The Silmarillion: Second Edition, by J. R. R. Tolkien. Edited
by Christopher Tolkien. (2001)
Not sure which printing. “This second edition features a
number of minor textual corrections along with a letter written by J.R.R.
Tolkien describing his intentions for the work, written more than twenty-five
years before its eventual publication. As described by Christopher Tolkien in
the preface, it serves as a brilliant exposition of his conception of the
earlier Ages of Middle-earth.” – Houghton Mifflin House. Cover by Ted Nasmith.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Fantasy. Novel. Hardback.
The Silmarillion, by J. R. R. Tolkien. Edited by Christopher
Tolkien, Illustrated by Ted Nasmith. (1992)
Nasmith’s beautiful illustrations make this a collector’s
edition to behold. His pictures remind me of Pippin’s description of a vision
in a Palantir: “It seemed very far away and long ago, yet hard and clear.”
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Fantasy. Novel. Hardback.
Poems from ‘The Hobbit’, by J. R. R. Tolkien. Illustrations
by the Author. (1999)
“J.R.R. Tolkien's THE HOBBIT is an epic tale of magical
adventure that has captivated children and adults for more than sixty years.
Its success comes from its combination of flawless storytelling and enchanting
writing, including these twelve delightful poems. This miniature book,
illustrated with thirty of Tolkien's own paintings and drawings, contains all
the poems, plus Gollum's eight famous riddles, and will be a perfect keepsake
for lovers of THE HOBBIT and Tolkien's Middle-earth.” – Amazon. Easily the smallest
of my Tolkien books; perhaps the smallest in my whole library.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Poetry. Fantasy. Hardback.
The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien. (2001)
“The Complete Best-Selling Classic, Now an Epic Motion
Picture Trilogy’. Came out as a tie-in before the first Jackson movie came out,
which is why I’m assigning it as ‘2001’. Cover has a picture of a Ringwraith on
a horse on top of a hill, backlit by the moon. In almost pristine shape, as I
did not use it as a reading copy.
Ranking: It ain’t going anywhere.
File Code: Novel. Fantasy. Softcover.
The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle, Music by Donald Swann,
Poetry (and Notes) by J. R. R. Tolkien. (1978 Printing)
I read the book (and listened to the record) in the college
library. “The Road Goes Ever On is a song cycle that has been published as a
book of sheet music, and as an audio recording. The
music was written by Donald Swann, and the words are taken from poems
in J. R.
R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings, especially The Lord of the Rings. The title of this opus is taken from "The Road Goes Ever On", the first song in the collection. The songs form a song cycle, designed to fit together when
played in sequence. With Tolkien's approval, Donald Swann wrote the music for
this song cycle, and much of the music resembles English traditional music or
folk music. The sole exception is the Quenya song
"Namárië",
which was based on a tune by Tolkien himself and which has some affinities
to Gregorian
chant. This book has
been valued even by those uninterested in the music, since it helps Tolkien's
readers to better understand the cultures of the various mythological
beings presented in Middle-earth, and helps linguists analyse Tolkien's poetry. For
example, it contains one of the longest samples of the language Quenya (in
the song "Namárië"), as well as the Sindarin prayer "A Elbereth
Gilthoniel" with grammatical explanations. Also, in addition to the sheet
music, the book includes an introduction that contains additional information
about Middle-earth. Prior to the publication of The Silmarillion, this introduction was the only
publicly available source for certain information about the First Age of Middle-earth.” Wikipedia.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Music. Fantasy. Softcover.
Bilbo’s Last Song, by J. R. R. Tolkien. Illustrated by
Pauline Baynes. (1992)
This edition has Baynes’ full artwork, with the changing
pictures of the reclining Bilbo that my other copy lacks (see Elsewhere in this
Inventory).
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Poetry. Illustrated. Softcover.
Smith of Wootton Major & Farmer Giles of Ham, by J. R. R.
Tolkien. Illustrations by Pauline Baynes. Cover by Daniel R. Horne.
