NEW YORK – The latest J.R.R. Tolkien project lasted six years, more than half as long as the author needed to complete his “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Getting permission to release a book in electronic form can be as hard – or harder – than writing it. “The Tolkien estate wanted to be absolutely confident that e-books were not something ephemeral,” says David Roth-Ey, director of business development at HarperCollins UK, which announced last week that the late British author’s work – among the world’s most popular – would be available for downloads. “We were finally able to convince the Tolkien estate that the e-book is a legitimate, widespread format.” Tolkien’s in, but e-library still lacking
Category: Fellowship of the Ring
From thebookseller.com: J R R Tolkien will move into the digital age as HarperCollins begins selling his Lord of the Rings series as enhanced e-books.
As The Bookseller went to press, the publisher said it was planning to issue Tolkien’s entire back catalogue as e-books, beginning with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit and The Children of Húrin from today [20th April]. The e-books will include the maps and runes contained in the traditional print books and will be on sale at waterstones.com, harpercollinsebooks.co.uk and tolkien.co.uk. Waterstone’s will have a dedicated author page featuring the e-books from today.
David Roth-Ey, director of digital business development, said that the launch was the “most significant e-book initiative” the publisher has done so far. He said: “This is something that the fans so clearly wanted. Releasing Tolkien in e-books is something that has long been a goal of ours and we wanted to create high-quality legal versions of these books. It was a long -process—with the maps and runes, it’s slightly more complicated than [digitising] your average thriller.” HC turns Middle Earth digital
Eva writes: Fantastic news. Howard Shore is going to do a talk before the Albert Hall Concert on Tuesday, April 14. I booked my ticket in October and got this email on March 26: From the Newsletter – Thank you for booking your tickets to the live UK premiere of ‘The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring’ at the Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday 14 April 2009.
In related news Howard Shore will be at the Radio City Music Hall event this fall in NYC. Watch FOTR with a 300 member orchestra and Howard shore! Tickets Available at Radio City Music Hall or Ticketmaster.com
Continue reading “Howard Shore Talk Added to Royal Albert Hall Event”
David Platt writes: Thought you might be interested in the fact that that New York Times Online is running the original 1954-56 reviews of the Lord of the Rings. I am not sure of any particular reason which has led to this- but do they need one? Two of the reviews are by the great British poet WH Auden. The other is by an academic from Columbia University. It is fascinating to see how literary opinion received the books at the time- both are fans!
Lance Owens writes: In Salt Lake City, Utah we have a major series of Tolkien lectures coming up in Feb and March 2009. We would appreciate it if you could add notice on your page.
Wasatch Gnostic Society – 2009 Winter Lecture Series
J.R.R. Tolkien: An Imaginative Life
“The Land of Fairy Story is wide and deep and high…. In that land a man may (perhaps) count himself fortunate to have wandered, but its very mystery and wealth make dumb the traveler who would report….The fairy gold (too often) turns to withered leaves when it is brought away. All that I can ask is that you, knowing all these things, will receive my withered leaves, as a token at least that my hand once held a little of the gold.”– Tolkien, draft manuscript of “On Fairy Stories” Continue reading “Wasatch Gnostic Society – 2009 Winter Lecture Series”
Lotho Sackville-Baggins writes: Some folks will be celebrating JRR Tolkien’s 117th birthday a little late… Portland Oregon’s fabulous McMenamin’s Kennedy school has the following event planned for January 17th. Check out their webpage if you are going to be in the area. Continue reading “Tolkien Birthday Celebration in Portland OR”