Unfinished Tales. Deluxe Slipcase Edition HarperCollins (370061187)

Deluxe collector’s edition featuring the definitive edition text and containing a full-colour reproduction of Tolkien’s painting of the dragon, Glórund. The book is quarterbound, stamped on the front board with a gold motif previously seen only on the first edition hardback, and is presented in a matching slipcase. Unfinished Tales is a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth to the end of the War of the Ring, and provides those who have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with a whole collection of background and new stories. The book concentrates on the realm of Middle-earth and comprises such elements as The Quest of Erebor, Gandalf’s lively account of how it was that he came to send the Dwarves to the celebrated party at Bag-End; the emergence of the sea-god Ulmo before the eyes of Tuor on the coast of Beleriand; and an exact description of the military organization of the Riders of Rohan. Unfinished Tales also contains the only story about the long ages of Númenor before its downfall, and all that is known about such matters as the Five Wizards, the Palantíri and the legend of Amroth. The tales were edited by Christopher Tolkien, who provides a short commentary on each story, helping the reader to fill in the gaps and put each story into the context of the rest of his father’s writings. This deluxe collector’s edition includes a full-colour facsimile of Tolkien’s painting, ‘Glórund Sets Forth to Seek Túrin’, which illustrates his narrative ‘The Children of Húrin’, his colour design of a Númenórean tile, and a fold-out reproduction of the definitive map of Middle-earth drawn by Christopher Tolkien. The book is foil stamped with a Númenórean helmet design by J.R.R. Tolkien that appeared on the first edition hardback and is housed in a matching slipcase.