than BD for the Deluxe.

No sign of it in any of the bookshops here in Brisbane yesterday, so no info as to whether the AU edition is the same printer as the UK as yet. Will keep my eyes peeled over the next couple of weeks.

We picked up the U.S. trade edition in a local shop yesterday, and note that it refers on the copyright page to a facsimile from the manuscript in the Bodleian -- but Houghton Mifflin Harcourt seem not to have included it (it wasn't in any of the copies being sold locally). This has happened before for the U.S.; presumably the facsimile is in the HarperCollins edition, our copies of which are still in transit.

Wayne & Christina

I have not got either of the UK editions yet, both marked as dispatched, but the facsimile page is in the Kindle edition that I have. It is right at the start of the edition and I suspect may be in the sample edition that can be freely downloaded.