I just don't see why they would make a collector's edition of this title, when they didn't do one for The History of The Hobbit.

insurrbution wrote:

I just don't see why they would make a collector's edition of this title, when they didn't do one for The History of The Hobbit.

I'd imagine if they do one, it is simply because they think that *right now* there is a market to sell them. I would guess the deluxe editions have a fairly healthy profit margin.

Perhaps, though some of the 'behind the scenes' type books (The History of Middle-earth, The History of The Hobbit....) are somewhat niche, compared to, say, a new edition of The Lord of the Rings or a great tales type release.

insurrbution wrote:

Perhaps, though some of the 'behind the scenes' type books (The History of Middle-earth, The History of The Hobbit....) are somewhat niche, compared to, say, a new edition of The Lord of the Rings or a great tales type release.

Sure, but markets change, and now the market appears to be hot for Tolkien, and Nature is a new book. I don't know what they will do with this one (and don't especially care, as the deluxe variant would not be for me this time), but I can certainly see why they might consider it.

I imagine, being edited by Carl Hostetter, that The Nature of Middle Earth will contain a lot of linguistic material, not exclusively perhaps, but predominantly.

Quicksilver wrote:

I imagine, being edited by Carl Hostetter, that The Nature of Middle Earth will contain a lot of linguistic material, not exclusively perhaps, but predominantly.

I think Carl has indicated this material covers many topics & is not mostly linguistic.

That’s good to hear. The linguistic stuff, whilst being important, is not such an easy or rewarding read for those of us without specialist knowledge or interest.

Since Tolkien's languages were deeply intertwined with his world, a "linguistic" writing would often touch on very interesting non-linguistic material. FWIW, I've compiled the various press releases and leaks from Carl into a list of all the essays/topics I've heard so far that will be included:

“Ósanwe-kenta” (essay)
“Fate and Free Will” (1968 essay)
Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor
Flora and fauna of Númenor
Lives of Númenóreans
Beards
Powers of the Valar
Elvish immortality and reincarnation

Thanks Faramond. I’m really looking forward to reading this book.

Looking forward to seeing what the published table of contents will be. Ebook editions typically allow for previews shortly before publication, as does Amazon, via their 'look inside!' feature.