Amazon’s early Prime Big Deal Days sale features a wide assortment of excellent book deals, including steep discounts on a bunch of popular fantasy and sci-fi box sets. As usual, some of the most popular deals take readers back to Middle-earth. One of the standouts is a beloved 3-book box set of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings with artwork by Alan Lee on the front covers and beautiful display box. Prime members can get this vintage hardcover box set for only $40.79 (was $90), which is the lowest price this year.
After you’re done checking out the vintage box set, read on for more superb deals on Tolkien box sets, such as The Complete History of Middle-earth for $80.65 (was $250), and budget-friendly Collector’s Editions like The Hobbit for $11.33 and The Silmarillion for $12.26. With Prime Big Deal Days set for October 7-8, you can expect to see even more great promotions on Tolkien books in the coming days.
The Lord of the Rings Hardcover Box Set (1988)
$40.79 (was $90) | Artwork by Alan Lee
One of the most popular modern editions of The Lord of the Rings, the 1988 hardcover box set offers the most economical way to get editions with cover and box art illustrated by Alan Lee. Widely considered to be the best artist who has worked on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Alan Lee’s Middle-earth landscape paintings and Middle-earth maps are gorgeous.
The box set has wrap-around art on the slipcase that matches the covers of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. Each cover resembles a painting, as the full-color illustrations have ornate frames with detailed patterns. These editions also come with fold-out maps of Middle-earth during the Third Age. Each book concludes with a section of appendices filled with fascinating reference material and background information.
The muted color palette combined with the classical typeface and faded yellow dust jackets makes these editions look appropriately vintage. Even over 45 years later, though, these editions are among the most beautiful you can buy today. It’s not surprising these hardcover editions and the box set remain in print. Across all three volumes, the 1988 edition of LOTR is 1,214 pages.
You can check out the cover designs of each of the three volumes below. Each hardcover is also sold separately, but you’d wind up spending roughly $50 and won’t get the lovely display box.
As mentioned, the 1988 editions are the most affordable with cover art by Alan Lee, but there are editions filled with incredible illustrations by the artist. Last year, William Morrow published a remastered edition of the phenomenal 1992 Centenary Edition of The Lord of the Rings. The collector’s set carries a $325 retail price, but it’s also on sale in Amazon’s early Prime Big Deal Days sale. You can get The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set for only $135.09 (58% off). This three-volume set is packaged in a custom cloth board display box and features over 50 new illustrations and drawings by Lee. The books themselves have cloth board cases and are quarterbound in leather. Check out our dedicated story on The Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Box Set to see why these editions are so special.