The History of Middle-Earth Vols.I-V: The Book of Lost Tales Part I & Part II; The Lays of Beleriand; The Shaping of Middle-Earth; The Lost Road and Other Writings (5 vols)

London: London: HarperCollinsPublishers (Harper Collins) 1991 Second Impressions 5 vols 8vo ISBN 0-261-10202-8 et al, 1991 The History of Middle-Earth Vols. 1-5. A Very Fine uniform matching set of the Harper Collins hardcover reprint series, all in Fine Dust Wrappers, protected in Brodart sleeves. This set is comprised of The Book of Lost Tales Parts I & II, The Lays of Beleriand, The Shaping of Middle-Earth, and The Lost Road and Other Stories. These five volumes together comprise the bulk of J.R.R. Tolkien's early writings on Middle-Earth, from The Book of Lost Tales, the first major work of imagination by J.R.R. Tolkien, begun in 1916-17 when he was 25 years old, taking in such sustained works as the Lay of the Children of Hurin, and the Lay of Leithian; writings detailing the mythological background of Middle-Earth, such as the Ambarkanta or Shape of the World; th e Annals of Valinor & Beleriand which chronicle the First Age of Middle-Earth; the earliest versions the Silmarillion; through to the later forms of the Annals, The Lost Road, and The Lhammas. These writings bring the History of Middle-Earth up to the point where The Lord of the Rings was begun, and the next four volumes of the series chronicle the History of The Lord of the Rings. A highly desireable set, becoming increasingly difficult to obtain in this condition.