insurrbution wrote:

I just miss some of the fancier elements that used to make a deluxe edition feel.....well, deluxe. Such as:

- (if limited edition) signed and individually numbered
- gilt-edged pages
- leather (or leatherette) slipcase and binding

Similar to the limited editions of The Children of Hurin and The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrun.

Do you own any of these editions yourself?

I have a complete set of the new HC "Deluxe" editions of various printings, and I agree with most of what has been said over the last few days about these in terms of quality of the books as compared with older deluxe editions of various qualities.

What has been said of the big publishers (HC & HMH) and their lack of desire to produce a real deluxe edition, which would have many of the things y'all have pointed out and the expense of producing a large amount of these, to me probably means they are a thing of the past for the most part. Much like large fold out maps are things of the past in standard HB editions of Tolkien books.

Perhaps the real deluxe books will be found coming from the smaller publishers? Like MU books with Remembrancer?

Mr. Underhill wrote:

Perhaps the real deluxe books will be found coming from the smaller publishers? Like MU books with Remembrancer?

I'm not sure I'd classify the Remembrancer as a deluxe book. I see it as a decent trade edition in a deluxe slipcase. I think to be a deluxe edition, something about the book itself would need to have been improved.

Yeah, I consider a book to be deluxe if it offers more than just a slipcase.

Stu wrote:

Mr. Underhill wrote:

Perhaps the real deluxe books will be found coming from the smaller publishers? Like MU books with Remembrancer?

I'm not sure I'd classify the Remembrancer as a deluxe book. I see it as a decent trade edition in a deluxe slipcase. I think to be a deluxe edition, something about the book itself would need to have been improved.

Also, another thing I've been thinking about. Has deluxe become a catch all term, meaning a variety of things to people, thereby meaning nothing really? Reminds me of another term that has lost it's meaning...sumptuous

Mr. Underhill wrote:

Stu wrote:

Mr. Underhill wrote:

Perhaps the real deluxe books will be found coming from the smaller publishers? Like MU books with Remembrancer?

I'm not sure I'd classify the Remembrancer as a deluxe book. I see it as a decent trade edition in a deluxe slipcase. I think to be a deluxe edition, something about the book itself would need to have been improved.

Also, another thing I've been thinking about. Has deluxe become a catch all term, meaning a variety of things to people, thereby meaning nothing really? Reminds me other another term that has lost it's meaning...sumptuous

Ha Ha, yes. I hate the word "sumptuous"! I agree that it doesn't really mean anything specific. I guess for me, it has to be significantly better than the standard edition, but exactly how it differs is rather undefined. At the end of the day, it is all just marketing fluff and the key question is "Is it an edition I'm willing to pay extra for or not".

Stu wrote:

Mr. Underhill wrote:

Perhaps the real deluxe books will be found coming from the smaller publishers? Like MU books with Remembrancer?

I'm not sure I'd classify the Remembrancer as a deluxe book. I see it as a decent trade edition in a deluxe slipcase. I think to be a deluxe edition, something about the book itself would need to have been improved.

Agree with Stu. This printing just has a 'special' slip case. Rather like boards on paperback sheets.

I was comparing different editions, the spanish Minotauro hardback has the DJ printed in glossy paper.
The illustrations inside have a better quality in my opinion, but it lacks the ribbon marker and the blue-coloured titles.

Raskolnikov wrote:

I was comparing different editions, the spanish Minotauro hardback has the DJ printed in glossy paper.
The illustrations inside have a better quality in my opinion, but it lacks the ribbon marker and the blue-coloured titles.

Neither are especially fantastic, tbh. You can really see the half-toning when you zoom in.

You can really see from the jacket, just how much vibrance is lost through a matte finish, though. Same reason why Apple won't do matte laptop screens any more (which is super-annoying).

I have two questions about standard hardcover Harper Collins release

Is missing the authors name on the spine of the book fixed with latest print run?

Did they fix really poor quality dust jacket from first printing? Seems almost all first edition copies have damaged dust jacket on one edge.