Older Tolkien lovers are such wonderful and beautiful people, including you sir. I am a younger reader starting out on this journey. I appreciate your aura immensely, thank you for this great video.

The thumbnail for this video is adorable. It sums up how I feel about Tolkien. It's been such a comfort read for me over the years too. I just got the new edition of The Silmarillion with illustrations by Tolkien himself. It's expensive but it's an elegant and lovely book. I just started collecting. I love the hardbacks boxsets!

Small correction: the map in the Silmarillion is of Beleriand, a land west of the blue mountains that was destroyed at the end of the first age. They are not the same map

Everytime I recommend The Silmarillion to people who are into LOTR, I ask them if they can read the Bible; if they can, then they can read The Silmarillion, it's basically the Genesis of Arda, with similar prose, especially Ainulindale, well worth the effort imo. Beautiful collection, compared to my modest hoard.

The entire Lord of the Rings in one volume was the way that JRR Tolkein intended it to be published. That is the first edition that I read at 10 years old. I have read it at least every year going on 40 years now.

I think you will enjoy The Silmarillion now. I believe that it is better appreciated and understood if you are older. I've read The Silmarillion about four times and have revisited the various stories at different times, when I wanted to clarify some point or other. The very first time I read it; when it was first released; I struggled. It became easier, with each reading. There is some dark material in there, as well as heroes of legend. I think I was most interested in the lineage of Elrond and Elros, and the tales of their ancestors. As for my editions; I have the Ballentine paperbacks, with Tolkien's illustrations; that were my very first LOTR and The Hobbit set. I have the Ballentine paperbacks with the Barbara Remington covers, the Darrell K. Sweet paperback editions ( the ones you first showed), the Houghton Mifflin three volume set, with the dust jackets illustrated by Alan Lee, the 2021 standard edition with the red stenciled edges, and my favorite is the red leatherette slipcase edition c.1980's which has the blue and gold foiling designs stamped into the cover and spine. I also have the new 2022 deluxe The Silmarillion by Harper Collins, two of the hardcover U.S. editions that are first editions and first printings, the Ted Nasmith illustrated ' blue' Silmarillion, and a recent acquisition is a Unicorn paperback edition with the Roger Garland illustration of the Swan Havens. I do plan on getting the 2022 standard Silmarillion to go with my 2021 LOTR.

That thumbnail is How I love my books too….yay! Audiobooks is a cool take on the books (with characters).

Beautiful collection! Love the Alan Lee illustrations. ❤

Fantastic collection and such beautiful editions. Thanks so much for sharing your LOTR collection.

Gorgeous editions! Really cool, Matt! Can't wait to start this next month FOR THE FIRST TIME! HYPED!!!!!!!

Nice to know I'm not the only one who collects multiple copies of Tolkien's books! I think I'm up to six physical copies of The Hobbit, four of The Lord of the Rings, and three of The Silmarillion. 😅

This totally made it easier for me to make a decision of what version to buy as a gift to my gf. I went for the Harper Collins 2014 edition. Great video 👍🏼👍🏼

Just picked up the Houghton Mifflin 50th Anniversary edition along with the new 2020 Alan Lee Illustrated Hobbit and LOTR Matte Hardcover Box Set which is gorgeous

I dont know how I get here, but now I'm going to read LOTR asap (I've only watched the movies). Thank you sharing your love for Tolkien and LOTR 🙏.

Thank you for sharing!

What a stunning edition of The Hobbit at 11:00! Amazing video. Thank you!

Hi 👋 wow like ur book collection!! It’s one of those books which is classic!! I’m happy for you!! Happy reading to you!! 🎬🕸⚔️🎥☠️👻

Beautiful collection! Picked up today a 1980 revised second edition today of fellowship of the ring.

Nice collection sir. I have the Easton press set and its exquisite! Cheers mate.

