The Silmarillion

J.R.R. Tolkien

ISBN 10: 0395257301 / ISBN 13: 9780395257302

Published by Houghton Mifflin Co., 1977

About this Item

The Silmarillion; Perhaps the best known of Tolkien's works other than The Lord of the Rings. A work that has become one of the most popular works of fantasy literature ever written. The success of Tolkien's fantasy world involving hobbits, dragons, monsters, and battles begins with the story of the hobbits in The Silmarillion. These 2 books are identical and are most likely part of the 2nd run of the 1st U.S. printing with the following points intact as required by Hammond and Anderson (A15), notably; Father Giles (see photo) instead of Farmer Giles pg 3, misprints on pages 330 and 352 that were corrected in a later impressions. No period after Feanor on p.330, line 4, the word "and" between "Lord of Waters and King of the Sea" is in italics on p.352, line 39. However; they do have the full lines of print on the right side of the type block on page 229 (midway down the page, corrected at 2nd run of the 1st printing.) and the jacket contains the $10.95 US price. This indicates these are probably the 2nd run of the 1st printing that occurred before the September 15, 1977 publication date of the 1st Edition. There where two print houses that did the 1st & 2nd run of the first printing in August 1977 and there does not appear to be a priority as to which run was release as 1st Edition, 1st printing. The 3rd and 4th printings were done in the beginning September before the 15th publication date thus they were also marked 1st Edition, 1st printing. Very good to excellent, covers are bright green and clean, pages are clean and not damaged. Pages show slight browning at the top, they show no other damage. Boards and binding are tight, square and flat. DJ is excellent with the exception of the lower front which has two scrapes that have been repaired by tape.

Seller Inventory # 1481-02

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Silmarillion
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Publication Date: 1977
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0395257301
• ISBN 13: 9780395257302
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Cover Illustration J.R.R. Tolkien
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 2nd Printing August
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • Tolkien
  • 1st Edtion
  • Fantasy

About this title

Synopsis

The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R. Tolkien's other works, forms a comprehensive, yet incomplete, narrative that describes the universe of Middle-earth within which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place. After the success of The Hobbit, and prior to the publication of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien's publisher requested a sequel to The Hobbit, and Tolkien sent them an early draft of The Silmarillion. But through a misunderstanding, the publisher rejected the draft without fully reading it, with the result that Tolkien began work on "A Long Expected Party", the first chapter of what he described at the time as "a new story about Hobbits", which became The Lord of the Rings. The Silmarillion comprises five parts.

Review

The Silmarillion is J.R.R. Tolkien's tragic, operatic history of the First Age of Middle-Earth, essential background material for serious readers of the classic Lord of the Rings saga. Tolkien's work sets the standard for fantasy, and this audio version of the "Bible of Middle-Earth" does The Silmarillion justice. Martin Shaw's reading is grave and resonant, conveying all the powerful events and emotions that shaped elven and human history long before Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf and all the rest embarked on their quests. Beginning with the Music of the Ainur, The Silmarillion tells a tale of the Elder Days, when Elves and Men became estranged by the Dark Lord Morgoth's lust for the Silmarils, pure and powerful magic jewels. Even the love between a human warrior and the daughter of the Elven king cannot defeat Morgoth, but the War of Wrath finally brings down the Dark Lord. Peace reigns until the evil Sauron recovers the Rings of Power and sets the stage for the events told in the Lord of the Rings. This is epic fantasy at its finest, thrillingly read and gloriously unabridged. (Running time: 14 hours, 6 CDs)