Description
First edition, first printing. Published by George Allen and Unwin in London, 1967. This is a very good (or better) copy. The paper-covered pictorial boards, illustrated by Pauline Baynes, are a little sunned at the spine and with some mild creases throughout. The internals and text blocks are clean and not blemished. Neat gift inscription to the front endpaper.
The book began as an attempt to explain the meaning of Faery by means of a story about a cook and his cake, and Tolkien originally thought to call it The Great Cake. It was intended to be part of a preface by Tolkien to George MacDonald’s famous fairy story The Golden Key. Tolkien’s story grew to become a tale in its own right. The story was first published on 9 November 1967. It was first published in the United States on 23 November 1967 in the Christmas edition of Redbook magazine, but without the illustrations by Pauline Baynes that appeared in the published book.
