TOLKIEN, J.R.R. (author). Pauline BAYNES (illustrator). Smith of Wootton Major. London; George Allen & Unwin Ltd. 1967

Small 8vo.; original coated black pictorial boards with a wrap-around design by Baynes; pp. [iv], 5-61 + [iii] with pictorial border to title and line illustrations throughout by Pauline Baynes; a nice copy with the usual rubbing to joints and some surface wear to spine ends and forecorner tips, but better than most copies.

First edition. Issued without a dustwrapper.

Tolkien referred to this fairy story novella as an “old man’s book”, as it was published when the author was 75 and became his final major work. It has been seen as loosely autobiographical and Tolkien’s own farewell to the fairy realm.

The story centres around a young boy who swallows a magical star baked in a village feast cake, which grants him lifelong access to the “Land of Faery”.