Tolkien's 'History of Middle-Earth' and other background material

[oudeis]

Is this the definitive collection of Tolkien's notes, etc? I'm looking for something that includes the Lost Tales, the Unfinished Tales, and whatever else there is out there. Per Wikipedia, HoME appears to be the complete collection but I'd like to be sure. Thanks.

[WalkingTarget]

Is this the definitive collection of Tolkien's notes, etc? I'm looking for something that includes the Lost Tales, the Unfinished Tales, and whatever else there is out there. Per Wikipedia, HoME appears to be the complete collection but I'd like to be sure. Thanks.

The Book of Lost Tales is itself the first two volumes of HoMe. Unfinished Tales is its own volume and can be, at this late stage, seen as a kind of test-run to see if there was an audience for this kind of "drafts plus commentary" publication and the content within it wouldn't be rehashed in the latter books - although different versions/drafts of the same stories can occur (for example, the story of Turin is told several times within HoMe, but I doubt that the exact text from UT is repeated within it).

The History of Middle-earth is an academic work where Christopher Tolkien tries to walk through the chronological development of his father's writings. It's not all narrative and what there is are often various forms of the same narratives that you have probably read before if you've gotten to this point.

[factotum]

Aren't there something like nine or ten books if you want the whole thing? Or is it even more than that nowadays?

[WalkingTarget]

Twelve volumes all in (there's also a separate volume as an all-inclusive index if you can find it/want it).

Edit - I actually have this 3-volume box set (http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/tolkien-book-store/000606.htm), but it's just the same content on India paper to save space. It retains the original pagination.

[Vinyadan]

I don't know if the letters are included. They also contain details about Middle Earth.

[WalkingTarget]

I don't know if the letters are included. They also contain details about Middle Earth.

They are not included, but are often referenced (as is Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien). Good addition!

[Jaxzan Proditor]

The History of Middle-earth is essentially a collection of Tolkien's early writings, with commentary and annotation by Christopher Tolkien. The first two books, The Lost Tales, show the first iteration of the Silmarillion story. The next book, the Lays of Beleriand shows some of the poetry he wrote around the same time. The next two books describe the continuing development of the story up to roughly when Tolkien started working on the Hobbit. The next 4 books describe the background to writing Lord of the Rings, as well as other bits and pieces related to it. The next two books describe the work Tolkien did on the Silmarillion in the last years of his life, and I'm honestly not sure what the Peoples of Middle-earth is about, as I never read it.

The Unfinished Tales is actually an early collection of notes on some of the more famous topics people wanted to know about. It doesn't really track the development of the story as well, but it has some really good stories in it. Letters is also a separate thing, but also really worth reading.