Tree and Leaf
Price: $2,000.00
Hard Cover. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1964. First Edition. Fine / Dust Jacket Included.
First edition, first printing. Publisher's green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, and green topstain; in its original pale green dust jacket, printed in black and green. Fine book; near fine unclipped dust jacket, with light toning to spine, a touch of soiling to front panel, a hint of staining to head of spine, and a small closed tear to bottom edge of rear panel. Overall, a crisp and beautiful copy. Tree and Leaf contains a revised version of Tolkien's famous essay, "On Fairy-stories" (1947), and his short story, "Leaf by Niggle" (1945), the latter of which is often interpreted as an allegory for Tolkien's life and creative process. In Tolkien's introductory note to Tree and Leaf, he writes, "Though one is an 'essay' and the other is a 'story,' they are related: by the symbol of Tree and Leaf, and by both touching in different ways on what is called in the essay 'sub-creation.'" "Sub-creation," coined by Tolkien, is defined as "the action or process of creating a fully realized and internally consistent imaginary (or 'secondary') world." (OED). Tolkien's best-known works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, are part of a larger fictional universe, which Tolkien spent much of his life devising and chronicling. Item #JRRT017
