The $325 Lord Of The Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set Is Only $146 For A Limited Time

The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set is a revamped version of a gorgeous collection first launched in 1992. Across the three hardcover volumes–The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King–there are more than 50 new pencil sketches and full-color paintings by beloved Lord of the Rings artist Alan Lee. All told, the box set has 1,332 pages, which makes it longer than most, if not all, editions of LOTR currently in print.

The page edges are sprayed dark blue on the top and bottom, and the side edges have unique illustrations of billowing smoke from Mount Doom’s eruption. Lee created new artwork for the covers, too. Each cover has a framed rectangular drawing in the center. The illustrations are inset on gray cloth board and surrounded by an elegant, silver foil-stamped border. Each book is quarterbound in blue leather, and the pages are sewn into the spine. You can mark your spot using the attached ribbon bookmark.

The silver-foil text along the spine and on the covers was stamped onto each book. The custom display case was constructed from cloth board and features stamped circular emblems designed by Lee. The case has rounded front edges to make it easy to remove each book. With all three books removed, you can peer inside the fully illustrated interior of the case. Lee’s depiction of Mount Doom’s eruption covers every surface inside the lovingly crafted slipcase.

Inside each book, you’ll find a large art card that can be removed and displayed separately. Along with three art cards, you get a pair of foldout maps of Middle-earth drawn by Christopher Tolkien, the author’s literary executor who edited, expanded, and organized many supplementary writings about Middle-earth, including The Silmarillion and his legendarium, which formed the massive 12-part series now known as The History of Middle-earth.

To be clear, The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated is much different from the popular 2021 version illustrated by Tolkien, but the premium design is reminiscent of the Deluxe Special Edition of the Tolkien Illustrated version.

While the discount on the Deluxe Illustrated Box Set is quite good, $146 is still a lot of money for a single novel. But the great thing about modern editions of Tolkien’s work is that there are beautiful collectible editions available at various price points. Case in point: The Lord of the Rings Collector’s Edition Box Set.

Published just a few weeks after the Deluxe Illustrated Box Set, the hardcover Collector’s Edition Box Set carries a $105 MSRP. Right now, however, you can buy this handsome collection for only $49.45.

Once again, the Collector’s Edition is split into the three distinct parts that make up Tolkien’s novel: Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers, and Return of the King. Each book can be stored in the included display box shown above.

The Collector’s Editions have foil-stamped cover art, stained page edges, illustrated maps as endpapers, and built-in ribbon bookmarks. The beautiful cover art was previously featured in collectible editions released in the UK, so it’s cool that American readers no longer have to import the books to admire the artwork up close.

The box set also comes with an exclusive foldout map of Middle-earth.

All three volumes in this box set are also sold separately, though it’d cost you about $15 more to buy them that way right now–and you miss out on the display case as well as the poster. But you may want to pair the box set with the matching Collector’s Edition versions of The Hobbit and The Silmarillion, which were also published last year and are discounted close to 50%.

For a markedly different Tolkien experience, consider picking up The Collected Poems of J.R.R Tolkien. This three-volume hardcover collection follows a similar design philosophy as The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set, so they would look great next to each other on a display shelf.

This collection contains poems composed by Tolkien the teenager as well as Tolkien the aging literary giant. The nearly 200 poems across the box set’s 1,700 pages were written across nearly 70 years. The poetry is accompanied by commentary about the author’s work and life from two Tolkien scholars.

Just know that this collection isn’t related to Lord of the Rings or Middle-earth in general. While Tolkien included poetry in his famous fantasy novels, the verse in his Middle-earth novels barely scratches the surface of Tolkien’s lifelong love of poetry.

If you like the idea of reading poetry by Tolkien, you should also check out the upcoming hardcover box set titled Tolkien Myth and Legends. Releasing August 19, this eye-catching collection includes four books of epic poems. Two books feature Tolkien’s own poetry: a narrative poem about King Arthur and a Norse mythology-inspired classic poem. The set also comes with Tolkien’s personal translations of Beowulf and three other classic poems.