Numbered, limited edition of 500 copies.
Signed by Ted Nasmith and Christopher Tolkien.

包含Jemima Catlin绘制的200幅彩插。

The first ever critical study of Tolkien’s little-known essay, which reveals how language invention shaped the creation of Middle-earth and beyond, to George R R Martin’s Game of Thrones.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s linguistic invention was a fundamental part of his artistic output, to the extent that later on in life he attributed the existence of his mythology to the desire to give his languages a home and peoples to speak them. As Tolkien puts it in ‘A Secret Vice’, ‘the making of language and mythology are related functions’’.
In the 1930s, Tolkien composed and delivered two lectures, in which he explored these two key elements of his sub-creative methodology. The second of these, the seminal Andrew Lang Lecture for 1938–9, ‘On Fairy-Stories’, which he delivered at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, is well known. But many years before, in 1931, Tolkien gave a talk to a philological society entitled ‘A Hobby for the Home’, where he unveiled for the first time to a listening public the art that he had both himself encountered and been involved with since his earliest childhood: ‘the construction of imaginary languages in full or outline for amusement’.
This talk would be edited by Christopher Tolkien for inclusion as ‘A Secret Vice’ in The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays and serves as the principal exposition of Tolkien’s art of inventing languages. This new critical edition, which includes previously unpublished notes and drafts by Tolkien connected with the essay, including his ‘Essay on Phonetic Symbolism’, goes some way towards re-opening the debate on the importance of linguistic invention in Tolkien’s mythology and the role of imaginary languages in fantasy literature.

<strong>Including brand-new paintings, this is a fully illustrated new edition of the forerunner to <em>The Lord of the Rings</em>. <em>The Silmarillion</em> fills in the background which lies behind the more popular work, and gives the earlier history of Middle-earth, introducing some of the key characters.</strong><br /><br /><em>The Silmarillion</em> is the core of J.R.R. Tolkien’s imaginative writing, a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth, through the Second Age and the rise of Sauron, to the end of the War of the Ring.<br /><br />They are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the Elves made war upon him in his impenetrable fortress in Angband for the recovery of the Silmarils, three jewels containing the last remaining pure light of Valinor, seized by Morgoth and set in his iron crown.<br /><br />Accompanying these tales are several shorter works. The <em>Ainulindalë</em> is a myth of the Creation and in the <em>Valaquenta</em> the nature and powers of the gods is described. The <em>Akallabêth</em> recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age and <em>Of the Rings of Power</em> tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age, as told in <em>The Lord of the Rings</em>.<br /><br />Tolkien could not publish <em>The Silmarillion</em> in his lifetime, as it grew with him, so he would leave it to his son, Christopher, to edit the work from many manuscripts and bring his father’s great vision to publishable form, so completing the literary achievement of a lifetime. This special edition presents anew this seminal first step towards mapping out the posthumous publishing of Middle-earth, and the beginning of an illustrious forty years and more than twenty books celebrating his father’s legacy.<br /><br />Also included is a letter by J.R.R. Tolkien written in 1951 which provides a brilliant exposition of the earlier Ages, and almost 50 full-colour paintings by Ted Nasmith, including some which appear here for the first time.

The second of a two-book set that contains the early myths and legends which led to the writing of Tolkien's epic tale of war, The Silmarillion. This second part of The Book of Lost Tales includes the tale of Beren and Luthien, Turin and the Dragon, and the only full narratives of the Necklace of the Dwarves and the Fall of Gondolin, itself the finest and most exciting depiction of a battle that Tolkien ever wrote. Each tale is followed by a commentary in the form of a short essay, together with texts of associated poems, and contains extensive information on names and vocabulary in the earliest Elvish languages. This series of fascinating books has now been repackaged to complement the distinctive and classic style of the 'black cover' A-format paperbacks of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.

Published for the very first time in its own volume, Tolkien’s remarkable tale about a painter whose obsession with detail prevents him from finishing his great work.
Niggle is a painter. Not a very successful one, partly because he has so many other things to do. For some time he has been obsessed with one particular canvas – a curious picture of a tree with a vast landscape stretching out behind it. The painting keeps getting bigger and bigger, but Niggle has a journey to make.
In 1939 Tolkien was despairing of ever bringing his great work The Lord of the Rings to a conclusion. One morning he woke up with the story Leaf by Niggle complete in his mind and wrote it down. This poignant story, about an artist on a curious journey, is often seen as an allegory of the writer’s own creative process and life.
Published to coincide with a new touring stage production of the story, this is the first time the story has been published in its own volume, enabling readers to savour one of Tolkien’s most elegant, haunting and least-known short stories.

