50th Anniversary Deluxe Lord of The Rings

They are refering to the single editions of the 50th Anniversary volumes whcih were printed in 2005 (http://www.tolkienbooks.net/html/lotr ... es_-_2002-presen_15.htm). They refer to corrections from the Deluxe Edition in the forward to the books.

Thanks Trotter!

For some reason, my brain kept automatically inserting "Deluxe" into Wayne and Christina's website comment.

So, for the UK edition, (if I have this straight):

1. Deluxe 2004 HC 1 vol.
2. Trade 2004 HC 1 vol, same text as 1.
3. Trade 2005 PB 1 vol., corrected text and expanded index
4. Trade 2005 HC 3 vol, same as 3.
5. Trade 2005 PB 3 vol, same as 3 but the pagination is different, so the Reader's Companion doesn't line up correctly.

4. and 5. have had two impressions (at least), the rest are all single impressions only (including the deluxe editions still available on Amazon.co.uk).

Interesting that the deluxe edition, at 2500 copies (my source was an email from Wayne, agrees with Deagol's website) is still available at steep discount. While not super cheap, it is beautiful. I think if it had been released as a "limited edition of 2500" rather than just had 2500 copies printed, it would have sold through much faster. It also probably didn't help that the text was revised and the index expanded so soon, but the deluxe edition collector and the "needing the authoritative text" collector and the "buy Johnny a set for Christmas" folks are quite different people.

I think these will sell out soon after the Deluxe Children of Hurin hits the market and people want them all looking so nice next to each other on the shelf.

I am a little suspicious about the 2004 Deluxe Edition lasting for so long. It used the same sheets as the standard trade edition, so it wouldn't surprise me if they have subsequently bound up more copies in the deluxe style.

It was indeed strange... it sold out rather quickly on amazon and then showed up for sale again about 7 months ago... i thought it was rather strange indeed. Either they just printed so many that they did not sell all of them and now with the Children of Hurin want to get rid of them. Or they did something else...
They were looking for something they can call 'deluxe' but want to sell it as a mass product. To make a true deluxe edition, would have been too expensive I think. But how they managed to get more 'deluxe' lotr's and hobbits out there I don't know. Maybe just perfect marketing? Did they know they would sell Children of Hurin in this edition back then? And so kept some copies to sell right now?

I saw the same sellout then reappearance, I think that is why I just assumed it was a second (revised) printing. It seems odd that they would have unbound sheets of the one volume edition laying around, but certainly possible.

Has anyone bought the deluxe UK edition from a new retailer (Daeron's, Amazon, but not Rown's, all my copies are from the first wave) in the last seven months (and opened it) that can confirm if the copyright page says anything different?

It seems odd that a public company like HarperCollins (subsidiary of News Corp.) would hold on to books or sheets in some warehouse at some considerable cost for marketing purposes. Hard to justify to stockholders. If they weren't selling well, perhaps they stopped distributing for a while to build up demand again?

Regarding the currently available "Deluxe" LOTR from Amazon UK..... I have purchased one myself within the last month. (Quick side note: I paid 70 pounds sterling for it. Before I received the book, the price dropped briefly to 65 pounds. I contacted Amazon, and they were very happy to refund the difference. They are very easy to deal with and are always quite resposive to emails.) I had originally intended on keeping the book in its shrinkwrap, but unfortunately, the book arrived with the shrinkwrap torn open and the spine of the book was damaged. Amazon immediately sent a replacement copy at no charge (which thankfully arrived in perfect shape), and gave me 30 days to return the damaged book (at their expense!). To make a very long story short, I was able to see the copyright page, since the book was already opened. It was a second printing of the 2004 deluxe edition. So, it is likely that the initial sellout was the first printing. The first printing may have been limited to 2500 copies, but by not marketing it as a limited edition, it left the door open to subsequent printings. Although the discounted price will not get you a first printing, it is still a very nice book, and I think well worth the money. I have also purchased the Deluxe Hobbit, but have not yet opened it to confirm the print run. I'm very much looking forward to the Children of Hurin Deluxe edition. Somehow, we need to convince Harper Collins to print a matching Deluxe Simarillion. My shelf will just not look right with that piece missing!

In my interview with Dan Brawn I did not exactly figure out which Silmarillion he is planning for September. I made some hints to see if it would match the current Hobbit and Lotr and soon to arrive Children of Hurin. He just said something like we have not decided yet if a celebration edition will be made, so let us see what will be decided there first.
But somehow i'm sure the plans are already made and he will let me know all about it later this year. He know wants the focus on Children of Hurin...

By the way, I also found out we will get a reprint of Mr.Bliss AND a hardback version of Tales of Perilious Realms. Gonne be nice edition, with new images, since i don't know more yet I just keep info at this.