1st U.S. Printing, Smith of Wootton Major, J.R.R. Tolkien

TOLKIEN, J.R.R. Smith of Wootton Major. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1967. First American Edition, First Printing.

Octavo, original pictorial boards with matching dust jacket. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes.

Copies of the first American edition are notably scarcer in collectible condition than their U.K. counterparts, particularly with the original unclipped dust jacket featuring Baynes’ whimsical illustration. An essential addition to any Tolkien collection, representing one of the author’s last works.

The first U.S. printing of Tolkien’s enchanting fairy tale, Smith of Wootton Major, published the same year as the U.K. edition. A delicate yet profound meditation on imagination, mortality, and the perilous gift of Faery, this short work reveals Tolkien’s mastery of myth beyond Middle-earth. The story was originally conceived as a preface to George MacDonald’s The Golden Key, before expanding into an independent tale that bears the unmistakable depth of Tolkien’s legendarium.