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The Lord of the Rings enthusiasts and anyone who loves beautiful books should check out the incredible deal on The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set at Amazon and Walmart right now. The premium, three-volume hardcover collection released last October with a staggering $325 price attached to it. If the high cost deterred you from picking up this gorgeous box set last fall, now’s your chance to get it for a price that could be far easier to stomach. The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set is on sale for $146, saving you $179. This 55% price cut doesn’t have a listed end date, so interested Tolkien fans would be wise to snag it sooner rather than later.

You can take a closer look at the Deluxe Illustrated Box Set below. We’ve also included the 2024 Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Collector’s Editions for those who want nice copies of Tolkien’s iconic fantasy novels for budget-friendly prices. The Lord of the Rings Collector’s Edition Box Set is also on sale for over 50% off at Amazon. Lord of the Rings fans should also check out our buying guide for two upcoming Tolkien box sets: Tolkien Myths and Legends and The Great Tales of Middle-earth.

$146 (was $325)

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.

$49.45 (was $105)

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%.

$68.34 (was $125)

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.

The History of Middle-earth Box Sets 1-4, Tolkien Myths and Legends, The Great Tales of Middle-earth

The aforementioned History of Middle-earth series edited and compiled by Christopher Tolkien was reissued as 15 stunning hardcover books spread across four box sets, each of which is on sale for very low prices right now. Box Set 1 comes with four books, including The Silmarillion, and is on sale for only $63 at Amazon (nearly 50% off).

Tolkien Myths and Legends is considered the fifth entry in William Morrow’s current series of hardcover Tolkien box sets. The books in these unique box sets have reversible dust jackets featuring the classic cover art on one side and beautiful wraparound illustrations on the other. Each set comes with a slipcase with exclusive, full-color artwork covering every side.

The sixth set in the series, The Great Tales of Middle-earth Box Set, will be published on August 19. If you’re interested in reading Tolkien’s last three Middle-earth novels, you should also know that The Great Tales of Middle-earth received a different hardcover box set back in 2018, and you can buy it for only $50 (was $100) at the moment–less than half the price of the 2025 hardcover box set. Similarly, you can get the entire History of Middle-earth series in a three-book hardcover set for substantially less than the price of the newer editions.

Tolkien Illustrated Editions

And if you want to compare the Deluxe Illustrated Box Set to the Tolkien Illustrated Editions, we’ve included links to both the standard and Deluxe Special Editions of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion. The Tolkien Illustrated Editions contain sketches, paintings, and maps drawn by the author. Each book has sprayed edges with elvish script, foil-stamped cover art, ribbon bookmarks, and a pair of removable, foldout maps. The Deluxe Special Editions also come with other goodies, such as a slipcase, removable art pieces, and booklets. The Special Editions have cloth board covers quarterbound in leather and ribbing on the spines.

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