Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth
Distributed for the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
With Verlyn Flieger, John Garth, Wayne Hammond, Carl Hostetter, Christina Scull and Tom Shippey
416 pages
|
300 color plates
|
9 1/4 x 10
- Contents
- Review Quotes
Table of Contents

Contents
Foreword
J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biographical Sketch – Catherine McIlwaine
Tolkien and the Inklings – John Garth
Faërie: Tolkien’s Perilous Land – Verlyn Flieger
Inventing Elvish – Carl F. Hostetter
Tolkien and ‘that noble northern spirit’ – Tom Shippey
Tolkien’s Visual Art – Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull
Catalogue
One
Reading Tolkien: ‘to England; to my country’
Two
Childhood: ‘born with a talent for language’
Three
Student Days: ‘the beginning of the legendarium’
Four
Sheer Invention: ‘new patterns of old colours’
Five
The Silmarillion: ‘the Silmarils are in my heart’
Six
The Professor’s Study: ‘from time already mortgaged’
Seven
The Hobbit: ‘In a hold in the ground there lived a hobbit’
Eight
The Lord of the Rings: ‘it is written in my life-blood’
Nine
Mapping The Lord of the Rings: ‘I wisely started with a map and made the story fit’
Contributors
Acknowledgements
Select Bibliography
Picture Credits
Exhibition Items
Index
J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biographical Sketch – Catherine McIlwaine
Tolkien and the Inklings – John Garth
Faërie: Tolkien’s Perilous Land – Verlyn Flieger
Inventing Elvish – Carl F. Hostetter
Tolkien and ‘that noble northern spirit’ – Tom Shippey
Tolkien’s Visual Art – Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull
Catalogue
One
Reading Tolkien: ‘to England; to my country’
Two
Childhood: ‘born with a talent for language’
Three
Student Days: ‘the beginning of the legendarium’
Four
Sheer Invention: ‘new patterns of old colours’
Five
The Silmarillion: ‘the Silmarils are in my heart’
Six
The Professor’s Study: ‘from time already mortgaged’
Seven
The Hobbit: ‘In a hold in the ground there lived a hobbit’
Eight
The Lord of the Rings: ‘it is written in my life-blood’
Nine
Mapping The Lord of the Rings: ‘I wisely started with a map and made the story fit’
Contributors
Acknowledgements
Select Bibliography
Picture Credits
Exhibition Items
Index
Review Quotes
io9
“Incredible . . . . A hefty book packed full of gorgeous, fascinating images.”
Times Literary Supplement
“Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth aims to demonstrate this link between the evolution of the world of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and the biography of their author. . . . The scope of his world was truly vast, and his desire to populate it impressive in itself. More to the point, the paintings are beautiful.”
New York Times Book Review
“Reveals [Tolkien’s] painstaking creative process. . . . Reflect[s] a literary mind almost obsessed with perfecting each and every [detail].”
Tor.com
“One awesome and lore-packed book. . . . sure to enrich any fan’s appreciation for Tolkien the mortal Man, who despite having left this world has at least left behind another of his own creations. A vast, believable, alien-yet-familiar, and somehow still scarcely inhabited world: Middle-earth, which seems to be half the Earth we know and half an Earth we don’t. One that’s steeped in Faerie.”
Fantasy & Science Fiction
“Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth is a pure delight, one that I’ll return to many times in the years to come. . . . I have many more books about Tolkien than I do ones he has written, and this is the best of those about him so far.”
Toronto Star
“Splendid . . . . Impressive.”
Wall Street Journal
“Extensive . . . . Fascinating.”
The National Review
“The most thorough treatment of his life and work in decades. . . . Will enlighten even longtime Tolkien fans about the intensely visual and artistic aspect of his creativity.”
Country Life
“For anyone who grew up in the Tolkien universe, seeing the original artwork—the death of Smaug, for instance, the dragon’s head thrown back, his scales pierced by a black arrow, over the burning remains of the lake town of Esgaroth—will be like meeting an old friend.”
Fine Books & Collections Magazine
“Incredibly and unexpectedly moving. . . . Colorful and joyful, too.”
Mythlore
"All in all, a treasure-house of images, a perfect gift for yourself or a Tolkien-lover on your list."
Children's Literature Association Quarterly
"Catherine McIlwaine's large, lavishly illustrated catalog of her recent exhibition of the Bodleian Library's J.R.R. Tolkien holdings is well organized, well written. . . and introduced by six short essays by experts on different aspects of the author's life and work. It opens a window onto Tolkien's imagination and the way it worked, with particular emphasis on the visual element. For any Tolkien scholar, McIlwaine's book will become indispensable."
Fafnir: Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research
"... a cohesive introduction readily touching all aspects of Tolkien’s life, fiction, and art." and "...an unprecedentedly accessible introduction to Tolkien scholarship and art."
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