The Children of Húrin

The Children of Húrin will be simultaneously published in two editions - a standard hardback edition at £18.99 (ISBN 0-00-724622-6) and a de luxe slipcased edition at £60.00 (ISBN 0-00-725223-4).

The Children of Húrin, begun in 1918, was one of three 'Great Tales' J.R.R. Tolkien worked on throughout his life, though he never realised his ambition to see it published in his lifetime. Some of the text will be familiar to fans from extracts and references within other Tolkien books but this is the first time the entire story has been presented in its complete form.

As Adam Tolkien elaborated in a recent interview: 'This is a more difficult question than it seems: As you know, versions and pieces of the story of Húrin and his descendants have been published in various works (The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The Book of Lost Tales, The Lays of Beleriand, etc). The text of The Children of Húrin is in part compiled from these extant texts, and particularly that which appears in Unfinished Tales.

'But it is a new reworking of the complete story. Many parts of the text will be - if not identical - recognizable to the knowledgeable reader, but there are also pieces that have never appeared before. Also the format of the text, as a standalone and complete text with no editorial commentary to interrupt the tale, should in itself and in my opinion considerably transform the reading experience.

'The text as a whole can be said to be "new" as it is a recomposition of published texts and other "pieces" that weren't published previously. The completed puzzle, in a sense.'

Christopher Tolkien has painstakingly edited together the complete work from his father's many drafts, and this book is the culmination of a tireless thirty-year endeavour by him to bring J.R.R. Tolkien's vast body of unpublished work to a wide audience.

Christopher Tolkien says: "It has seemed to me for a long time that there was a good case for presenting my father's long version of the legend of The Children of Húrin as an independent work, between its own covers, with a minimum of editorial presence, and above all in continuous narrative without gaps or interruptions, if this could be done without distortion or invention, despite the unfinished state in which he left some parts of it."

Having drawn the distinctive maps for The Lord of the Rings more than 50 years ago, Christopher has also created a detailed new map for this book.

Adam continues: 'The text of The Children of Húrin is entirely in the author's (so J.R.R. Tolkien's) words - apart from very minor reworkings of a grammatical and stylistic nature. Christopher's work has been to produce a text that is a faithful rendition of his father's writings - using many sources spaced out over decades.'

In addition to the text The Children of Húrin will include a jacket, colour paintings and pencil drawings by Alan Lee, illustrator of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Centenary Edition and Oscar®-winning designer of the film trilogy.

The eight paintings, together with the dramatic front cover illustration and 25 drawings, have been a real labour of love for the artist. He says of his work, 'It is always a privilege being asked to illustrate the work of such a distinguished and well-loved author. I had already worked on illustrations for editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings for HarperCollins so was familiar with the particular challenge of interpreting the characters and places unique to Tolkien. Illustrating The Children of Húrin was quite a responsibility but I hope that I have produced artwork that will successfully complement this wonderful tale for the reader.'

The book will include the first standalone tale of Middle-earth since 1977 - the complete version of Tolkien's most dramatic tale:

• A specially written introduction by J.R.R. Tolkien's son Christopher
• Appendices on the history of the tale also written by Christopher Tolkien
• Exclusive new two-colour fold-out map of Beleriand and the lands to the north
• More than 30 new paintings and drawings by award-winning illustrator Alan Lee
• Three genealogical tables specially drawn by Christopher Tolkien for this new work

The de luxe edition will be housed in a custom-built slipcase; it will include the cover painting as an exclusive frontispiece; be decorated with a unique foiled motif created specially by Alan Lee for this edition; include a silk ribbon marker; and will be produced using superior materials and binding. It will be the perfect companion to de luxe editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It is being published alongside The Children of Húrin hardback in April 2007. At this time there are no plans for there to be a signed edition.