The History of Middle-earth, Part Two

by J. R. R. Tolkien

Other authorsChristopher Tolkien (Editor)
Hardcover, 2002

Publication

Harpercollins Pub Ltd (2002)

Original publication date

1988-08-25 (Volume VI)
1989-09-07 (Volume VII)
1990-09 (Volume VIII)
1992-01-06 (Volume IX)

Description

A new one-volume deluxe, cloth- and leather-bound edition of the four volumes of The History of The Lord of the Rings, printed on India paper and set in a slipcase. J.R.R. Tolkien is famous the world over for his unique literary creation, exemplified in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. What is less well known, however, is that he also produced a vast amount of further material that greatly expands upon the stories that were published, and which herein gives added life to the tales of the hobbits, Gandalf and the quest of the Fellowship as told in The Lord of the Rings. It was to this enormous task of literary construction that Tolkien's youngest son and literary heir, Christopher, applied himself to produce the monumental and endlessly fascinating series of twelve books, The History of Middle-earth. This brand new collector's edition brings together volumes VI - IX of The History of Middle-earth - The Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring and Sauron Defeated - into one volume. Together these books give a fascinating and complete account of the writing of The Lord of the Rings, and provide the reader with numerous additional scenes, together with rare maps and illustrations, which never made it into the final book, including the epilogue in its entirety. Bound in black leather and cloth, and set in a matching cloth-bound slipcase, this deluxe edition hardback is limited to just 1,000 copies and has been printed on fine India paper in order to bring the 1,700 pages of material down to a manageable-sized book. Epic in scope and extent, this second deluxe volume of a planned trilogy will present the reader with a unique opportunity to complement their copies of the deluxe editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with a once-in-a-lifetime limited collector's hardback.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Kushana
[[J.R.R. Tolkien]] feared he would be remembered for only a fragment of his life's work,* for [The Hobbit] and the [Lord of the Rings] rather than [The Silmarillion]. His son has done a kind thing by publishing nearly 20 volumes of his father's efforts to finish and publish that life's work which
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preoccupied him from his youth until his final years.

Buried amid those 20-some volumes is this: the rough drafts of [The Lord of the Rings]. Read it lightly if all the commentary about when-what-draft-was-written bores you but it will teach you what Tolkien originally named his characters, some of his own illustrations of [Lord of the Rings] (see more in [Pictures by Tolkien], and where he got stuck wondering what would happen next. An excellent reminder that great books do not (usually) fall out of the sky.

Recommended. Like having [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] at your shoulder while reading [The Lord of the Rings], think of it as the author's DVD commentary for his own book.

(See "Leaf by Niggle" in [The Tolkien Reader].)

-Kushana
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Language

Original language

English

ISBN

9780007149162

Physical description

8.98 inches

Rating

(42 ratings; 4.2)
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