Very nice collection! An interesting note on the burnt paper: it is a recreation of a page Tolkien himself made and burnt to help with his world building. I can't remember the terminology but it's altered to look real. That page is the one they found in Moria and part of the book of Mazarbul. The lengths Tolkien went to, to make a realistic world, he truly was someone special! I wish you luck with the Silmarillion it is incredibly epic! I read a chapter a day and made it through. Could speak forever on the Silm, I love it! 😁

I totally feel you on the issue with collecting when moving. I'm not yet done moving, and I will probably move twice again before finally ending up in a house I'll plan to stay in for a long time.... but I can't help myself and have started collecting. Moving is not going to be overly nice for me! Haha

Oh wow! That is a collection!

💍 I have two copies, a well worn single volume paperback and a fancy hardback that my mother purchased for me. I think I too DNF-ed the Silmarillion and never went back to it either. I fully agree with you on the black bands not lining up, BTW! I like these types of deep dive vs a bookshelf tour. The details of where they came from, why you got them, and general thoughts are super interesting. The low impulse control edition is incredible. I can see it being easy to want multiple editions when they are all this fabulous. I did consider getting the most recent fancy edition, but I’m not really a Special Edition collector. Not usually anyway, but Broken Binding have broken me, shall we say.

Buy yourself the Atlas of Miiddle Earth if you dont already have it and give the silmarillion another honest try with the atlas to help visualize the landscape. you owe it to yourself!

What a glorious collection!

Great collection. I am just starting reading Tolkien.

Lovely presentation! I've heard the entire The Lord Of The Rings on audiobooks in English twice while I was working on a production line wearing hearing protectors which had bluetooth. I cried and had to take a moment for myself at the end of the story both times. I just started reading the book on paperback translated to Norwegian Nynorsk (the translator got a prize for his work on this translation in 2007) after finishing The Hobbit of the same translator (The Hobbit I believe I've read 6 or 7 times in total now, it's my favourite book. I'm 27 for the record). I've found a really nice edition of The Lord Of The Rings in a single volume hardback illustrated by Alan Lee which I really want (in English). I agree with you that Lee's illustrations is what Middle Earth looks and feels like. Thank you for this video, cheers from Norway.

Also love the children of hurin, one of my favs too

Really beautiful editions. Highly recommend you check out the Folio society versions if you can. didn't finish the Silmarillion though? caaam ooon, you have to get through it - if you can read LOTR 10 times, you can read TS at least once! love your passion for the series though, can really tell how much this series means to you

As a fellow Tolkien fan who failed to finish The Silmarillion, I'm with you. And I'm sure there are many more of us. It's such a hard read. I want to give it another try, but never get around to it.

That shiny black is called a spot varnish

That's a amazing collection. As someone who hated Rings of Power and didn't like the disrespect I'm glad that we can all sit back and take a moment to approach the amazing stories that Tolkien left us with. Even the movie trilogy for that matter

I have The Easton Press Editions which is just spectacular.

I was recently in a used book store and they were selling a 1974 book club edition box set for $25. Its clearly not a particularly special edition or anything and the text is sooo tiny that its almost unreadable, but I really dug the throwback cover/spine design so had to pick it up for the price. Its the only copy I have and its motivated me to finally read LoTR (I only recently got into reading fantasy). Cool to see all these other awesome editions that you have!

I have that same beautiful 2021 deluxe edition as you do. My justification was that I didn't have a single volume printing of Lord of the Rings. So that's my excuse! Thanks for sharing these!

The Lord of the Rings is my Favorite book. Good video!

My daughter gave me the 'red edition' for my birthday. It is truly wonderful and almost too nice to actually read.

I have loved lord of the rings since I was about nine after seeing the Jackson trilogy and later the hobbit trilogy. But only now at almost 23 I started actually reading them for the first time. I listened to the hobbit and fellowship as audiobooks a while back but never got around to listening to two towers and return. I read the hobbit a recently. I just finished reading fellowhip and will start two towers tomorrow! I have the first paperback set that you showed. I like reading on the go so they fit in a bag easily. I have the silmarillion and unfinished tales of the same set and the story of Kullervo. I also have one of the large 50th anniversary editions of the lotr. Those books are just something special and I constantly find myself looking for othr versions of them

I was born in 1971 and that silver jubilee edition of LOTR was my first LOTR as well. I was in elementary school and my uncle bought them for me at Waldenbooks in the mall. I don't have as many different editions of LOTR but I do have 17 different editions of The Hobbit in at least 8 different languages. Nerds rule :)

Great collection.

