1986 The Book of Lost Tales, Part 2 (John Horton)

Release Date: 1986
Reader: John Horton
Language: English
Organization: Library of Congress
Publisher: American Printing House for the Blind
ISBN: n/a
Duration: 17 hours 6 minutes
Unabridged: Yes
Country: USA
Licenced: Yes
Formats: 3 x C-90 cassette, analog, 15/16 ips, 4 track, mono. Digital BARD
NLS Book Number: RC 48494, DB 48494

Produced by American Printing House for the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled service of the Library of Congress. This reading was made purely for eligible members of this special library service in the USA and not available for commercial release.

John Horton, born 1937, is a classically trained film and TV actor (frequently appearing on Broadway and in television shows like Law & Order) as well as audio book narrator.

The 1986 John Horton reading of The Book of Lost Tales, Part 2 is the natural successor to the Horgan volume. While Part 1 focused on the creation myths and the early days of Valinor, Part 2 contains the more epic but structurally difficult early versions of Beren and Lúthien, The Fall of Gondolin, and The Nauglafring. In Part 2, Christopher Tolkien’s commentary becomes even more expansive. He often spends more time analyzing a variant of a name than the actual story takes to read. Horton narrating these sections effectively turns the audiobook into an “audio textbook.”

RC 24654 (1986): This was the original NLS Book Number assigned when the John Horton recording was first released on 4-track cassettes in 1986. If you find a vintage green mailing container with the actual physical tapes from the 80s, it will bear this number.

RC 48494 / DB 48494 (1999): In 1999, as the NLS began preparing for the digital transition, they performed a Collection Refresh. They took the 1986 John Horton master tapes, digitally remastered them to remove some of the tape hiss, and re-released them under this new number. They also added precise Digital Navigation Points.

The NLS often re-numbered books if the original master tapes were being replaced by a “cleaner” copy or if they were moving a title from a regional/limited collection into the permanent national digital archive. Because the 1986 recording was so high-quality, they didn’t re-record it (like they did with The Silmarillion); they simply gave the Horton version a new “digital birth certificate.”