Description

OVERVIEW: The definitive collection of Tolkiens classic "fairie" tales,
in the vein of The Hobbit, illustrated by Oscar winner Alan Lee

Never before published in a single volume, Tolkiens four novellas
(Farmer Giles of Ham, Leaf by Niggle, Smith of Wootton Major, and
Roverandom) and one book of poems (The Adventures of Tom Bombadil)
are gathered together for the first time, in a fully illustrated volume. This
new, definitive collection of works -- which had appeared separately, in various
formats, between 1949 and 1998 -- comes with a brand-new foreword
and endmatter, and with a series of detailed pencil illustrations by Alan
Lee, in the style of his other award-winning Tolkien work, most recently in
The Children of Húrin.

The book is the perfect opportunity for fans of Middle-earth to enjoy
some of Tolkiens often overlooked yet most creative storytelling. With
dragons and sand sorcerers, sea monsters and hobbits, knights and
dwarves, this collection contains all the classic elements for Tolkien buffs
of all ages.

ARTIST: Alan Lee was born in England in 1947. Inspired by Tolkiens work to pursue his chosen path as an artist of the mythic and fantastic, he has illustrated a wide range of books including Faeries, The Mabinogion, Castles, Merlin Dreams, the centenary edition of The Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit. He is a winner of the Carnegie Medal for his illustrated edition of The Illiad.

AUTHOR: J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973), beloved throughout the world as the creator of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, a fellow of Pembroke College, and a fellow of Merton College until his retirement in 1959. His chief interest was the linguistic aspects of the early English written tradition, but even as he studied these classics he was creating a set of his own.

First Edition, Hardcover, Houghton Mifflin, 2008. 432 pages.