While we cannot provide direct links to copyrighted materials, there are several online archives and libraries that offer free or open-access versions of The History of Middle-earth volumes in PDF format. Some options include:

If you are on a budget but want to read the full series, there are several legitimate avenues:

Many pirated files are poorly scanned, missing pages, or lack the essential indices Christopher Tolkien painstakingly created.

These volumes are vital for understanding how The Lord of the Rings was written. They show the text evolving in real-time, often with drastic plot differences (e.g., Strider was originally a hobbit named Trotter; Frodo was originally called Bingo).