Editing Smith of Wootton Major (section)

== Publication history ==

[[File:Smith_and_his_family_by_Pauline_Baynes.jpg|thumb|upright|Black and white illustration, as requested by Tolkien,<ref name="Hasirci 2021"/> by [[Pauline Baynes]] of Smith and his family for the first edition, 1967.{{efn|Baynes presented the original illustration of Smith and his family to the Tolkien scholars [[Wayne G. Hammond]] & [[Christina Scull]] for their engagement.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hammond |first1=Wayne G. |last2=Scull |first2=Christina |author1-link=Wayne G. Hammond |author2-link=Christina Scull |title=Our Collections: Pauline Baynes |url=https://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/our-collections-pauline-baynes/<!--two famous Tolkien scholars, see their Wikipedia articles--> |website=Too Many Books and Never Enough |access-date=25 July 2023 |date=9 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602134809/https://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/our-collections-pauline-baynes/ |archive-date=2 June 2015}}</ref> }}]]

The story was first published in the United Kingdom as a stand-alone book by [[George Allen & Unwin]] on 9 November 1967, with 11 black and white illustrations and a coloured jacket illustration by [[Pauline Baynes]].<ref name="Tolkien Flieger 2005" group="T"/> Tolkien had asked Baynes to limit her palette to black and white, as she had done for ''[[Farmer Giles of Ham]]''; he was pleased with the result.<ref name="Hasirci 2021">{{cite journal |last1=Hasirci |first1=Baris |title=An Examination of Fantasy Illustration and the Illustrations of Pauline Baynes and John Howe Through the Writings of J. R. R. Tolkien |journal=Journal of Social Research and Behavioral Sciences |date=2021 |volume=7 |issue=14 |url=http://www.sadab.org/FileUpload/bs701867/File/3.an_examination_of_fantasy_illustration_and_the_illustrations_1.pdf |issn=2149-178X |doi=10.52096/jsrbs.7.14.3 |page=44}}</ref>

''Smith of Wootton Major'' was first published in the United States by [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin]] the same year.<ref group="T">{{cite book |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |title=Smith of Wootton Major |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin]] |date=1967 |oclc=849891109 }}</ref> It was reprinted in 1969 by [[Ballantine Books|Ballantine]] together with ''Farmer Giles of Ham''.<ref name="Tolkien 1969" group="T">{{cite book |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |title=Smith of Wootton Major: and Farmer Giles of Ham |publisher=[[Ballantine Books]] |date=1969 |isbn=978-0-3453-3606-4 |oclc=2949056}}</ref>

The 2005 edition, edited by [[Verlyn Flieger]], includes a previously unpublished essay by Tolkien, explaining the background and just why the elf-king spent so long in Wootton Major. It also explains how the story grew from this first idea into the published version.<ref name="Tolkien Flieger 2005" group="T">{{cite book |last1=Tolkien |first1=J. R. R. |last2=Flieger |first2=Verlyn |author2-link=Verlyn Flieger |title=Smith of Wootton Major |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |date=2005 |isbn=978-0-00-720247-8 |page=Jacket}}</ref>

The story was republished in 2021 together with ''Farmer Giles of Ham'', ''[[The Adventures of Tom Bombadil]]'', and "[[Leaf by Niggle]]" as ''[[Tales from the Perilous Realm]]''.<ref group="T">{{cite book |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |title=Tales from the Perilous Realm |date=2021 |publisher=[[Mariner Books]] |isbn=978-0-3586-5296-0}}</ref>