The Folio Society Publish A Limited Edition Of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings with Exclusive Artwork and Introduction by Academy Award Winner Alan Lee

One Edition To Rule Them All

The greatest classic of fantasy fiction and one of the most celebrated stories of all time, The Lord of the Rings defined a genre and is now available from The Folio Society lavishly illustrated with artwork by Alan Lee.

This exquisite three-volume set is presented in a silver-blocked slipcase (lined with a hidden illustration) with a new art print exclusive to this edition and a pair of maps drawn by Christopher Tolkien, printed together and presented in a cloth-covered case. Each volume is quarter-bound in burgundy calfskin leather blocked in silver, with an illustrated inset label, silver page tops and a burgundy satin ribbon marker. The text – printed in black and burgundy – is the most up to date and academically rigorous available, and is accompanied by a new preface written exclusively for this edition by the artist.

Alan Lee’s work is synonymous with the worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien, having defined the visual setting of Middle-earth for a generation. Peter Jackson’s film adaptations introduced this epic story to an even wider audience, and Lee won the 2004 Academy Award for his Art Direction of these cinematic masterpieces. All of Lee’s illustrations have been reproduced to the artist’s exacting standards, in a scale and quality never seen before, and have been augmented by entirely new images, roundels and borders.

Strictly limited to 1,000 sets, the limitation page has been tipped in by hand and numbered and signed by Alan Lee. Every set comes with a beautiful art print, presented in a translucent folder printed with a burgundy design.

The majestic scale of the landscapes and the atmosphere Lee captures on the page – all in exquisite watercolour and pencil – make him the only choice to illustrate this, the ultimate edition of The Lord of the Rings.

The Lord of the Rings

By J. R. R. Tolkien

Illustrated by Alan Lee

With a new preface by the artist

This 3-volume set with map and print is limited to 1,000 copies signed by the artist

Available exclusively from The Folio Society – www.foliosociety.com

Price:

UK £1,000 | US $1,500

Production Details

• Limited to 1,000 sets numbered and signed by Alan Lee
• Quarter-bound in leather with cloth sides blocked in silver and inset with illustration labels
• Circular limitation tip printed letterpress on Tintoretto paper hand tipped within a gold border
• 1,504 pages in total over three volumes, set in Dante with Testament as display
• Printed in black and burgundy on Munken Pure paper
• 53 colour illustrations in total printed on Veltique paper tipped within printed borders with 57 illustrated chapter openers
• Printed illustrated endpapers
• Burgundy satin ribbon markers
• Two maps printed together in black and red and enclosed in a case covered in blocked cloth . . .
• Hand-made cloth-covered slipcase blocked in silver and gunmetal with printed illustration inside
• Separate print presented in a folder of Pergamenata paper
• Book size: 12˝ x 7¾”

The Folio Society limited editions are outstanding volumes of literary or historical significance reproduced as works of art in their own right. We commission leading artists and craftspeople to create editions that represent the pinnacle of book publishing.  In 2022, The Folio Society will be celebrating 75 years in publishing.

JRR Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in South Africa in 1892 and moved to England with his family while still a child. Both his parents died when Tolkien was young and he and his brother lived with a relative and later on, in boarding houses. He studied at Exeter College, and went on to teach at Oxford. It was during this time that he published The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He continued to work as a professor until 1959 and he died in 1973, aged 81.

Alan Lee

Alan Lee was born in London, England, in 1947. He attended the Ealing School of Art to study graphic design, concentrating on the depiction of Celtic and Norse myths. Lee is one of the most celebrated living illustrators of myth and fantasy: a recipient of the Kate Greenaway Medal and an Academy Award for Art Direction for Peter Jackson’s films of The Lord of the Rings.