Exceptionally scarce. We are pleased to offer the very first issue of Mythlore, the most ambitious early work at engaging the works of Tolkien and the Inklings more generally in the United States.
As we would expect, the journal is academical serious, but full of whimsy, satire, cultural criticism, etc,. Contributors are all young Tolkien and Lewis academics of the time, many of whom went on to have careers in fiction, fantasy, etc.,
Artwork is by George Barr [who went on to illustrate much of the original D & D publishing in the 1980's] and Tim Kirk, who would create a suite of Tolkien-inspired paintings for his master's exhibition [1973]. These were picked up by Ballantine and used to illustrate their Tolkien Calendar [1975] and their paperback edition of Lord of the Rings.
My favorite bit is the extended satire regarding the making of a Hobbit movie, which ends up casting characters more like Santa's elves and court jesters than Tolkien's beloved characters. Front image of the Inklings in action.
We have never handled another copy. Complete textually; photocopied for distribution. Charmingly amateur, even the paper being of different kinds throughout. Three-hole punched and old staple holes. Textually pristine.
GoodKnight, Glen [Ed.]. Mythlore: the Journal by the Mythopoeic Society. January 1969. Issue No. 1. Alhambra, California. The Mythopoeic Society. 1969. 48pp.
A good + copy, disbound, with generally bright pages.
