Sunday, September 6, 2009

10 Books A Day: #138



















All titles are by J. R. R. Tolkien and published by Houghton Mifflin Company.


The Book Of Lost Tales Part One

The Book Of Lost Tales Part Two

The Lays Of Beleriand

The Shaping Of Middle-Earth

The Lost Road

The Return Of The Shadow

The Treason Of Isengard

The War Of The Ring

Sauron Defeated

Morgoth's Ring

The War Of The Jewels

The Peoples Of Middle-Earth


The over-arching title of this series of books is The History of Middle-Earth. Between 1984 and 1996 I could expect a new Tolkien title every year or so (there was a longer lag before Sauron Defeated and The Peoples of Middle-Earth were published). Most volumes had the rather plain cover you see exemplified here by the first volume of The Book of Lost Tales, but in different colors; the four books dealing with the writing of The Lord of the Rings had covers with pictures by Alan Lee. I remember you could never tell when the series might end until it was actually over, and each book would announce the next work or works "in preparation." It's hard to believe that it's now been more than ten years since it was completed.


Book Count: 1640.

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