What Edition?

[GandalfTheWhite]

Can someone please tell me which edition of the book i should buy? is there one with a map?

[Ñólendil]

They all come equipped with a map of "Beleriand And The Lands To The North" in addition to a political map. I don't think it matters which edition you buy, but the hardcovers are naturally nicer. Take a look at the maps and make sure they're very clear. A good map is very important.

[Nienna Grey]

I have the standard paperback version and also a wonderful illustrated hardback version, which I can highly recommend. The illustrations are by Ted Nasmith and his work is exceptional.

[Sister Golden Hair]

Originally posted by Nienna Grey
I have the standard paperback version and also a wonderful illustrated hardback version, which I can highly recommend. The illustrations are by Ted Nasmith and his work is exceptional. I also have the illustrated edition that I keep as a collectors item. I have the paperback edition, and I have the first edition that was published in 1977.

[Ñólendil]

I have that Ted Nasmith book. One thing I think is unfortunate about his work is that the "real" things were much more extroadinary. I mean he's an amazing artist, but of course I always have gripes. His Elves are the usual humans with pointy ears you see too much in Tolkien art. His eagles look like Third Age eagles. Ted Nasmith seems unaware that Thorondor had a wingspan of 180 feet. Or sometimes he exaggerates, like with the size of Morgoth. I know I should look at art more often as art, but I always have to nit-pick. There's a lot more I could say, but I won't really get into everything. My favorite picture in that Silmarillion edition is the one in Of the Beginning of Days with the Lamp and the gigantic trees.

[Sister Golden Hair]

I think Nasmith does beautiful landscapes. I have yet to come across an artist to satisfy my idea of what Elves look like.

[Ñólendil]

Yes, it's his landscape-pictures I most admire.

I suppose you just can't really draw Elves. They're just too ... Elvish.

[Mordomin]

Originally posted by GandalfTheWhite
Can someone please tell me which edition of the book i should buy? is there one with a map? You should buy the Second Edition, since it contains a number of corrections from the First (as Christopher Tolkien says in the Preface). And yes, it does have maps.

[Lizra]

I really agree with you, Nolendil and Sister golden Hair. The imagination is so much better than an artist's picture, but I do appreciate all the effort. Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and elves are so beautiful, they are pretty impossible to draw. I like those old looking woodcut pictures in The Hobbit.

[Eldanuumea]

Does anyone have any suggestions about a good audio version of The Silmarillion?