Great intro!

Those were all very nice editions. I have an edition of the trilogy as one book in paperback don't remember the year, then I have the 2014 illustrated editions Houghtin Mifflin released of The Hobbit, the trilogy, and the Silmarillion (I also have not finished this one, but I try ever now and again) and then I have the pocket edition set of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I use the last one if I plan to read during my lunch break at work. The only problem I have with my illustrated hardbacks is like the centennial edition, they are heavy enough you'd want to read them at a table. I love seeing what editions of books other people have, so finding this video was a treat.

Try holding that Hobbit fold out map up to the light. On some of those newer deluxe versions of the hobbit, the finger pointing to the runs is printed in reverse on the rear of the map, so you can see it through the map, when held up to the light. As, I believe, Tolkien originally intended.

I lol’d at the Low impulse control edition.. hey, I’m the same. One of my few guilty pleasure is nice editions Tolkien.

Just subscribed. I'm 49 and I haven't read TLOTR since my teens so I'd like to involve myself in the read-along. Previously I skipped over the songs and poems. Currently I'm rationing the books I buy to one for every two I read. I've an unread backlog I need to get through.

I read them with the Tolkien dictionaries and reference books. Generations of references for each character. Took forever to finish that way. Fond times. I still have them all and collectible book versions, the red leather and the broown letter.

I just got the red leather edition yesterday ☠️ it’s so nice. The hardest part is deciding how to display it!

I still have my Ballantine Books box-set from the early 70s, with covers by Barbara Remington that, side-by-side, create a larger mural. This is the set that was given to me by my 6th grade teacher, which launched my fantasy reading journey, and later my writing journey. My biggest problem with all of the various sets of LOTR that I've owned over the years is that I keep giving them away. As my nieces and nephews came of age, I would give them whatever set I had, only to realize that those sets are no longer available. Ah well, spreading the love, I suppose.

That's pretty awesome!!!!!!!!! I got volume two myself but not so pretty as the leather bound edition. Awesome Matt!

I have the boxset from that Swedish guy art work 👌 better than I thought it was going to be and cost less than the special edition

I reread the hobbit and the lord of the rings a couple months ago. I plan to read the entire middle earth books in chronological order at the start of next year. It’s hard not to get every edition. I would love to get the one with the original covers, they look amazing

Im planning on getting the 50th year anniversary edition, because it is basically the modern repriting of the last one you showed. Same cover and also contains tons of Alan Lee, which I also LOVE. Woild prefer the edition you own, but IDK if it's still available.

acho que eu nunca compraria uma edição com todos os livros em apenas um, mas é TÃO LINDO

I had a copy of the "Well loved edition" (same art anyway) but in softcover. Lost in a move.

Hi there. I’m now looking at editions of different Tolkien books, and tip of the list is the LOR. I’ve been eying the 60th Anniversary Ed that you have - love the original dust jackets and the Reader’s Companion. Have you read it yet? Have you used the companion with it too? I’m leaning more towards that set bc of the companion and I’m sure the multi volume set will be more easily read than a 1,200-page single volume of LOR. Although I may have to buy that 2021 edition - it’s gorgeous. Thanks!

audiobooks are the way to go for me personally.

any one pl tell me the sequence of reading complete series and book list

Oh, and I have two editions at the moment: the deluxe edition, and I have the Easton Press editions. But I'm hoping to find that blue boxed set from the '80's that I read first, if I can find a good condition copy. I regret selling those.

