The Silmarillion Collector's Edition: Illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien

By J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien

Book Overview

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A special collectible hardcover edition of the precursor to J.R.R. Tolkien's epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, featuring the complete work with a sumptuous cover design, foil stamping, stained edges, and ribbon bookmark.

The Silmarillion is an account of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien's World. It is the ancient drama at the heart of J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part.

The tales of The Silmarillion form a vast creation myth and sweeping epic fantasy, set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-Earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor.

This special hardcover edition of the work includes a unique, foil-stamped cover that illustrates Telperion and Laurelin, the Two Trees of Valinor, and the three Silmarils. Available in the United States for the first time, it is one of five Collector's Editions of Tolkien's most beloved works, and an essential piece of any Tolkien reader's library.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006339619X
• ISBN13: 9780063396197
• Release Date: August 2024
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

My review is for the misleading title of the listing for this book

I am giving this particular listing a lower rating due to the fact that this book is not illustrated. It has a couple of maps that look like copies of hand-drawn maps, and some family lineage that appears copied from hand drawings. I hardly consider this worthy of listing this book as having illustrations by Tolkien. I believe the listing here is being confused with another edition that has a similar cover. I feel like I was misled by this description and was sorely disappointed when I received mine. I'm keeping it because I need a copy of the book and this is a good copy. It just is not illustrated.

Finnish version

Read the Finnish version translated by Kersti Juva and i can tell My fellow US Tolkien enthusiasts there is a reason why Tolkien loved Finnish!

THE SILMARILLION. What more can be said

What more can be said about possible one of the best books of all time. This is a every year read. It gets shorter and shorter and I yearn for more. Not the easiest first read but afterward is seared into memory. Many questions answered about who and what. Only issue with this particular purchase is no dust jacket. This is a british edition. The book itself is in great condition. Bought as a gift. It just gives me an excuse to purchase yet another version. I dont mind. Once you dealve into the lore you cant help but want more...like the history of middle earth...cheers

Its wavy and seems like it got wet. For the price I paid, im not really impressed

Haven't read the book yet. I'm sure I'll enjoy it

I'm only sorry I didn't pay for it earlier!

When I read a review on Squeeky Clean that said if I liked history I should give it a shot, I decided to reead this book and Im so glad I did-it's amazing!

Tolkien's true life work, ultimately unfinished though it is

In the Tolkien canon, THE SILMARILLION is the most highly contested of all his works. Constructed as a prehistoric history of the Universe, the book has the cultural significance of the Bible in Tolkien's universe. It is Tolkien's primary work, but it's also his most troublesome, in more ways than one. One thing you need to know. In Tolkien scholarship, there are two primary ways to refer to the "Silmarillion". One is the Silmarillion, the legendarium proper, and then the 1977 SILMARILLION, which may or may not be what Tolkien envisioned. THE SILMARILLION, the book Tolkien spent all of his adult life writing, was, sadly, incomplete when Tolkien died at the age of eighty one in 1973. Naturally, this begs the question why did it take him decades to write the book, and it still be unfinished after all that time? Well, to understand that, you need to understand two things: the scope of the project, and how Tolkien worked. The scope of the book was a complete imaginary history, a totally self-contained mythology, all written and developed for his home country, England (my home country as well). Imagine the Greek and Roman mythologies, all those myths and gods, developed by one man. Imagine Homer completely inventing all the gods for his stories. Imagine how hard that would be to come up with your own mythological traditions as such. No wonder Tolkien had such a hard time completing the work. Now, the scope (which is extremely ambitious for any artist) was compounded by how Tolkien worked. First, he was a philologist first and foremost, and so before the stories he invented languages. All of these languages (which would have taken a life-time to develop on their own) had their own history, and are so interlocked with the mythology that you cannot remove them. He developed the main body of legends around these languages. Many features of the central body of legends changed relatively little over the years, but he wrote different versions of them at different times and in different styles. Some of the legends were set in poetry, those in annalistic histories, others in condensed summaries, and others in the more traditional (at least, for modern readers) novel format. A lot of these writings are also unfinished, due to Tolkien's perfectionist tendencies. Christopher Tolkien said that for most of his father's writing there existed a stable tradition from which Tolkien worked from, but there was no such thing as a stable text for the primary legends. All this is tied to how Tolkien worked. C. S. Lewis famously stated that you did not influence Tolkien, you may as well as try to influence a bandersnatch. Tolkien would either take no notice of your criticism, or else he would start all over from the beginning. And so he did. A lot. Tolkien would reach a certain portion of the draft, be unsatisfied, and began the whole thing over again, while never reaching the end. Or Tolkien would have two copies of the same manuscript, one to be

awesome

The story of "The lord of the Rings" is spectacular,because it took me to a whole other world where I felt I was in the adventure myself.I believe this is one of the best books I have ever read.

Both Tolkien and Martin Shaw shine in this audio edition

A long-time Tolkien fan, I have always enjoyed The Silmarillion, though it's never been my favourite. Martin Shaw's reading may just change that! Hearing Mr Shaw's rendering of Tolkien's prose is a truly magical experience. I enjoyed his reading of The Hobbit, but this text is much more moving. Mr Shaw manages both the high linguistic style and the Elvish words with dignity and makes the text come alive in a way that is simply amazing. (We can only hope that Mr Shaw has plans for The Lord of the Rings.) The decision of the publisher to release the text unabridged is also very welcome -- the mythic style and scope of the book demand that every story in it be told, and it is well worth the cumulative price of the volumes.