Christopher and J.R.R. Tolkien (1945) © The Tolkien Estate
2024 marks the Centenary of Christopher Tolkien's birth and as part of the commemoration, HarperCollins are releasing The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth and the Index as single volume hardbacks in 4 boxed sets.
The books have reversible jackets, with artwork by John Howe on one side and the original jacket design on the other side. You can pick which jacket you want on your shelves, or buy two sets if you want to display both.
The books will not be available as individual volumes, only in the boxed sets. The Print on Demand volumes are no longer available, and I am not sure if there are any plans to make them available again in the future.
It is also a welcome return for the purple Unfinished Tales, first used in 1992 and a new cover for The Silmarillion to match the original HoMe editions.
- The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales are offset from early editions, so the page numbers correspond to all Christopher’s page references in the History volumes, his Great Tales, and in other books like The Fall of Númenor. We’ve had a lot of people asking for this, as they can’t find the references in the modern editions.
The boxed set #1 is being released in the UK by HarperCollins on the 7th December 2023.
This also marks the first time that the Index has been released as a hardback, as I don't count print on demand books.
Release dates for all the boxed sets are below.
The breakdown of the sets will be
Boxed set #1
Left John Howe covers, Right Classic HoMe covers
First in a series of hardback boxed sets celebrating the literary achievement of Christopher Tolkien, featuring double-sided dustjackets. Set 1 contains special editions of THE SILMARILLION and UNFINISHED TALES reproducing the first edition text, together with the two volumes of THE BOOK OF LOST TALES.
The Silmarillion is an account of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien’s World. It 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 tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-Earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor.
Unfinished Tales is a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth and the rise of Númenor in the Second Age 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 from the twentieth century’s most acclaimed popular author.
The Book of Lost Tales stands at the beginning of the entire conception of Middle-earth and Valinor for the Tales were the first form of the myths and legends that came to be called The Silmarillion. Embedded in English legend and English association, they are set in the narrative frame of a great westward voyage over the Ocean by a mariner named Eriol to the lonely Isle where the Elves dwelt; from them he learned their true history, the Lost Tales of Elfinesse.
In the two volumes of the Tales are found the earliest accounts of Gods and Elves, Dwarves, Balrogs and Orcs; of the Silmarils and the Two Trees of Valinor; of the geography and cosmology of Tolkien’s invented world.
Published together for the first time, these four books collect the beginning of Christopher Tolkien’s forty-year career devoted to presenting his father J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings on Middle-earth, a unique accomplishment that celebrates the greatest invented world in all of fantasy literature.
Release Date UK : 7th December 2023 (HarperCollins)
ISBN 978-0008663162
Release Date US : February 6, 2024(William Morrow)
ISBN 978-0063379848
Contents
- The Silmarillion
- Unfinished Tales
- The Book of Lost Tales Part One
- The Book of Lost Tales Part Two
Boxed set #2
Left John Howe covers, Right Classic HoMe covers
History of Middle-earth Box-set 2 John Howe dust-jacket spines and original dust-jacket spines
Second in a series of hardback boxed sets celebrating the literary achievement of Christopher Tolkien, featuring double-sided dustjackets. Includes THE LAYS OF BELERIAND, THE SHAPING OF MIDDLE-EARTH and THE LOST ROAD, which contain the early myths and legends that led to the writings of THE SILMARILLION.
The Lays of Beleriand gives us a privileged insight into the creation of the mythology of Middle-earth through the alliterative verse tales of two of the most crucial stories in Tolkien’s world – those of Túrin and of Beren and Lúthien. Accompanying the poems are commentaries on the evolution of the history of the Elder Days, together with the notable criticism of The Lay of Leithian by C.S. Lewis, who read the poem in 1929.
In The Shaping of Middle-earth the chronological and geographical structure of the legends of Middle-earth and Valinor is spread before us. We are introduced to the hitherto unknown Ambarkanta or ‘Shape of the World’, the only account ever given of the nature of the imagined Universe, accompanied by maps and diagrams of the world before and after the cataclysms of the War of the Gods and the Downfall of Númenor. Also included are the original ‘Silmarillion’ of 1926, and the Quenta Noldorinwa of 1930 – the only version of the myths and legends of the First Age that J.R.R. Tolkien completed to their end.
The Lost Road completes the examination of Tolkien’s writing completes the examination of Tolkien's writing before he began The Lord of the Rings, presenting later forms of the annals of Valinor and Beleriand, the legend of the downfall of Númenor, and the abandoned ‘time-travel’ story The Lost Road, linking the world of Númenor and Middle-earth with the legends of many other times and peoples.
