This is the first printing of the 1^st edition of a collection of verses from the “Red Book”, Tolkien’s putative source manuscript for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Many of the stories and verses from The Lord of the Rings are echoed or augmented in these pages. For example, there is a much longer version of Oliphaunt from The Two Towers, a longer variant version of the verses chanted by Bilbo at Rivendell in The Fellowship of the Ring and the title comes from a longer version of the ditties sung by Tom Bombadil in the Old Forest in The Fellowship of the Ring. There are also many other poems more or less connected with Tolkien’s most famous works, notably concerning a dragon, a dwarf, a king and their hoards of elvish gold, which seems somewhat connected to The Hobbit. Many lovely illustrations by Pauline Baynes, also the illustrator of the Narnia first editions. Needed for completeness and colour by any Tolkien collection. Dustjacket will be protected by a removable cellophane wrapper and will be packed in bubblewrap and cardboard layers to ensure its safety in the post.

CONDITION: NOT ex-library and very good and complete overall. The dustjacket is very good with small repairs at the corners of the folds, but has NOT been price-clipped. The book is also very good with smudges in the margins of a few pages (see photo of pages 14-15) and slight unevenness in the edge of the page block. Handwritten name and the year 1966 to the corner of the front endpaper.