The Father Christmas Letters. By J.R.R. Tolkien. Early American Softcover Issue. Houghton Mifflin. New York, 1979.

Readers will know J.R.R. Tolkien’s fiction––The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit in particular––but perhaps his most charming work ever produced were his Father Christmas Letters. They were annual letters he wrote and illustrated for his children. They arrived from Father Christmas and they contained anecdotes, stories, and other Christmas details for children. They weren’t published in Tolkien’s lifetime. They were simply a delightful family tradition, but in 1976 they were made widely available as a posthumous publication. They are, like all of Tolkien’s works, exceptional. Both the illustrations and the letters prove his affection for his family and talent as an author.

This early American softcover issue is in very good condition. In the original wrappers, very good with creases, rubbing, and price sticker to back flap. Text block fine. Former owner’s signature to first page.

A very good early issue of The Father Christmas Letters.