A question of ink

Tolkien originally designed some text to be printed in red - specifically the Ring inscription on bk 1 chapter 2. Also, the map was done in red and black and stayed that way for a long time (some editions went black and white only, but the two color maps have returned).

The red ring inscription was published in the 'India paper edition' of 1969 (while Tolkien was still alive) with the proper red ink used for the Ring inscription.

The 1974 "Collector's Edition" from Houghton Mifflin (red imitation leather in slipcase) has full red and black printing throughout. I think that was the first time it was done for The Lord of the Rings.

I haven't run across anything specific tying the collector's edition to that passage, but it seems likely due to Tolkien's preferences when he was alive.

It is also worth mentioning that the original UK dust-jackets are also primarily printed in red and black.

Verlyn Flieger has suggested that when Tolkien wrote that passage he might have had in mind the Winchester Manuscript of Malory's Le Morte Darthure, which was discovered at Winchester College in 1934. The manuscript is indeed a big (900+ page) book written in blank and red, and I believe its discovery was somewhat sensational. It's been digitized here.

Of course, as Urulókë says, it was Tolkien's original wish that The Lord of the Rings be published with some red text, so he was perhaps hoping to inject a little metafiction here as well.

Flieger's discussion is in her article 'Tolkien and the Idea of the Book' in The Lord of the Rings 1954–2004: Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder (2006), edited by Hammond and Scull.

Talking of red ink. 4th impression of the current AL Hobbit observed in bookshop. Flicked through - they still seem to be having trouble with ink splats.