What edition of LoTR to buy?

I'm looking to replace my falling apart edition of The Lord of the Rings and I thought I would splurge a bit on my favorite book ever and buy a fancy edition. I've done some research, and I've narrowed my choices down to:

The Illustrated edition by Alan Lee (one volume):
[ame]https://www.amazon.com/The-Lord-Rings-Illustrated-Edition/dp/0395595118/ref=tmm_hrd_title_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1351121713&sr=1-1[/ame]

And the 50th Anniversary edition (one volume as well):
[ame]https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-50th-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0618517650/ref=tmm_hrd_title_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1351121713&sr=1-1[/ame]

Can anyone tell me which out of the two of these is better? I like the look of the 50th Anniversary edition but also like the illustrated versions in the Alan Lee edition. And is there another edition that's ever better than either of these? Thanks!

I'd get the 50th. It's a super nice edition as I'm sure the other is. I have two copies of the 50th and to me it's the best version I have.

There seems to be some controversy surrounding the UK and US versions (the UK one is about twice as expensive). Is the UK one so much better than the US one that it justifies spending that much more?

Sentimus said:

There seems to be some controversy surrounding the UK and US versions (the UK one is about twice as expensive). Is the UK one so much better than the US one that it justifies spending that much more?

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The text itself should be exactly the same.

Sentimus said:

There seems to be some controversy surrounding the UK and US versions (the UK one is about twice as expensive). Is the UK one so much better than the US one that it justifies spending that much more?

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No controversy as such, but Tolkien is a British writer and Harper Collins (and Allen & Unwin) are his British publishers. If you want something to appreciate in value, go with them.

Having said that, the UK 50th anniversary edition (2004) does not have the quality of the earlier Deluxe India Paper single volume editions and was definitely not worth it's £100 MRRP.

As a book to read, the Houghton Mifflin version is a bargain though, personally, I would always go with 3 volume versions - both to collect and to read.

Your best online resource is here:
https://www.tolkienbooks.net/

Sean.

The Josh said:

I'd get the 50th. It's a super nice edition as I'm sure the other is. I have two copies of the 50th and to me it's the best version I have.

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I agree. We just got this in our library and it's very nice.

I bought the 50th edition over the summer and it's absolutely gorgeous to own and read...worth every penny!