Publisher’s Promotional Leaflet for J.R.R. Tolkien (1967)

This was found in a reprint set of Lord of the Rings and is a sort of news sheet to keep Tolkien lovers abreast of the latest news, almost certainly 1967 when Smith of Wootton Major came out. The Silmarillion was eventually published posthumously in 1977.

No, we are not publishing THE SILMARILLION yet! Professor Tolkien is still writing this book and we will let you know when we have a date for its appearance, but on the 9th November we are publishing SMITH OF WOOTTON MAJOR – a mid-winter tale, half homely, half fay. The setting of Tolkien’s new story is the village of Wootton Major, where the office of Master Cook was exalted once in twenty-four years by the preparation of a Great Cake to mark the Feast of Good Children. Although the merry-making over which the Cook presided was human and hearty, other, less material powers were exchanged during the ceremonies, and for some the world of man and the world of faery met and blended in a strange, beneficent conjunction. Pauline Baynes has illustrated this little book, which costs 7s. 6d. net and will be available from your usual retail bookseller. It is an ideal present for a Christmas stocking, or for those who deserve something more than a card.


Coming soon after Christmas will be THE ROAD GOES EVER ON, a handsomely produced song-book of Donald Swann's musical sittings to a number of Tolkien's poems. Professor Tolkien has embellished the pages with calligraphy and notes that will be great interest to enthusiasts.

At about the same time Philips Records will issue THE POEMS AND SONGS OF MIDDLE EARTH. On this disc the Song Cycle will be sung by William Elvin with Donald Swann as accompanist. On the second side, for the first time, Professor Tolkien can be heard reading a selection of his poems in English and Elvish.