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The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Illustrated by Alan Lee Box Set: Illustrated by Alan Lee

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A boxed gift set of Tolkien’s classic masterpieces, fully illustrated throughout in watercolor by the acclaimed and award-winning artist, Alan Lee, conceptual designer on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies.

Since they were first published, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have been books people have treasured. Steeped in unrivalled magic and otherworldliness, these works of sweeping fantasy have touched the hearts of young and old alike. Between them, over 150 million copies have been sold around the world. And no editions have proved more popular than the two that were illustrated by award-winning artist, Alan Lee—the Centenary edition of The Lord of the Rings and the 60th Anniversary edition of The Hobbit.

The hardcover editions of these beautifully illustrated works have now been collected together into one boxed set of four books. Readers will be able to follow the complete story of the Hobbits and their part in the quest for the Ring with breathtaking illustrations of the iconic scenes in this epic tale—beginning with Bilbo’s fateful visit from Gandalf in The Hobbit, continuing with the Council of Elrond in The Fellowship of the Ring and the Battle of Helm's Deep in The Two Towers, and culminating in the dramatic climax between Frodo and Gollum atop Mount Doom in The Return of the King.

1 pages, Hardcover

Published October 14, 2025

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About the author

J.R.R. Tolkien

795 books80.2k followers
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: writer, artist, scholar, linguist. Known to millions around the world as the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien spent most of his life teaching at the University of Oxford where he was a distinguished academic in the fields of Old and Middle English and Old Norse. His creativity, confined to his spare time, found its outlet in fantasy works, stories for children, poetry, illustration and invented languages and alphabets.

Tolkien’s most popular works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set in Middle-earth, an imagined world with strangely familiar settings inhabited by ancient and extraordinary peoples. Through this secondary world Tolkien writes perceptively of universal human concerns – love and loss, courage and betrayal, humility and pride – giving his books a wide and enduring appeal.

Tolkien was an accomplished amateur artist who painted for pleasure and relaxation. He excelled at landscapes and often drew inspiration from his own stories. He illustrated many scenes from The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, sometimes drawing or painting as he was writing in order to visualize the imagined scene more clearly.

Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.

Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1892 to English parents. He came to England aged three and was brought up in and around Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1915 and saw active service in France during the First World War before being invalided home. After the war he pursued an academic career teaching Old and Middle English. Alongside his professional work, he invented his own languages and began to create what he called a mythology for England; it was this ‘legendarium’ that he would work on throughout his life. But his literary work did not start and end with Middle-earth, he also wrote poetry, children’s stories and fairy tales for adults. He died in 1973 and is buried in Oxford where he spent most of his adult life.

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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Profile Image for Ashbar.
39 reviews1 follower
April 24, 2026
The story was sensational, casting new tints on the fantasy genre. However, the story twists and turns ever and anon, introducing useless details about minor characters, areas, flowers, etc., which overwhelm the reader. The descriptive writing is beautiful, but sometimes the language is very flowery and complicated. The grammar is also a bit archaic at times, which is hard to read, but it absorbs the reader into the demanded timeframe. Overall, it's a good series, but I prefer the movies over the books (at least for the LOTR trilogy).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews