THE LORD OF THE RINGS, by...

THE LORD OF THE RINGS, by J.R.R Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin: $60) and TOLKIEN: The Illustrated Encyclopaedia by David Day (Macmillan : $29.95) . These two books are real beauties. “The Lord of the Rings” is a gorgeous volume illustrated with a profusion of delicate color plates as well as maps (Frodo and Gandalf, above) . “The Encylopaedia,” an expansion of the “Tolkien Bestiary” that Day compiled back in 1979, has more specific subject categories than in his previous effort and there’s more information more clearly delineated.