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J.R.R. Tolkien & Alexander Lewis; The Tale of Gondolin Hardcover, printed and bound in Great Britian. This stunning edition exhibits the finest quality features imaginable: * Signed by Alexander Lewis and Ruth Lacon * Hand numbered Limited Edition of 50 copies Worldwide * Hand-bound hardcover book from one of Manchesters finest binders * Over 30 full page black & white illustrations by Ruth Lacon * Front & back color 'carpet' pages by Ruth Lacon * Chapter title illustrations of the 12 houses of Gondolin * Hand-made silk ribbon page marker * Book size: A4, 12" x 8.5", 228 pages PLUS Epilogue & illustrations! ***NOT AVAILABLE FOR SALE***

ABOUT THE STORY: The Tale of Gondolin is drawn from the various references to Turgon and his life throughout The Simarillion, and sewn into the fabric of what was drawn from Unfinished Tales the chapter "Of Tuor and the coming of Gondolin" which is reproduced as printed therein with little alteration, though where necessary, some of the notes to the Unfinished Tales were worked into the narrative where it was thought to clarify the text.

The tale was written by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1951 and left unaccountably unfinished; it would have given in fine detail all that appears as the brief chapter 23, yet tragically it only reaches Tuor's entry into the hidden city and it goes no further. The rest of the tale is therefore drawn from the account given in The Book of Lost Tales Part Two. This account was first written in about 1916, or slightly later, and amended in 1920 for presentation as a paper to the Essay Club of Exeter College, Oxford, and then used as a basis for what appears in The Silmarillion. However as Christopher Tolkien has pointed out, this tale was written in an extremely archaistic style, and it employed conceptions quite out of keeping with the world of The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Therefore this assembly attempts to convert the latter half of the earlier story to match all that appears in the Unfinished Tales and elsewhere, but to preserve all the fascinating detail and finesse of what the original story contained as far as it was possible to do so. Christopher Tolkien has often maintained that detail given in earlier versions was by no means discarded because a later version may have been condensed. It is this principle that guides the present work to produce a complete Tale of Gondolin "as it might have been". The Tale of Gondolin is written in the manner of a Saga, inasmuch as it follows the fortunes of one particular "family" through their trials and hardships. It has been written in this way to "stand on its own feet" and be read in isolation without losing much of the overall effect of the grand sweep of narrative in The Silmarillion.

PUBLICATION HISTORY: The first proof copies of this work were produced in 1987. The author refers to these books as the 'First Edition'. Only two copies were made...one red, leatherbound copy that was presented to Priscilla Tolkien and one clothbound copy for the authors own reference. Both books were A5 size and neither copies were signed or illustrated.

The idea for an illustrated and illuminated book, to put the story into - in the style of medieval illuminated books, such as Lindisfarne Gospels etc. - came later on. The designs were presented to Priscilla Tolkien and verbal permission was given to produce The Tale of Gondolin as it now is. The first copies of the Limited Edition were produced in 1994 and 'Number One' went to Priscilla Tolkien as a thank you - other copies went to either Tolkien Society members of members of the Mythopoeic Society in the USA. For a detailed description on the differences between 'First State' and 'Second State' copies of The Tale of Gondolin click here!

'no-ogopogo' books Kelowna, B.C. Canada Email Address : smaug@Hobbit.ca URL: http://www.Hobbit.ca Revised -- Jan. 2/07