1984 Doubleday Book Club Edition, Nelson Doubleday, Inc. /
Science Fiction Book Club. Other than that, nothing very remarkable about this
edition.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Fantasy. Novel. Hardback.
A Tolkien Miscellany, by J. R. R. Tolkien.
“A Tolkien Miscellany includes Smith
of Wootton Major, Farmer Giles of Ham, Tree
and Leaf, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, and Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight/Pearl/Sir Orfeo.” – Power of Babel. A
Science Fiction Book Club Printing from 2002, it has the Pauline Baynes
illustrations.
Ranking: Keeper.
File Code: Omnibus. Fantasy. Hardback.
Tales from the Perilous Realm, by J. R. R. Tolkien, with
Illustrations by Alan Lee. (2008)
“This is an anthology volume of five short books by J. R. R.
Tolkien. It includes Roverandom, Farmer Giles of Ham, The
Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Smith of Wootton Major, and Leaf
by Niggle; included as an appendix is the essay On
Fairy Stories. Now, I have all these books in individual volumes, and some
in collections like The Tolkien Reader and A
Tolkien Miscellany. So for me the real buying point of this book are the
illustrations by Alan Lee, the celebrated English artist who not only produced
art for the illustrated volumes of The Lord of the Rings and The
Hobbit but was one of the main visual conceptual artists for The
Lord of the Rings movies. The pictures break down like this: on the
cover, a color painting of Farmer Giles and the dragon Chrysophylax; for Roverandom,
10 drawings; for Farmer Giles of Ham, 4 drawings; for The
Adventures of Tom Bombadil, 30 drawings; for Smith of Wootton Major,
3 drawings; and for Leaf by Niggle, 2 drawings. So altogether, 50
pieces of original art, delicate pencil sketches, some of things not often
pictured in the Tolkien canon. I particularly enjoyed the ones in The
Adventure of Tom Bombadil (a poetry collection), where there was at
least one drawing per poem. Also included are an Introduction by famed Tolkien
scholar T. A. Shippey and an Afterword by Alan Lee. The book itself is uniform
with other Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt volumes of Tolkien works and so fits
snugly with them on a shelf. So even if you have most of the books in the Tales
of the Perilous Realm in some form or another, but are
missing at least one (I think Roverandom might not be in some
people's collection) this volume might be well worth the $28 I paid for it at
our local Hastings. Especially if you are a Tolkien nut like myself.” - Power
of Babel, 2008.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Fantasy. Omnibus. Hardback.
The Father Christmas Letters, by J. R. R. Tolkien. Edited by
Baillie Tolkien.
It was first printed in 1976, but I can’t quite figure out
which printing this is (10th?) Lacks the examples of Tolkien’s
calligraphy for the letters that is reproduced in “Letters to Father
Christmas”. Father Christmas hijinks at the North Pole with elves, goblins,
snowmen, and the North Polar Bear, written to amuse his children on Christmas
morning.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Fantasy. Letters. Christmas. Softcover.
Letters from Father Christmas, by J. R. R. Tolkien. Edited by
Baillie Tolkien. (1995)
Book containing ten facsimile letters in envelopes that you
can take out and read. It’s almost more of an artifact than a book, but it has
‘fixed’ pages with text and illustration.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Christmas. Letters. Hardback.
Letters from Father Christmas, by J. R. R. Tolkien. Pictures
by the Author.
“Includes Unpublished Letters and Drawings.” This is a
revised edition, the original was “Edited by Baillie Tolkien” (the second wife
of Christopher Tolkien). The large reproductions of Tolkien’s pictures in these
yearly letters he wrote for his children (as if from Father Christmas) really
show the detail. “By Elf Messenger!” Besides being an interesting work of
whimsey, you can sometimes see Tolkien’s Middle-Earth legendarium peeking
around the corner, like Gollum in the 1932 picture of the Goblin caves.
Ranking: Essential.
File Code: Fantasy. Letters. Illustration. Hardback.
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