J.R.R. Tolkien - Lot with 4 books - 1963-2000

J.R.R. Tolkien — Lot of 4 works: Poems (3-vol. slipcased set), Mr. Bliss (facsimile), Unfinished Tales & Beowulf and the Finnesburg Fragment — 1963/1993/2000/2007

A four-title Tolkien lot combining first printings of three modern HarperCollins editions with a scarcer George Allen & Unwin volume containing Tolkien's own prefatory essay.

1. Poems by J.R.R. Tolkien, Volumes I–III — HarperCollins, 1993. ISBN 0-261-10302-4 / 9780261103023. First printing. Three miniature hardbacks (approx. 9 × 7.5 cm) in the publisher's illustrated slipcase, each in its pictorial dust jacket. Verses drawn from The Hobbit and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, illustrated with Tolkien's own drawings coloured by H.E. Riddett. All three volumes and the slipcase in very good condition throughout: jackets bright and unfaded, no tears, no price-clipping. Original UK price of £8.99 still present on the slipcase.

2. Mr. Bliss — Facsimile Edition — HarperCollins, this edition 2007. ISBN-13 978-0-00-725533-7 / ISBN-10 0-00-725533-0. First printing of this edition (full number line 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). Green cloth-covered hardback with gilt-ruled boards, housed in the publisher's illustrated maroon slipcase. Tolkien's handwritten pages and colour illustrations reproduced in facsimile alongside the printed text. The book itself is excellent and clean; the slipcase shows a few light dents and bumps to the edges (illustrated) — cosmetic only, structurally sound.

3. Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth — Edited by Christopher Tolkien. HarperCollins, 2000 (first published George Allen & Unwin, 1980). ISBN 0 261 10216 8 (copyright page); the jacket carries ISBN 0-261-10215-X / 9780261102156. First printing of this edition (number line 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2). Black cloth boards with silver lettering to spine, in the pictorial dust jacket reproducing Tolkien's own artwork. The dust jacket is not sun-faded at all — the orange runic panels and the blue mountain scene remain strong and fresh, which is uncommon for this title, as the orange spine fades badly on most copies. Unclipped, no tears, no chips. Text block clean and unmarked throughout.
Please note: the half-title bears a previous owner's ownership signature, dated "13-1-2019, Logroño" in black ink (illustrated). This is a private ownership inscription only — it is not an author's or publisher's signature and carries no association value. The book is otherwise free of markings, stamps or bookplates.

4. Beowulf and the Finnesburg Fragment — A translation into modern English prose by John R. Clark Hall, completely revised with notes and an introduction by C.L. Wrenn, with Prefatory Remarks by J.R.R. Tolkien. George Allen & Unwin. First published 1911; revised editions 1940 and 1950; this copy the sixth impression, 1963. Tolkien's contribution is his celebrated essay, later known as On Translating Beowulf — a genuine and much-sought Tolkien text. Tan cloth binding with lettering to spine, no dust jacket. Very good condition: boards clean and square, spine intact and firm, light age-toning to the paper as usual for the period, no inscriptions or markings.

All four items shipped together, carefully packed, tracked and insured. Photographs form part of the description.