Super Deluxe COH announced

[davem]

Originally Posted by Sauron the White

for those with fat wallets

http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/...per_Deluxe.php

300 british pounds is what --- 600 us dollars? Sounds pretty pricey. Very glad I got a signed one by Christopher from the New York debut months ago for far far less than that.

Harper Collins pretty much determine the price for their books by thinking of a number, doubling it, & then adding a couple of noughts. The next step is to find the cheapest materials available for the venture & then hold out big sacks for the money. I can't help feeling that if anyone wants a really nice edition of CoH they should buy a copy of the 'standard' deluxe edition & get a decent bookbinder to re-bind it to their specifications.

If you check their website you'll find they're offering The JRR Tolkien De luxe Edition Collection for £200 (Hobbit, LotR, CoH, The Sil) http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/books....aspx?id=40805.

[davem]

http://store.tolkien.co.uk/

I expect to see this on EBay very soon for ten times the price.....

[Sauron the White]

and a bit more info in this format from tolkienlibrary.com

Today Harper Collins has revealed The Children of Hurin Exclusive Signed Limited Edition. The publisher has opened up a page at tolkien.co.uk where you can register to receive information on when the book is available. This page shows how the book will look like and also gives us some extra information, that was not known before.

This edition is strictly limited to 500 copies and will be hand-numbered and signed by Christopher Tolkien and Alan Lee on the page (not on a bookplate). Fully bound in leather and hand-sewn, custom leather clamshell case to store the book in, and including a number of features unique to this printing, like unique illustrations and two-colour fold-out map.

Register your interest today! It is the only opportunity to own this exclusive limited edition!

[UPDATE 15-07-07] New information always leads to more questions and so I contacted Harper Collins and received some extra information from David Brawn, the publishing director:

There are no new pictures in this edition. The interior of the book is identical to the previous deluxe edition. In fact, they are first edition bookblocks printed last March with the Deluxe Edition - genuine first edition pages, which were reserved specially for this edition.
They have though the additional signature leaf and a different copyright page, plus marbled endpapers and all the other features as mentioned above. The map is Christopher Tolkien's, and no new version.

Harper Collins thought it would disappoint the thousands of people who have bought The Children of Hurin to provide new pictures only in the 500 signed copies. This edition was made especially for the Tolkien fans and collectors and can only be obtained by registrating at the site mentioned above. This was done so that the books go to people who will genuinely appreciate it. So no massive campaign this time! More info (and probably larger photo's) coming soon. [/UPDATE]


Publication Date: 10/12/2007 (UK)
Price: £300.00 (UK)
Binding: Hardback

ISBN: 978-0-00-725224-4
Extent (approx.): 320 pages

Imprint: HarperCollins
Rights: OM
Division: HarperFiction

[davem]

According to the Harper Collins Tolkien site forum http://www.tolkien.co.uk/forum.aspx?g=posts&t=468 the edition will only be available for sale & delivery within the UK due to publishing rights issues - HC only have the UK publishing rights - though apparently there's nothing to stop foreign publishers (like Houghton Mifflin in the US) bringing out their own 'super deluxe' editions.

Nice investment though (or for selling via Ebay). I'm pretty sure you could get twice what you pay for it straight away of you decide to sell it on. Given what signed firsts of LotR go for its probably worth getting.

[davem]

http://store.tolkien.co.uk/

THE CHILDREN OF HÚRIN Signed Limited Leather-bound Deluxe Edition

The apex of a Tolkien collection. A work of art to treasure
THE CHILDREN OF H�RIN Signed Limited Leather-bound Deluxe Edition

The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien was published for the first time in 2007, the first 'new' tale by J.R.R. Tolkien since The Silmarillion 30 years ago. Edited from Tolkien's various manuscripts by his son, Christopher, and illustrated by Alan Lee, who won an Oscar for his design work on The Lord of the Rings movies, the book was an instant Number 1 bestseller and remained in the Sunday Times Top 10 for four months.

It has already sold more than 1 million copies worldwide in English and is being translated into 42 languages.
Personal touch

Each copy is signed and numbered by Christopher Tolkien & Alan Lee on a bespoke tip-in flyleaf.
Premium production values

The utmost personal care and attention is taken in the production of every single copy to ensure that the aesthetic appearance of the book is of the highest possible quality. Every book is hand bound in the finest quality leather from genuine first edition pages, secured to the spine through hand sewing and meshing in order to ensure lasting durability and strength.

* Strictly limited to just 500 hand-numbered copies
* Fully bound in real Italian leather
* Decorated in gold and red foil
* Raised spine ribs
* Printed on superior acid-free paper
* Hand-sewn binding
* Gold-edged pages
* Marbled endpapers
* Silk ribbon marker

Unique illustrations and fold-out map

The book is 320 pages, and includes 25 pencil illustrations by Alan Lee, plus 9 spectacular full-colour plates inserted at 32-page intervals. It also includes a two-colour fold-out map drawn by Christopher Tolkien himself, who drew the original maps for his father's The Lord of the Rings when it was first published in 1954.
Custom leather clamshell

This special book is housed in a custom-built, hand-assembled clamshell traycase. The clamshell is clad in bonded leather and foil-stamped in gold, lined with real suede, and the package protected in its own shipping carton. This ensures your copy won't get damaged, and provides an attractive way to store and display your purchase.
A unique opportunity

[Sauron the White]

I am very pleased to own one of the signed regular edition COH books sold in New York City on the day of release. Happiness is often being satisfied with what you have - not always searching for more.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Sauron the White

I am very pleased to own one of the signed regular edition COH books sold in New York City on the day of release. Happiness is often being satisfied with what you have - not always searching for more.

I think of this more as a piece of Tolkien art, rather than simply a 'book'. Its a one-off (ok, a 'five-hundred off'), & I can't help thinking Tolkien would have admired such an 'Elvish' thing....

[Child of the 7th Age]

I am very pleased to own one of the signed regular edition COH books sold in New York City on the day of release. Happiness is often being satisfied with what you have - not always searching for more.

You are lucky. Unfortunately, some of us who have been collecting for many years do not live near New York.

I feel Harper Collins did not handle this well. When people intially signed up to get information on the book (which I did), there was no indication that distribution would be limited to the U.K. This should have been clearly stated at the time. People only discovered this when they went to the page to order the book. Because of this, there are buyers in Europe and North America (and likely elsewhere) who are expressing keen disappointment.

I am wondering how they are going to handle this, as I am assuming that more than 500 people signed up and expressed interest. Certainly, if I was a bookdealer on Abe, I would try to get one or more copies to resell, to say nothing of many private individuals who will try to hawk them on ebay

My own disappointment is tempered by the price of the volume. When you click on the actual website to purchase, the price of the book shows as 350 pounds rather than 300! That is roughly $700. Presumably, the book will go up several hundred dollars higher in the reselling. As such, it is certainly out of the reach of most, even those who collect.

I do not "love" the Children of Hurin in the same way that I "love" the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings. I already have Christopher and Michael's signatures on another book that I purchased for a much more modest sum from the same bookdealer that Davem mentioned in his earlier posts. (Thank you Davem very, very much for that info that led me to that dealer.) So I am also very lucky and will not lose sleep over this. Still, I wish it had been handled differently. Lots of disappointed people....

If an unexpected chunk of money dropped from the heavens, I'd be more apt to spend it on a copy of Hobbit or LotR I didn't have rather than on this title. But I mainly buy books because I love them rather than thinking of turning them over as an investment.