This special edition has been expanded to include earlier versions of some of Tolkien’s poems, a fragment of a prose story with Tom Bombadil, and comprehensive notes by acclaimed Tolkien scholars Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond.

Professor Tolkien revealed in the verses scattered through The Hobbit that he had a talent for songs, riddling rhymes, and a kind of balladry. In The Adventures of Tom Bombadil the talent can be seen to be close to genius.

The cover art was adapted from the original wraparound jacket and cover painting by Pauline Baynes.

According to the editors, Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, this new edition will contain the sixteen poems as published in 1962, together with the original drawings by Pauline Baynes. But it will also include earlier versions of the poems, where earlier versions exist – some of these were published in magazines and journals which are now hard to find – and it will reprint a later ‘Bombadil’ poem, Once upon a Time.

In addition, Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond were allowed to publish for the first time, from Tolkien’s manuscript, the predecessor of Perry-the-Winkle, called The Bumpus, and the complete, tantalizingly brief fragment of a prose story featuring Tom Bombadil, in the days of ‘King Bonhedig’. To these, they have added an introduction, comments on the poems and on Tolkien’s preface, and glosses for unusual words, as they also did previously for Roverandom and Farmer Giles of Ham.

Not only do we get a very good looking pocket edition, but with all the extra's thanks to the hard work by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, this is a must have book for any Tolkien lover or collector. I'll add it to my pre-order list today as it is being released this week!

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