The Art of The Hobbit

October 27, 2011

The Art of The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkien is one of the most celebrated authors in history. But what some people might not realize is that when he wrote The Hobbit in 1937, he also drew the artwork that went into the original publication of the book. In order to celebrate the 75th anniversary a book is being released entitled The Art of The Hobbit that will celebrate the author's artistic talents. More importantly however, this book will feature never before seen art work from Tolkien himself. And they mean "never before seen".

The published version of The Hobbit includes around 20 illustrations by its author, as well as the well-known dust jacket painting of the mountains which Bilbo Baggins passes through on his adventures. But when HarperCollins began preparing for the book's 75th anniversary next year, the publisher discovered Tolkien had actually created more than 100 illustrations, which lay buried in his archive at the Bodleian Library in Oxford and were only recently digitised.

"That was a surprise. I thought there might be 40-50 in total," said publisher David Brawn. "But there are 110 Hobbit pictures, about two dozen of which haven't been published before."

The Art of The Hobbit will be published on October 27, 2011. ""It includes his conceptual sketches for the cover design, a couple of early versions of the maps and pages where he's experimenting with the runic forms, as well as a couple of manuscript pages," said Brawn. "It shows that Tolkien's creativity went beyond the writing, that it was a fully thought out conception." This book looks like it will be a must buy for any Tolkien fan.