What Middle-Earth Books Am I Missing?

[Cirdan]

Hello:

The more I read on Middle-Earth, the more engrossed I seem to become with it. I'm trying to figure out what I might be missing to complete my collection. I'll list what I own, followed by books that I'm curious about. I guess I'm looking for more info on what the books contain, opinions, suggestions if there's something else I should look at, etc...


So far my collection contains (I very much prefer hardcover, but some just aren't printed that way):

The Hobbit (Hardcover, Illus. Alan Lee)
The Lord of the Rings (Hardcover box set, Illus. Alan Lee)
The Children of Húrin (Hardcover, Illus. Alan Lee)
The Sillmarillion (Hardcover, Illus. Ted Nasmith)
Unfinished Tales (Hardcover)
The History of Middle-Earth Vols. 1-12 (Hardcover, matching set) + Index (Paperback)
The Complete Guide To Middle-Earth (Hardcover, Illus Ted Nasmith)
The Atlas of Middle-Earth (Paperback, Revised Edn.)
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Paperback, Expanded Index)
Tales From The Perilous Realm (Hardcover, Illus. Alan Lee)


Here's what I've dug up as possible additions:

The History of the Hobbit Vols. 1 & 2
- I'm assuming this is like the HoME series. If this is a worthwhile purchase, I'm wondering about either getting the 2 volumes separately, or getting the box-set that comes with "a new edition of The Hobbit with a short introduction by Christopher Tolkien, a reset text incorporating the most up-to-date corrections, and all of Tolkien’s own drawings and color illustrations, including the rare 'Mirkwood' piece." I'm not sure if these illustrations (which are probably the only reason I'm considering the box set) are new, or if they all appear in any of the other books.

The Annotated Hobbit: Revised and Expanded Edition
- Supposedly the text of the original story (I'm not sure if that means the 1st edition or the one he wrote for his children?) alongside 150 illustrations, several [new] poems, and I'm assuming a bunch of notes. Again, not sure if the material overlaps with the other books.

The Art of The Hobbit
- I read about this new release elsewhere on the forum. Again, not sure about overlapping material with the other books.

Poems From The Hobbit
- A dozen poems accompanied by Tolkien's illustrations. Once again, not sure about overlapping material.

Pictures By J.R.R. Tolkien
- A collection of Tolkien illustrations, almost all of them related to Middle-Earth.

J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator
- An alternative to Pictures By J.R.R. Tolkien, containing most of the same pictures, plus many more. Yet again, I'm not sure about overlapping material.

Bilbo's Last Song (Illus. Pauline Baynes)
- Looks like a nice little book to accompany this poem. I don't really have any concerns about this one.

The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion (Hammond / Scull)
- Kind of like The Annoted Hobbit, but most importantly contains Tolkien's Nomenclature, or guide to names.


Well, that's all I could come up with.

Edit: I'm no longer wondering, made my decisions.

 

[Starbrow]

I also recommend Roverrandom, A Tolkien Miscellany, The Tolkien Reader, and The Father Christmas Letters. They don't all pretain to Middle Earth, but you'll certainly see some of the same themes and elements. One of my favorite books is The Annotated Hobbit. It really deepened my appreciation of the story. One of the things I like was the original published version of "Riddles in the Dark." Enjoy your books.

 

[Sulimo]

I also recommend Tree and Leaf primarily for Tolkien's essay on Fairy Stories. This really helped deepen my understanding of The Hobbit

The other thing you can do that is my personal favorite approach is to study some of the mythology that Tolkien was drawing from. This really adds a new dimension of depth to Tolkien's work. Good luck!!

 

[Cirdan]

Roverrandom, Tolkien Reader, On Fairy-Stories, etc etc are all included in Tales From The Perilous Realm, so I had all of that already. I ended up just buying everything on my list except for Pictures, as I discovered that content was in the other books.

Here's my collection:

http://i.imgur.com/oRLTe.jpg

Now I'm just waiting for a Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin book...

 

[GuardianRanger]

That's a great looking picture. Most of the paperbacks in my collection are beaten up from so many readings.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

That's a great looking picture. Most of the paperbacks in my collection are beaten up from so many readings.

Same with me. When I'd go on vacation with my parents to the beach, I'd be sitting on the shore reading HOME under the umbrella...that sand is killer haha