The Road Goes Ever On — J.R.R. Tolkien and Donald Swann — First US Edition, First Printing, 1967

The true first edition of Tolkien and Swann's song cycle, issued in Boston in October 1967 and retaining the original dust jacket illustrated with Tolkien's Tengwar and Elvish script.

Published by Houghton Mifflin in Boston in 1967, this is the first US edition and first printing of The Road Goes Ever On. The copyright page states “FIRST PRINTING W”. The American edition preceded the first British edition of February 1968 and was issued in a first printing of 20,000 copies.

Donald Swann set seven of Tolkien's poems to music for voice and piano, drawing from The Lord of the Rings and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. Tolkien supplied calligraphy, Elvish texts, translations and linguistic notes; the decorations are credited to Tolkien and Samuel Hanks Bryant. The original jacket reproduces Tolkien's Tengwar text of Namárië and an Elvish refrain from I Sit Beside the Fire and Think.

Condition: A very good copy in its original dust jacket, protected by a clear wrapper. The jacket is price-clipped at the upper corner of the front flap and shows age-toning, rubbing, creasing and edge wear. The photographed pages appear clean, with a small pencil notation visible at the top of the front free endpaper. The photographs show the exact copy offered.

The true first appearance of Tolkien's poetry and invented languages in Donald Swann's musical setting, complete with the evocative script and design created for the book by Tolkien himself.