US Deluxe RRP $195

For the first time ever, a very special edition of the forerunner to The Lord of the Rings, illustrated throughout in color by J.R.R. Tolkien himself and with the complete text printed in two colors.

A deluxe slipcased edition of the Silmarillion Illustrated edition – the first volume to include J.R.R. Tolkien’s own illustrations – this edition is a beautiful keepsake for ardent fans and collectors.

The Silmarilli were three perfect jewels, fashioned by Fëanor, most gifted of the Elves, and within them was imprisoned the last Light of the Two Trees of Valinor. But the first Dark Lord, Morgoth, stole the jewels and set them within his iron crown, guarded in the impenetrable fortress of Angband in the north of Middle-earth.

The Silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of Fëanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from Valinor and return to Middle-earth, and their war, hopeless despite all the heroism, against the great Enemy. It is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them such as Elrond and Galadriel took part.

The book also includes several shorter works: the Ainulindalë, a myth of the Creation, and the Valaquenta, in which the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Alkallb?th recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age, and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age, as narrated in The Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien could not publish The Silmarillion in his lifetime, as it grew with him, so he would leave it to his son, Christopher Tolkien, to edit the work from many manuscripts and bring his father’s great vision to publishable form, so completing the literary achievement of a lifetime. This special edition presents anew this seminal first step towards mapping out the posthumous publishing of Middle-earth, and the beginning of an illustrious forty years and more than twenty books celebrating his father’s legacy.

This definitive new edition includes, by way of an introduction, a letter written by Tolkien in 1951 which provides a brilliant exposition of the earlier Ages, and for the first time in its history is presented with J.R.R. Tolkien’s own paintings and drawings, which reveal the breathtaking grandeur and beauty of his vision of the First Age of Middle-earth.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow; Illustrated Deluxe edition (October 3, 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063340541

https://www.amazon.com/Silmarillion-Sp ... collsguid-20&linkCode=osi

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The Silmarillion: Deluxe Edition (US, Illustrated, HB)

William Morrow (2023-10-03)

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There were less QC issues with the WM LOTR, so hopeful that it will be the same with the WM S...

I bought a copy from the brick & mortar Waterstones store in Amsterdam when visiting (I live in the US) and the spine also started to rub off after a light reading session.

I am trying my luck to try to orchestrate a return to the shop but I have to work directly with the Amsterdam store according to Waterstones.

Should I try to get in touch with HC instead? This looks more like an issue with HC than the bookstore itself. The other option would be to keep this copy but I am concerned it would only get more damaged if I read it.

I would call HarperCollins Customer Service and ask them for help in this case

800-242-7737

If one want to read this book, he should definitely not touches the spine.
It's possible to extract the book from the slipcase by shaking it a little bit, then manipulate the book by touching only the boards but avoiding the spine. This is tricky but that way you won't damage the silver gilt.
We are warned for the upcoming deluxe edition of the Hobbit illustrated by the author. I think anyone should be extra carefull, knowing the issues with the Silmarillion. (I hope HC won't reproduce this issue though. Maybe they will use copper coating (after gold for LotR and silver for Silmarillion) which will be more stable and less prone to rubbing.)

Emilien wrote:

Maybe they will use copper coating (after gold for LotR and silver for Silmarillion) which will be more stable and less prone to rubbing.)

Copper or bronze is my hope, or even back to gold.
Wouldn't hurt if they added some type of indentation/impression as well on the lettering to make rubbing off that much harder (though I have no issues with my deluxe LotR but that's not silver ink with blue leather so maybe that's not surprising there).

Is there some sort of archival quality sealant that might be applied to prevent the silvery ink from being rubbed off? That's perhaps an extreme step, but it would be a solution, if such exists.

Thank you for your help. I contacted both HC and the store. It looks like I will be able to return it (probably at my own expense) but I am waiting to hear back from HC since this seems to be more of their responsibility. If anyone has experience returning Deluxe editions from the US to Europe, what delivery service have you liked?

I have a few questions regarding this edition as I am trying to figure out what to do post-refund if it gets to it:
1. Is the issue of the spine rubbing off specific to defective units or is that a problem for all units?
2. Was this issue the same for the 2021 HC LOTR edition? If yes, was that fixed for the William Morrow 2022 release of the same book?

Penseur wrote:

I have a few questions regarding this edition as I am trying to figure out what to do post-refund if it gets to it:
1. Is the issue of the spine rubbing off specific to defective units or is that a problem for all units?
2. Was this issue the same for the 2021 HC LOTR edition? If yes, was that fixed for the William Morrow 2022 release of the same book?

It's all units -- from what was reported shortly after the book came out. It's probably more complicated but the simplified version is that it's a chemical issue between the silver ink and the blue leather that doesn't allow it to adhere properly.

Entirely possible they changed something up with future print runs but personally I find that unlikely since it apparently is/was known that the two materials would have this issue and they still opted to use the silver/blue combination.

The 2021 HC LOTR Edition had a plethora of issues with it's first (and second) print runs for HC but most have them have been addressed since the 3rd printing -- though there was never an issue with the ink rubbing off like we see with Silm.

Thank you for the informative reply Velmeran .

Do we know if there are ways to prevent the rubbing from happening while using the book? Is it caused by friction to skin specifically or does contact with other materials such as wood cause the same issue?