Question about Tree and Leaf
4 hours ago
2025-5-5 4:49:09 PM UTC
2025-5-5 4:49:09 PM UTC
This title's contents have varied over the years. It began, of course, as an omnibus of "On Fairy-stories" and "Leaf by Niggle." if I understand correctly, in 1988 the poem "Mythopoeia" was added, along with an introduction by Christopher Tolkien. And in 2001, "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son" was also added.
My question is, was there ever an English-language hardcover of the version that contains all four works, in 2001 or at any other time? I haven't been able to find online evidence of any such edition, but I wonder.
Oddly, my HarperCollins trade paperback edition, which has all four of the Tolkien works plus the 1988 intro from CJRT, and which declares itself to be the 22nd impression, contains the following line on the copyright page:
Normally, when I see a copyright page in a trade paperback that seems to refer to a hardback edition, I assume that the book in my hand consists of pages that were sliced out of unsold hardcovers and rebound as trade paperbacks, a not-unheard-of way of dealing with unsold hardcover stock. But it seems unlikely that a Tolkien hardcover published in (of all years) 2001 would generate a lot of unsold copies. And moreover this trade paperback shows none of the usual physical signs of a hardcover-to-trade-paperback rebind. Additionally, this trade paperback contains no illustrations at all.
Anyway, I would love to know if any hardback edition exists of the version of Tree and Leaf containing "Mythopoeia" and "Homecoming" and the Christopher Tolkien intro.
My question is, was there ever an English-language hardcover of the version that contains all four works, in 2001 or at any other time? I haven't been able to find online evidence of any such edition, but I wonder.
Oddly, my HarperCollins trade paperback edition, which has all four of the Tolkien works plus the 1988 intro from CJRT, and which declares itself to be the 22nd impression, contains the following line on the copyright page:
This illustrated hardback edition 2001
Normally, when I see a copyright page in a trade paperback that seems to refer to a hardback edition, I assume that the book in my hand consists of pages that were sliced out of unsold hardcovers and rebound as trade paperbacks, a not-unheard-of way of dealing with unsold hardcover stock. But it seems unlikely that a Tolkien hardcover published in (of all years) 2001 would generate a lot of unsold copies. And moreover this trade paperback shows none of the usual physical signs of a hardcover-to-trade-paperback rebind. Additionally, this trade paperback contains no illustrations at all.
Anyway, I would love to know if any hardback edition exists of the version of Tree and Leaf containing "Mythopoeia" and "Homecoming" and the Christopher Tolkien intro.
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