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TURGON'S BOOKSHELF:
Tolkien as Artist and Illustrator

The husband and wife team of Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull have edited three Tolkien publications. Two of their collaborations are editions of Tolkien’s fiction, one being last year’s fiftieth anniversary edition of Farmer Giles of Ham, the other being the 1998 first publication of Tolkien’s long children’s story, Roverandom. Their first Tolkien collaboration was a book of a different order, a study of Tolkien’s own artwork, with over two hundred examples by Tolkien, many of which were published for the first time. J. R. R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator was published in hardcover in 1995.

\[Artist & Illustrator - Click for larger version\]

A trade paperback has at long last just appeared from Houghton Mifflin, Tolkien’s American publisher. It is an oversize volume, finely designed and printed on heavy paper, with numerous color illustrations. Priced at $25.00 (ISBN 0-618-08361-8), and containing numerous examples of Tolkien’s own drawings of places in Middle-earth, it is a marvelous addition to anyone’s Tolkien library.

The book is divided into six main sections. The first covers Tolkien’s early artwork, and includes many drawings of landscapes and places in England which Tolkien visited in the 1910s. Some of these are in pen and ink, but a few are in color, and they are fine impressionistic studies.

\[Landscape - Click for larger version\]

The second section is called "Visions, Myths and Legends." This section contains a number of drawings of abstract concepts like "Wickedness" and "Afterwards," and various "ishnesses"–like "Grownupishness" and "Undertenishness." There are some early drawings of landscapes for the stories Tolkien was writing in The Book of Lost Tales. One of my favorites is the illustration "Tanaqui," which is apparently an illustration of the city of Kôr upon a hill in Eldamar.

\[Tanaqui - Click for larger version\]

The third section is called "Art for Children," and it includes illustrations from Roverandom, Mr. Bliss, and The Father Christmas Letters. The fourth and fifth sections will be of considerable interest to Tolkien fans, for they contain, respectively, Tolkien’s illustrations for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately there is no drawing of a Balrog (so the Wings or No-Wings debate shall continue). But there are some surprises. In a sketch for the dust-jacket of The Return of the King, we actually get to see Sauron, with his hand reaching out over some mountain-tops!

\[Sauron - Click for larger version\]

And there are pages from the Book of Mazarbul, complete with tears, burn-marks, and binding-holes. Seeing one of these pages under better light than Gandalf had in Moria, it does seem possible to read more of the rune-text.

\[Mazarbul - Click for larger version\]

The sixth section of the book covers "Patterns and Devices," including heraldic devices for a number of characters, a Númenórean Carpet, and some various doodles. A short appendix gives some examples of Tolkien’s calligraphy.

This is truly an excellent and delightful book. It deserves a place on bookshelves right next to The Lord of the Rings. And with the first of the movies now only about a year away from release, it makes a for a timely study of Tolkien’s own visual conceptions of Middle-earth.

turgon@theonering.net



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An Updated Look at Fall 2003 Tolkien Publications
08/15/03
Q&A with Jane Chance
07/15/03
TTT: The Film Books
06/15/03
Recent and Forthcoming Tolkien-Related Publications 2003
05/27/03
Brief Take on Recent Books
02/01/03
Reading Tolkien beyond The Lord of the Rings
02/01/03
Bilbo’s Last Song
10/01/02
Ted Nasmith’s Two Towers Calendars
10/01/02
A Roundup of Recent and Forthcoming Books by and about J. R. R. Tolkien: Spring and Fall 2002
08/01/02
Revisiting The Marvellous Land of Snergs
05/01/02
Report Card on Film One
12/01/01
Fears II: The Sequel
11/01/01
'Just When You Thought It Was Safe . . .':
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10/01/01
Ted Nasmith’s 2002 Tolkien Calendar
09/01/01
New Tolkien Publications Roundup–Fall 2001
08/01/01
How to Express Your Tolkien Ignorance: A Guide for the Media
07/01/01
An Interview with Tom Shippey
06/01/01
Responses to Critical Errancies
05/01/01
Critical Errancies
04/21/01
New Tolkien Publications, Spring 2001 and Beyond
04/01/01
New Technology Comes to Tolkien
02/01/01
Tolkien as Artist and Illustrator
11/01/00
The 2001 Tolkien Calendar
10/02/00
Tolkienian Publications: Fall 2000 and Beyond
10/01/00
How Not to Study Tolkien
08/23/00
There and Back Again, with Gorbo the Snerg
07/01/00
Tolkien: Life and Letters
06/01/00
Literary Sacrilege
05/01/00
Publications 2000
03/01/00
Millennium Edition
01/11/00
The Best New Tolkien for Christmas
12/19/99
50th Anniversary of Farmer Giles
12/07/99
The Tolkien 2000 Calendar
11/15/99
Hobbitiana
10/24/99
Books - Fall 99
10/24/99
Roverandom
08/22/99
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