Yes, Herr means lord in the most general sense.
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It was the “unauthorized” edition. Somehow, our family had acquired two of the Balantines, and one of the Aces.
I have a set, inherited from a family friend’s now-deceased hippie-druggie-burnout son.
He was the kind of enthusiastic stoner who insisted that the hobbits’ “pipe weed” was pot and, like, the Ring was the atomic bomb, you know?
My mother has, or had, a beautiful three-volume hardcover edition, dating to the 70s. Fold-out maps, with red spot color. Tolkien-art on the paper slipcovers.
My father hated fantasy & SF passionately, and probably sold it when the folks cleared out their book collection.
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Here they are laid out together. This is the version I first read in the 1980s.
I did remember seeing a version of the hobbit that matched, but now I’m disappointed to see that it was probably just this one with a cut-out part of the tree.
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So that’s where the Harvard Lampoon got the idea for the paperback cover on “Bored of the Rings”! See, I never saw the LOTR cover it parodied.
Those are the editions that I read because they were in my grandparent’s basement. But, from the moment I laid eyes on them, I always thought that artwork was hideously ugly. Sorry, everyone.
I thought that the edition of the Hobbit that I read when I was 8 or 9 was pretty cool at the time.
I reckon I still do, but the eagle is such a tertiary character to be the focus of the cover, I never got that bit. Surely a depiction of Smaug would lure more people to buy it, and he is far more central to the story. The layout and type is a lot classier than the standard fantasy paperback, though.
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Yes, since you guys usually have the best rings, its puzzling.
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this was the first series i read, too, back in the late 70s/early 80s. i’m convinced that were it not for the entrancing covers, i might not have read it so early. i picked up a set with the box from a thrift store a couple years back to go with my other sets. i love it.
Tolkien’s writing is quite amazing as was his obsession with details. I wish more editions included his original art.
…and if we are going to lust after tokien books, these make me drool:
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Ah, memories. Got those from the library when I was 12 or so and devoured them over the summer holidays.
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“RIVERDELL” ?
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much better schools and cheaper property then rivendell and only a 30 min commute.
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Subway system run by goblins 
Elf teenagers freeze time to pick my pockets
Fare inspector keeps asking me about his “precious” even after I show him my ticket
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Naturally I’m still partial to the covers of the edition I first read, with Tolkien’s own art:
Something about the uninhabited locations — no wizards or Nazgûl or action scenes — makes them quietly pregnant with possibilities. Reminds me of gazing at bookshelves in early morning light as a kid, knowing that behind each mute spine was a story waiting to unfold. I still get that feeling sometimes and it gives me the shivers.
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EDIT: L_Mariachi beat me to it by a minute!!
No one put up these editions? Just seeing these always takes me back to that magical first reading feeling of my preteen years that nothing has recaptured since…
Of course, when it comes to Tolkien art, I also have a preteen soft spot for the Hildebrandt calendars.
Kitcsh? What Kitcsh???
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The Ballentine covers are more evocative than illustrative. But structurally they’re genius. The progression from the normal Shire to the awfullness of Mordor… Making it one painting ties the three volumes together into a whole.
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Those are the covers I knew and loved from my dad’s paperbacks. I may have to get my hands on the poster mentioned.
“There are no emus in Mordor, Sam, only dogs in top hats”
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I recently got the Mariner Lord of the Rings + Hobbit + Silmarillion set. I really like the covers, but the spine isn’t amazing like that leather-bound set @redesigned linked.
I also got this really beautiful illustrated Hobbit as a baby shower gift a couple years back. My daughter is still too young for it - it’s really something. I can’t find it anywhere now, so I think there might have been some hinky copyright stuff going on.
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