WWTBAM Bored

The youngest son of J.R.R. Tolkien, he was responsible for editing and publishing The Silmarillion as well as later works such as The Children of Hurin and the collection of his father's development of his legendarium, the 12-volume History of Middle Earth. Christopher was 95 years old.

Mr. Tolkien also staunchly defended his father's copyrights against cheap knockoffs. The lawsuits he was a party to set precedents that benefit every author.

jarnon wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 16, 2020 3:56 pm

Mr. Tolkien also staunchly defended his father's copyrights against cheap knockoffs. The lawsuits he was a party to set precedents that benefit every author.

I read the Lord of the Rings originally in the 1960s when Tolkien was still alive. At that time, there were two paperback versions of his books, from Ace Books and Ballantine. Ace took advantage of a loophole in the copyright laws to publish their version without Tolkien's approval (or paying him any money). The Ballantine release was authorized by Tolkien and he added a foreward in which he essentially pleaded with readers to buy the authorized version so that the author could get credit for his work.

This article discusses the controversy in depth (both the Ballantine and Ace versions are now collector's items fetching a lot of money, and, no, I don't still have my copies of the books). The article credits the controversy with contributing to the popularity of the books in the United States.

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/ ... ord-rings/