Cool video :D I'm currently rereading the trilogy in a more than years old, very damaged edition of my mother and I'm going to get myself an edition soon. I'm probably going to choose the 2020 illustrated edition (also illustrated by Sir Alan Lee :D) While I love these books I do NOT agree with your statement that the books are better than the movies :) I think they're about on par. While there are differences, they are always chosen out of artistical reasons and to achieve the best result telling the same story (with as much of the same subtext etc. as possible) in a different medium (being movies of course). These films are my absolute favorite movies of all time and by far the best book adaption existing in my opinion. That's also why I will soon see all 3 of them in cinema (12h+ xD) Have a Good Day :D

I hope you get more Subs. Always love to know that there is another Tolkien Fan :D!!!

No wonder it is one of the most sold books in the world. I also have several editions in english and german including a one book edition with the artwork of Alan Lee.

It's not a matching Hobbit (2004) or Silmarillion (2007), that is of a different series. (which I have) They made a similar Hobbit (2023) of the LotR (2021, Red/black) you have there, as did they for the Silmarillion (2022, which is absolutely stunning). Which is the series I would like to have as well. lol

I also read those paperback versions of The Hobbit and LotR as a kid. I still have that edition of The Hobbit but no longer have the others because I have a few special editions of LotR. I have the Easton Press versions of LotR as part of the Masterpieces of Fantasy set that came out in the early 90s. Then I also have the omnibus edition that came out in 1992 to celebrate what would have been Tolkien's 100th birthday. I've been considering getting the special edition with the slip case you have. I've also been tempted by the newest version with the script from the one ring stenciled on the edges. Do I really need more versions of LotR? Maybe. Lol

Hello! I've a question. I seen on Amazon the Clarion Books one (your newest), but I wonder if that one have the apendixes. If yes, I'll buy it rn hahahah

I've never read any of Tolkien's books but I really want to get into that World. I just don't know which editions to get for my first time reading it.

Hello everybody I have a question.... is the Film Tie-in Edition good ? Or it's different from the original book...?

That's a lovely collection! It's strange but Tolkien's books are the only ones I can own in a different edidions and I can justify it :D I am from Slovakia, so I focus on editions published in slovak or czech language. Just LotR I have in 6 different editions even though I still miss one The Return of the King that is difficult to find (it's quite rare illustrated slovak edition), but the most beautiful of them is for sure that red last year edition illustrated by the author that you also have. I bought it few weeks ago and even though it has some issues, it's a beautiful book. Also I got matching The Silmarillion illustrated by the author, slightly different than yours, that is made in exactly the same style as that LotR with quarter leatherbound and a window in the slipcase, just in blue color. I hope they will make The Hobbit that matches it next year, it would be really awesome! But also intersting edition of The Hobbit is the facsimile of the first edition with the original chapter Riddles in the Dark that Tolkien later changed so it matches LotR.

For me too, these were the first adult books I ever read. And I just realised that I have never read Lord of the Rings in English. I only ever read it in Dutch translation. Shock.

amazing collection, but you have to read The Silmarillion, it's an amazing book, my favorite of all time.

I bought the red edition of the lord of the rings a few days ago and you summarized very well how i feel about it! There’s just something very special in reading LOTR in such a fine book like that!

Some authors like Stephen king , Tolkien , Arthur Conan Doyle and many more just hit different and have managed to secure a sweet spot in memories and heart of the readers

No gloves? I would be scared actually read several of those. A friend went to Marquette for the sole reason that is where the Tolkein librairy somehow ended up. He has quite a few editions, movie books, multiple copies of the various movies and likely every game ever made.

I have 1995 paperback one volume edition of lord of the rings , three copies of the 2021 Standard edition of lord of the rings , which have sprayed red edges and the ring rhyme on the edges of the pages ,(I have three because to me it looked so good ) , and because of issues with the deluxe quarter red leather bound deluxe edition, (my first copy had 15 blank pages , my second copy pages were joined together, ) I have two copies of the deluxe quarter bound red leather lord of the rings , and as of this year again because of issues with this years quarter blue leather bound Silmarillion,(also with Tolkien illustrations ) I have three copies of that . The 2021 Orange cloth bound Silmarillion, with illustrations by Ted Naismith , blue cloth bound unfinished takes , this years deluxe edition of the fall of Numenor , and also the 60th anniversary blue cloth binding and clear plastic slipcase of the lord of the rings with illustrations by Alan lee .

wow im so jealous!!!

