"Mr. Bliss" by J.R.R Tolkien, published by George Allen & Unwin, London, 1982. First Edition, First Printing with "First published in 1982" on the copyright page and original price label, "Price Net L4.95 in UK Only" on the back of the dust jacket.

Originally written for his children in the early 1930's, Tolkien sent this to Allen & Unwin in the late 1930's, but due to cost and technical difficulties of printing a book full of hand writing and illustrations, it remained unpublished until 1982.

Original dust jacket [a little wear, one small corner crease], illustrated hard boards have the same design as the jacket, 8.1/2" x 6.1/4"; 48 + 2 pages with facsimiles of the manuscript pages with color reproduction of Tolkien's text and drawings + 48 printed text pages: each page of Tolkien's original manuscript is reproduced in facsimile with a facing printed text + A list of books by J.R.R. Tolkien, very good condition.

Several commentators have compared "Mr. Bliss" with the works of Beatrix Potter and Edward Lear, and also to The Wind in the Willows.

A beautiful story about Mr Bliss and his adventures and misadventures in his new car: encounters with bears, angry neighbors, irate shopkeepers, and assorted collisions. The story was inspired by Tolkien's own vehicular mishaps with his first car, purchased in 1932. The bears were based on toy bears owned by Tolkien's sons. Tolkien was both author and illustrator of the book. His narrative binds the story and illustrations tightly together, as the text often comments directly on the pictures. Tolkien used two names from Mr. Bliss for hobbits in The Lord of the Rings: Gaffer Gamgee and Boffin.

US: Priority (c.2-5 days) ------------ $16.50
Canada: Priority (c.2-6 weeks) ------ $32.50
World: Priority (c.2-8 weeks) ------- $45.50