Books – Tolkieniana Net

Beren & Lúthien Deluxe Edition

admin — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 16:33:15 +0000

Mirrored from THE OFFICIAL ONLINE BOOK SHOP.

The tale of Beren and Lúthien was, or became, an essential element in the evolution of The Silmarillion, the myths and legends of the First Age of the World conceived by J.R.R. Tolkien. Returning from France and the battle of the Somme at the end of 1916, he wrote the tale in the following year.

Essential to the story, and never changed, is the fate that shadowed the love of Beren and Lúthien: for Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was an immortal Elf. Her father, a great Elvish lord, in deep opposition to Beren, imposed on him an impossible task that he must perform before he might wed Lúthien. This is the kernel of the legend; and it leads to the supremely heroic attempt of Beren and Lúthien together to rob the greatest of all evil beings, Melkor, called Morgoth, the Black Enemy, of a Silmaril.

In this book Christopher Tolkien has attempted to extract the story of Beren and Lúthien from the comprehensive work in which it was embedded; but that story was itself changing as it developed new associations within the larger history. To show something of the process whereby this legend of Middle-earth evolved over the years, he has told the story in his father’s own words by giving, first, its original form, and then passages in prose and verse from later texts that illustrate the narrative as it changed. Presented together for the first time, they reveal aspects of the story, both in event and in narrative immediacy, that were afterwards lost.

BEREN AND LÚTHIEN

£75.00

Pages: 288

Format: Hardback

Author: J. R. R. Tolkien, Illustrated by Alan Lee, Edited by Christopher Tolkien

Published Date: 01/06/2017

ISBN: 978-0-00-821420-3

Detailed Edition: Deluxe Slipcase edition

Major exhibition in 2018 to explore JRR Tolkien’s vast creative genius

admin — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 13:12:34 +0000

Mirrored from Bodleaian Library, Oxford.

The creative genius of JRR Tolkien will be the focus of a major new exhibition opening at the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries in 2018.

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth will explore the full breadth of Tolkien’s unique literary imagination from his creation of Middle-earth, the imagined world where The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and his other works are set, to his life and work as an artist, poet, medievalist and scholar of languages.

For the first time since the 1950s, an unprecedented array of Tolkien materials from the UK and the USA will be reunited in Oxford and displayed together in this seminal exhibition. Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth will feature Image of Bilbo comes to the huts of the Raft-elves, MS. Tolkien Drawings 29, copyright the Tolkien Estate Limited 1937manuscripts, artwork, maps, letters and artefacts from the Bodleian’s extensive Tolkien Archive, the Tolkien Collection at Marquette University in the USA and from private collections.

The exhibition will take visitors beyond what they may already know about this extraordinary author and will delight both Tolkien fans as well as scholars, families and visitors of all ages. It will examine the scholarly, literary, creative and domestic worlds that influenced Tolkien as an author and artist, allowing visitors to engage with his works as never before.

Tolkien may be best known today as the author of The Lord of the Rings but during his lifetime he was chiefly known as a scholar of Old and Middle English and a philologist intimately concerned with the creation of language. He was also a devoted husband and father of four children for whom he created stories for pleasure.

Visitors will also be introduced to the vast spectrum of Tolkien’s creative and scholarly output ranging from his early abstract paintings in The Book of Ishness to the metrical brilliance of his poem Errantry and the touching tales he wrote for his children. The spectacular range of objects on display will include original manuscripts of his popular classics as well as lesser-known and posthumous works and materials, some of which will be on public display for the very first time.

Exhibition highlights include:

Draft manuscripts of The Hobbit showing the evolution of the story displayed alongside striking watercolours, dust jacket designs, line drawings and maps drawn for the publication
Original manuscripts of The Lord of The Rings along with dust jacket designs and beautiful watercolours
Original manuscripts of The Silmarillion, Tolkien’s very earliest work on the legends of the elves, which was unfinished during his lifetime and was published posthumously by his son and literary executor, Christopher Tolkien
Photos and letters from Tolkien’s childhood and student days exploring themes of love, loss and war
Letters of appreciation from a wide range of admirers including poet WH Auden, singer Joni Mitchell and author Iris Murdoch
Personal objects that belonged to Tolkien including his art materials (boxes of paints, coloured pencils and sealing wax) and his personal library
A selection of Middle-earth maps including a rare map annotated by Tolkien, which was acquired by the Bodleian in 2016
A specially-commissioned 3-D map of Middle-earth

The exhibition will be accompanied by a richly illustrated book, Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth to be published by Bodleian Library Publishing on 25 May 2018. This new publication will celebrate Tolkien as a scholar, artist and author, using his own words, drawings and designs to introduce readers to the huge creative endeavour which lies behind his enduring success. Featuring stunning images of his manuscripts, drawings, maps and letters, the book will trace the creative process behind Tolkien’s well-known literary works while also exploring the surprising range of his creative imagination.
The Bodleian Libraries houses the largest collection of original Tolkien manuscripts and drawings in the world. The Tolkien Archive has been kept at the Bodleian since 1979. The latest addition to the archive is a rare map of Middle-earth annotated by JRR Tolkien, which was acquired in May 2016. Tolkien spent almost the whole of his adult life in Oxford and it is the city where studied, taught, researched and wrote his most famous works.

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Great News from Bodleian Library

admin — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 17:00:31 +0000

Mirrored from TheBookSeller.

The publishing division of Oxford University’s Bodleian Library is to release a title featuring illustrations, letters and other material from J.R.R.Tolkien’s archives that have never before been seen by the public, to coincide with a major exhibition on The Lord of the Rings author in 2018.

Tolkien: The Maker of Middle-Earth, written by the Bodleian’s Tolkien archivist Catherine McIlwaine, promises to take readers “far beyond what they know” about the author. New material to be showcased includes draft manuscripts of The Hobbit, Middle-Earth illustrations and paintings by Tolkien, and “letters from admirers including W.H.Auden, Joni Mitchell and Iris Murdoch”.

Samuel Fanous, the Bodleian’s head of publishing, said the aim was to create a book that accompanies an “unprecedented” exhibition, but also “to make something that will stand on its own”. The Bodleian will be selling the title in all English-language territories, while HarperCollins, Tolkien’s long-time publisher, has translation rights.

Tolkien, who was an Oxford professor for 35 years, left the bulk of his archives to the Bodleian. Additional material in the book is from Marquette University in Wisconsin. The exhibition on the author will open at the Bodleian in June 2018.