The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, with The History of Middle-Earth, in Nineteen Volumes: The Hobbit; The Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of the King; The Silmarillion; Unfinished Tales; The Book of Lost Tales Part One; The Book of …

The complete saga of The Lord of the Rings, from the beginnings of Middle-Earth in The Silmarillion, through The Hobbit and the three parts of LOTR itself, plus every volume of The History of Middle-Earth, including the Index volume first released with these illustrated editions. Originally published from 1984 through 1996, and based on Christopher Tolkien's arrangement and editing of his father's extensive notes, this is likely the most ambitious reference work related to a fictional world in the history of print. This illustrated edition incorporates color plates and jacket art by Alan Lee. Tolkien's world-building was a master class in both detail and scope, and these works help contextualize the novels that have become classics of epic fantasy. Includes: The Hobbit; The Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of the King; The Silmarillion; Unfinished Tales; The Book of Lost Tales Part One; The Book of Lost Tales Part Two; The Lays of Beleriand; The Shaping of Middle-Earth: The Quenta, The Ambarkanta and The Annals; The Lost Road and Other Writings; The Return of the Shadow: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part One; The Treason of Isengard: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Two; The War of the Ring: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Three; Sauron Defeated: The End of the Third Age, including The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part Four; Morgoth's Ring: The Later Silmarillion, Part One; The War of the Jewels: The Later Silmarillion, Part Two; The Peoples of Middle-Earth; Index.