Which of J.R.R. Tolkien’s sons edited and published The History of Middle-earth?

Christopher Tolkien edited and published The History of Middle-earth.

The twelve-volume series, released between 1983 and 1996, presents drafts, abandoned versions, notes, and commentary showing how J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology developed. Christopher Tolkien organized the material and supplied extensive editorial explanations, making the series a major source for studying the evolution of Middle-earth.

Christopher was born in 1924 and became deeply familiar with his father’s manuscripts. He also served as literary executor after J.R.R. Tolkien’s death in 1973. His editorial work helped bring several posthumous works to readers, including The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and later volumes assembled from Tolkien’s papers.

The History of Middle-earth is not a straightforward sequel or a single novel. It is a documentary record of Tolkien’s creative process, and some passages present mutually inconsistent versions of events. Readers therefore use the series both to explore the mythology and to see how names, characters, languages, and chronology changed over time.