It could have been part of a collection like the "perilous realm" assortment. But in any case, I'm glad we're getting these stories at all. If i wasn't for this separate release, I probably would not have known about it or read it.

Does anyone have new information about the deluxe release of the Tale of Kullervo? It's supposed to be released later this year (October).

Earl wrote:
Does anyone have new information about the deluxe release of the Tale of Kullervo? It's supposed to be released later this year (October).

Slated for 20th October at the moment. ISBN: 978-0-00-816672-4. Shows up on Tolkien.co.uk if you do a search, athough there isn't any new info on it. I wouldn't necessarily expect to see any additional information at this stage, as the release date is still fairly distant.

Thanks for the information, Stu.

I'm curious to know what motif they will use for the frontispiece. And also, what colour the book will be. Perhaps they will use a shade of red/orange? The speculation is fun.

Also, I wonder if they will include any additional material, like drawings or illustrations to "fill out" the book? As I understand, the book itself is rather slim.

I have been told that HarperCollins will probably do a deluxe edition in 2017 of "A Secret Vice" and this edition would include colour plates that are not in the trade edition.

Not sure on additional material for the deluxe "Tale of Kullervo", but expect it to be similar.

Oh that's nice to know. How exciting to hope that there might be some new Tolkien material in the deluxe edition. Thanks Trotter!

I honestly think these last two (not yet released) "Deluxe" Editions are a bit cynical. HarperCollins obviously knows lots of people have collected them so far and will feel the need to complete their collections.

I'll wait to see what they look like, but I might be out of the game now. It really feels like I would just be buying them for the sake of it at this stage, as it isn't material that is remotely suited to deluxe treatment.

I agree, Stu. Even the deluxe editions of the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and Tales From The Perilous Realm, were really just about the cover and slipcase matching those of the deluxe series. I really wish these editions had some "content" that set them apart from the regular hardcover and paperback editions.

Earl wrote:
I agree, Stu. Even the deluxe editions of the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and Tales From The Perilous Realm, were really just about the cover and slipcase matching those of the deluxe series. I really wish these editions had some "content" that set them apart from the regular hardcover and paperback editions.

Absolutely. The deluxe editions have generally not had much (if anything) in the way of special features. Having a frontispiece that contains the cover-art that would ordinarily grace the dust jacket of the standard edition, isn't really a special feature in my book (e.g. CoH, Silmarillion, etc)! It seems to me that Fall of Arthur and Sigurd and Gudrun could easily have had nice images of the concept art by Bill Sanderson (for example), and that would have been great. I have Bill S. remarqued standard editions of S&G and FoA and they would have been perfect material.

That said, I don't mind them, I just think we are now at the point where material that really should be in scholarly journals is being published as new books, primarily to milk the final dollar now that there is no substantial material left in the cupboard. There is only so much value in variant drafts of things beyond them being padding. Deluxe versions of such material is just a stretch too far.

I agree with all you've said Stu. That's part of the reason I'm not too keen on paying top dollar for these books (the price for Tales from the Perilous Realm is laughable right now).

I might push myself to get the super deluxe editions of CoH and S&G if I can get them at half price this year (I know they were going for GBP 125 at last year's Black Friday sale, but I just didn't have the funds then). And that's only because I've never owned a true leather-bound book, and I feel like a Tolkien book in this format might be a worthy one to own.