The Hobbit Illustrated by the Author
20 Mar
2023/3/20 15:05:08 (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Casablanca, Monrovia
2023/3/20 15:05:08 (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Casablanca, Monrovia
The Hobbit Illustrated by the Author
UK Trade Hardcover
Publisher : HarperCollins (September 14, 2023)
Language : English
Hardcover : 384 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-0008627782
UK Deluxe
Publisher : HarperCollins (September 14, 2023)
Language : English
Hardcover : 384 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-0008627836
US Trade Hardcover
Publisher : William Morrow (September 19, 2023)
Language : English
Hardcover : 432 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-0063347533
US E-book
UK E-book
For the first time ever, a special enhanced edition of the enchanting prelude to The Lord of the Rings, illustrated throughout with over 50 sketches, drawings, paintings and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien himself [20 b/w, 36 col illus] and with the complete text printed in two colours.
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely travelling further than the pantry of his hobbit-hole in Bag End. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of thirteen dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an unexpected journey ‘there and back again’. They have a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon…
Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit was published on 21 September 1937. With a beautiful cover design, a handful of black & white drawings and two maps by the author himself, the book became an instant success and was reprinted shortly afterwards with five colour plates.
Tolkien’s own selection of finished paintings and drawings have become inseparable from his text, adorning editions of The Hobbit for more than 85 years. But the published art has afforded only a glimpse of Tolkien’s creative process, and many additional sketches, coloured drawings and maps – although exhibited and published elsewhere – have never appeared within the pages of The Hobbit.
In this unique enhanced edition of Tolkien’s enchanting classic tale, the full panoply of his art is reproduced for the first time, presenting a grand total of 50 illustrations to accompany Bilbo Baggins on his adventure ‘there and back again’.
UK Trade Hardcover
Publisher : HarperCollins (September 14, 2023)
Language : English
Hardcover : 384 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-0008627782
UK Deluxe
For the first time ever, a beautiful slipcased edition of the enchanting prelude to The Lord of the Rings, illustrated throughout with over 50 sketches, drawings, paintings and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien himself, with the complete text printed in two colours and with many bonus features unique to this edition.
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely travelling further than the pantry of his hobbit-hole in Bag End. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of thirteen dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an unexpected journey ‘there and back again’. They have a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon…
Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit was published on 21 September 1937. With a beautiful cover design, a handful of black & white drawings and two maps by the author himself, the book became an instant success and was reprinted shortly afterwards with five colour plates.
Tolkien’s own selection of finished paintings and drawings have become inseparable from his text, adorning editions of The Hobbit for more than 85 years. But the published art has afforded only a glimpse of Tolkien’s creative process, and many additional sketches, coloured drawings and maps – although exhibited and published elsewhere – have never appeared within the pages of The Hobbit.
In this unique enhanced edition of Tolkien’s enchanting classic tale, the full panoply of his art is reproduced for the first time, presenting more than 50 illustrations to accompany Bilbo Baggins on his adventure ‘there and back again’.
Unique to this edition are two poster-size, fold-out maps revealing all the detail of Thror’s Map and Wilderland, an illustrated 88-page booklet, and a printed art card reproducing Tolkien’s original dustjacket painting.
It is additionally quarterbound in green leather, with raised ribs on the spine, stamped in three foils on black cloth boards, and housed in a custom-built clothbound slipcase. The pages are edged in gold and include a ribbon marker.
Publisher : HarperCollins (September 14, 2023)
Language : English
Hardcover : 384 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-0008627836
US Trade Hardcover
Publisher : William Morrow (September 19, 2023)
Language : English
Hardcover : 432 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-0063347533
US E-book
UK E-book
It's worth remembering that the US (William Morrow) releases have only been the trade / standard hardback initially, with the deluxe version coming out a year later. The UK (HarperCollins) releases have been for both the trade and deluxe at the same time.
I can't see HarperCollins breaking that practice with this release, nor can I see them releasing something just in the US under the William Morrow imprint that they don't release in the UK under the HarperCollins brand.
I hope they stop the Illustrated by the Author line here though, as they already had to stretch the definition of an illustration pretty thin for The Silmarillion and I don't think there is enough material left to fill another book after this release.
I can't see HarperCollins breaking that practice with this release, nor can I see them releasing something just in the US under the William Morrow imprint that they don't release in the UK under the HarperCollins brand.
I hope they stop the Illustrated by the Author line here though, as they already had to stretch the definition of an illustration pretty thin for The Silmarillion and I don't think there is enough material left to fill another book after this release.
https://www.harpercollins.com/products ... en?variant=41034923507746 with a mockup of the cover.
Velmeran wrote:
I hope they stop the Illustrated by the Author line here though, as they already had to stretch the definition of an illustration pretty thin for The Silmarillion and I don't think there is enough material left to fill another book after this release.
I dunno. It’s kind of fun that they started with the “illustrated” concept, and tried out to see what they could pull off by stretching the concept to its limits. Even without the illustrations, these books are an attractive format, which people are obviously (I would say) buying. So let’s see if we can stretch the definition further, with a little imagination…
A Father Christmas Letters + Roverandom + Mr Bliss collection
It could also include miscellaneous pieces (with obvious thematic connections) like “Water, Wind & Sand”
It could be called Adventures of the North Polar Bear & other tales
An “illustrated by Pauline Baynes” collection
consisting of essentially Poems and Stories + Bilbo’s Last Song + fold-out maps—all her Tolkien maps!
It could be called Adventures of Tom Bombadil & other tales
A collection of previously illustrated works with a few extra illustrations mixed in for padding, I could probably get behind that, because I agree the design/format is nice enough (though I'm still unsure on the green for Sil).Ulmo wrote:
I dunno. It’s kind of fun that they started with the “illustrated” concept, and tried out to see what they could pull off by stretching the concept to its limits. Even without the illustrations, these books are an attractive format, which people are obviously (I would say) buying. So let’s see if we can stretch the definition further, with a little imagination…
A Father Christmas Letters + Roverandom + Mr Bliss collection
It could also include miscellaneous pieces (with obvious thematic connections) like “Water, Wind & Sand”
It could be called Adventures of the North Polar Bear & other tales
An “illustrated by Pauline Baynes” collection
consisting of essentially Poems and Stories + Bilbo’s Last Song + fold-out maps—all her Tolkien maps!
It could be called Adventures of Tom Bombadil & other tales
What I'm hoping we don't see as basically an Unfinished Tales - Illustrated by the Author which I've seen requested/hoped for many times in other communities that apparently don't realize just how they had to stretch to fill out the others.
This new edition of The Hobbit follows similar editions of Tolkien’s other books featuring the author’s hand-drawn maps and artwork. There’s The Lord of the Rings Illustrated, which came out in 2021 and The Silmarillion Illustrated, which arrived last fall.
The Hobbit Illustrated will feature a forward by Christopher Tolkien, with additional notes from Tolkien scholars Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull. Here’s an exclusive look at one of the spreads you’ll find in The Hobbit Illustrated:
https://www.ign.com/articles/the-hobbi ... edition-tolkien-announced
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