The Silmarillion. Edited with an Introduction by Christopher Tolkien. London: Allen, 1977. First Edition. Pp, 365. With folded map to rear.  A fine bright copy pictorial dust jacket.

The Silmarillion is a collection of stories, posthumously-published by Tolkien’s son Christopher, (never authorised for publication by J.R.R. Tolkien) which originally constituted the author’s sequel to The Hobbit, but which was rejected by publisher Unwin as being “too Celtic”, and after which eventually followed The Lord of The Rings trilogy.

Tolkien considered The Silmarillion his most important work, and, though published last and posthumously, this great collection of tales and legends clearly sets the stage for all his other works.

‘For this is the story of the creation of the world and the happenings of the First Age. This is the ancient drama to which characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part.’