onthetrail wrote:

he website is a prime example where no effort is made and although I am sure the relationship between them and the estate is a good one I think HC could do more to press the estate on the readers behalf to secure more texts for publication. It feels like both parties are content to churn out reprint after reprint (Nature of ME aside) yet when one looks at other writers from a similar period Tolkien feels rather lacklustre in comparison. Look at the work faber & faber have done with T.S. Eliot in securing so many obscure texts, created a really accessible website, worked tirelessly to release more content and Tolkien, a far bigger prospect in this time is left behind.

That bloody website is a perfect proof of how little they care.
The fact that they haven't bothered even to update news section in a while, not even in January 2020 to pay respect to the man who did an amazing job and worked with them over the past 30 (or so) years, shows how little they actually give a damn about Tolkien and his legacy.
Not to mention that they don't even have some of the latest editions on the site for sale. Even their email newsletter links to Amazon.co.uk rather than tolkien.co.uk.

I was wondering, has any of you asked HC if they plan to ever do individual deluxe volumes of the HoME?

I know I'd buy them if they did those, does any of you have a contact of someone who works at HC to ask / suggest the idea?

gobbledygook wrote:

That bloody website is a perfect proof of how little they care.
The fact that they haven't bothered even to update news section in a while, not even in January 2020 to pay respect to the man who did an amazing job and worked with them over the past 30 (or so) years, shows how little they actually give a damn about Tolkien and his legacy.

I would just like to reiterate what Urulókë points to, HarperCollins as a huge corporate company and its individuals are very different things and I myself have often neglected to separate the two, so I don't want my criticisms to be misunderstood as a blanket complaint against the people who care deeply at HarperCollins. I certainly don't think we should throw out broad accusations that they don't care about the passing of Christopher Tolkien because we don't know how the staff feel about him or how his passing has touched them but I know how it has touched me, so it has been upsetting for many of them, of that I am certain.

I agree it was poor that the website has not acknowledged his passing but we don't know who has effected its movement and lack of activity. I doubt very much it is anybody who worked with or knew Christopher so lets not suggest that they don't care.

onthetrail wrote:

I would just like to reiterate what Urulókë points to, HarperCollins as a huge corporate company and its individuals are very different things and I myself have often neglected to separate the two, so I don't want my criticisms to be misunderstood as a blanket complaint against the people who care deeply at HarperCollins. I certainly don't think we should throw out broad accusations that they don't care about the passing of Christopher Tolkien because we don't know how the staff feel about him or how his passing has touched them but I know how it has touched me, so it has been upsetting for many of them, of that I am certain.

I agree it was poor that the website has not acknowledged his passing but we don't know who has effected its movement and lack of activity. I doubt very much it is anybody who worked with or knew Christopher so lets not suggest that they don't care.

Well in this case, they dropped the ball. While I understand there might be some people who were deeply affected, lack of any statement on the official Tolkien site managed by HC regarding Christopher's passing is disappointing.
It leaves a bad taste in the mouth, regardless of what they thought at the time, it's what you do that counts. That was my point.
Speaking of websites, Estate's website is horrendous as well as outdated.

The Estate website started out well with its redesign. A downloads section saying coming soon, some decent articles for the average reader, even a couple of previously unpublished artwork pieces adorned it. It has stagnated though. I was hopeful it would follow the sort of thing Eliots website does in offering more incidental letters and texts to support the published offerings.

Yesterday, I have gave them report about color shifts and negative issues resulting in broken letters letters. I attached photo examples and even comparing of what I have thanks to you, guys.

I’ve checked some of them using my HoME deluxe edition (1st print); HoME deluxe edition (4th print) of a one of provided by fellows from forum and a paperback edition (2nd edition) dated 1994 year from another person. (see photo below).

Here what response I received:

"Good afternoon

Our Tolkien team have advised the following -

Thank you for your feedback. It's impossible to comment in any detail about books bought three years ago, except to say that it's almost inevitable in large print runs of a boxed set containing around 5,000 pages that there will be some variation in the printing across the sheets of paper, as they are printed using traditional ink processes.

We have now sold more than 3,000 copies of the deluxe edition across five print runs, and received very few complaints. We no longer use Clays for printing these books, but at the time of the first printing we were assured that the quality would be good and they could deliver relatively quickly. In our experience the quality of print runs in China is usually at least as good as Europe and often better, but we don't always have the time we need (because of the long shipping times) to print there.

Unfinished Tales, which is published on October 1st, has already been printed and the advance copies that we have seen are most satisfactory.

Kind regards,
Dawn"

As expected:
1. We are good guys.
2. Shifts are ok.
3. Almost nobody reposted.
4. No need to move and do anything

Here I have an update message responding to "torn letters issues". Now it is clearer.
What a pity that they do not see my images (blocked by firewall), but insists on "normal black to gray shifts"(((

"Good afternoon

Please see the following email from our Tolkien Team -

The text in the Deluxe edition of The History of Middle-earth ('Deluxe' referring to the binding - the interior pages are the same as the corresponding hardback editions) was sourced from printed copies of the individual hardback editions published originally by George Allen & Unwin or HarperCollins between 1983 and 1996. No digital print files of books from that era were available and the original printing films/plates had been discarded by the printer.

When books are 'offset' from earlier printings, it is normal that some printing blemishes, such as chipped or broken characters in the originals, get duplicated, and further degradation occurs with each generation of offset. It was agreed with Christopher Tolkien that we should not attempt to reset the books for the omnibus editions, because of the possibility that this could introduce new errors, and is the reason why, for example, the folio numbers restart with each book within the volumes rather than being continuous.

We strive to achieve the best quality we can with the materials and resources available to us. We were not aware that there was any significant problem with 'torn' letters (unfortunately I can't see the pictures, presumably our firewall is blocking them), and have had no other complaints specifically about them to alert us to it; but now it has been pointed out we will check with our production team and see if improvements can be made to the next printing in 2021 or 2022.

David"

A very good response, indeed! Especially if "David" is the same person as "David Brawn." He didn't just say 'we'll check' and left it at that, he gave an informative response.

I think HarperCollins does care, they've had a few....fumbles:

- remember printing issues with The Hobbit facsimile edition? (and of course there's the fact they removed the extra content and saved it for a gift set the following year)

- dustjacket/box issues with the 2017 revised and expanded Hammond + Scull set (something about glue, as well....?)

- the fact that the deluxe HoM-e wasn't really "deluxe" (a user here posted excellent photos of how that set SHOULD have been designed)

- The Story of Kullervo slipcased edition had some issues, though forget what.

Those are the only issues I can think of. While I understand how some feel about this, just because something is printed in China doesn't automatically make it bad. I'd prefer Lego Italy or the UK, but of the Tolkien books I own that were in printed in China, there's been no issues with them, production-wise.

Agreed with onthetrail. The Estate website was a nice surprise to have back when they first released the new version. There was a lot to explore and it felt quite “bookish”. It has stagnated since then. I still love it though. ?