Who says you can't judge a book by it's cover? While I really enjoyed the detailed review of the outside of these books I was hoping to learn how they look on the inside. Specifically the typesettng. My copy of a 2nd edition HM boxed set uses thick type that's just not very pleasant to read. My 75th anniversary Hobbit hardcover is much more readable.

I hate to break it to you, sir, but your slipcovered Silmarillion and Hobbit, while beautiful, are not of the same series as your slipcovered LoTR. I have the Deluxe Edition of LoTR (illustrated by JRRT) as well as the matching Silmarillion - that one is in blue & black with silver-gilded page edges. I'm rather impatiently waiting for The Hobbit to receive the same treatment, hopefully later this year or early next year. I also have the Alan Lee illustrated edition. If you've seen the Peter Jackson movies, you may notice that several illustrations made their way into the films - Minas Tirith, the base of Orthanc, and The Mirror of Galadriel. My JRRT collection has gotten rather extensive over the years. It would be easier to send photos. Currently, I have four hardcover editions each of The Silmarillion and The Hobbit, and FIVE single-volume editions of LoTR. The rest of the Library is The Histories of Middle Earth, Letters, The Tolkien Companion, etc, etc....

Thumbnail is what I will be after years like 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I'm not going to give you flack about DNF'ing the Silmarillion. It's a dense and tough read. I was only able to do it by getting the audiobook of it. It really is worth a shot at the audiobook.

And sadly, none of the edition of TLOTR is how the author wanted it to be. For it to be as he intended they must be: (1) a single volume, (2) the ring inscription after being in the chimney fire must be printed in red, (3) the pages of Mazarbul book must be a fold-out, (4) the maps must be fold-out, (5) the "Epilogue" must be reinstated. Also, (6) the text must be that of the "50th Anniversary" plus the latest errata found by the editors (one map have the river names interchanged [Allan Lee edition] and some minor text fixes). 5:33 The 2014 pocket one does not have (1), being three volumes, nor (3)+(4) even as unbounded folded. And (5) is nowhere. 8:01 The 2021 expensive one does not have (2), being printed in black, nor (3) is unbounded with a fake "back" that was a digital mockup, and (4) are not fold-out but unbounded folded. And (5) is nowhere.

Bet you wish you'd held off on the Silmarillion considering what was released last month.

What's with the subliminal cola advert at the start of this ???

really good collection but there is a mismatch in the deluxe versions of the lord of the rings and the silmarillion/hobbit in that the all red Lord of the rings edition you have is the latest 2021 deluxe edition and is unique because it contains all Tolkiens' own hand drawn illustrations. The Silmarillion /Hobbit deluxe editions you have are part of the much older collection of deluxe and also text only editions that go with the 50th anniversary Lord of the Rings deluxe slipcase book (2004) which is burgundy and white and was also available as part of a boxset known as the Tolkien Deluxe edition collection also including the deluxe edition of the Children of hurin edition. The 2022 deluxe edition of the Silmarillion matches your 2021 Lord of the rings edition because it has again uniqely all Tolkiens own drawings included within it and the book is completely blue. I hope they bring out a similar Hobbit book to match the latest 2021 and 2022 Lord of the Rings and Silmarillion editions.

Weirdly engaging.

Impossible to place your accet ...

I won't ever read the silmarillion because it was not completed by tolkien himself. It's not his true vision and died with him

The black lines not lining up is probably a printing error

What is the difference between your adolescent and teenage years and now reading the tolkTolkien.? 🎉🎉🎉 great channel

So, I am in the right place. 📕📗📘📙📖📚📓