What is the name of the fictional historical manuscript containing much of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth story?

The Red Book of Westmarch is the fictional historical manuscript containing much of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth story.

Within Tolkien’s imagined history, the Red Book is a collection of writings associated first with Bilbo Baggins and later with Frodo and Samwise Gamgee. It records Bilbo’s journey, the events of the War of the Ring, and additional material about the peoples and lands of Middle-earth.

The device helps Tolkien present his narratives as translations or edited historical records rather than as simple modern storytelling. The title refers to the book’s red cover and to the Westmarch, a region connected with the Shire after the War of the Ring.

Readers sometimes mistake the Red Book for a separate real-world publication by Tolkien. It is instead a fictional source inside the legendarium. The framing device also explains why different sections of the story can have different voices, levels of detail, and apparent documentary origins.