First ever publication of J.R.R. Tolkien’s final writings on Middle-earth, covering a wide range of subjects and perfect for those who have read and enjoyed The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rings, Unfinished Tales, and The History of Middle-earth, and want to learn more about Tolkien’s magnificent world.
It is well known that J.R.R. Tolkien published The Hobbit in 1937 and The Lord of the Rings in 1954–5. What may be less known is that he continued to write about Middle-earth in the decades that followed, right up until the years before his death in 1973.
For him, Middle-earth was part of an entire world to be explored, and the writings in The Nature of Middle-earth reveal the journeys that he took as he sought to better understand his unique creation. From sweeping themes as profound as Elvish immortality and reincarnation, and the Powers of the Valar, to the more earth-bound subjects of the lands and beasts of Númenor, the geography of the Rivers and Beacon-hills of Gondor, and even who had beards!
This new collection, which has been edited by Carl F Hostetter, one of the world’s leading Tolkien experts, is a veritable treasure-trove offering readers a chance to peer over Professor Tolkien’s shoulder at the very moment of discovery: and on every page, Middle-earth is once again brought to extraordinary life.

A number-one New York Times bestseller when it was originally published, THE SILMARILLION is the core of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative writing, a work whose origins stretch back to a time long before THE HOBBIT. Tolkien considered THE SILMARILLION his most important work, and, though it was published last and posthumously, this great collection of tales and legends clearly sets the stage for all his other writing. The story of the creation of the world and of the the First Age, this is the ancient drama to which the characters in THE LORD OF THE RINGS look back and in whose events some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The three Silmarils were jewels created by Feanor, most gifted of the Elves. Within them was imprisoned the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor before the Trees themselves were destroyed by Morgoth, the first Dark Lord. Thereafter, the unsullied Light of Valinor lived on only in the Silmarils, but they were seized by Morgoth and set in his crown, which was guarded in the impenetrable fortress of Angband in the north of Middle-earth. THE SILMARILLION is the history of the rebellion of Feanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from Valinor and return to Middle-earth, and their war, hopeless despite all their heroism, against the great Enemy. This second edition features a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien describing his intentions for the book, which serves as a brilliant exposition of his conception of the earlier Ages of Middle-earth.

Four-volume paperback boxed set containing J.R.R. Tolkien's classic masterpiece, together with The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, an annotated guide to all three parts of the Book of the Century. Since it was first published in 1954, The Lord of the Rings has been a book people have treasured. Steeped in unrivalled magic and otherworldliness, its sweeping fantasy has touched the hearts of young and old alike. One hundred million copies of its many editions have been sold around the world, and occasional collectors' editions become prized and valuable items of publishing. Now, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its first publication, the text has been fully restored with almost 400 corrections - with the full co-operation of Christopher Tolkien - making it the definitive version of the text, and as close as possible to the version that J.R.R. Tolkien wanted. In addition to now having the definitive version of the text, this paperback set also includes a companion volume, The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, a unique annotated guide to the text, which will enhance the reader's enjoyment and understanding of the book of the 20th century.

Same ISBN for all three volumes in series.

本书的故事接着上两部紧张展开：索伦发动侵略中土世界的最后一步，巫师甘道夫等集合了他们所有的力量去帮忙防卫刚铎首都，以低于迫在眉睫的威胁。最后阿拉贡以刚铎王位继承人之名召唤出神秘的亡灵军队，来帮助他击败索伦。但是即使用尽全部力量，他们仍然意识到无法取胜，所以把最后的希望寄托在主人公佛罗多与山姆身上......

故事由魔戒持有者佛罗多起始，他在不知情的情况下得到一枚戒指，但这是一枚法力神奇的魔戒，事关魔王索伦实现一统天下的野心。自此，他也成为善恶两大势力争夺的对象，他在百般纠结中费尽周折，决定带着由远征队护卫的魔戒，向索伦的领地摩多进发，为的是在末日火山摧毁这枚成为了罪恶之根的戒指。

《魔戒》第二部的故事讲述护戒联盟中的哈比人梅里与皮聘被掳，护戒使者们不得不分头行事：佛罗多与好友山姆继续向魔王索伦领地魔多进发，途中他们支付了也在疯狂寻找魔戒的怪物咕噜。由于通向魔多的路途十分艰险，而末日山就在魔多的北面，所以佛罗多与山姆不得不依靠咕噜的帮助；另一面护戒使者亚拉冈、勒苟拉斯与吉雳则与成功逃离被掳营地的梅里与皮聘会合，并加入人类族群洛汗国的队伍准备对邪恶的白衣术士萨茹曼的领地发动进攻。而此时黑魁首索伦也策动其部队向洛汗的首都进发，精灵族与人类的联盟将遭到黑魔法兽兵强大战斗力与萨茹曼邪恶魔法的双重挑战。