"FAËRIE IS A PERILOUS LAND, AND IN IT ARE PITFALLS FOR THE UNWARY AND DUNGEONS FOR THE OVERBOLD"

TOLKIEN, J.R.R. Poems and Stories. London: George Allen & Unwin, (1980). Octavo, original black cloth with illustration on the front board, original glassine, original cardboard box. $1200.

Deluxe first collected edition, with illustrations by Pauline Baynes.

This volume collects together for the first time the poems "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" and "The Homecoming of Beorthnoth Beorthelm's Son," the essay "On Fairy Stories," and the tales "Leaf by Niggle," "Farmer Giles of Ham" and "Smith of Wootton Major," all previously published. Although Pauline Baynes is probably best known for her illustrations in The Chronicles of Narnia, her most lasting collaboration was with Tolkien. Tolkien's favorite illustrator (of her efforts for this work, he said, "They are more than illustrations, they are a collateral theme"), Baynes illustrated several of his shorter works and also provided maps for both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. After Tolkien's death, Baynes illustrated 1973 and 1981 editions of The Lord of the Rings. Hammond & Anderson A16.

Book very bright and fresh; box lid with one corner split. A fine copy, in the original box.