Published together for the first time, these three books comprise a fascinating period of Christopher Tolkien’s forty-year career devoted to presenting his father J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings on Middle-earth, itself a unique accomplishment that celebrates the greatest invented world in all of fantasy literature.
Release Date UK : 28th March 2024 (HarperCollins)
ISBN 978-0008669232
Release Date US : May 15th, 2024 (William Morrow)
ISBN: 978-0063390836
Contents
- The Lays of Beleriand
- The Shaping of Middle-earth
- The Lost Road and Other Writings
Boxed set #3
Left John Howe covers, Right Classic HoMe covers
Third in a series of hardcover box sets celebrating the literary achievement of Christopher Tolkien, featuring double-sided dust jackets—one side featuring artwork by John Howe, and the original graphic treatment on the other. Set 3 contains The Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring, and Sauron Defeated (Books 6–9 of The History of Middle-earth).
The Return of the Shadow is the story of the first part of the history of the creation of The Lord of the Rings, a fascinating study of Tolkien’s great masterpiece, from its inception to the end of the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring.
The Treason of Isengard continues the account of the creation of The Lord of the Rings started in the earlier volume, tracing the great expansion of the tale into new lands and peoples south and east of the Misty Mountains: the emergence of Lothlorien, of Ents, of the Riders of Rohan, and of Saruman the White in the fortress of Isengard.
The War of the Ring takes up the story with the Battle of Helm’s Deep and the drowning of Isengard by the Ents; continues with the journey of Frodo, Sam, and Gollum to the Pass of Cirith Ungol; describes the war in Gondor; and ends with the parley between Gandalf and the ambassador of the Dark Lord before the Black Gate of Mordor.
Sauron Defeated completes Christopher Tolkien’s fascinating study of The Lord of the Rings, beginning with Sam’s rescue of Frodo from the Tower of Cirith Ungol, and giving a very different account of the Scouring of the Shire, with many additional scenes and the unpublished Epilogue in its entirety.
Published together for the first time, these four books collect a fascinating period of Christopher Tolkien’s forty-year career devoted to presenting his father J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings on Middle-earth, a unique accomplishment that celebrates the greatest invented world in all of fantasy literature.
Release Date UK : 4th July 2024 (HarperCollins)
ISBN 978-0008669294
Release Date US : July 9th, 2024 (William Morrow)
ISBN: 978-0063390843
Contents
- The Return of the Shadow
- The Treason of Isengard
- The War of the Ring
- Sauron Defeated
Boxed set #4
Left John Howe covers, Right Classic HoMe covers
Fourth in a series of hardcover box sets celebrating the literary achievement of Christopher Tolkien, featuring double-sided dust jackets—one side featuring artwork by John Howe, and the original graphic treatment on the other. Set 4 contains Morgoth’s Ring, The War of the Jewels, The Peoples of Middle-earth (Books 10–12 of The History of Middle-earth) and The History of Middle-earth Index.
Morgoth’s Ring is the first of two companion volumes documenting the later writing of The Silmarillion. The text of the Annals of Aman, the “Blessed Land” in the far West, is given in full; while further writings reveal the nature of the problems that Tolkien explored in his later years, as new and radical ideas, portending upheaval in the old narratives, emerged at the heart of the mythology.
The War of the Jewels continues the account of the later history of The Silmarillion, as the story returns to Middle-earth, and the ruinous conflict of the High Elves and the Men who were their allies with the power of the Dark Lord.
The Peoples of Middle-earth is this capstone to Tolkien’s history of Middle-earth, presenting a chronology of the later Ages, the Hobbit genealogies, and the Western language or Common Speech. Here too are valuable writings from Tolkien’s last years: “The New Shadow,” in Gondor of the Fourth Age, and “Tal-elmar,” the tale of the coming of the Numenorean ships.
The History of Middle-earth Index presents the comprehensive indices of all twelve History of Middle-earth volumes in a single, easily referenced edition, serving as an essential complement to this extraordinary work.
Published together for the first time, these four books collect a fascinating period of Christopher Tolkien’s forty-year career devoted to presenting his father J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings on Middle-earth, a unique accomplishment that celebrates the greatest invented world in all of fantasy literature.
Release Date UK : 15th August 2024 (HarperCollins)
ISBN 978-0008669393
Release Date US : September 10th, 2024 (William Morrow)
ISBN: 978-0063390850
Contents
- Morgoth's Ring
- The War of the Jewels
- The Peoples of Middle-earth
- Index
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